I TOOK A LONG HARD LOOK AT THE WORD ADVENTURE

Adventure (definition) | an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity

Adventure was not the word that I would use when I thought about my first year outta of college. Because going on an adventure, it requires A LOT of activity. And after college, despite all the job searching that I was doing, I really wanted to relax from it all. After being in school almost all my life (Pre-K thru College), the idea of having a break after years of scholastic hustlin' was an opportunity that I definitely took for granted during my first month outta college. But by the time October came around, I was working a virtual internship for a non-profit, substitute teaching as well as providing after school care at my old K-8th grade alma mater and working a seasonal retail position as the holidays came in full force.

Can we say 0 to 100 REAL F...IN' QUICK!

And because of such a quick transition into the working world, I didn't appreciate this jungle like excursion that life was guiding me through.

Reason #1: Because I literally exhausted myself

and

Reason #2: I was so focused on making money

Mainly because I thought I was going to go to grad school, but in reality, I was making money just to make the money.

Reason #1: So I didn't feel useless at my parent's house

Reason #2: Because I didn't want to feel like I wasted 5 years of undergrad doing nothing

and

Reason #3: Because I honestly didn't reflect on what I really wanted to do and hid myself in my hustle in order to not focus on it AT ALL

Grad school, at the time, seemed like the main goal. And I had plenty of project ideas that I thought and still think I could use as a working thesis. But what I was really doing was just WANDERING. THROUGH. LIFE.

And the crazy thing was especially at my retail job, I was constantly being asked about grad school, my passions and ultimately not to live the retail trap life by customers that I helped out and even by my head manager O_O (#WTF!)

So now that life has literally put my ass on pause, I definitely see how my 1st year outta college was and is an adventure. One that this hustla continues to appreciate as life has given me time to reflect in order to learn how I truly want to move forward.

So Dear Pre and Post Grad Hustlas:

1) Reflect on Your Hustle

As hustlas, we may never have time to just be and learn about ourselves. And because of that, we get lost in the hustle. So make time to reflect in order to truly relive your experiences, assess the lessons they provide and ultimately...

2) Embrace Your Adventures

Don't belittle the experience you've gone through especially those that did not fit your vision or your passion. By going through these trips of life, I learned what I like and don't like, what I want and don't want and I'm slowly understanding who I want to be. So embrace your [ insert adjective(s) here ] adventures in order to know for yourself who you want to be. So that you can...

3) Know How to Love Yourself

By taking the time to reflect and embracing your adventures, you learn how to love yourself in every situation. My time at those three jobs were a mix of trying to go beyond my learning curve in my field of study ( #designlife ), realizing how open I can be when it comes to helping people in customer service and when working with kids, etc. By placing myself in these situations and reflecting on how I handled and hustled damn near everyday in each position, I learned how awesome I can be as well as how much I overwork myself. Learn your positives and negatives, embrace them and love them. Because at the end of the day, you are your #1 fan. You have to love and be accepting of all of you. Because if you can't love and believe in you, it'll be hard for others to do the same.

So Reflect on Your Hustle, Embrace Your Adventures and surely you'll Know How to Love Yourself.

None of these steps are easy. It took me a whole year to fully understand this and I'm STILL learning. Start learning how to appreciate life's turbulence and to embrace your own ______________________ adventures.

What are your adventures? And how would you describe them?

Comment below with yo thoughts :D

Much Love and Keep Hustlin'

#transformtuesdays #tookalonghardlookat #adventure #embrace #reflect #hustle #love