I felt inspired by Jade’s last post to write something that felt more personal or that really helped me develop into the man I am today. This post is not meant to offend or poke holes, just to express how I feel, at this point in my life.
I grew up religious; church on Sundays, bible study on Wednesdays, sometimes even events on Thursdays. I’ve been to mega churches, I’ve been to traveling churches, I’ve even been to historically black churches where Martin Luther King Jr. preached. I think I say that to qualify that I am no longer religious and closer to agnostic (I’m not sure I even know how to use that word correctly anymore). Both my parents still go to church regularly and I still find benefit in religion.
I came to the realization, as a child, that praying was really just talking to yourself. And I saw religion as a way create a framework in which to answer the questions you would inevitably ask. Teaching you a “good” consciousness to mediate your impulsive human ideas i.e. The 10 Commandments. I think it is logical to conclude that you shouldn’t kill or hurt people, but to root it in religion is to ground it to something higher than one’s self, giving it an even deeper meaning than the obvious.
I say all of that to get to my ultimate point. That is that I believe everyone is the god of their own universe. When you pray or meditate or daydream, you are talking to yourself. The same way that only you can tell the future, and that is by speaking it into existence. Not literally, like in the bible. But if I say I want to do stand-up comedy, only I have the control to either will it to be or not. I think a better example is the phrase, “Where there’s a Will, there’s a Way”. Everyone has heard a story of someone coming out of poverty to change their conditions, and is now successful. Whether it was hanging out with a different group of friends, waking up early to study or go workout, or working 4 jobs to make ends meet. They found a way. God sacrificed his only son, so that we may prosper. So many times, you hear people say they don’t have time or are too tired. As God of your own universe, you may have to sacrifice sleep to get to where you want, sometimes you might have to sacrifice friends, or sacrifice certain foods, or whatever, but that control lies within you. What I mean by the title, is that you have control over ‘almost everything” in your life (I’m sorry Trump got elected lol). From the relationships YOU tolerate, to the food YOU eat, to the way YOU look, to where YOU are in life.
I realized this young, but it took me a while to learn how to practice this in my own life. It was empowering to know that the only thing between me and my goals is my will and my willingness to make the necessary sacrifices to get there.
I want to give a huge thanks to Jade, who inspires me to stay focused on my goals and shines as a Tru example that “You are the God of your own universe!”
The Relatables 