The need to be recognized is a powerful one. People love an excellent appellation. Especially ones that display hierarchy and, in some cases, function; the more critical sounding the name, the better; however, a title alone is not a good indicator of the value that one can bring.

When I was looking for a job, one of the things that I realized was most important besides what you did, was the title you had. Skills are excellent, but your given name and professional designation precede any of your accomplishments. Before anyone hears about what you do, they listen to who you are. Depending on how important your moniker sounds, they will automatically be impressed—titles are used at times to boost one’s self-esteem and belittle others.

While titles and places of employment can display the level of importance, they can also dictate how little respect some are given. The thing I find crazy is that often, the people that get the most disrespect are some of the most vital in our community; for instance, take garbage personnel. Quite a few people would not hesitate to judge a sanitation employee as a less valuable societal asset. But if said employees were to go on strike and the city is plagued with garage walls (like what happened in New York years ago), everyone would see their actual value.

You may be at work right now, whether you are working from the comfort of your living room or at your place of work. You wake up every morning and go through the motions just like the workday before. 

I’d rather be a failure at something I love than successful at something I hate.

George Burns

In your heart, you sense that this is not what you want your life to be. Sure it’s a stable source of income that allows you to sustain a comfortable living, but you feel that you are meant for a different path. In some cases, some of us know what exactly it is we want to do, but we allow something to hold them back. 

Most of my decisions in life were governed by this quote. “I’d rather be a failure at something I love than successful at something I hate.”

The quote haunted me for most of my adult life. I could either be unhappy doing something that kept me in the comfort zone, or I could pursue my other interests knowing that rejection and failure are always afoot. 

Total transparency, this way of thinking has not always afforded me peace of mind. It’s provided its fair share of sleepless nights and unwanted stress. It has, however, allowed fulfilling my passion. Helping people by utilizing my gifts and talents is what satiates me. If I haven’t done anything but help one person have a good day, that’s a big win for me. 

We all have larger-than-life dreams that most don’t pursue because of fear of failing or somebody who discouraged us when your vision could very well be the next groundbreaking thing. 

I want you to think about this for a moment. What would have happened if the creator of Lyft listened to the naysayers tell them that people using their vehicles to transport strangers was a bad idea. I call these cynics “Testers of Faith.” They can be annoying, but I find that they are a necessary evil in your growth and reaching your goal. 

Have you ever had something happen to you that you didn’t want to face? It could have been a bill you weren’t ready to pay at the time. Perhaps you fell ill, and you were so scared that you didn’t go to see the doctor. Maybe you got word that a loved one was dying, and you didn’t want to be with them during their last moments. In all these situations, avoidance was the immediate remedy to an inevitable situation or circumstance, but it’s not.

Some people believe that if they ignore a problem, that it will go away; when in fact, it only gets worse. If you have a leaky pipe in your home, and you avoid taking care of it. The tube will not fix itself. If you leave the leaky pipe unattended for an extended period, it will either burst or cause a flood. If you are a homeowner and even if you rent, you understand the importance of getting the pipe repaired promptly before further and more expensive damages can occur. Just like ignoring the leaky pipe is terrible, so is ignoring the race problem that we have in this country.

The racial inequalities in these united states will not get better by ignoring the past and present evils. Whenever there is a conversation about race issues, the atmosphere tends to change, and people become uncomfortable and clam up. There is a demographic that believes that if you don’t talk about the race problem in America, that it doesn’t exist. Often when people bring up the race problems we have in this country in conversations, the people who are not/feel they are not affected by it will tell them they are the problem for constantly bring it up.

Talking about race issues isn’t going to be comfortable, but it needs to be addressed. We should engage in such dialogue whenever we can and as long as we must.