Twists & Turns

Recently my life has truly been a rollercoaster. I mean most sane people would be hanging on for dear life at this point, but I know that all I can do is continue to pray for endurance and do my part. God has really been showing me that he is in control of everything in my life, from me losing my job, things happening in my personal life, to getting into grad school. Whether positive or negative everything is all in His hands. Our job is to prepare and endure the storm. Whatever the situation is there is always a lesson to be learned, and that lesson may not always come quickly. Sometimes those lessons are hard and uncomfortable for us, but that's what makes us remember when our egos get big again and think we are in control! He knows the way and he knows what's best. My best advice for anyone going thru these twists and turns is to pray for discernment and revelation. Pray to be able to discern the good form bad in your life, God gives us free will and he wants to take care of us but we have to follow his ways and his path in order to receive those blessings. Pray for revelation if you are unsure or uncertain about something, he will show you! But I always say and have to remind myself that you have to be ready to see it. If you are not ready to see what He is showing you then it won't benefit you, believe what He is showing you and don’t second guess it. I recently created a vision board with all of my goals and photos of accomplishments that I want to achieve on it. In the middle I wrote, "God" because I want to keep him at the center of my life. Under that I made a daily affirmation for myself, I wrote: "I am_______" every day I change what I want to be that day (you are what you think). So some days I put; I am worthy, etc. It helps me keep my inner thoughts and goals in front of me. I say all this to say that life is full of twists and turns some will be bad and others wonderful. We can’t choose those things. What we can choose is how we deal with them and who/what we turn to in those times. Stay blessed. 

"Some people feel the rain, others get wet." - Anais Nin

Shame On Us! - Gabrielle Douglas

As many little girls jumped up and down and screamed with glee on August 2, 2012 at the sight of Gabby Douglas, many grown women took to Facebook and Twitter to complain about Gabby Douglas’s hair. I am almost ashamed to say that the majority of the women that I personally saw criticizing Douglas’s tresses were fellow black women.  If you are/were one of them, shame on you.

Gabrielle Douglas for anyone who does not know is now the 2012 individual all-around gold medal Olympic champion!!! This young lady is amazing!!! She is the definition of an inspiration, I am 25 years old and I can say that I look up to Gabby. That night which should have been a unifying and proud moment for most African-Americans, instead quickly turned into a “black hair” discussion. Now I am not sure if I am more upset that these were other black women or that this topic is still an issue.

Let me address the people (especially the sistas) who criticized Douglas’s hair. First of all, these are the Olympics, not the Miss. America pageant! This is a sporting event where young men and women are judged on their athletic ability, not their wardrobe (in this case) or their makeup, and certainly not their hair! Gabby Douglas went out there in that Olympic arena and gave the performance of her life. She was sweating, her heart was pounding, and she was thriving!! To say the least her hair got “messed up”. Why is that such a big deal in our community!?  As a woman, yet alone a black woman, you should understand this point (and if not maybe you should consider doing some sort of physical exercise yourself). This girl is 16 years old; she was concerned with her performance not what type of hair do she was sporting. I find it so disheartening that other black women and girls could be so cruel especially since most of us have had a bad experience with this topic.

Secondly, the fact that this whole “good” hair “bad” hair topic is still an issue really makes me nuts! I get it, to have more European features (including) hair is usually considered “good”, but how long are we going to hold onto that? It’s time to move on and let it go. I’m sure most would say what do I know, and honestly I know a lot. Growing up I was too black for the whites and too white for the blacks, I am not complaining just stating that for the record I understand the torment of not fitting in. My people and others, we have to let this issue go. All of our hair is different, our skin is different, our eyes and the list goes on.

Please let Ms. Douglas delight in this moment and be proud of her accomplishments as the first African-American in Olympic history to become the individual all-around champion, as well as the first American gymnast to win gold in both the individual all-around and team competitions at the same Olympics. Hair is the least of our issues; please let’s start acting like it.

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