“Embracing positive attitudes for the future”

Lyn-Marie Blackman, 30, a Commonwealth Correspondent from Barbados, writes that being a Commonwealth Correspondent has been a rewarding and enriching experience. She wrote this article as a thank you to the Commonwealth Secretariat, and to encourage young people to be all they can be in life. 

My young people, you are bright and are the future, you need to embrace it. You will encounter people who will encourage you and others who wouldn’t – that is life. You will have ideas on how to change the world – they will be accepted sometimes and rejected other times. You will have experiences that shake you to the core and others that motivate you to do better.

Between the ages of zero to ten are the most formative years of a child’s life; this is where you start to build character and cultivate value systems. The 11 to 20 age bracket is a trying period because this is where the transition from pre-teen to teenager to adult occurs. Whoever you have in your life at this stage can impact you positively for the future, or disrupt and stunt your growth. The ages of 20 to 29 is where you may be entering a tertiary institution, getting married and having children, or you might still be trying to figure yourself out.  I used these ages because I have experienced from zero to 29 years and it has been a roll-coaster ride.

Be very careful about who you have in your life at this time. Try to analyse each person who walks in to your life and ask yourself, “what is this person bringing into my universe?”

Does this person, after you have had an interaction with them, make you feel empowered or demotivated? Are you surrounding yourself with positive energy or negative energy? People can influence our moods and behaviours; please make sure you have positive, productive and progressive people in your camp while you are growing up into adulthood, because you want to be the best YOU at all times. If you don’t have positive energy in your life, start to strip away toxic people and their connections. You do not need to spend time wasting with these individuals.

I hope that writing this may help someone within the Yourcommonwealth programme or a young reader of the site who is struggling with self-identity and needs some hope and words of inspiration to be better. I was once where you were. In my teens and coming into my 20s, I was not fortunate to have people around me who genuinely cared about my welfare. However, I came to a point where I had enough of the feelings of self-doubt and lack of self-confidence caused by the energy these individuals were bringing to my world. After my interactions with these people, I always felt demotivated and sad. This was not who I wanted to be, so I had to become my own source of inspiration and break free from this web of dejection I was undergoing.

I did not start to experience positive people around me until my late 20s. This has caused me to be drenched with wisdom. Those of you students thinking about college – get around people who will help you assess that journey. Source out individuals who care for you and are willing to walk you through what studies you want to pursue. Get a mentor who motivates you to create a vision board, which should be a reflection of who you want to be and achieve, and who will hold you accountable to that action. Build, grow and inspire, be all you can be.

I live my life according to 30 principles that have inspired me to be better than I was when I was in my 20s. I will share them: 0. This is the beginning embrace it, 1. Look to God for your inspiration 2. Build yourself-body, mind and soul 3. Love yourself because if you don’t, who will? 4. You will be loved, because you are love, therefore you will further be magnified in love 5. You are happy because you walk in happiness, therefore attracting more happiness 6. Respect the universe and the energy you are promoting because positivity or negativity is what you will get back 7. Aim to attract like-minded people who are positive, progressive and productive 8. Do not associate with people who allow you to feel sorry for yourself 9. If you have confidence and walk in confidence people will respect you 10. Speak words of wisdom and rely on that inner strength for your support 11. Attract like-minded people by first altering your personality to what you want to attract 12. Know who you are and never be afraid to be yourself 13. Purge yourself of negative thoughts and negative people regularly 14. A closed door is just an open door with a challenge to look for the next opportunity 15. Never let anyone determine your future; you do 16. Eat food and drink that will build your body, mind and soul 17. Never allow the challenges of life to keep you down 18. Chant words of positivity over your life and meditate every day 19. Remember who you are and do not become something that you are not 20. Amplify your confidence level 21. Words carry vibrations so be cautious of what you say 22. Aim to be a source of inspiration for all you encounter 23. Always pursue your goals and never stop despite what others say or think 24. Listen attentively to what others say and always take the positives 26. You are strong; because you have strength you will further emerge with greater strength 27. Do not feel sorry for yourself; analyse what was the shortcoming and continue moving forward 28. Do not be so quick to embrace any and every one into your life 29. Examine who you are creating emotional bonds and sharing emotional space with – what are they bringing into your universe? 30. Elevate, grow, nurture yourself, build and never look back at the past, but learn from it and go forward.

Photo credit: bjornmeansbear The Future via photopin (license)

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About me: I am a conservative and articulate individual with an innate desire to see love, peace and unity triumph. My interests lie in medical research. I enjoy researching medical news from around the world and reporting it in my monthly newsletter entitled L.I.F.E.

I love biomedical science and believe it holds the key to a healthier society. I aspire to become a medical researcher and writer. My focus now is obtaining more exposure for my newsletters: L.I.F.E. and The Believer.

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Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Commonwealth Youth Programme. Articles are published in a spirit of dialogue, respect and understanding. If you disagree, why not submit a response?
To learn more about becoming a Commonwealth Correspondent please visit: http://www.yourcommonwealth.org/submit-articles/
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