Who's going to tell my story?

Anomaly:
1. a deviation from the common rule, type, arrangement, or form. 2. someone or something anomalous
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Hello world,
According to Black in America, I'm what you would call an anomaly. I come from a household with both parents. My mother, maternal grandmother, & paternal grandfather all have advanced degrees. It has always been the expectation for me to grow up, get a degree, and a decent job. Though I'm sure my family would have preferred that I found employment in my homestate, that wasn't exactly what the plan called for. I feel connected to my african-american brethren (and sistren for that matter lol). I'm not lightskinned with hazel eyes and curly hair. So how did i "succeed"? Black in America, the presentation put on by CNN during this past week, would have you believe that it is an impossibility, but I stand here to tell you that it is quite possible and is happening every day.


I was quite disheartened by the idea that being successful and being in touch with your community are mutually exclusive. The older black gentleman from Little Rock continually spoke of the inability of his children to relate to other children of african-american descent. I traced that back to being completely his fault. He set his children apart, he placed them in private schools (though he was a superintendant of public schools), put them in athletic leagues with very few other african americans, and made little effort to immerse them in their own culture. I'm not saying that you have to be uber pro-black in order to be a good parent, but a balance must be provided in order for the children to make a more informed decision.



I'm just disturbed with the shear amount of examples out there of people leading positive lives and being productive members of society, but these don't make for good televison.....
I'll leave you with this question: Who's going to tell our story?

Patience

I have never been good at patience. My entire life I have been anticipating the next long term goal instead of acknowledging and appreciating the journey I have already accomplished. Therefore in junior high I couldn't wait for high school, in high school I couldn't wait for college and in college I couldn't wait until I graduated. Even now I suffer from my impatience--thinking about the next move of graduate school or even a new career path.

This impatient behavior has typically manifested itself in two ways in my life: First, my perspective has been primarily focused on what my end destination was and therefore I dwell in the fact that I was not currently in my desired destination; Second, since my "tunnel vision" was targeted on my desired end point, I sometimes have forgotten to address short term objectives that could possibly lead to fulfilling my end point--therefore I would just get overwhelmed by the thought of the big picture goal.

This has always been my problem with all aspects of life. Many times I have been too busy complaining about the present to enjoy what i have already accomplished. So how can I address this issue? More specifically how can I be patient in a city that is known for getting what you want now. I actually got some advice from a friend this weekend concerning this exact issue. He basically advised me to write out my plans for the next five years which would encourage me to actually address the short term objectives that would lead to my endpoint. If I pace myself for my goal I won't dwell in my depression that I haven't achieved my goal.

So now it's about keeping a steady pace...people have always told that life is not a sprint but more of a long distance race...so if I start breaking down this race into laps maybe this race will seem more achievable.