Some of them
Wanna break you down
Steal your crown
Use and abuse you
It's been a while since my last blog post and that's because life can get on top of you when you're not looking. The last time I wrote a blog post, I wasn't about to finish up at my current job and preparing to move on to the next new challenge. I wasn't intending to leave but sometimes life throws you opportunities that you can't pass up. You need to know when it is time to move on because your patience will run out or you do. How have you been dealing when people try to break you down? You can only stand enough abuse before you realise that you no longer need to sit at that table anymore.
Some of them
Smile in your face
'Cause they heard it someplace
You got more than they're used to
How many smiling assassins do you know? Would you rather someone was nasty to your face or behind your back? The more you are willing to be real with yourself and confront issues that only you can face, only then will you be able to continue to smile at yourself in the mirror. People will think that you don't deserve certain things in life, but who are they to say what you do and don't deserve? They rely on gossip and second-hand information that says more about them than it does about you. Nobody knows the path you tread, nobody knows what you have experienced that has lead you to this place.
Some of them
Want to steal your love
Oh, 'cause they're jealous of
How you're living and giving
Are you prepared to protect your love? In the past, you might have given it too freely and been so nonchalant about whether it gets returned, reciprocated or celebrated with you. If you have been one to give your love freely because you give love until you bleed, it is no wonder that people beat the path to your door to have what you are sharing so readily. Maybe you're not even aware that you're loving so freely, that only until you're almost left at death's door do you realise that it is time to adjust how you love. So you protect yourself fiercely and hope that despite their jealousy - because they want your love and don't tell you? Let them keep their jealousy. You've got more living and giving to do.
Movin' forward
Pressin' onward, strivin' further
(I keep)
Keep on laughin'
Keep on livin', keep on lovin' yeah
(I keep)
When you are so far on your journey, it is almost a pity to give up. You need to stay focused and dig deep into that steely determination that you once mastered so easily, came so naturally in your youth, back in a time when you were so adamant in your convictions, so unwise to the world and all its cynicism. Continue to press forward, onward, strive further, because you've done too much to turn back now. You need to learn to laugh again and remember how laughter warms your insides, brings you joy that feels so light and simple, but you had forgotten because you were instead becoming accustomed to people wanting to steal that too. Isn't it enough that they try to own your intellectual property? Keep on livin' and lovin' despite all that people try to do to take it all away.
Keep on dreamin'
Keep on achievin', keep on believin'
(I keep)
I keep smilin' when I come through
And I cry when I need to
When was the last time that you paid attention to your dreams? We sometimes get distracted with the things that steal our joy, things that make us responsible adults and tell us to lead boring lives and conform. What are you hoping to achieve with your gifts and talents? What do you believe whole-heartedly with all that is within you? There might be times, even a season where you are crying more than you are smiling. Keep your head up. This season will soon pass and we need to remember that crying is not only cathartic, but it is also a necessary tool for us to use to release some of the pressure that builds up when we are not careful. Cry and come through. Smile and come through.
Some of them
Oh, they stab you
In your back
'Cause it's love they lack
When others lack the love and stab you instead, it's not even about you.
Most of the time when you are hurt by people, it is because they have been hurt by someone else. Have you confronted someone who has stabbed you in the back? You learn to discern, don't you? You learn to appreciate when to fight those battles and confront people that you know need to be confronted because you are sick and tired of people thinking that you are a doormat that has no feelings or has some semblance of dignity. Just because you are super efficient and can process things quickly, doesn't make you a machine, it just makes you bored with people who don't know the difference.
Some of them
Won't even try to see
The good inside
But I
It is so easy to make snap judgements and not realise how much someone is going through because you only see what's on the surface. What if someone is just really good at soaking pressure? Not because they wanted to be strong, but because they have had to be? What if someone was able to take it all on board, not because they were just built that way and they are just talented like that, but because they can carry all of that pain and suffering longer than others could bear to do? It doesn't make you stronger, it makes you more resilient - despite the pain. Do you see the good inside even when all you're told is bad? I've been doing work in prisons at the moment and I have really enjoyed being able to connect with the inmates and listen to their aspirations for life on the outside. Hearing their stories makes me think about not taking things for granted and doing everything I can for the greater good.
Movin' forward
Pressin' onward, strivin' further
(I keep)
Keep on laughin'
Keep on livin', keep on lovin' yeah
(I keep)
I hope that whatever challenges or obstacles that you are facing in life, that you face them head-on. It may be hard sometimes to recognise that we need to figure out how to wear our own accountability, but once we do that, we can start to see that we hold ourselves to higher self-expectations. We start to remember how highly we held ourselves to our purpose and mission. The things that we had forgotten from our youth, from a time when I think I knew myself the best - before all of the distractions hit, before all of the sacrifices needed to be made, before seeing #familyovereveything #FOE peppered all over social media and laughing because people don't even know what they're saying, should come and talk to me about what those hashtags mean. Everything that could possibly be taken away, there are things that I will hold tight to, there are things that I will never relinquish - how I laugh, how I live and how I love. Those things I keep. . .
Wanna break you down
Steal your crown
Use and abuse you
It's been a while since my last blog post and that's because life can get on top of you when you're not looking. The last time I wrote a blog post, I wasn't about to finish up at my current job and preparing to move on to the next new challenge. I wasn't intending to leave but sometimes life throws you opportunities that you can't pass up. You need to know when it is time to move on because your patience will run out or you do. How have you been dealing when people try to break you down? You can only stand enough abuse before you realise that you no longer need to sit at that table anymore.
Some of them
Smile in your face
'Cause they heard it someplace
You got more than they're used to
How many smiling assassins do you know? Would you rather someone was nasty to your face or behind your back? The more you are willing to be real with yourself and confront issues that only you can face, only then will you be able to continue to smile at yourself in the mirror. People will think that you don't deserve certain things in life, but who are they to say what you do and don't deserve? They rely on gossip and second-hand information that says more about them than it does about you. Nobody knows the path you tread, nobody knows what you have experienced that has lead you to this place.
Some of them
Want to steal your love
Oh, 'cause they're jealous of
How you're living and giving
Are you prepared to protect your love? In the past, you might have given it too freely and been so nonchalant about whether it gets returned, reciprocated or celebrated with you. If you have been one to give your love freely because you give love until you bleed, it is no wonder that people beat the path to your door to have what you are sharing so readily. Maybe you're not even aware that you're loving so freely, that only until you're almost left at death's door do you realise that it is time to adjust how you love. So you protect yourself fiercely and hope that despite their jealousy - because they want your love and don't tell you? Let them keep their jealousy. You've got more living and giving to do.
Movin' forward
Pressin' onward, strivin' further
(I keep)
Keep on laughin'
Keep on livin', keep on lovin' yeah
(I keep)
When you are so far on your journey, it is almost a pity to give up. You need to stay focused and dig deep into that steely determination that you once mastered so easily, came so naturally in your youth, back in a time when you were so adamant in your convictions, so unwise to the world and all its cynicism. Continue to press forward, onward, strive further, because you've done too much to turn back now. You need to learn to laugh again and remember how laughter warms your insides, brings you joy that feels so light and simple, but you had forgotten because you were instead becoming accustomed to people wanting to steal that too. Isn't it enough that they try to own your intellectual property? Keep on livin' and lovin' despite all that people try to do to take it all away.
Keep on dreamin'
Keep on achievin', keep on believin'
(I keep)
I keep smilin' when I come through
And I cry when I need to
When was the last time that you paid attention to your dreams? We sometimes get distracted with the things that steal our joy, things that make us responsible adults and tell us to lead boring lives and conform. What are you hoping to achieve with your gifts and talents? What do you believe whole-heartedly with all that is within you? There might be times, even a season where you are crying more than you are smiling. Keep your head up. This season will soon pass and we need to remember that crying is not only cathartic, but it is also a necessary tool for us to use to release some of the pressure that builds up when we are not careful. Cry and come through. Smile and come through.
Some of them
Oh, they stab you
In your back
'Cause it's love they lack
When others lack the love and stab you instead, it's not even about you.
Most of the time when you are hurt by people, it is because they have been hurt by someone else. Have you confronted someone who has stabbed you in the back? You learn to discern, don't you? You learn to appreciate when to fight those battles and confront people that you know need to be confronted because you are sick and tired of people thinking that you are a doormat that has no feelings or has some semblance of dignity. Just because you are super efficient and can process things quickly, doesn't make you a machine, it just makes you bored with people who don't know the difference.
Some of them
Won't even try to see
The good inside
But I
It is so easy to make snap judgements and not realise how much someone is going through because you only see what's on the surface. What if someone is just really good at soaking pressure? Not because they wanted to be strong, but because they have had to be? What if someone was able to take it all on board, not because they were just built that way and they are just talented like that, but because they can carry all of that pain and suffering longer than others could bear to do? It doesn't make you stronger, it makes you more resilient - despite the pain. Do you see the good inside even when all you're told is bad? I've been doing work in prisons at the moment and I have really enjoyed being able to connect with the inmates and listen to their aspirations for life on the outside. Hearing their stories makes me think about not taking things for granted and doing everything I can for the greater good.
Movin' forward
Pressin' onward, strivin' further
(I keep)
Keep on laughin'
Keep on livin', keep on lovin' yeah
(I keep)
I hope that whatever challenges or obstacles that you are facing in life, that you face them head-on. It may be hard sometimes to recognise that we need to figure out how to wear our own accountability, but once we do that, we can start to see that we hold ourselves to higher self-expectations. We start to remember how highly we held ourselves to our purpose and mission. The things that we had forgotten from our youth, from a time when I think I knew myself the best - before all of the distractions hit, before all of the sacrifices needed to be made, before seeing #familyovereveything #FOE peppered all over social media and laughing because people don't even know what they're saying, should come and talk to me about what those hashtags mean. Everything that could possibly be taken away, there are things that I will hold tight to, there are things that I will never relinquish - how I laugh, how I live and how I love. Those things I keep. . .