Maturity is when you always put your relationship with yourself above your relationship with others. No self-abandonment. No self-betrayal. No shrinking yourself to fit in. No suppressing your truth to make others feel comfortable. No invalidating yourself to validate others.
You must be okay with people demonizing you for their own weird pleasure and personal narrative. At some point you realize that as long as you are grounded in your own truth, everything else is just noise. Prove nothing. Mind your divine business. Let the Creator be your witness.
RAPPER YASIIN BEY: US EMPIRE CRUMBLING
Rapper Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) has long been an outspoken critic of American exceptionalism and has a prediction for 2024. During this interview on The Cutting Room Floor Podcast, he suggests time is running out for empires built on brute force and says there’s still hope despite dreadful on-going global conflicts ravaging regions like Congo and Sudan. He concludes with the line: ‘Through the demise my heart is still alive. It looks awful outside but it’s still worth a try.’ As usual, artists have a way with with words. Listen to his and let us know if you agree.
The reason to deliberately do hard things is so that when non-self-elected challenges arrive (& they will), you can tell yourself: “I don’t know how this is all going to turn out, but I am certain I can do hard things.” Don’t self injure. But doing hard things is always worthwhile.