Black Sheep

First of all, I must divulge that I am JAMMIN right now!  Black Sheep was one of my favorite groups of the early 90’s era and the song “The Choice is Yours” has been playing over and over in my mind all day (which was my favorite song by them, but a close second was “Flavor of the Month“).  When I got home this evening, I finally had a chance to put the video on and am now on the 5th rotation…I am happy to say that I still know most of the words (and those who know me well know I LOVE to showcase my lyrical skills…especially on early 90s hip-hop tracks).  But I digress…

My real reason for writing this blog was because I am feeling like a “black sheep” right now because of my new walk in life.  The dictionary defines a black sheep as “a person who stands out because of deviation from the accepted standards of his or her group”.  Unfortunately, the “accepted standards” of society today include judgement, blame, retaliation, vengeance, dishonesty, vanity, unforgiveness, impatience, greed, etc.  As someone who is committed to love, peace, compassion, non-judgement, harmony, forgiveness, etc., I constantly find myself in situations where I am the oddball because everyone else is operating under the “accepted standards” of society.  I don’t want to always be the person to come back with “well, that’s one way you could look at it…another way is [insert positive viewpoint here]” and ruin the judgement/pity party, but that’s what I feel the need to do in order to be true to myself.  The other option is staying silent which I feel is dishonoring who I am at this point in my life.  Further, it hurts me to see so many people suffering with the belief that “this is just the way things are now…there’s nothing we can do to change it”.  I wholeheartedly disagree, but I can see how one could easily come to that conclusion based on what society innundates us with.

I can’t even escape via TV like most people do because almost every show is also operating under that same low standard (with the exception of the few channels or shows that I feel showcase positive images and actually leave me better than before I watched the show).  I now watch less than 1 hour of TV every day (most days I don’t turn it on at all) and I constantly feed my mind with positive talks, books, music, and other uplifting material to keep me focused on the path.   I have a laser-like focus on reversing my negative habitual patterns right now, so it is absolutely essential that I go to this extreme.  Until it becomes second nature for me to see the best in everyone I meet (no matter what they have on, how they smell, how they talk, how their hair looks, what they say, what their title is, what they do, what race they are, etc.) and to forgive myself and others for what I perceive to be wrong doings, I cannot afford to continuously entertain and contribute to the very negativity I say I don’t want to promote.

What made me feel better today was reminding myself that all of the GREAT individuals of our time (and before our time) that stood for the very ideals I stand for were not walking lockstep with society (e.g. Jesus, Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, etc.).  In fact, they were radical non-conformists.  I feel honored to be walking in the footsteps of those that paved the way for me and I pray that I can inspire even a fraction of a fraction of the people they did to do the same.  As Black Sheep would say, “you can get with this or you can get with that“…I choose THIS (living in the light!).  What about you?

Keep shining!

~Kandace

About the Author: Kandace Jones

I used to live life shackled by fear, doubt, and worry. I put on a happy face while navigating my day-to-day duties, but I was emotionally drained, stressed, and unhappy. When I hit rock bottom, and was diagnosed with depression and anxiety, I was determined to live life differently. I knew there had to be another way. Out of that determination, and guidance from Spirit, the "Living in the Light" blog was born. It documents my spiritual journey out of the darkness and into the Light. After nine months of publicly sharing my journey, and consciously releasing my attachment to the ego, I experienced a powerful spiritual awakening. I went from living in fear, doubt, worry, and stress to complete inner peace. My greatest passion has become assisting others on their own journey to inner peace. My spiritual memoir, From Stress to Peace: An Intimate Journal on the Journey from Living in Darkness to Living in the Light, is available now on Amazon and BN.com. Click the tabs at the top of the page to learn more about the From Stress to Peace 21-Day Challenge, Living in the Light Retreats, 1:1 sessions, and the Living in the Light Community - all of which are designed to support your journey to inner peace. I appreciate you taking the time to visit the blog and look forward to supporting you in any way I can!