Whoopdee woo! Guess who turned one year older this month! Ya girl Mo is now in her Jordan year. In honor of the national team, Toronto Raptors making their first NBA finals since the start of the franchise, enjoy another basketball inspired post!
Jordan Year (23)
So, if you don’t understand what ‘Jordan year’ refers to go check out my post on my Garnett Year for more information. But, for me every year when my birthday comes around I tend to get very reflective on life and my life specifically. As a self confessed over-thinker, I find thinking and discussing about the past grants us wisdom and insight for the present and the future. Apart from being my birth month, June is also the midway point in the year where a lot of us start reviewing our plans/resolutions and start evaluating ourselves. Recently, while visiting family I got a bunch of my childhood pictures and it made me think of:
Jeremiah 1:5-9.
I have been slowly sharing them on social media over the past few months but more than that it makes me think about the expectations and ideals I had when I was younger and what I envisioned for myself and who I would be by this age.
I recently watched an interview with Michael Jordan’s son Marcus Jordan where he spoke at the opening of his sneaker store ‘Trophy Room‘. I mean being the son of a basketball player is hard enough. Being the son of the ‘greatest basketball player‘ is a whole lot more pressure than could have been anticipated (considered by some as the G.O.A.T – Greatest Of All Time). It was interesting and refreshing to see his transition and how he had gotten to a place of not allowing the world’s expectations to determine his happiness. One thing he mentioned which I really respected was the idea of working on your craft behind the scenes. I find that a lot of our frustrations come as a result of wanting the best right now.
Napoleon Hill said that ‘strength and growth only come through continuous effort and struggle.‘
Those words couldn’t be more true and real. The struggle is real they say, how about the struggle never ends. It continues to marvel me how much we underestimate this struggle. Do not let anyone lie to you or make you less aware. We do not glorify the struggle or subscribe to the notion that life will always be hard. Yet, we must not deceive ourselves, because
‘for we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places’
Ephesians 6:12
Although, we are all different and have different struggles you shouldn’t feel like yours is less than or more than anybody else’s. Rather focus on God and allow him to transform you inside out.
The American Christian rapper Dee-1 in his song states
And I know I’m better when I consult you I don’t wanna be lukewarm, I don’t wanna insult you And I know that you watching, countless times you forgave me This for all my family that raised me I don’t wanna let you down.
Dee-1, ‘I Don’t Wanna let You Down’
Don’t know about you, but I totally relate with these lyrics! But then I wonder when we get to a point of being so uptight and worried about flopping and completing ruining the plan of God for our lives, that is when this mindset becomes very toxic. In this instance, it might be necessary to take a chill pill, with a glass of water and if needed a quick 30 minutes nap as well. I constantly have these thoughts where I ask myself, am I making God proud? Am I making my parents, siblings and family proud? Am I making my friends and my community proud? It is absolutely impossible to please everyone. Lol, believe me I have tried.
Apart from the fact that it’s exhausting and draining, we place ourselves on so high a pedestal almost in equality with God that we believe we can satisfy all the people in our lives. Jesus couldn’t even satisfy his own community, why would little old me be able to do above and beyond. Pride is a sin guys, and we have to call it out when we see it. This is a reminder to myself that I won’t always get things right and that is totally fine but with God on my side, I truly believe the best is yet to come… So, to my fellow June babies and those that are struggling in one way or the other to fight the restlessness you may seem to find yourselves in, God has got us all we just have to continue seeking after Him and pursuing Him with all we have.
Joyce Meyer once wrote that;
‘Most of us desire the good life God has planned for us, but we recognize areas in our lives that need to be changed. Many times you set out to make these changes, yet in spite of your best efforts, you seem powerless to make it happen. Trying to bring about change through your own strength and plans will always result in frustration. God is waiting for you to stop trying to change and start trusting Him to change you.’
GBAM! That my friends is just it…No matter how capable or insightful we may think we are, God always has a better, more clear view of who we actually are and who we are becoming.
The Best is Yet To Come Mantra
In terms of practical ways to seal the ‘Best is Yet To Come Mantra’, here are a few things I hope to implement in my life;
- Keeping a gratitude journal and writing down the little achievements I am able to do throughout the day.
- Listening exclusively to praise and worship songs on my commute home (P:S, I lowkey come up with dance routines in my mind when I listen to those lit Nigerian praise songs…). Thanksgiving has a way of personally calming me down and helping me to realize that nothing is ever that deep because God is faithful and sure and He has showed up for me several times before.
- Spending the last hour of my day reading a book or a blog rather than on social media pages like Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook. What you feed your mind and your eyes eventually permeates into your soul and influences your perspective. Let us endeavor to make smart choices in our routines.
To all my fellow June babies, happy birthday and I pray this year is our best one yet in Jesus name. Amen!
#LiveOnPurpose
Mo 🙂
Musings with Mo 
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