We’re back again with another week of double dose edition of the one and only Beat Within. As always, we have our young ladies and gentlemen, as well as our OG’s spilling their truths and sharing their stories. This is a safe space where we aim to educate each other and see that we are more similar than different regardless of our ethnicity and the environment that we grew up in.
We have a treat for you all this week as OG Pause is back again with a great message for you readers. He’s a Probation Officer that’s looking forward to inspiring the youth to make better decisions and to live a healthier lifestyle. We present OG Pause’s latest words of inspiration as he challenges us all to dig deep within!
The Monument Within
“Open your eyes, look within. Are you satisfied with the life you’re living?” Bob Marley
As I reflect, I lean in. I’m not just looking at a mirror; I’m staring into the truth. The reflection staring back is a map of contradictions: I feel the weight of sadness, yet the sharpness of clarity. I am restless yet rooted, uncertain, yet yearning to grow.
Am I satisfied? I am content, but I am also hungry. Contentment is the foundation, but thriving is the goal. When I truly open my eyes and look within, I challenge myself to dig past the surface.
I refuse to live the role society has cast for me, the script that attempts to mold me into a stereotype. I am choosing to live for me, the authentic version of myself fueled by goals, dreams, and untapped aspirations.
I’ve spent too long straddling the line between who I am and who they say I am, the delinquent written off as a lost cause, but I know better. With a radical belief in myself, unconditional support, and the discipline to protect what makes me whole, I am more than a label.
I have a massive appetite for a life of meaning. I am officially retiring the identity of the THUG – The Human Unable to Grieve.
Through self-awareness, I’ve learned to hit the Pause. In that silence, I find the space to make a choice. Not a reaction, but a choice: to live freely, healthy, and conscious. I choose to be aware, guilt-free, and capable of love.
Open your eyes and thrive. Life isn’t a sentence. it’s a collection of moments. Build your monument. Start today.
-OG Pause
Thank you, OG Pause once again for delivering a brilliant message about thriving in the face of adversity. It does start today indeed. Many of you always say you will wait to change once you get out, but the real change starts now. It’s all about building good habits that will help keep you out of trouble.
It’s like practicing sport. If you want to play Basketball and be good, or even a great player, you’re not going to tell yourself, I’ll just wait till tomorrow to practice my Three-point shot, or your dribbling skills, or free throws. No, right? Practice makes perfect, or close to perfection and the only way you will perfect your shot, your dribble, your passing, your rebounding is by practicing every single day.
It’s the same concept on trying to make changes. You need to practice healthy habits. If being confrontational is leading you to fights and bringing you to the halls, it’s time for you just hit the gym and take out your aggression on a punching bag. Learn to walk away. Learn to think before you act. Learn to pause and breathe.
Think about the consequences of what can happen. Instead of hitting licks and robbing people, or taking things that aren’t yours, think about a legit hustle that will bring you income. Sell shirts, make music, do video vlogs. If you like working with your hands, get into some vocational training and do some construction.
McDonald’s now pays almost $20 an hour, jobs are not that hard to find. Sometimes to get to where you want to go, you will have to do things that you necessarily may not like doing. Not everyone likes going to college, taking tests, and doing lots of homework, but it’s necessary to pursue careers and be efficient in your profession.
Imagine what kind of healthcare we would have if the doctors that provide us healthcare didn’t go to medical school? Everybody would be sick, right? You get the drift. Even though we, as humans, go through similar challenges in life, there will always be a beautiful unique trait in all of us that makes us all special.
There is something valuable in each and every one of us that makes us valuable, so we could contribute something positive to society. You just have to find your passion. In the meantime, try to pause, reflect, and think about your future. What do you want to do in this life? Your future is important, and it’s even more imperative that you think about it on a daily basis.
A lot of thought goes into making money, before you actually obtain it right? There’s a plan set in place. Even just waking up everyday and going to work, you already have a plan, on how you will make your breakfast, how you will get ready, and whether you will drive to work or take public transportation. You have to time everything to make sure you get there on time, right?
Everything is planned. Even the simplest of actions that we execute on a daily basis, like going to school, or running an errand. So, if you don’t pause, to think about your future, who else is going to do it for you? Nobody.
So, pause, reflect and challenge yourself to keep pushing forward towards your goals and dreams. We will continue to carry out our founder’s legacy with each poem, with each story and with each collaboration from both youth and adults from all over the world. We are honored to be a part of your journey. Long live David Inocencio! And The Beat Keeps going and going…