voyage through india.

today, INDIA ARIE spoke at spelman and i was inspired to say the least. her spiritual connection and theories about life could be applied in so many ways. what most people would call scatterbrain and unorganized thinking, i viewed as abstract thoughts being spoken from the heart of a beautiful and positive human being. when something is heartfelt, it cannot be rehearsed or placed into coherent sentences of a three paragraph speech. life's lessons are not taught to us in a speech and therefore cannot be truly delivered through one. and while some people may have completely missed the messages she bestowed upon us , there were several things that stuck with me and will stick with me forever.

one of her theories about money was : money is nice but it should not control you. you should be able to do what you want and live happily AND have money. the decisions that we make are monetarily motivated and that does not have to be the case. time and time again, i am reminded that some people are made to be workaholics and some people are not. i am NOT a workaholic and i refuse to put myself in a position that would make me unhappy. i wish more people could see that but if they don't now , they will sooner or later. depends on the individual.

another theory that she expressed was that : people should not prejudge or make assumptions based on what they think they already know. if we take our assumptions out of situations , we will discover more about others and ourselves. also , when we judge an opportunity without giving it a chance , we may miss our blessing. who knows ?

today i had an amazing epiphany. as a budding social scientist and young woman, i realized that the most important thing to do is to make yourself happy. this is something that i already knew but i tend to forget the simple things when life gets a little crazy. whether it be in academics, relationships, work, spirituality ... your happiness is the most important aspect of mental health. mental health is the most important part of you. even when people are sick , it is important that they maintain their mental health because that's our motivation to live. so live.