I desire to see opportunity inside obstacles. I desire to be educated in that moment. To learn, to grow, to flourish. Growing up, my experiences allowed me to understand what it means to struggle for a foundation and beginning in life. Growing up a black queer woman allows me to understand this quote even more. I feel like I have had to fight for everything I have. Sometimes I want to complain, shouldnâ??t it be easier. Shouldnâ??t being an extraordinary person give me automatic acceptance everywhere?

I choose not to act out on these emotions because, whoever won a battle while emotional about the things they couldn’t control. I march on. I remain level-header. I never give up. Each step, I feel one inch closer to freedom.

“You will come across obstacles in life, fair and unfair. And you will discover, time and time again, that what matters most is not what these obstacles are but how we see them, how we react to them, and whether we keep our composure.”

I’d really love to learn how to channel my inner feelings about this statement. What are some positive mental spaces I can put myself in when facing these situations. I have yet to master this area. Why do my feelings feel so strongly about this. I believe some of it has to do with my age and my belief that I should be collaborating with as well as following instruction. It is hard for me to learn from someone I do not see practices what they preach. Call me old fashioned but Iâ??m very observant but slow to judge. I would really love to understand and grow more in every space that Iâ??m in so I donâ??t feel restricted and instead feel free to be myself.

Outward appearances are deceptive. Whatâ??s within them, beneath them, is what matters.We can learn to perceive things differently, to cut through the illusions that others believe or fear. We can stop seeing the â??problemsâ? in front of us as problems. We can learn to focus on what things really are.

There are times that because I do not understand things, I donâ??t trust it. How can anyone guide anyone in the dark without knowing them? I am attempting to grow out of a space where all I know is neglect, harm, and lack of support. I am choosing to believe in my ability to change my perspective of the world, just as I want the world to change its perspective of me. I believe I am doing so, and this book has affirmed that.