As I wake up this morning I am meditating on the keynote I am delivering in a few days. My key messages around the future, success and legacies.
Our words are what moves and shifts the universe to conspire in our favor! I read that in the Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho.
So many quotes from The Alchemist have become my life mantra. It is my all time favorite book! The message is about how… the moment we make a decision and move in the direction of that thing we want so badly, so desperately, that thing that keeps us awake… that thing only we were destined to do… that moment when we take just one small step we will find that all of a sudden things will begin to align in our favor. That dream job… that important connection. Our words are powerful and we are nothing without them.
Hiding in the corners I found that it was the only way I could become who I was meant to be … our families and society place so much pressure on us to become who they expect us to be and have what we should or are supposed to have… And we may very well go in that direction. But I have come to understand and accept that I was never going to be what they expected of me… “the good catholic, the right Dominican wife, the perfect Latina woman… That was not my destiny… I was hiding in the corners because I was being called to break these norms… “you don’t get divorced, you don’t come out as lesbian, you don’t fall in love with a woman, you don’t quit school, you don’t quit your corporate job, you don’t go away to college, you don’t pursue writing seriously…” breaking norms… breaking with tradition… while honoring where I come from has been a battle…
My intention for today is really to spend time with what I WOULD HAVE LIKED to be told as a student in college…
What is that one piece of advice that would have saved me from years of heartache?
I guess for me I would have wanted my dreams validated, supported and encouraged. I would have wanted them to say that they want for me the same thing… that my wanting to be happy was not unrealistic… I would have wanted to know that is OK to NOT know who I am, having a house right out of college is not for everyone and not expected… that I don’t really need to know RIGHT NOW… who I am, where I am going, and where I want to be doesn’t have to all be answered TODAY and that it IS OK…
Once we understand that it’s ok not to have all the answers we can release this self imposed expectation and all the outside voices “should’g us to death…” this is where we are free to become who WE are destined to be. Yeah this is going in my speech y’all!
Today is a good day!!! Title for my keynote: THE NEXT BIG DREAM!
And so it is. Namaste. Aché
With all my love, Alicia