Today marks the culmination of what many like to call the teenage angst. This is my first birthday since I started this blog and I think the expectation from many was for me to post a long sappy, heartwarming post about my teenage years and how they shaped me to be who I am today. In this highly predictable post, I would talk about what turning 20 means for me and how it is just one step away from being legal and adult-ing. But I think that narrative is played out and I wanted to share some more insights with you all about who I am and what I want to accomplish/experience. So I opted to share with you all just twenty goals of the many that I want to accomplish during my twenties, God’s willing. So I guess you can think of it as a bucket list. 

In no specific order, here goes…

1. Just keep blogging

Honestly, this blog is just the beginning. I’m not sure what exactly lies ahead in terms of my passion with writing, but I know that I want to continue writing, sharing, inspiring, growing, reflecting, learning, and voicing. This medium of self-expression is so important to me and it is my hope throughout the next 10 years of experience and growth, that I continue blogging, so that people can walk away with something meaningful from my experiences and so that there is a documented record of my writing readily available for anyone to see.

2. Travel and create ties with local communities. 

As some of you may know I traveled to Honduras in March of this year and the experience was truly special. I always enjoyed traveling, but what made this experience unique was the connections that were made throughout the trip. Going on a relaxing vacation is nice and necessary when one’s life is consistently filled with work, however the traveling experiences I am referring to are living, learning cultural emersion opportunities. Along with experiencing the beauty and exotics of a place, I want to make cross cultural exchanges. 

3. Social involvement, becoming apart of institutional efforts and creating individual initiatives.

My mother always stressed the importance of community service and giving back from a young age. She made me participate in community clean ups, fundraising events, and perform at community functions. This is important to me, because I watched the profound impact that my grandparents and mom had on others from giving back. It made them better people, too. They grew and learned many things through those experiences. It made them view the world more holistically and I want that for myself. 

4. Build a family of meaning, trust, and genuine love.

There are so many distractions in life, so many that we often lose sight of things that are irreplaceable and truly important. For me, building a family includes finding a soulmate, raising children, having a strong supportive network that includes friends and family, and a happy work-life balance. All of the above takes hard work and patience. However, I strongly believe in the law of attraction and I know that having a family will provide a form of peace within my soul that I can’t find anywhere else. 

5. Pay attention to what people tell you, so that you can share that with someone else (mentoring)

The value of having a mentor cannot be underscored. Having a person I can count on to assist me with making difficult life decisions has made life a little less overwhelming. Idalia Dockery and Meg Weekes have been great mentors to me and I'm forever grateful for them. As a young black male, I think that other young black men and minorities could most definitely use mentors. They need positivity, guidance, love, and affirmation so that they are confident enough to be courageous to go after what they want. I hope to be a mentor, friend, and continue being a mentee during the next 10 years of my life. 

6. Finding genuine happiness and grace

We all know what adversity looks like, we’ve experienced it. But we know that happiness is rooted in how one navigates through tough waters gracefully. I hadn’t thought about happiness and grace in this way until a friend told me what she wanted out of life. I want to be genuinely happy no matter what life throws at me. Even if I am not feeling my complete best at times, it is my hope to develop the grace and strength to be able to remain happy. I cannot anticipate what the next ten years of my life will precisely and definitively look like, however I know that God has built me for anything.

7. Prayer, prayer, and more prayer

I don’t pray nearly as much as I should. We all know that we are blessed in more ways than one and that we should always count our blessings, but in the mist of life events we often forget that. Without prayer, the goals on this list won’t come to fruition (feel free to disagree with me), but I’m a firm believer of that. With so much happening daily, I’ve started a prayer book and it’s time that I take that more seriously. 

8. Establishing a routine

The great thing about college is that a routine is more or less created for you. Classes during the day. Studying during the night. Life responsibilities on the weekends, and what not. What most people struggle with post college is establishing a routine. Between your job, family, health, faith, wellness, social life, bills and other life responsibilities, and hopes and dreams, life can get overwhelming. Establishing a routine will allow me to reach most if not all of the goals I have for myself within the next few years of my life. 

9. Drink more water and MYOB

Doesn’t the old adage tell us that we should drink more water and mind our own damn business. Well that’s exactly what I intend to do #haha. There’s not much explaining that I need to do for this one, it’s pretty self-explanatory. 

10. Become a board certified physician and multitalented professional

Everyone has a story and I enjoy hearing people’s stories and making them feel valued. Medicine does just that and what it also does is uses people’s story to heal them holistically. We all go through things, things that we wouldn’t generally share with a larger audience. Using my passion for service and interests in preventative medicine, I intend to become a doctor. I’ve also had a passion for writing and music from high school, and I don’t intend to let that wither away. Someone told me “keep your talents close enough to you, that you won’t completely lose them.” Who said that we were only allowed to aspire to one goal? Well watch me succeed in as many as God has planned. 

Proclaiming things into the universe is HIGH KEY important. Intentionally verbalizing what you want out loud serves as an affirmation of your genuine desire to work towards your wants. Saying it out loud is just the first step. The real work begins in your daily strides to reach that goal. Who knows what I might add on to this list over the next couple years, but what I’ve created for myself is direction. We all need to map out where we are heading or we’ll find ourselves in the same spot for far too long. So I want you to think about what your long-term goals are over the next few years. Write them down. These are just 10 goals off of my list of 20. Look out for the next 10 coming soon…

Much Love, 

APH (June 30th, 2017)