No New Friends

This weekend was the best of my life. I got to celebrate life, love, and growth. During these celebrations I was reminded that I would not be who I am without the love and support of others. Ubuntu, "a person is a person through other people". I also had the time to reflect on my accomplishments in a beautiful yard with a nice drink. I felt nothing but gratitude, gratitude for life’s lessons but most importantly my tribe.

Healthy relationships are important to our overall health. Some of the benefits of having a solid tribe is increased sense of belonging and purpose. Reduced stress and a safe supportive environment to cope with... life lol. But we as African people (black people you are African) tend to be extremely loyal. We give second chances and we love to our own determent. Love doesn’t hurt… that’s platonic love too. The 5 people I spend the majority of my time with has changed drastically over the last couple of years, and so has the quality of my life. I’ve returned to old, strong, healthy friendships and everything has blossomed from that.  As the quote says “If a flower isn’t growing, you check the environment, you don’t blame the flower. Evaluate your soil… ask yourself

1.     How has you/your crew grown or changed in the last 5 years?

2.     Do your friends encourage or inspire you?

3.     Do they offer support to keep you on track- push you to reach goals?

a.     Do they celebrate when you do?

4.     When the last time ya’ll did something new together?

If the answers were all bad… here are some extra clues your tribe is toxic: you don’t feel safe to share good or bad news, your business hit the streets the moment you hang up and you pray for snow in the summer to cancel plans. But hey friendships don’t have to be permanent. Disengage if necessary, set boundaries. Your number one priority is yourself, and you deserve healthy nourishing friendships. “There is no better mirror than a best friend.”

Peace and Unity

Yannie

P.S this is a love letter to my tribe, I love you guys. I appreciate the friendship, the guidance, the support, the encouragement, the smiles, the knowledge, the memories and everything else in between. I can’t wait for the next adventure.