That's Ms. Goodloe to you...

You know what I have realized lately more and more is that there are very few people who are comfortable just being them.  They have to be identified as something or characterized by something.  But I guess a lot of that is societal.  You know, growing up I was R & B’s daughter, then I got into school and I was M’s little sister and D’s big sister…I was so and so’s bff or girl friend or baby sitter… but when do you become you?  In college it was the same, I was a freshman, I was the girl who fell down the stairs (not funny!), I was the class President, cheerleader, a member of T.I.P, the Staceys’ roommate, so and so's ex-girlfriend, a college graduate, so many labels!…

Now, I still have some of my original labels but the ones people worry about a lot these days are the letter labels before a name, the Miss, Ms. or Mrs. labels.  I guess we all go through a time when we worry about these letters, but over the course of the last few years I have realized a lot about myself and my labels.  For so many years I was kind of resentful that I was always “so and so’s something” and never me…but the thing is, that it took all of those things to make me who I am.  All of those little niches carved me into who I am.  Being R and B’s daughter was how I learned how to be a worker and to love.  Being M and D’s sister gave me plenty of protection from bad dates in high school and beautiful nieces and nephews now.  And being the Staceys' roommate gave me some of the craziest nights I could have ever imagined but two of the best friendships I could have ever thought possible.  All of my labels were relationships or accomplishments or things about my character that I wouldn’t change because they have made me who I am today. 

While I may have wanted to trade in my Ms. for the Mrs. before, it was never right because I was never right.  I have learned more about me with each day that passes.  I grow each day.  I stumble and scrape my knees and have all out busted my face a few times, but with each fall, I know that I am closer to being who I am supposed to be for the man I am supposed to be with.  God has someone amazing for me and I know that I will be ready for him when its time.

So I guess to answer the question as to when you become you…I think you become you when you realize that every aspect of your life including your faults and labels have made you who you are…so, I guess that means I am me. :)

Have a GOODloe Day.

Stripes, Spots and A Shattered Windshield

It’s always been said that there are pretty much two kinds of people in this world….bugs and windshields.  For years of my life I was a bug.  I let people walk all over me.  I let people do and say whatever they wanted to me and just took it without firing much back for fear of what they might think or say.

So then some years back I decided I was going to be a windshield.  I was going to start holding my own against their words and criticism.  Start firing back if I needed to… And where did it get me…honestly?...

Now I am just a bug with b*$!@y windshield tendencies. 

You can’t change your stripes.  It wasn’t my place to try to become someone else just because other people weren’t being good people.  Granted I need to not let people use me and take advantage of me, but there is a difference in putting a stop to that and making yourself become a b-word to try to make people stop treating you a certain way.   

You can go through life continually trying to be something you will never be, or you can accept what you are and try to just be as good of a person as you can be at that.  I may never be a person who can firmly tell someone they are hurting me, but you better believe that I am the person who will tell someone if they are hurting someone I love…That’s one of my stripes, right along in there with wearing my feelings on my sleeves. 

If you can't accept that you will never be this other person, one day you are going to wake up and realize your life is far off track from where you wanted it to be.  In some areas you may be thriving, but in others you know that you have more in store for you, and that God has more in store for you…but chances are, as long as you are fighting for this other life, you will never get what you are destined for…maybe it’s time to shatter the windshield if that will help you do what you need to to get what you deserve.

Have A GOODloe Day!