One of the hardest things to accept in life is that every relationship may not last forever. Figuring out what that means in real life with friends you have had for a long time can be challenging, and one thing I have learned is that a healthy break from anything you have too much of can be a great thing for the longevity of your success.
A few weeks ago, I was talking to a friend of mine who does a lot of work with a very, very close homie in the music industry. We have both known this person for many years, but one day, things took a turn for the better and worst. On the one hand, I had a friend who was leveling up their business skills, their life trajectory, their music and marketing, and really was just working hard to secure, maintain, and grow their bag. On the other hand, I was looking at a friend that was an amazing person, made A1 music, and had a big heart, but they were not willing or ready to level up with us and take this game we call life to the next level and make it work to our benefit as we entered into a new level of life and maturity. I remember telling my mom about this, and her response was simple yet perfect, as it always is. She reminded me that sometimes you have to let go of things for a while in order for them to come back. She told me that what is and is not meant to be will be and that one thing I did have direct control over is the energy I put into the world, situations, and people.
Being an entrepreneur is not easy. It comes with many, many years of making no money, stress, heartache, let downs, and friendship losses. Many of these things are inevitable, but what you can control on that journey is what and who you surround yourself with from people, environments, food, music, etc.
How does this tie into your story, Gabby? Well, in this situation with our mutual friend, I reminded myself and my level up buddy that in order for us to get what we want in the goals we laid out for ourselves, we had one of two options:
Option one. Be compliant with others not wanting/willing to grow and sacrifice the opportunities we had both been waiting for and were finally receiving in our respective rights. This means we would have to turn down things we had been hustling for and manifesting because a mutual friend got too familiar and comfortable with life as they knew it. They were expecting to be on the receiving end of our hustles and grinds, but what about the work it took to go into that? What happens to the principle of learning hard work and discipline in building your own thing?
Option two. Sow seeds of positivity and love into our friends’ life and respectfully operate in a healthy selfishness and protection of our own energies and passions we built from the ground up. We had to move on to the next steps that being a BOSS had to offer. Now, I’d be lying if I said this did not hurt because it did and sometimes still does, but like the true Queen she is, my mom reminded me that “everyone can’t go up with you. Some people will get left behind, and some people may meet you up there. But you can’t spend your life being bogged down by people who do not have the same drive and/or mindset to win.”
The truth is, it is very important to surround yourself with like-minded people while you continue to build. Those will be the people that understand the hustle and workflow. They would have or will accept the necessary sacrifices in order to win for everyone you came to fight for. Is it hard? Yes, 100%. But Cicely Tyson left us with one of the most powerful messages to move through life; “Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew. They’re what make the instrument stretch—what make you go beyond the norm.”
Rest in Power to one of the most iconic women of our time. Straighten your crown, Sis; you got this.
To learn more about Guitar Gabby, follow her on IG and visit her website www.txlips.com