Hey y, you all! Happy New! Welcome to my blog post on leaving the past behind me to be the best I can be. I know it’s a bit cliche to talk about leaving the past behind you and the beginning of the year. But this is what was on my mind.
Let’s get into this because I only have about 20 mins to write this.
So, for a few years now, I have been working on being the best version of myself. I went down this road of spirituality. The idea is to be the version of me. I didn’t realize that I would have to let go of the old me. That’s a lot harder than I expected. I soon figured out that some of my habits were working against me. So, I slowly started to make changes.
Changing my habits isn’t easy, and I often would find myself returning to my old ways. After researching how to reprogram my thinking, I decided to incorporate reading books on habits. In addition to reading self-help books, I watch a ton of YouTube videos on self-improvement.
All the self-help books I read or listened to on Audible mostly had the same message. They said to try to be better daily, surround yourself with like-minded people, and give yourself grace through the process. Sounds simple, huh?
Once I understood the assignment, I stopped reading self-help books and started reading books that aligned with my spirit. This book consisted of Sacred Women by Queen Afua and The Healing Power of African American Spirituality, to name a few. These books inspired me to be the goddess I was created to be.
I would spend hours and hours a day just listening to these books. The more I listened, the more I became enlightened. After reading this book, I felt lighter. It was almost like I would have been striving to receive the needed food finally.
There was only one thing that I didn’t like about becoming the best me. It was once you learn something, you can’t unlearn it.
Things changed once I started telling myself I was the highest version of myself instead of wanting to be the highest.
I started seeing other people differently. It didn’t take long for me to start losing friends, and I soon became a loner. I honestly didn’t mind being a loner because I was sad and alone. I was learning who the true Keioffa was.
After a while of being to myself, I realized I had to engage with people to grow.
One day, I decided to revisit a friendship I had already decided wasn’t for me. Everything was going well for months. I continued to work on myself by listening to African American spirituality and self-help books. But I still allowed my old habits to creep back in.
I allowed the habits I wanted to change to continue leading the show. This was a mistake.
I remembered reading a book that said to give yourself grace through this process. Allowing myself room to grow didn’t come easy. I would get frustrated with falling back into old ways that no longer served. Then, one day, I asked myself, what would you say or do if you were your parent? hummm. I had thought of it like that before.
As parents, we allow our kids the room to grow while guiding them. We also show our kids love and compassion when something goes wrong. That day, I decided I would be the mom and dad I needed to grow into the best Keioffa I could be.
Soon after, I started noticing things about people I did not like. Sometimes, I couldn’t put my finger on how I didn’t like what I was seeing, but I knew I wouldn’t say I liked how I felt after speaking to them.
And just like that, I decided those people would no longer have access to me. I knew that I would have to find my tribe. But I didn’t know how to find them. I need to surround myself with peopwhohat will uplift, empower, and inspire me.
As the new year rolled in, I did a little reflecting. I will no longer allow people to return to my life after I have decided that person doesn’t have my best interest in mind. I will give myself grace and compassion as a parent would a child.
Feel free to comment if you can relate to any of what I just said. Also, if you want to come along on my life journey, check out Keioffa.com/blog. Thank you for your time. I’ll see you in the post.