Yes, The Kids Are Alright
If 2018 taught me anything, it’s this: I’ll be alright. We’ll be alright.
As a proud contributing member of the millennial cohort, a generation of doers and game-changers whose resolve not to let our destinies be determined by fate, but by our wilful creativeness, the future looks encouraging.
With ‘discipline’ as my motivational word for last year, I was able to prove that what the heart wants, the mind helps to achieve through healthy, focused and inspired thoughts. So while some are eager to see the back of 2018 - like Black folks running away in a scary movie - I’ll look back at it fondly as a year of profound clarity, and of growth – a year in which I learnt a great deal about myself by testing my limits and pushing past fear.
I started a blog. I bought ‘art’. I travelled. I stayed home (a lot!). I participated in a workers’ strike. I gained 3 kg. I had money; then I was broke. I gave gifts. I received gifts. I made friendships; conversely, I also lost a few. But, and perhaps most importantly, I gained an enormous degree of self-awareness and perceptiveness that comes from devotion, reflection and spending time alone.
I went Afro Punk-ing, I also went Toulouse-ing. I horsed around. I laughed out loud. I cried. I’ve seen sights and places that, as a then 11-year-old boy in Jamaica, I only dreamt of and read about in atlases. I hosted friends. I changed jobs. I did the unthinkable and wore shorts outdoors. Yes, I found my light!
2018 was a watershed year for me, and not all by my own doing. I was also reinvigorated by the goodness of people. All these lessons, along with the tried and true principles of daily gratitude and stoicism - going forward - are the stepping stones I’ll use to take me one step closer to my dreams and the human being I wish to become.
Therefore, to 2019, I say this, “I’m ready!”
Ryo
Like what you see? Drop me a comment so we can get to know each other! Also, don't forget to like, subscribe and share :)