What makes me tick

I saw this quote while I was surfing Twitter updates and I fell in LOVE:
What lies behind us, and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

I think this quotes speaks a lot to the person that I want to become and more importantly the legacy I am trying to leave for my family (whenever that part of my life begins). So let me break down this quote and why I think it is so important to my life.
The other day at work: If you don't know I work with this amazing scholarship program at my University (AU) called, the Frederick Douglass Distinguished Scholars Program. This program is AMAZING and well, as much as it is a development program for our scholars, I am learning so much about myself and my leadership and personal development. Much in part because we have a schedule where we hold weekly seminars for our scholars- this semester our scholars have been reading the

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

This week we had someone come and talk to us about Image & Reputation Development, she talked about it in terms of Self Branding and basically Legacy building. She mentioned this point about a "Thru Line" which in Hollywood terms is the singular story line that runs through the movie that no matter what you can fall back on. It's the drawing point of the movie, so like in the Notebook, the "Thru line" would be the love between Allie and Noah. That despite what happened in their lives, him going to war, she getting engaged to someone else, you as a member of the audience are okay with it all because the two of them still have this love that you know exists throughout the film.
So in taking from her direction, I have been trying to determine what my "Thru Line" has been. And for me it is "Social Justice and or Change." So how does this all apply to Emerson's quote?
"What lies behind us"
If you have been reading "
Inside Keesha's World" you will know that my life has been anything but ordinary, but I have never let that life consume the goals that I have set for myself. And as a kid I knew that what I wanted to do with my life was Change the world in which I lived. My legacy has always been to be known for my selflessness and the things I do for others, not because I want to be praised for these accomplishments, but simply because I do not know what else there is to do in life but to serve and make a difference. By far, as I said, my life has not been a bed of roses, but even in my worst struggles I have never had it as bad as the stories and the lives that I am changing around me.

"What lies before us"
Obviously I have life goals, I want to "Be the Change I see in the world." I want to live my life in constant movement, making a difference and impacting people in every part of my life, even if it is for a few minutes of their life, I hope that when a person meets me they see something great in themselves. Ultimately I would love to run a non-profit and really make a difference in the world around me. But we all have goals, there is this path that we are all on and something is driving us to that path whether we are aware of it or not. Some of us, myself included, have been blessed enough to know what that future would be and have been blessed enough to catch glimpses of that dream come closer and closer to being fulfilled. But what drives many of us is that "Thru Line"- "what lies within us"


"What lies within us"
If you do not know what your worth is, or rather if you have no idea what you stand for or the things that you are passionate about, or what you intend to get out of this life, then I think that you should begin to start those reflections. I have said it before, in order to "be the change" you have to start with self. You have to build your foundation and cultivate it in a fashion that makes reaching that goal "before us" easier. I have been blessed as I say, to know what lies within me. And all of the things that I talk about, "Being the Change" my "Pretty Girl Swag" these are those techniques that help me stay on my path, that help me to continue to cultivate myself in to a stronger better person. These are the methods I use to let go of those things behind me, to be aware of the things before me but to be in the present and focused on what I have power over today.

hmm.. A little more reflection to come, but for now- Take me as I am..