We welcome back you readers to another great double dose edition of the one and only The Beat Within. Yes, people, this week, you guys are privy to some great writing from our contributors young and OG’s, and you won’t be disappointed.
It’s OT again giving you guys the message of the day, message of the week or message of the month. Once again, I’m going to give you my perspective on the slew of our writing topics.
First off, by the time this publication reaches your hand it will be close to Halloween. Many of us grew up, trick-O-treating, and participating in school functions, making our parents buy us our favorite costumes, just for show, just for treats, or just for the fun!
Many of you, mostly young people, will be disappointed of missing maybe your first Halloween, second, third, fourth or maybe you don’t even celebrate Halloween. Maybe you’re already thinking about the upcoming Holidays that you might have to miss, like more important ones, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Your mom and dad’s birthday.
I vividly remember spending all those birthdays locked up, and I never did care about my birthday. I cared about my grandma’s birthday, my sister’s birthday, my niece’s birthday, my daughters’ birthday. I spent a few years in juvenile hall, got out, and everything that I had spent twenty hours a day thinking about in my cell (family, changing my ways, being a better person, etc) didn’t even cross my mind. I went straight back to the streets turned up.
What a hypocrite I was. I spent years yearning for freedom and went out and jeopardized it every single day and every chance I got, once I was out free. Yeah, I got a job, tried to comply with the rules of probation, but I thought I was slick. I thought I was getting over, and fooling everybody, when in reality I was only fooling myself
When you live the fast life, you make fast decisions, and most of the time, those decisions are not good for you, your loved ones, or for anyone at that. I was in the fast lane, all gas no brakes, living life, with one mentality, I didn’t give a bleep.
I wanted to ride. I wanted to be loyal to my soil, put in the work. I had a good heart, helping a lot of homies, friends, neighbors along the way, but I wasn’t helping myself. My heart was in the right and wrong place. Because, truth has it, that there is a saying that’s very true, “if you can’t love yourself, how can you love anyone else.”
I say that to say this: when you are in a relationship with your partner, whether that be your girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, wife, etc, that’s something that’s said in every love song, and it’s advice given and passed down from others who have committed the same mistakes, “You can’t love someone else, until you learn to love yourself.”
So let me put it to you like this. How can you love your hood, if you can’t even love yourself? Even till this day, some of you may or may not agree, but it’s easy to give others advice and solve everyone’s problems but your own.
Everything in life is a working relationship. It’s a relationship that you have to value and take care of. Whether that relationship is with your dad, mom, uncle, friends, teacher, mentor, coach, it’s a two-way street. We all love the people that show us love back, it’s only correct, right?
The moment that person, says, or does something that you don’t approve of, we automatically say, “That’s fake. He’s fake. She’s fake.”
Cancel culture however you want to call it. To me it’s just not taking ownership nor holding yourselves accountable to the higher standards that those that love you see in you, when you don’t see it in yourselves.
You can be mad at your coach, when he cusses the crap out of you for a mistake that you made, and get all in your feelings, and completely miss the lesson that he/she is trying to teach you. Why?
Because we are all so self-absorbent thinking that we are perfect and don’t need anyone to tell us shhh. News flash though people, even famous actors have to follow orders from the Director of the movie, and the Director followers orders from the Producer. Even the best athletes in the world, have coaches in which they have to follow a game plan, so the team can get a win.
These are different times people. I know it’s hard being a teen. Trust me, I’m thirty nine years old, but at one point I was a teen. I’ve felt the peer pressure in real life, in real time and I still feel the pressure. I have to compete against those that believe the fake shhh and try to teach my loved ones the truth.
I know that social media has allowed for people to open their mouths when in fact they don’t really need to. So many people now have an input on what you do, what you say, how you dress, what is cool, what you should do, and disregard the basic principles and values of life, like doing what’s right, as opposed to doing what’s wrong.
I see this everyday, how people talk out there behind like Jim Carey in the Movie Pet Detective. (Check that movie out by the way). We all love a good talk. A lot of people like a good talker. Good talkers seem like confident, and smooth individuals projecting that what they say is really what should be trending.
First off, I’m a leader. I don’t follow nobody. Second of all, I’m not trying to convince anybody to follow me either. If you roll with me you know you rock with me because I have a good heart and my words don’t speak for me, my actions will, not no tweet, not no social media post, not no freaking hash-tag.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but I’m not campaigning against anyone using their God given right to speak their mind. But here’s the deal people. It has become cool to shun people because they are different. Bullying has taken a whole different meaning and people follow the crowd, when following the crowd is not necessarily the right thing to do.
You guys are the future. Many people want to see change, but talking about change, and complaining and tweeting, is not going to solve your problems, your family’s problems, or anyone’s problems at that. We’ve all become experts at yapping our gums, and really not doing shhh about what we actually should be doing.
So, I invite you to take a moment to look at yourself, and not necessarily in the mirror. In the mirror you don’t see nothing but your beautiful face, your mustache, and your pimples.
I see people spend hours at the gym working out, and working on their physique, but where are the hours you need to put in to build yourself into a better person, into a humble person? Into a person with values, morals and principals? That takes hours ladies and gentlemen. It takes weeks, months, years because it’s a never ending process.
Physical appearance is not the most important thing. Your health is, but not just your physical health is, so is your mental health and spiritual health as well. Your physical training may make your biceps bigger, your chest bigger, but what’s going to make your heart, your sincerity, your integrity, and your values in life bigger? Who? What?
Who’s going to challenge you to be the best version of yourself? If you’re waiting on someone else to do it, don’t wait. Be your worst critic, in all aspects of what you do.
Listen to those who correct your mistakes and try to teach you valuable lessons in life. Spend just as much time as you do trying to get physically fit, and get your mind right, and get mentally and spiritually fit. We are all going through the struggle. You’ve only got limited choices. What will you do to make life easier for you, your loved ones, for your community and the rest of the world? Stop looking in the mirror and start looking at what’s inside your heart. I leave you with those important words. That’s real game.
I now step aside and exit with the utmost love and respect for each and every single one of you. OT is signing out with all the love in the world!