Shrinking Circles.

Greetings Ladies and Gents,

I hope the closeout of the summertime has been good to you and you're ready to flow into the next season with a renewed spirit. I personally prefer the fall, so I'm welcoming the shift with open arms. Whether it's the clothing, temperatures, holidays, or foliage, there's just something about how all of these features come together to create a general sense of peace to me. Staying on the theme of change, this makes me think about the other forms of it we may see in our lives. While some differences in our surroundings may be easier to adjust to, there are those that do present more of a challenge.

One of the toughest decisions we have to ponder on a yearly(or even seasonal) basis is the ever-changing makeup of our personal circles. Now this may not be a topic that feels the most comfortable to engage in, because it's dealing with people that have been constants in our worlds on a regular basis. I get that. But just like with anything else that you put time and effort into, the company being kept should always be taken into true consideration. The impact that others can have on your daily thinking, actions, and mood, is far too powerful to simply be ignored or accustomed to out of habit. That isn't to say that you need to just go and drop everyone out of your life so that a random change can be made. Instead, this is more so a reminder to pay attention to the way those that surround you are making you feel, and move accordingly.

A simple way to perform this circle analysis of sorts is to take some time and think about the closest individuals to you, one by one. While doing this, ask yourself various questions such as how do they make you feel, are they encouraging/supportive toward you, are they more optimistic or pessimistic in nature, when's the last time they simply checked on you, how do they treat others around them, etc. . Now this may seem like an exhaustive type of exercise to do at first. But when you actually sit and commit to working through it, I'm confident you'll realize it was worth a shot. When you're done, you'll either feel great that the majority of the relationships you have are in a very healthy space or you may more so be disappointed that several folks are falling short of your expectations. Either way, it will be valuable insight on your inner circle that might not have been confirmed beforehand.

Let me clarify that this is not some random strategy I came up with in order to have you put all your friends and family out on the curb like it's trash day. The point of today's post is to make sure that you're surrounding yourself with genuine love, warmth, positivity, and good energy as a whole. We tend to get so used to having certain people around, hearing certain comments, or not receiving the bare minimum of effort that it has unfortunately become something we accept as being cool. Well, it's not. Sometimes, all it takes is to receive a metaphorical slap with love to renew our inner spirits and remind ourselves just how dope we really are. With that reminder comes refreshing our respective circles, and one should never feel guilty for doing just that.

I hope that today's message was helpful and you were able to gain even just a mustard seed's worth of value from it, if not more. I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't hype to start going through my fall wardrobe and putting together some fun combinations. With that said, let's dedicate the next post to this season's fashion selections. Until then, be blessed and stay encouraged!