Fighting, Feeding and Growing

When the fighters are all around
All the lovers are underground
No one will save you anymore
So what’s happenin, what you rappin about let’s see boy
Is it cars, is it girls, is it money, the world?
Fighters by Lupe Fiasco

While speaking to a young woman today about where she was going in life, what she saw in her future, I found myself trying my damnedest to encourage her, to get her to see what I saw in her. She spoke about some of the people who were in her life and some of the things she was being shown and how the two didn’t coincide. I agreed with her wholeheartedly. Sometimes, the people in our life right now can not exist in the same space with some of our dreams, goals and destinies. It’s hard to comprehend that these people won’t be around forever sometimes because some of these people have been around our entire lives. Some of these people have been in our lives for a less time, but are still just as hard to imagine life without them.

In any event, the question is - are you willing to fight for your dream? Are you willing to fight to get where you want to be, where you can already see yourself clearly? I’m a believer that the enemy dispatches his soldiers to keep us in the same places we’ve always been. To keep us in the same mindset, to keep us around the same people, to keep us in the same places mentally, physically and financially. The problem is that as long as we’re hanging around the same people, in the same places we’ve always been, we can’t see that we aren’t growing. Anything not growing is dead. No doubt about it, no questions asked – just dead.

So how do I keep from dying? How do I stay alive? The good news is there is in fact a way. However, there’s only one way to stay alive – and that’s to GROW!

Well how exactly do I do that? I’ve heard that faith as small as a mustard seed is enough to cause a change. This is true. However, you must water that seed in order for it to grow, in order to get to the next stage of life. If you only have mustard seed faith and never water it, all you’ll ever have is a seed. You’ll never get anything worth something from it. Can you imagine having a pocketful of seeds, but never watering them? How would you get the “fruit” or the produce from them? If your children were hungry, and you had a pocket full of seeds, would you water them or would you let them starve? That’s how faith is…if you plan to get “fed” from that faith, you have to water it. Eventually that small seed will grow and becomes as large as some of the largest trees around. So in a personal sense, what is the water? How can I water my seed?

Your “water” can be anything that causes you to become better, anything that causes you to do more, anything that causes you to grow. Now I’m not going to lie, growing is uncomfortable and sometimes even painful. It takes determination and most importantly a fighter spirit. Or as my Pastor says a pit bull mentality. If you’ve ever seen a pit bull attack something, once they get a hold to it, their jaws lock and won’t let go for anything. If a pit bull ever gets a hold of you, its jaws will have to literally be pried apart because no matter what, nothing is making that pit bull let go of its hold on you. If you plan to accomplish your dreams and goals in life, that’s exactly how you have to be about holding onto them. You have to be willing to grab a hold of them and not let anyone or anything force you to let go. You have to get to the point where you are going to fight to the death to accomplish what you’ve set out to do. When I say fight, I mean fight so hard that those watching you are encouraged to the point that they want to help you fight. That’s how you have to fight for your own growth. Why? Because in all honesty, this is all about survival. If this is truly your destiny, that means this is something you’ve been put here on this earth to accomplish. That means if you aren’t doing it, it’s not being done and there are a whole host of people going without and essentially dying - all because you aren’t living and walking in your purpose and destiny. Now back to the water analogy – how do you water your seed?

For me, searching the web is my water. I research the different questions I have during the day – about career choices, about questions others have had, whatever. Talking to others about not only their goals and dreams, but about my own causes me to grow. I assist others and in the same breath, they are assisting me as well. The music I listen to is my water. When I tell people that I only listen to music that makes me feel good, they limit me to gospel. Don’t get me wrong; I love Tye Tribbett and Kirk Franklin just as much as the next person. But Jill Scott, Black Star, Lupe, and Outkast are also some of the artists that encourage me.

You see your “water” doesn’t only have to relate to church or gospel music. Yes, I try to feed myself with the Word of God as well. One thing to stay mindful of is that no matter what you “eat” you are in fact feeding yourself. Whether you choose to eat grease (which causes heart attacks and decreases your energy) or something healthy like leafy green vegetables (which boost your energy and assists toxins to exit your digestive system) you ARE in fact feeding yourself.

So the question is, WHAT are you feeding yourself? Are you pursuing a dream worth fighting for? Are you watering that seed and seeing GROWTH as a result?