When talking about life overall in the big picture there is more nuisance from person to person along with a certain level of skills associated with it, the word of the day is progression, everyone has it in some form where they they develop in some way & it varies in every individual, some people are doing exceptionally well, doing & being well above average of where people believe they should be because of norms while others are wasting potential doing below average, chronically average, or if they are making progress it’s not just that prevalent, different results for different folks & on top of progression it is a balance between independence & teamwork so we can progress to our highest potential as people, because we are raised & grow up to believe we are in this journey alone and how we should pull ourselves up by our bootstraps doing everything ourselves when something’s are the opposite requiring collaboration in order for success overall, it’s just like the saying “it takes a village” which is true because even though we are on our own journey, sometimes we have certain people & things that assist us in our lifetime with their resources & we do the same hopefully paying it forward in some way, progression is a finicky thing no matter how you slice it & on top of all that we are not the same person that people know from they first meet us because we are always progressing and improving.
Progression
When talking progression we have to have a mutual understanding of what it is so we can have a consistent understanding of what it is when it is mentioned whether in this article or elsewhere. So let’s start from the basics first thing is first a facade is not progression, we live in a time where social media is very prevalent & intertwined into a lot when compared to the early 2000s when lots of things were not developed or prevalent (I remember having the Nokia 3210 to call because texting was difficult with 9 keys & maybe to play bowling or snake but it was more of a lifeline so people could reach you directly rather than at corded phone which was meticulous to do) & like I said in the article Just A Thought: Generations there are positives & negatives like pros because of progression from the 90’s to the present there are lots of possibilities that have opened because of it where we have resources to do lots more far as jobs or experiences because things are more consistent, however like anything else progress comes with cons like a saturation of selfies, photos, statuses, hashtags, captions, & documentation of everything from instagram to Twitter to Snapchat to YouTube to Facebook not because it is a bad thing entirely but people take it for granted because it’s so prevalent now & people get antsy when it’s gone or briefly disrupted compared to the 90’s when it was not even a thing, just because we can see more visually & have more bravado because of things doesn’t mean it reflects our progress as people & the big moments we experience as individuals and it can be an empty shell sometimes compared to being limited before like having a specific number of pictures on a camera.
Second, when talking progression it ends when we end, it makes us think about
mortality but it has to be taken into account because we are limited to our time in our journey & when talking progress we have to play the long game sometimes because life is filled with ups and downs, good & bad breaks we often can’t control but we still have to make choices in order to move forward, a prime example of this is my journey up to this point it’s been filled with up and downs that have helped mold me & you can’t just look at a singular factor to get the whole picture even looking at the last two years I’ve been in better places, been in rehab & therapy during low points, & even been making gradual improvements over time & even the experience had me asking once things were taken away “What am I?” But people can’t make a valid perspective without the backstory whether it’s accumulated over time or I inform people around me & it’s the same with others.
Third, when talking progress it’s more than the book cover, it seems like a symptom of the times where aesthetics is bigger than intrinsic but it’s been going on for a long time even though it’s under a spotlight more now an example of this is Darth Vader if you make a judgment off the rip then you just think he is this evil antagonist in Star Wars, but in actuality, his journey in his lifetime was much more, same with us & the people around us.
Finally, when talking progress the last thing we need to keep in mind is being consistent through the adversity & success because people can post & talk about the highs but not the lows which are off-limits or just are MIA even though they are a more of a learning experience for everyone when used efficiently, the payoff may vary from experience to experience, & some things we have repetition with sometimes leaving us to feel like we’re going through deja vu because things happen so much & other times something’s are uncharted territory but if we are consistent through everything we never know who we will inspire & who’s watching. The thing about progress is we have to start somewhere in our journey & the peak we reach is dictated by our own mentality whether subjective or objective & hopefully we are accountable about everything we have control over in our progress & stability in everything else.
Jaiden Animations “Trying to Get Into Fitness & Health”
Excuse the language.
Thundercat “Them Changes”
BIG K.R.I.T. “Energy”
Meek Mill “Dreams and Nightmares”
Excuse the language.
Roy Wood Jr. “Marriage Lies”
Independent
Progression is one thing but independence in the big picture is another thing entirely because of how random it can be from individual to individual, depending on our choices & experiences over time we are constantly crossing paths with others, we attract & surround our selves with others who can build and destroy us depending on intentions & how we react and every time is a test of trial & error because every situation is not the same & not just a certainty, also just because we have a certain stature or demeanor we carry doesn’t mean we can just make assumptions on people we cross paths with all the time & just like the resources it takes for people to have a valid perspective on us hopefully it comes with a certain level of empathy & respect, & hopefully things are reciprocal far as the time, energy, & effort that is put in from us & hopefully over time we should have enough info & interactions to build a valid perspective on others whether we want them around or not. One part of progression happening is a collaboration with others & having the mentality that we don’t know everything because we are constantly learning and even though we may be an expert in a certain area, people have different ways of approaching things making us or others test subjects which isn’t a bad thing entirely because some things take others sometimes to show us somethings are not impossible, a prime example of this Wayde Van Niekerk from South Africa in the 400m Finals at the Olympics in Rio 2016, for backstory if you ever ran the 400m in track you never want to be in lane 8 because you can’t see anyone behind you or gauge where other runners are, but despite this knowledge & slim chance from 8 he not only won gold but broke Michael Johnson’s World Record (running a 43.03) in a perfect storm proving impossibility wrong.
When we understand progression and independence, we understand things are intricate sometimes, people have been doing some things & just have a new coat of paint or new name & things have been happening before us & well after us too also some people & things we can relate to while others we just can’t, we may change our focus or attention from time to time, & our preferences may fluctuate but having this understanding helps us in the long run far as getting better, hopefully we are not just comparing because even if we have certain things happen for us we fall to our demise trying to keep up with others. No matter what our journey & progression is linked to adversity we experience whether from things or others & our reaction is what people remember most times it just like Bill Burr talking about retaliation & the ref, basically stating the ref doesn’t see what caused us to retaliate but the result & even though some people & things deserve it we have to practice discipline & restraint, then on top of the adversity we deal with we also have people chasing comfort of a situation & trying to avoid the adversity all together which is kind of unnecessary to do or instead of going with what they know from experience or time they chase this far flung idea which may never come to fruition & as a result people will take their foot of the gas because things are good at the time, the reality of progression is every person comes with what they want vs what actually need to get over the hump & we may disagree on things whether family, friends, or others which is fine because that is just life but hopefully we are cognizant & cordial of everyone wants & needs.
No matter what our own progression & independence is a balance of being selfless (making choices & decisions with others in mind) vs. being about self depending on the experience, we can’t cherry-pick or be selective trying not to mess up good things around us or just to hold on what we like because it’s all or nothing because just like they would say in math class “show your work” proof is in our progress because that is what others see & the end-product does not just magically show up the proof is the progression of everything done to that point, it can be frustrating at times but the foundation & whatever it is built on, when we build over time helps us to be independent individuals not having to lean on or be dependent on others constantly because life is uncertain and random & just like others my end goal is building a community, not putting people on a pedestal
, I’m not here to sugarcoat things just to make people feel good on the inside, or be here stroking egos making people feel better, I’m not trying to do it to people around me & hopefully, others aren’t trying to do it in my life because we are products of our environment & outside family we choose who is around us if we invite people that love misery & are just downers we impede our own progress and become stagnant, but if we have people that are positive, then we will do way more than imaginable & it can’t be done through trying to change people to something else because change is intrinsic & just like I told my little people in Pre-K “you get what you get & don’t throw a fit” laymen’s terms whatever is shown through action is what you get, don’t come out here wanting different when you have gotten the opposite. Finally, with the progression we can’t be naive, ignorant, or delusional after we are shown actions from others from their decisions or live in an echo chamber of people who agree with us everywhere, sometimes we need people that are abrasive to our own views because people spit word vomit a lot now just saying everything with no context or direction
& as a result, people are hearing but not listening, an example of this was me being mute & me telling my story from being mute to improving with things like speech therapy, and instead of actually listening to someone’s truth or view they went into how they couldn’t do that instead of hearing a different view from theirs, the biggest thing about independence is even though it is about working toward a goal of being autonomous it is also understanding others views so we can move forward in our own journey some times.
Paramore “Ignorance”
Foo Fighters “Something From Nothing”
Jaiden Animation “Things about Relationships I wish someone told me about”
Chance The Rapper “Angels”
Excuse the Language.
Jay Z “Interlude”
Excuse the Language.
“Black Patriotism?” Roy wood Jr
Epilogue
When talking progress in the big picture the story & journey has to move forward whether we want it to or not whether we make choices, decisions, take chances, or just let them play out, our progress is a culmination of all our experiences, decisions, choices, interactions with others & things around us, & even the skill set we have accrued over time & is a sum of all it’s parts so things do just come out of nowhere & if we ever get sidetracked hopefully we can ask about things or actually look at the journey & things we know to gain some clarity on everything instead of just being ignorant to everything because no matter what people have goals or intentions whether they talk about them or keep them inside hidden, sometimes people do things out of self-preservation, other times people are reckless & want to watch the world burn, other times the moment is too big where we fail but what we do after in response is what defines us, &
other times we may just feel powerless, there is always a method to the madness even if it’s not prevalent, sometimes it takes time to uncover because just like a game of minesweeper I mentioned in the article Just A Thought: Generations, if we are cognizant about life & actually learning from others actively we can avoid a lot of mines others around us have encountered, & it’s the same with resources & progress we have it’s made to better ourselves but we have can better the people around us putting them in a better position which has been happening hopefully we choose to do the same & actually live by the Golden rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you). Life is just like a well thought out design the best ones aren’t noticed when everything is going south, while poor ones get noticed for being ineffective, sometimes progression shows us through adversity where we can improve, other times it shows us why thing are so good.
