The Viable Alternative

Yes folks, I know I’ve been away from quite some time. In fact, this is the longest I’ve been away since I made a decision to start posting blogs on here consistently back in September or 2014, and I apologize for that.

For the past two months, starting from the beginning of October, I was involved in putting together an event called “Expressions of Divinity” – Ike Love Holiday Photo Showcase/Reception which took place this past Friday, December 11th, from 7-9:30pm. The event was inspired by art of Divinity from ancient cultures, and meant to inspire guests to tap into their own divinity and express it without, hence the name. The images that were displayed at the event were from a photoshoot I shot in together with a female model where we were bodypainted with copper body paint and took pics with various props such as angel wings, swords, etc to depict Divinity.

I was able to blog up until November, when putting the event started consuming more and more of my time and my headspace, that I no longer was able to blog the way I wanted to.

Getting my hands dirty and finally completing this event has taught me several things about success.

1) The Importance of Surrounding Yourself with Positive Reinforcement

I probably wouldn’t have even done this event if I didn’t have a mentor who pushed me to do the event in the first place and asked me, “Do you want to be 50 years old one day and be looking back at how quick time went without you having accomplished anything?”

Ouch!

As “harsh” sounding as it was, it was a jolt that I needed to get me out of my comfort zone, and can be counted as positive because though it wasn’t “pleasant,” it was still positive because it was truly meant for my growth.

I don’t think success is possible without the company of other positive people around us. From firsthand experience, during my journey over the past eight weeks, I experienced a roller coaster of emotions, from the highs of feeling like a warrior going to claim what’s his, to the lows of wondering what the hell I was doing, feeling that all my effort was futile and that I was never going to amount to anything.

What helped was getting into regular conversation with like minded people who were going on their own path of growth and evolution. With them, I was able to dream build, share insights, and gain different perspectives of success that I didn’t realize that helped give me clarity on my own path.

All this helped me to stay encouraged, and that was the difference that made the difference.

2) Things Don’t Have to Be Perfect, Just Move

I’ve heard it from countless success stories in which people who had little resources were able to make lemonade from lemons.

It all sounds great to read these in a book, but I wasn’t able to appreciate the validity of these stories until I put them into action myself.

When I was first challenged with all this, I had no idea from where I was going to get the money to pay for a project like this, as I still haven’t been able to get over my blocks with my real estate gig to make money consistently. However, when I make up my mind that I was going to do an event like this, a way opened up for me to fiance the whole event. It still wasn’t easy, but slowly but surely, and little by little, I was able to garner the money needed to pay for the resources I needed to execute the project.

Also, people who were inspired by me and my vision stepped out from behind the scenes and genuinely offered to provide their help and resources to ensure that my project was successful.

I’ve truly been witness to the fact that if you align yourself with God’s purpose for your life, you won’t have to look for provision because provision will chase you.

3) Stepping out of Your Comfort Zone Builds Self-Esteem

As I sit back, two days after my event, and look at the journey I took over the past couple of months, I realize that I have a new level of respect for myself and hold myself at a higher esteem for having the courage to take the steps I did to produce the results I did.

Sure people helped me along the way, but a lot of the journey I had to take on my own, because no one was going to hold my hand for me. I had to be the one to overcome my fears and my doubts, and I had to be the one to make myself consistent. My supporters were only going to being around if I stuck around, so in the end, it was up to me to persevere for myself, my life, my dreams and my future.

When you take that journey with yourself, it is inevitable that you’ll come out with a high level of self-respect and self-esteem.

People seek to improve their self esteem by going under the knife to change some physical aspect of themselves they don’t like, or buy an expensive sports car, or make loads of money. However, I would say, that you don’t need to do all that. All you have to do is “simply” get out of your comfort zone. Do that consistently enough and you will start to hold yourself at a different level of esteem and hold a new level of respect for yourself.

No amount of inspiring books you read or motivational speeches you listen to can ever replace the value of you getting off your backside and stepping out of your comfort zone to build your self esteem.

4) The Importance of Momentum

Again, momentum was a word that gave me a nice fluffy feeling inside when I would hear people talk about it, but now, two days after my event, I see how invaluable it is.

As I sit here writing this blog, I’m already dreaming about what I want to do next, what next is God going to challenge me to trust Him to accomplish through me, and how big dreams are possible if you just believe and take action towards them.

These feelings have all been made possible by the previous action I had taken, and undoubtedly, as I take more action going forward, these feelings will only grow, giving me an even bigger impetus to be, have and accomplish more, and that my friend is called momentum.

Momentum gives you the added boldness and inspiration to take the action needed to accomplish your goals, and take on bigger and bigger challenges.

5) People’s True Colours Get Revealed as You Grow

When I say “true colours,” I don’t necessarily mean it to be a negative thing. During this journey, there were quite a few people I didn’t know for relatively too long who graciously and generously offered all types of support and encouragement in order to see me succeed. There were also others who were genuinely happy seeing me take some bold steps in my life towards my success. Additionally, there were some old friends who really stepped up to the plate in ways that warmed my heart and reminded me once more why we were friends.

Then there were others who tried to selfishly impose their will on my event by using emotional manipulation without any consideration or appreciation of the hard work I was putting into the event to bring across a certain message.

There were also others who I originally was supposed to collaborate with for my event who because they weren’t the center of attention, or couldn’t stand to see me up after seeing me at one of my lowest points two years ago, started acting all funny and all of a sudden stopped returning my phone calls I made to solidify our collaboration.

Eh….such is life.

In any case, as I continue to step out of my comfort zone and make moves on this journey towards my own success, I look forward to the future lessons and wisdom that comes along with it.

This is The Viable Alternative.

Hope this helps,

Ike Love