Lesson Learned — ANDRES RICARDO

Imagery by me

I'm currently sat in my bed writing this, its around 11:30 pm, Friday night.

I usually never use my platform to address negativity or things that I deal with on my personal life but recent events have really ticked me off and I kind of want to let some steam out by writing about it. Most of all I've been really frustrated, frustrated because of the lack of support I've received from people close to me in the last few weeks, people who I've known for years, whom I've shared countless experiences with throughout life. I obviously won't mention any names because I would never judge anyone's character online and honestly the purpose of this is not to point fingers or make anyone feel bad, but I do want you guys to learn from my experience and to not let anyone, friends, family, whoever, dictate how you're going to feel about yourself or a passion that you may have.

"don't let other people, family, whoever, dictate how you're going to feel about yourself or a passion that you may have."

I'm going to be short and straight to the point, because I want to focus more on the positive and what I took away from this experience. In specific, two comments made by two different people. The first comment being "stop wasting your time and do something more productive" (referring to the whole "blogging thing"), the second, "whats in it for me" (after asking a "friend" if they could take my pictures sometime during the weekend). I'll leave it at that..

I don't know about anyone else but those words have NEVER come out of my mouth when a friend has asked me to do something for them, like damn, if I know a buddy of mine has a passion for something and he's reaching out for help, the least and right thing to do would be to support them, without asking for anything in return. And what is it to me how other people choose to spend their time? I was really taken aback by those words, both times, and I came to a realization, people legit will try and make you feel guilty for wanting to strive for something, for having a passion, a purpose. This isn't about me trying to become a relevant influencer or whatever, it could've been literally just about anything, that's not the point, this is about the fact that no matter what is it you set yourself out to do, you will experience bumps in the road, and sadly sometimes, and I dare to say MOST of the time it will be people close to you the ones holding you back!

"and I came to a realization, people legit will try and make you feel guilty for wanting to strive for something, for having a passion, a purpose."

And that is one of the motives behind writing this post, to let you know that if you have gone through something similar you're not alone, this is actually an expected outcome. Keep pushing, keep your head up and your eyes on the prize, and rather use that negativity and turn it into fuel, don't stop!