Still I Rise

Still I Rise

Well as we prepare to approach a new season, like many others at this time I've been doing a lot of reflecting over this past year. Reflecting on how much I've grown, progressed & ultimately elevated my life (inside-out). How many goals I've accomplished, bad habits I've ended, how my views have changed and which ones remained the same. I look back on the woman I was coming in to 2017 versus the woman I am now going in to 2018 and I'm proud & elated to say simply, I've grown, period. I faced many obstacles internal & external just as I did the year before but I now solve them from a much more grounded, solid core. I know that I have yet to "arrive" but I also know when the occasion causes for it, I rise. And overall that's been the message the Universe has sent me this past year. That "The Art of Ascending" is simply rising to whatever occasion/obstacle lies ahead. That in fact the only way to ascend is through facing challenges that appears to be "out of your league" but rather than identifying why you aren't "qualified" to take it on, instead resolving to find a solution which enables you to acquire whatever characteristics necessary to rise & meet the challenge. See, the reason why ascending seems to be an act of grace is because most of the work takes place within. It takes conquering demons, facing doubts, owning shortcomings, seeking higher thoughts all while figuring it out moment by moment along the way. The external results are merely a reflection of the "as within so without" Universal Law. So to others it may be viewed as you're gracefully gliding from one reality to the next, when in actuality the only grace involved is the Grace of the Most High. See, much like 2016, 2017 has been filled with seeking. Except this time the seeking has taken place within rather than without. And when the Universe sends me messages through special encounters I now look to the message for the answer and not the mailman who simply delivered it. When an outcome occurs through an engagement/interaction of one's path who happens to cross with mine, I look to the lesson for validation and not the teacher. When expectations of others & scenarios arise (as they still do this very moment), I remember that "greater is he that is in me" and that whether my expectations are met or not, I'm complete as one. I now chose logic over emotion all the while acknowledging and taking full awareness/ownership of my feelings rather than allowing them to take ownership of me. I've realized that I have yet to arrive but I have risen. I've risen from the woman I was last year, last month, last week or even the woman I was yesterday. And I shall continue to rise as the Universe lies before me people, opportunities, ideas and situations that require me to and so long as I continue to accept to take on the challenge to rise to the occasion by any means necessary. Because that's what "ActressAmiraAscending" is all about, rising to the occasion of who I was created to be and put on this earth to do. And as long as I stay true to that come rain or come shine, Still I Rise.

"And you'll finally see the truth, that a hero lies in you."

-Mariah Carey