Editorial: Your growth shouldn’t be defined by someone else

What is growth? What does it mean when you are trying to make a positive change in your life?

We all have the issue of wanting to discover who we truly are. We want to harbor that feeling as it makes us feel good. This is a natural feeling as many of us have faced obstacles that prevented us from truly feeling this way.

In life, your growth determines if you stay in park or if you drive. You can remain stationary listening to your music, taking a nap, or talking on your cell phone if you’re completely comfortable with it. The problem is while you are content with that environment, you are going nowhere.

Now, when you drive you have endless possibilities to explore what the world has for you. You will get to see new things and allow your mind to grow. In many communities, we want to keep it real and stay true to who we are.

As I have gotten older, I realized that ‘keeping it real’ is about as stupid as going out in the middle of a lightning storm with all of your jewelry on. When we ‘keep it real’, we are only enhancing the egos of others who were not good enough to better themselves. They did not put in the work and could not conquer obstacles they faced. When you classify yourself as one of them, you are just asking for a catastrophe to take place.

Your growth should never be defined by anyone else. It should be determined by you and what you want out of life for the better. Growth is when you see bad things happening and you want to end that cycle. If you repeat that cycle, who else can you blame other than yourself?

Growth is becoming better in every way possible. Staying put and keeping the same bad habits is the antithesis of growth. Make a positive change today and embrace growth.