Refined Desire: Re-Discovering Yourself
“Be you, be yourself and make sure you love being yourself. There’s gonna be roadblocks. There’s gonna be tribulations but always remember this is a life experience. Accept the experience. Appreciate the experience and learn how to move on from things that don’t serve you well. Find your journey. Respect your journey, and love it.” – Kendrick Lamar
I can’t count the amount of times that I have watched and spoken that quote into my life. As a recent graduate of undergrad, I can say firsthand that life changes, and quick too.
Moving just two days after walking the stage, I witnessed the steep change between structured education for 18 of my 22 years on Earth and how different life becomes when the veil is uncovered when exiting that stage.
Two “E”s for you. Experience and Evolution. They are two things that you cannot run away from but are integral in shaping you into the person you are and will be in the future. Life is so beautiful because of the experiences we share. And life is so well-rounded because those same experiences feed our growth resulting in our evolution.
The evolution I’m getting at is not one of science and theories but one that is the core of our being. Evolution looks like the development of character, the development of new lifestyles, the development of our brains, the development of you fill in the blank! These things are constantly being fueled by our experiences and ultimately remain in the control of one thing, ourselves. The choice lies within your actions if you will grow with life or allow it to weaken you.
In order to grow, you have to be refined. In order to be refined, you have to go through the fire. The fire of life can take on so many temperatures. Maybe someone cut you off on the highway, or maybe you just lost someone you were deeply close to. No matter the circumstance, when life refines you, even when it’s challenging, it ultimately will develop you in a way that strengthens and teaches you.
What role does re-discovery play in this? No matter what stage you are in life right now and whether you’re moving at a fast pace or moving very slowly--you are in constant motion and constantly changing. When you take time to understand yourself and to discover the current & past stages of your life, you gain enough clarity to create intentional decisions moving forward. By doing that, you naturally adjust the path that you’re set upon when being refined.
You are your own biggest advocate. Understand that you have 100% of yourself at the end of the day and are in control of what YOU chose to do. Re-discovering yourself is the action you can take every period (Day/Week/Month/Year) in your life to evaluate where you currently are, reset, and work towards the person you are seeking to become.
Every step is a step closer to your purpose. Don’t overthink every move, but instead experience everything in the present. Pray to God to reveal the purpose of this season, then adapt and adjust accordingly to His will.
Check out this raw video about how God will refine us in order to ultimately purify us:
Video Credit: immeganashley
Everything is an experience—YOUR life, is your experience. Paint the picture of the life you want and live it. Learn as much as you can and fail twice as much. Travel. See new things. Try new foods. Try new hobbies. Life is meant to be lived and if corporate work and part time school has taught me anything in these past few months, it’s taught me that my life is in my control. Make your choice, then be joyful in it.
Thank you for taking the time to read. All Glory belongs to God.
