"you are here to do great things"

(Yo, it has been a week shy of two months since I have published a post here. I have two historical analysis drafts that I have been working on, and they will take longer than usual)

"You are here to do great things."

I am pretty sure that most of us have heard this from our family, friends, or peers at least once in our lives. I am also pretty sure that you either took it to heart or you thought to yourself, "What the hell are they talking about?" Personally, I have been told this by several people throughout my life. I must admit, but I always have a 50/50 response to when people compliment me. Sometimes I am delighted by the comments, and sometimes I react with surprise, and even wonder "Why?". Why do they think that I am destined for greatness? What exactly do they see in me? 

Anyways, I am in the midst of a transitional phase in my life. I am in the midst of establishing myself financially, career wise, and most importantly - spiritually. So when I hear someone tell me things like, "You're destined for greatness" or "You are here to do great things", it kind of irks me, because admittedly - I do not fully think this myself. And prior to my spiritual awakening, I thought that certain possessions like a nice house, car, decent paying job, significant other, good education entailed "greatness". You can thank deep-rooted brainwashing and programming for these very limited image of "greatness". After my spiritual awakening, I realized that "greatness" can have various definitions, and there are a myriad of ways that you can do "great things".

Generally, when one seeks to establish themselves, there is a lot of emphasis on degrees, careers, job security, etc; and as I mentioned earlier, this is how some people define achieving "great things"/"greatness". However, we must understand that you do not necessarily have to have achieved (or done) anything 'grand' in order for it to be considered "great" by society's standards. Your path to your greatness is unique to YOU. This may come off as confusing, but that's the point! There is no concrete way to achieve this "greatness" that we speak of so often. For me personally, I am on very unique path that will lead me to do great things, however, I realize that it does not necessarily go by society's standards. Therefore, I am engaging in an internal struggle with my awakened thoughts and the deep rooted societal ideas that are highly concrete.

Back on Friday night, I made the move to Durham, North Carolina to begin my new job working in nonprofit. (Pretty ironic that I am talking about a job, right?) I am working for the Johnson Service Corps and I will be working there for the next 11.5 months. To be honest, I was pretty indecisive on whether I should choose to work here or not. If anything, I was scared as hell of the judgement that I was going to get. Nonprofits already get a bad rep. especially due to the low pay, and I was also unsure about the living situation. Still, I decided to accept the offer to work for the organization. Fast forward to today, and I am happy that I made the decision to work for the Johnson Service Corps. Not only does the organization focus on social justice issues, but it also has a deep spiritual component, which is what I need in my life right now! I guess you can say that I am definitely on the right path to doing great things. On a side note, I will definitely go into more depth about this amazing opportunity on this blog over the next few months.

Circling back to my overall message of "greatness". Yes, we are all here to do something great, but it is not as concrete as it has been presented to us in society. Greatness has different meanings for different people. Some may see greatness as power, popularity or force; and some may see it making an impact, prosperity, and courage. Greatness is complicated and complex. There is not a single way to define it and there is no single way to achieve this "greatness". With any other aspect of life, we must do what is best for ourselves. We must work to gain a better understanding of ourselves as human and spiritual beings. 

Until next time. Let's continue to prosper, to love ourselves, and to love each other.

End of Blog Song: "Yes" by Ben E. King!