Cheerleader Role:

Now a decade later, I have found myself in the supporting role of a cheerleader. I’m not cheering for a sports team but instead for people and their dreams. However, while I’m cheering for others and their dreams, I have failed to cheer for myself and my own dreams. I was so committed to supporting others that people actually began to call me a cheerleader. At first, I took it as a compliment and proudly accepted the role. I played the role so well that if it were possible I would have gotten an Oscar for it.

Cheerleading Cycle:

Sadly, I didn’t see being a great cheerleader for everyone else resulted in me neglecting my own dreams. It wasn’t until I met with my mentor, Eboni L. Truss, last year for dinner in Atlanta, GA, that it was brought to my attention that I was selling myself short by being a cheerleader for everyone else but not myself.

She challenged me to do things for myself where other people could also participate. So I began to have different events and ventured into podcasting and radio.

I thought I was finally out of the cheerleader role. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I found myself linking up with people where, once again, I was the cheerleader, and I found myself putting my dreams on the back burner while I help them build theirs.

The Final Straw:

I noticed that months were passing, but I hadn’t achieved half of the things I had set out to do while the people I was supporting were getting projects done and moving on to the next thing. I was fed up with myself and tired of neglecting my own dreams.

Ironically, the people I was supporting either weren’t supporting me at all or they were half-heartedly supporting me. So, I asked myself, “Why in the world am I going hard for people who really don’t care if my dreams become a reality or not?”

After yet another conversation with someone else about me being a cheerleader only to others and not myself, I made the decision to step up to the plate, poke my chest out, and cheer as loudly as I can for myself!

However, I won’t be cheering from the sidelines like the cheerleaders at my high school football games. Oh no! I am determined to take action, like the football players on the field, and cheer at the same time while I build my own dreams. I encourage you to do the same. In the words of Farrah Gray, “Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs.”