The Choice is Yours..

Common ground is a lot like common sense.. Sounds good to say.. Everyone understands it.. Not many have it.. Finding the balance, finding a calming place, finding yourself is just not easy.. Too many choices.. This or That.. Hov or Nas.. Beyonce or Rihanna.. Bulls or.. Nah, no choice there.. Corporate or Streets.. Single or Married.. For some Boys or Girls.. For me, Her or Her Too.. Friends or Enemies.. Life or Death..

I like to think that I make choices based on trying to find common ground or a nice balance, but I’ve told myself that I’m not able to do that.. I like to read (hooray for nerds!) and pick apart any and everything.. Breaking things down to the least common denominator.. Over the last 2 weeks or so, I’ve been focused on trying to understand a bit more about myself.. During my self-reflection I read an article about a business man.. Someone we all know.. Doing big things.. The article touched on him being misunderstood.. Everyone saw him as one guy.. He knew he was someone else.. Shoot, I knew he was someone else.. I knew his government.. But his government didn’t allow for him to be much more than those that came before him (which was nothing to really be proud of).. So, he became someone else.. Someone we appreciate.. Now he’s stuck.. He can’t go back.. No one would believe that he’s not this or that.. It appears he no longer has a choice..

Sometimes I feel trapped in a similar dilemma.. We all made choices to do what we do.. I graduated from college and went left instead of right.. During that time I became someone else.. I was no longer myself to many people.. That was a conscious decision I made when I wasn’t conscious of the outcome.. I didn’t have a path to follow.. No one really to look to.. So, like Hov told to Freeway, I kept going.. I remember going back to high school and people being surprised.. Never thought I would be the loud type.. I was always quiet.. Went back to college, and the same.. I wasn’t that quiet, but I wasn’t the dude that was loud about my intentions and goals.. I was the silent type.. Now?? Things don’ changed.. Now? I can’t really go back.. It’s something I have to live with.. I think it’s something that those that I want to follow have to live with as well..

Life has a way of humbling you.. The gangsters get humbled.. Get too big, they’re coming.. Ask Oprah.. Ask Barack.. Ask Hov.. Ask Frank.. Ask Kobe.. Cry a river if you want, but no one is listening.. I needed to be humbled.. I was floating for too long.. I knew I breathed the same air as everyone else, but I wanted to find that new air.. I wanted to walk on it.. I did for a bit.. My heart was in the right place, but my brain wasn’t.. I made too many wrong choices.. I won’t call them bad, cuz I don’t feel that they were.. They were just wrong.. Wanted to be right, even when I knew I was wrong.. Wanted to ride it out.. I rode it out alright! Straight to the demise of a lot that I worked for.. I needed it though.. I made the choice.. Now I feel like I can make another one.. I know I just said I was stuck, but I think my fall has allowed me to change..

I can change.. It’s up to me.. My circle is smaller.. My heart is bigger.. My brain is right there with it..

I’m making the choice to be right.. For me.. For more than me.. For my future.. Here’s to hoping that we all make better choices and we all find people who can steer us in the right direction.. Black Sheep..

Q.