Of all the phrases out there, one of the ones I don’t like relating to is “the struggle is real.” There are a lot of people who are barely getting by and have just enough. I don’t want to continue being one of those people. I want overflow! But then again, no one wants to be struggling in any way. This blog isn’t for the ones who are going through, this one is for the ones who are doing well. The ones who aren’t struggling financially and don’t feel bad about it because their friends are not there yet. It’s okay to be happy for yourself. They don’t know what you’ve had to sacrifice, and if they do, they should definitely be on board to congratulate you.
The Bishop at my church preached on how you shouldn’t apologize for your success. Let me tell you, it may sound weird that I would have to remind people of that, but the world we live in will do anything to bring your spirits down. People will try to make you feel bad for actually working your butt off, struggling for years, going to school, working late hours, and then you come up. Crazy, huh? You did what you were supposed to do, but there’s that group of people who have to say something negative. They say things like you think you’re better than us, you’re acting stuck up, why are you moving from the hood. You start to feel some kind of way for doing well for yourself because these crazies want you to stay down like them. No ma’am and no sir!
The funny, yet not so funny, thing is that it’s people who you’ve known for a long time. Your family will say you think you’re a big shot because you worked overtime to get that expensive new car. Your friends will say you think you’re so smart because you went back to school to get that degree. Tell them you are a big shot and you are smart, respectfully. (Yeah the respectfully part may be the hard part depending on who you talk to.) If you had the guts to go beyond the mediocrity, live in it. Why should you have any shame for doing what we’re all supposed to do? Don’t be a snob about it, but enjoy the fruits of your labor. Them being haters is like them saying buy the big house, but stay in the crappy apartment because it’s close to us. Eventually you should want bigger and better, and if they aren’t congratulating you, they are Hating. You know what they say about haters: Haters gone hate. Oh well…enjoy your new house, new car, new business, new degree, new baby, new spouse, new job, etc. You can’t please everybody. Be Sweet.
Be Sweet 