A Lesson On Being Selfless..
Last weekend, I was sitting in the car with a friend and she said, ‘You know, Necole, you are so selfless. This whole weekend should have been about you, but you went over and beyond to make sure that it was about your friends and the people around you. Do you know how much more you will be blessed’.
And I thanked her but told her that it wasn’t always like that for me. I do admit, I spent a huge part of my life being very selfish. I didn’t know any better. I was an only child. I didn’t learn to look out for other people or take other people’s feelings in to consideration while growing up.
Just recently, while reading the Alchemist, it made me remember my past life, before I started challenging my fear. I lived a very mundane life with a set routine. I would go to work 9-5, get off work, go to school, party with my friends every Friday and Saturday, rest on Sunday and get up on Monday and do it all over again. I was living a simple life, and as part of my daily routine, I would call my mother every day during lunch break to catch her up on what was going on in my life. In all honesty, I spent at least half of the time on the phone with my mom, complaining about things like school, my job and plenty of senseless things that mattered to me at the time but looking back, should have been the least of my concerns. But nevertheless, it was all a part of my routine and it made me feel better.
One day, before my lunch break, I was sitting at my desk and I received a text from a friend. It read, ‘I am so sorry to hear about your mom. They announced in Church last Sunday that she only had two weeks to live’.
One of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made was trying to live up to the expectations that other’s had of me instead of doing what was best for me. Guard your dreams. Don’t ever let anyone come and hi-jack your dream. It is yours, not theirs. Always follow your heart and trust where it leads you. You may not get it right every single time but despite the fear and pain, you will have memories that will make you smile every once in a while.
A Lesson About The ‘Casting Couch’
If I had a penny for every time a young girl emailed, tweeted, facebook’d or sent a message through tumblr asking me for guidance in their journey of accomplishing their dreams, I’d be rich. There’s so many young faces out there, wanting that big break and willing to do whatever it takes to get it. They are just looking for that validation from someone who has ‘done it’ to let them know that it will be okay.
But as much as I would like to encourage each person to be willing to sacrifice comfort, complacency, a steady paycheck, good benefits and a social life to go hard for what they want out of life, I do have to warn them that some people that they may meet along the way may not have their best intentions at heart. You will meet people that can sense ‘desperation’ and vulnerability and they will take advantage of that.
I never ever told this story before (not even to my closest friends) but I feel the need to share it now. I always conveniently skip this part of the story when I talk about my journey but somewhere some girl needs to hear it.
