“You are a scrub!” “You can’t play basketball!” Those are the words from my classmates after my basketball games in my senior year of high school. I remember, I would hear those comments and just shake my head, as I would walk to my next class. One of the most important lessons I have learned in my short lifetime is that negativity, like the sun, will always gleam on you. You can’t avoid it, and you can’t hide from it. That is just a fact of life. Sometimes you may feel that the more you do, the more people tend to rain on your parade. Well...they are raining on your parade! Don’t be upset about the rain, just learn to dance in the rain.
I have to be honest; I love a little negativity. I need people to drink a full cup of Haterade and then give me their opinion. Oh ...yes...I needed people to tell me that I was a scrub! I needed people to tell me that I was a bad employee. I needed my ex-girlfriend to tell me I was not a good writer! I received the love and support of my co-workers, when they claimed that I stole FREE food from a summer program I managed! (By the way...how do you steal FREE food?). I needed people to call me a nigger, monkey baby, and porch monkey. Oh..yes...I ate it up like a BBQ chicken dinner!! My mouth just waters when I think about all the words of encouragement from my past!
This is life! You may have experienced words like this in your life. The natural tendency is to get mad and fight! That is an option, but please allow me to challenge that notion; what are you fighting for? Who are you fighting for? Are you getting mad because someone hurt your feelings? You better get tough skin because the world does not care about your feelings. As great as Michael Jackson was it seemed like he was the butt of many jokes in his short life span. I would conclude to say that most of the world thought he was a great American artist. Why did he get hated on so much? Why? Why? Why? Was it because he was different? He was different. He was coined the King of Pop. Not the Servant of Pop, not the Best of Pop, but the King of Pop. In my eyes that is different. As he sat on the king’s musical throne, people continued to throw rocks at his throne. To respond, Michael just made more and more hits!
I need hate like the grass needs the rain. The rain helps the grass, along with the sun, to grow strong. Do you get it? We need that hate, some hurtful words, and negativity to grow strong. Do not get me wrong; I’m not saying that hurtful comments are the only thing we need, because you are missing the point. As humans, we need positive energy to propel us into the future! We also need some resistance from life to keep us striving for more. If we allow it, the hate can provide us inspiration to achieve our goals and live our dreams.
Furthermore, why would I waste my time on individuals that I call Social Cancers? These are people that always find room to hate on you. If you try to do something they can’t do, let the hating begin! If you believe something they don’t believe, let the hating begin. Hell, if you try to change your lifestyle and they can’t do it, then let the hating begin. The more you build up, the more they tear down. I will not allow Social Cancers to tear down nor knock down what I have built. Like, the King of Pop, I will continue to strive for greatness until they put me six feet in the dirt! As Kobe Bryant say, “ I do, what I do.” Those are great words from one of the greatest NBA players of all-time. Those words from Bryant are just a small peek into his mindset not only as a professional athlete, but also a person. He is saying despite what people say about him, despite if he wins or loses, he will continue to do what he believes to be true for him.
Here is the deal, I’m the one that is putting in the work to be successful for my life! When I wake-up every single morning and I brush my teeth and wash my face, I ask myself one question, “do I like what I see?” If the answer is no, then change must take place. It may be a small change, a mental change, a physical change, or a social change, but something will change! We don’t have the time or the energy to waste, trying to get the approval or consent of haters! As the great Les Brown states, “It is a full-time job to work on yourself.” Let haters hate. It is there job to hate. They have earned master’s degrees and Ph.D in the major of hating. Since, I’m the captain of my ship, I will not delight or entertain what people think or say about me! Period! I’m not sure how you can focus on your success and worry about other’s perception of your success. Something has to give. When I came into this world, I was born alone and when I leave this world I will die alone. So, I need enough hate to wake my ass up when I don’t want too.
Before, people said, I was a scrub, I was in the gym 5 to 6 days, every summer working on my game. I was watching and analyzing old Michael Jordan games I recorded on VHS. Before they said, I could not be a writer, I have been waking up at 3am to write papers and read my doctoral assignments. Before, people called me a nigger, they didn’t know I was raised by my mother from Mound Bayou, Mississippi. They didn’t know that my mother picked cotton to provide financial support for her family. My mother is the definition of Black History. They didn’t know that my mother instilled what I called “Mississippi Faith” in me. That is an undoubtable, undeniable, and supreme belief in my abilities.
A colleague once stated, “If you don’t understand my STORY, you won’t respect my GLORY.” That is powerful and so true! If you are willing to wake up in the morning with me to write the papers, or if you never went to the gym with me to participate in some of the most grueling workouts, you would not know my story! You would not have a clue of what I could or could not become. To all the haters and social cancers, please continue to provide those words of encouragement, then “Kick Rocks!”.
"I am who I am and I say what I think. I'm not putting a face on for the record."
-Eminem
-Ron S. Lewis, Ph.D. Candidate
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