Life Lessons from Home: Whom Do You Trust?

Where I am from, the popular wisdom is simple. Do well in school. Love your family. Discover a talent of artistic or creative leaning. Make friends. Cultivate balance work-play-party balance. Keep friends. Fall in love. Find your way - decide which to prioritize between family and career and put your all in the choice you’ve made. Practice kindness. Don’t be a bore. Stay in love. No matter how hard, walk away when love is no longer enough. People will say things, ignore them - only you know what’s really happening. Consider that it isn’t always about you. Nurture your independence. Indulge wisely. We all play a part, do yours well. Smile. Unless you’re sad, then mope within reason. Pick yourself up, and if it’s too much trust your friends to pitch in. Slowly but surely, we all learn to dance on the edge of independence and community. This is probably why most of us have a deep trust in ourselves. This is definitely why I trust myself.

There is so little we have control of in this world, but we can always control our actions, and most importantly our reactions to people and things. Every curve ball, every conversation, every blessing, everything that comes our way will trigger a reaction. Sometimes the best reaction doesn’t clearly show its face right away, sometimes it emerges in a flash. The key is to trust yourself, trust your inner sense of timing. And if sometimes you don’t make the best choices, the key is to trust yourself to do better next time.

I am many years away from the place I originally come from, I am many cities away from the place I first called home. As I have ventured off and away, this trust in myself has never flinched. And it has never failed me. People come and go, zip codes change, you change work situations and the constant in your story is you. Why not trust you?


Trust me on this, once you trust yourself and trust that you are the best person to have your own back, once this happens you will be unstoppable. And unbreakable. And the ride, oh the ride. It gets fantastic. For real.