If You Wanna Be Somebody

You better wake up and pay attention. 

I have somehow managed to be around young people often. I don't know how it happened; but alas, here I am knee deep in adolescents. You may wonder how I deal, but I don't really have a problem with older kids. I mean, I was 18 like 4 years ago. Been there. Done whatever they're thinking. Got a t-shirt and shot glass. At that age you think you know, well, everything. In my mind I pretend I wasn't that dumb and full of myself at that age, but I probably was. On the other hand, I also knew that my life lay outside the walls of my high school. And that at 17, the best thing to happen to me, was leaving. I don't know, maybe it's because I'm all worldly and stuff. This is out of context in New York, but I try to explain to 15 year olds that in life you'll likely to do things greater than dating the boy on the football team.

Sometimes they listen.

The thing about being older, I feel like I have to impart my knowledge. If any of my experiences can be helpful, I want to give them every opportunity. I want to impact their lives, so they come into themselves maybe sooner than I did. Despite what I'm sure is a lot of people think, I'm actually quite smart. I know right? And I just dance around all day. But it's true! And I like to have smart sounding conversations with my friends. Recently, I was talking to a dear friend, about our lives thus far: our experiences post-undergrad, and coming into ourselves as young, black women. We were considering our pasts, what we were doing and thinking at our students age, and how it shaped our futures. Based on that conversation I came up with 4 steps to follow: If you wanna be somebody.

Phase 1: Figure out who are.
Now believe me, this is much easier said than done. Because really, who do you think you are at 15? 18? 25? Chances are you'll see yourself differently in the decade between 15 and 25. The thing about this is, once you find your core, as a person (not like your core abdominal wall) you'll be centered. No matter how much your character evolves, you'll still be that same person.

Phase 2: Figure out who you want to be.
Once you've found your core as a person, you can look in yourself and determine if that is who you want to be. Or if you want to be something more. (Always the more, never the less) Set your sites on something far ahead. Because I mean, like Whoa! Dream big! And then make it happen.

How?

Phase 3: Surround yourself with positive energy.
You are the environment you surround yourself in. If you're making all these grand plans to move ahead in life, but you surround yourself with energy that holds you back and holds you down, how will you ever make it? Keep it positive and you'll be off the hizzle, G! Huh?

Phase 4: Take strides to make that happen.
Enough said. If you wanna be somebody. If you wanna go somewhere. You better wake up and pay attention.

the rest is still UNwritten.