I come from a city that is supposed to be the third largest in my state and to my surprise one of the scariest cities to make an appearance in. Whenever I go to an unfamiliar city and tell people where I am from I get a lot of funny looks or many people asking me if I am afraid to walk the sidewalks alone, even during daylight. I have often found that many outsiders believe that the moment they step a toe beyond the boundary line that separates their city from mine they believe they will be mugged, or robbed - maybe even shot. This assumption is ludicrous to me yet I was born and raised in my particular city therefore everything about it is familiar to me. At the same time though, I can understand where they get their assumptions from. According to Neighborhood Scout, my city has a crime rate of 97 per one thousand residents and 90% of all communities within my state have a lower crime rate than my city. The statistics aren’t saying much for us huh? The point is most of the people I know tend to say that the city is holding them back from achieving their dreams; it’s the city’s fault that they aren’t accomplishing much with themselves. I say that’s bullshit. Besides if it’s really the city’s fault that so many people are committing crimes or choosing to accomplish absolutely nothing with their lives then why haven’t they picked up and moved? You have to start somewhere.
When I say “Don’t Take Losses for Losers” I mean exactly that – don’t dumb yourself down just because the people around you have allowed that to happen to themselves. Don’t blind yourself to opportunities just because the people around you aren’t looking into the opportunities that surround them. I know that there is this whole theory that all one has to do to become successful is eliminate the “bad eggs” from their social group, but if you don’t have the ambition and drive WITHIN YOURSELF it isn’t going to matter too much who you hang around. There are some highly successful people who come from poverty stricken homes and are the first to graduate with a four-year degree from Achieve-Your-Dream University. Believe me this comes from my own personal experience. My mother is the first person in my family to graduate from a four-year University. I don’t come from a long line of Surgeons, Lawyers, Financial Advisors, etc. I have never had too many friends who made wise decisions, in fact most of my friends make completely stupid decisions thinking that the results wont turn out as bad as we all know they will; then they blame the city or their surroundings for a decision THEY CHOOSE to make THEMSELVES – no gun held to their head. I am one of the only people I know among my group of friends who holds a job let alone has obtained two Associates Degrees as well as a Certificate while currently working on two Bachelor’s degrees without taking the summer off. I also work an internship. Tell me THAT isn’t motivation and drive?
I have taken the widely popular advice of getting rid of some of my “bad egg” friends thinking that it would get me further faster and it turns out, I’m still going the same pace I’ve been going while they were around. Mind you, my schedule is completely crammed leaving little time to hang out with my friends anyways, but that came from a choice I made for MYSELF. When I am around them, I choose NOT to fall into their peer pressure – “smoke this” “drink that” because my drive and ambition is too high; I’m at a level that no chemical substance could take me to. I’m not going to fall into the trap of a loser just because they fell into the trap of another loser and got stuck. I’ll lose everything if I MADE THAT CHOICE. I refuse to take losses for losers. I do come from the same city as every person I know who has fallen into the trap of a loser and I do get how difficult it can get to differentiate oneself from all the others and not succumb to the peer pressure of …. Lets say for example, having five babies and living on welfare for the rest of your life. Yet the way I see it, the way I have shaped my experiences, maybe my city doesn’t have the highest success rate as other cities but I feel like this is where I have to make my start. If you want to achieve something in life you have to learn to throw the excuses in the trash and face the news that unless you were born into a wealthy family, hard work and determination are the only things that are going to get you the riches you probably dream about. It doesn’t matter where you are from, it doesn’t matter who your friends are – people break the mold all the time. What are you going to do to get to that specific place in life that you dream about?
