The Show Goes On

All right, already the show goes on
All night till the morning we dream so long
Anybody ever wonder when they would see the sun up
Just remember when you come up
The show goes on.
“The Show Goes On”- Lupe Fiasco

Greetings family! I come to you dazed and consumed attempting to process the craziness that is my life. When I got up this morning to write this post I had a clear vision of what I would write about as I came up with the idea while on vacation. Since I’ve been up, had a protein shake, checked my overnight email, and came up with a loose agenda for today, that plan has changed and now my mind is racing. I desperately need it to slow down so I can process and digest what’s going on to make it make sense to me and whoever decides to read this.

I often speak on overcoming obstacles and challenges in life and how they are a necessary evil for growth. Look at the world around you in the form of plants, animals and people and that maxim “without struggle there can be no growth” is proven every day. However, despite the need for adversity to develop character it’s still an unwanted occurrence. Kind of like your mom licking her finger before she wipes an eye booger off your face or you having to take the God awful SAT or ACT; necessary evils.

The ability to power through a momentum shift is something very few of us are born with but something every one of us can acquire over time. It’s acquired through patience, humility and focus. I had someone the other day question my blog posts. In their humble opinion they felt as though I shared my life with the world (or at least those in the world who have the link) because I needed to be validated, to show off and that there was no reason to share every dark and dirty secret in my life. I was a little floored by this statement because this person, as well as anyone who knows me very well, knows that I am a very private person. If I shared every dark and dirty secret there would be a lot more people angry with me and perhaps a federal investigation into my unhealthy relationship with TSA. This blog is the result of the insistence of a couple of dear friends and my realization that I’m a much better person when I write as opposed to keeping everything bottled up inside like I normally do. A year later, they were right. I’m in a MUCH better place for having started writing this blog and I’m encouraged to write more and more often because of the comments and well wishes from some of you who read it.

Furthermore, I don’t need to be validated by anyone who isn’t in my circle. I could care less about what people have to say about me, my clothes, my shoes, my life. I’ve always moved to the beat of my own drum and often times that drum pattern is one I didn’t learn in music class but one I made up myself. While in many ways my life, career choices and style of dress suggest that I’m a conformist. Ask my closest friends and family members and they’ll definitely tell you I’m more like Kanye than I am Colin Powell. Not saying that I don’t adhere to rules or will get on stage proclaiming President Bush doesn’t like black people. I’m just saying that when it comes down to it, I’m going to do what I think is right, whether you agree or not, and regardless of your feelings.

I share because it’s therapy. I share because it helps others. I share because I want to and I share because in many respects I think I have to. I’ve learned that many people who don’t know me have a grave misconception about who I am and how I operate. I’ve been accused of being pretentious, arrogant, cocky, stand-offish, rude and outright mean. While some of the labels do fit at times (I won’t divulge which) for the most part that isn’t me. I do deal with people with a 10 foot pole unless I have to and until I understand their intentions. I am very confident in my ability to do what I want but everyone should be. I’m not mean. Hell if you ask me I think most people think I’m the friendliest person in the world. Ask the cook at the omelete station in the Caymans, or the random guy who at the resort who felt a need to talk to me every time he saw me, or how I can never leave my office at work without someone wanting to strike up an extremely long conversation (hence the reason why I never leave unless I have to use the bathroom or ABSOLUTELY have to). I do know that some people take my initial quietness as a sign that I’m uninterested in what they have to say and don’t care to carry on a conversation with them. In reality I’m digesting every word you have to say and reading between every line to see who you are and what do you want. It’s a talent. Believe it or not, people don’t always tell you so you have to figure it out for yourself.

Regardless of what you think about me and what others may think about you, “The show goes on.” People will say and think what they want often times with little or no information to support it. President Obama has been in office for almost 3 years now and there are still questions about his place of birth and religion. There are people who swear before all things good and holy that Elvis and Tupac are still alive. But no one can explain why Lindsay Lohan is famous, why Brittney Spears is still putting out albums, or when I can expect another CD from Outkast (as a group) and when will the NFL and the players end their feud, hold hands, sing Kumbaya and reach an agreement as to how to divide $9 billion.

The moral of the story folks is that with or without your help people are going to concoct their own stories. It’s something we as humans do to fill in the holes in our minds to help us sleep easy at night. Many of us are very uneasy about not knowing and therefore infer, guess, or make up the parts we don’t know so that it makes sense to us. It’s something that’s been down since the beginning of time. Who knows why so and so down the street got shot “must have been selling drugs.” Why is Charlie Sheen so crazy? “It MUST be drugs.” And like that we’ve answered two mysteries in life without so much as asking the individuals involved.

Regardless of what people say or don’t say about you, be you. If you’re a superstar don’t let someone’s inability to handle the brightness of your light stunt your growth, hinder your progress, or prevent you from taking the stage. It’s their problem let them figure out a way to deal with it. At the end of the day, once the crowd has settled in, the band is on stage and the lights come on, “the show must go on.” And it will with or without you.

Keep working, keep grinding, keep sweating, keep pushing, and keep driving to make it. The road to success isn’t freshly paved and doesn’t have neat lines or signs to guide you. It’s filled with potholes, ditches, hazards, trolls and puddles that threaten to flood your engine. What you have to do is maneuver the best way you can, keep your eyes on the road and know that success is within reach and that no matter what, “the show must go on.” Stay Up and Be Blessed!