24: Back To My Roots

Published 13 May 2018

Time has this weird habit of creeping up on us when we least expect it. This past Thursday was my birthday, one of the special days in the year I have dedicated to thinking about how far I have come and where I am headed. 4 years ago I made the unpopular (among my friends) choice to delist my birthday from public platforms. This means nobody receives the annual reminder, so I have had to receive a few apologetic "Happy Belated Birthday" wishes. The funny thing is I no longer feel sad or disappointed when people forget my birthday. Instead I have come to the conclusion that delisting my birthday eliminated the expectation for the wishes and therefore the associated disappointed when people do not follow through. Looking back to the dramatic me from youth (I am still a bit dramatic to a few), I am proud of my ongoing growth. Now at 24, I feel I have spent enough time building myself and is now time to move on to the next step: family. 

Family is an umbrella term that includes my blood relatives, and my true friends. My next priority in life is to dedicate time to introduce the new me to them. As I have spent the past few years healing from life traumas and assessing my mistakes of the past, I have worked to redefine who and what I am. This process is not complete, and it will never be complete, but it has reached some steady-state that I can introduce my family to. It is only when they understand me that they can help me be the person I am meant to be. The second part of focusing on family, is to dedicate time to getting to know the people they have become and asking how I can be supportive in their journeys towards their dreams and potential. Everything I am is a result of the people who have carried me across rivers, walked me through jungles, and opened doors for me. So I am now being intentional about doing the same for my family. I have a dream that one day I will help make the world a better place and what better time to start than now, and what better group to start with than my family. Part of my personal healing involved rooting out toxic relationships out of my life (there are still some I am working on).

When I first came across the Sarvodaya Development Model I would never have thought that it would influence how I lead my life. But here I am, just completed my personal awakening and moving on to the family awakening. So I am returning to my roots. As I type this post, it also represent the beginning of my withdrawal from mainstream social media. My goal is to eventually have this site as my primary platform online. Returning to my roots is the theme for this next year, as I complete my final year of college. I am going back to living more offline, to reading some good books, learning without restricting myself only to my field, and spending time on activities that bring me joy. Back to my roots means I am going back to attending conferences and pursuing knowledge for knowledge's sake. Welcome to my life 24! I am going to write on this blog every month.