“One taught me love… One taught me patience. And one taught me pain…
Now, I’m so amazing. I’ve loved, and I’ve lost… But that’s not what I see.
So, look what I got… Look what you taught me.
And for that, I say….”
Lisssteennnnn, this song has been on repeat and every time I listen to it, I get a different revelation. Now, when I Initially heard about the song, I was excited to hear it because – I’m thinking she’s spilling tea ☕️. Well, as I truly listened to the lyrics… I began to reflect on moments where, to the public, it may have been perceived as a “loss” but to me, it was a lesson learned. Anndddd a moment of growth. Let’s just say, this song is about so much more than relationships. Ariana Grande is definitely on to something with this one, so much so, I had to write a blog about it. So….
We’ve all been in situations that have taught us love, patience and/or pain and in the end, we grew to value and love ourselves more and appreciate the good in the experience. Whether the situation is a platonic relationship, friendship, life transition, or “failure” in business. With that in mind, I’ve taken a moment to reflect on some personal experiences based on the lyrics in the song. Take a look below…
“Thought I’d end up with Sean, but he wasn’t a match”
After graduating from Grand Valley, I wanted nothing more than to secure a job in my industry, Advertising and Public Relations – specifically at an ad agency. After facing rejection after rejection, I was able to secure a marketing position. I thought this position was going to be IT for me…. until in the interview my supervisor basically told me, there was no way I could grow with the company. Then, she was B E Y O N D rude to me (like all the time). Needless to say, it wasn’t a match.
But…
I can’t say it was all bad, because this experience taught me patience and how to communicate, better. It taught me how to push through – in the midst of. Had it not been for that year, I’m not sure I would have been prepared to handle difficult people – that I’m being faced with now.
“Wrote some songs about Ricky, now I listen and laugh”
If you have read my last post, you know how things turn out for me when I have a plan that doesn’t align with God’s. When I think about situations, I got myself into “because I was doing it my way… I just sit back and laugh. Especially with men, I decided to date.
One specific relationship comes to mind, let’s call him “Whatchamacallit”. “Whatchamacallit” and I dated in 9th grade lol… but he attempted to “try again”, a few different times. The last time was right when my last relationship ended in 2017. So, here I am newly single and thinking “Man his glow up is real.” The more we talked, the more we tried to connect when he was coming into town – the more I laugh at the thought of me even entertaining him.
“Whatchamacallit” is the kind of guy that grew up but didn’t change much. He was still talking the same stuff from high school.
But…
This situation taught me, I needed to love myself enough to not get into situations with people who couldn’t love me, like I deserved. He was stuck in high school and I had graduated from college (physically and mentally).
“Wish I could say, “Thank you” to Malcolm ’cause he was an angel”
Losing a loved one, is probably the most pain I’ve endured in my 28 years of life. In 2010, I lost my granny and 2011, I lost my best friend, Shane. Even though, in the past year I’ve lost more than 5 people in my family – these two deaths shook my little world – and actually caused me to fall into depression and take a semester off from school.
But…
I learned to value people while they are here! I learned to appreciate the time you have with them because we never know when they’ll be gone. I learned the importance of living in purpose. While they both, still had things I’m sure they wanted to accomplish, the impact they left on lives was their purpose. Personally, they are legends, they both changed my life.
A lot of times we get so lost in the fact that “it didn’t work”, or “they left me” that we miss the lesson in it all. Thank you, Ariana Grande for reminding me to find the lessons in our losses.
#keepstruttin