A lot of people are on the fence about you. You’re a decent person in their eyes. You’ve done some laudable things. They are familiar with your story, your dream, maybe even your purpose.
They’ve also seen your mistakes, some of your shortcomings, and they know some things that they think you are unaware they know about you. They’ve made their assumptions and established their idea of who and what you are. They say they know you.
They’ve watched you over time. They’ve seen the issues, the challenges, the trials. They witnessed some of your stumbles. They made both their opinion and judgment known. They’ve been critical. They’ve talked amongst others that are doing the same. They have gossiped and speculated about you. They’ve commentated your journey from the sidelines. It looked like they were in your cheering section. You’ve been moving along. You couldn’t really see if they were rooting for you or providing resistance.
Now you’re almost there- to the place you’ve been working towards for all this time- and you need some of those people. You need their support. You need their contribution, their confidence, and their commitment. You need their resources, their network, their referral and recommendations. You need their money. You need their participation. You need them to show up.
They’re not so available now. You’ve made good on what you said all along and it doesn’t seem like they’re all too happy about it. Your support system seems to have not been what you thought it was. You’ve run this race thinking they were waving you forward. Those were winds of who do you think you are, what do you think you are doing, and why you, that blew you past the competition. “They” didn’t think you’d make it. They’d long written you off. You weren’t going to actually succeed, in their eyes. If you only knew the thoughts, feelings, words, and actions that “them people” orchestrated against you!
That you had the audacity and gall to still be the you that you were, on your way to becoming the you that you are, pissed some of them folks off. How dare you defy the odds? How dare you keep going? Who do you think you are to take those extra steps, put in that extra time, and do that extra work? Why were you that determined and that deliberate and that disciplined to make it to this point?
There are so many things they want to say to you. They’d love to be a part of this but they’re fighting a battle of their own. A battle that really has nothing to do with you but it seems like you’re the target. It’s like they’ve got an attitude with you. You sense animosity, or anger. It feels like they’re mad that you made good on your word. Even if some other stuff didn’t go as you planned, they had no idea that you were still going after your goals and dreams. You knew your destiny. You decided to go after it.
You did it!
And… You still need them.
This part of the journey is going to require some community and some connection, and some communication.
You deserve to KNOW where “they” stand with you. You’re not mad that they said what they said or did what they did. Nor that they didn’t say what needed to be said, and didn’t do what needed to be done. All of it played a part in pushing you this far. The doubt and the discouragement helped drive you. The “hate” forced you to face yourself. What you had to do by yourself taught you what you could do by yourself. You were comfortable before. You’d counted on “them”. You expected of them. You depended on them. Then you blamed them.
Until you realized the power of YOU. You said “YES” to you and look what you did!
Now, you deserve a “NO”.
If that’s what it’s going to be. If they are not going to buy your product. If they are not going to support your cause. If they are not going to invest with you. If they are not going to donate. If they are not going to show up for you. If they are not going to refer or recommend your talent/services. If they are not going to give you a shoutout. If they are not going to promote you and your business. If they are not going to stand up for you. If they are not going to speak up for you.
Make them tell you “NO”.
Continuing to assume where “they” stand on you is not healthy. It’s time consuming. It’s causing you to delay. It’s frustrating. It’s wasting your energy.
Hold them accountable.
If they aren’t going to do it, what you asked them to, what they said they would… make them tell you “NO”. Make them say to you that they don’t believe in you. That they don’t trust you. That they don’t support you. That it’s not you they want to see succeed.
So that you can move on. Not mad. Not angry. Not even disappointed or discouraged.
You need the clarity. You need the motivation. You need the room in your life for who will, who wants to, and who is supposed to be there. You need the space that “they” are taking up, for the friends, family, and fans that KNOW exactly who YOU are and are willing to join you on the ride to where YOU are going.
You deserve that much.
You’ve earned that much.
Whether they KNOW or it’s a “NO”, they owe you that much.
-see
©️2023 Cornelious “See” Flowers
