L for Lessons.

My favorite character on television is Annalise Keating. She’s a real boss- incredibly brilliant, successful, manipulative, blunt, fierce and raw as ever. In the beginning of the series, she is depicted as the perfect black woman: with the dream career, family and home. It’s not long after that the real life of the perfect Annalise unravels. We learn that this bad ass attorney who seems impeccable, does not have everything figured out. 

At the beginning of my Spring Semester, I had everything mapped out to the “T". I was determined to make the President’s List again. Of course, I was prepared to do this while balancing my organization and squeeze in some time to study, do homework, be social, grind, be a girlfriend, eat, breathe.. very ambitious but it’s not impossible. 

After getting a feel of my classes and professors, it was evident that they were manageable. All except ONE. My Senior Seminar professor was the first to work my nerves on the first day of classes. After hearing all he had to say including that we will never get anywhere in life and that we were a bunch of “duma****” I was ready to pack my things and leave. This was obviously a joke that I had no time for. 

 I tried EVERY avenue to escape that class. Unfortunately, I was stuck. To make matters worse, he graded ridiculously hard and I did not receive the grade I planned for. I was even more upset because I felt like I had no more control over what the result would be. 

"You must let go, release the stress. You were never in control anyway."-Steve Maraboli. 

 If you are like me, you find it hard to “relax, release and flourish”. You get very angered when someone or something ruins what you carefully planned. This goes for every student, entrepreneur, professional and others toiling to put their craft together. Do not be stuck on things that don’t go well. There are some things that will work in your favor and others that you will learn from. Some mishaps serve as detours to something even greater. It’s so easy to forget to relax, especially when we are particular about working assiduously and reaping the best results. 

If for some reason you are faced with something heightening your anger, frustration or you have spent great time worrying about something that didn’t go “right”. This is your reminder that it will be okay. Pick yourself, dust yourself off and keep going.