Tuesday August 9th was my birthday. Each year as I get closer to 30, my mind always looks back to when I was 18. Freshwoman year of college, I thought I literally had everything under control. Boy was I wrong. Almost 10 years later. I sit and reflect about all the things I had planned on doing by now.
1. Graduate Degree…. Not CLOSE and not in the immediate future
2. Married… no where near it.. cause I’m Super Duper Single..
3. Living in a house that I own… Close but not close enough..
4. Driving a Luxury Vehicle…. umm yeah about that.. lol long story
5. Making over $70k… lol.. what was I thinking..
I may not like that I don’t make a lot of money, but the fact that I do something I love keeps me happy. Although I have to work 1000 other jobs and hustles to make my standard of living. I am assured that one day God will grant me with a career that I love and get paid well to do it. Once upon a time I did make a substantial amount of money and HATED my job. So while I love my job I won’t complain until it is time for me to move on.
Being single doesn’t bother me much either because for once I’ve learned to be alone and love it. I take myself out alone all the time and it has shown me that I can be alone and LOVE it!
What bothers me out of the entire goals by 30 list is the “what if’s” What if I had stayed with him? What if I had fought for once in my life? What if I had went straight to graduate school in the middle of this economic depression? What if I would have stayed in NC? What if I had never accepted my calling?
I remember I met someone 2 years ago almost to the week. It happened so fast. My mom told me it was moving to fast, but me being the lover that I am, I didn’t listen. Maybe because I saw him being a different breed of man. #1 he persued me. I invited everyone to come to church for my birthday that year and although he had only known me through mutual friends and social networks. He came to church, he came to my birthday parties that year. I even caught myself being googly eyed about him and I barely knew him. We started a serious relationship immediately after my birthday. For the 1st time I had someone who I thought loved me flaws and all, then everything came crashing down, what he wanted (namely kids) I wasn’t sure I wanted. Maybe I should have just kept my mouth closed and not have been so opinionated about things, but being the Leo that I am I always had to let everything be known.
You see, as as I get older I realize that there aren’t many times in life you really fall in love. I’m the type that if someone does me wrong I drop them and never look back. Just ask my college boyfriend. lol I’ve only been in love with 2 people in my lifetime. We will call my 2nd love. Purple. Please don’t expect this to be a comparison of my 2 loves. Both are drastically different.
But Purple, he had me at hello. Literally. I never knew he paid that much attention to me and as time went on, I found out that we had much more in common than I cared to recognized. The one thing I loved about Purple more than anything was that he was supportive of me, that he was kind to me, that I would literally rush home, so that we could be together that night. It was the type of love I yearned for in my life. The type of love that we all wish we could have in our life time.
To this day I still love him. Even though the whole “in love” and “love” come up often in my thoughts of him because face it, we don’t just stop loving someone after we break up with the. But, Sometimes I wonder if we can ever get that love back, that love that we first have with someone. That love that makes you weak and that makes you wear something special because you know they will be there, that makes you skip hanging out with your girls, to spend time with them. The love you tell all of your friends about. The love that Years later, the only man you even talk about to them is him lol.
It’s hilarious but with each year, I wonder over and over, was he my “great love” ? Maybe I’m just naive to think that after all this time, I could still love him and he could still love me. I’ve learned to be able to express my emotions and feelings over the past few years. Before I would just bottle them up and not express them until I just blew up..
But now as each birthday passes I realize how very fragile I am. How constantly getting rejected and ignored by the one person you thought cared about you can do to your already weak spirit. Advice to my sistahs: love yourself enough to know when to move on. Love yourself enough to love someone. Love yourself enough to recognize when someone is using you and love yourself enough to know that you are a rare gem! God loves you and no one defines your worth, not a man, not a family member, not even your net worth.
Lauren Hill said it best when she said “I loved real, real hard once, but the love wasn’t returned. Found out the man I’d die for wasn’t even concerned. “
I wish that I could get those days back and cherish them more. But I know its all a part of God’s bigger plan. With each passing year, I know that God has something bigger and greater in store for me. With expanding my ministry and various businesses. With getting married to the man of my dreams, with having a kid or two. living in a house that I own and making above and beyond the amount of income I had planned to make.
I’ve learned that my mistakes make me human. That my prayers keep me going and that my family keeps me grounded. I’ve learned that although you may love someone, they may never forgive you and may never allow you to love them because they have no clue what it really means to be loved. I’ve learned that true love always returns if its supposed to and that the person God has ordained for me to be with, is waiting for me just as I am waiting for him. I’ve realized that being away from people makes it so much easier to think clearly.
The most important thing I have learned is that although I am single, I am never alone. I’ve learn to TRUST God for big things even when they seem so far away! God has set me apart for a reason. I’m rare because God wants me to be that way. I pray that everything I do uplift the Kingdom of God in a special way. A delay is not a denial!
Proverbs 3:5- “Trust the Lord, with all your heart and Lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and He will direct your paths”
Lord I will trust you.. Thank you
After All that I have been through, I still have JOY! This joy I have, the world didn’t give it to me and the World can NEVER take it away!