THE FIRE 🔥 

I love looking at fire.

I love seeing something burn.

I love watching the smoke that rises from burning things.

There was always something fascinating about it: something that pulled my attention toward it.

Maybe it was the way thing's just disappeared after entering into it.

But when I was young, I was told not to touch fire.

I was told it was dangerous.

“It will burn you.”

“It will burn your clothes.”

So, I lowered my fascination with fire because I didn’t want my people to start feeling like I was possessed. 😭😂

But I am older now.

Here I am.

I've gone through fire countless times,

and somehow, I am still here.

Still breathing.

Still standing.

Still becoming.

The same fire I was warned about became a teacher.

It taught me that not everything that burns is meant to destroy you.

Some fires refine you.

Some expose what you are made of.

Some teach you how to survive.

And some simply teach you that you were stronger than you thought.

I used to watch fire from a distance.

Now, I understand it.

I know when to come close.

I know when to step back.

I know what it can do.

And I know what I can do with it.

I touch fire now.

Not because fire stopped being dangerous,

but because I stopped being ignorant of it.

I have learned how to handle it.

And perhaps that is what growing up really means:

Not that the things you feared suddenly become harmless,

but that you become wiser, stronger, and better equipped to face them.

Here's where we are going:

There are possibilities people have introduced to you as impossibilities.

There are paths you have been told are “no-go areas.”

There are journeys people have presented to you as “journeys of no return.”

But what if there is actually a way?

What if it isn't a journey of no return?

What if you can go, journey through it, and return with great answers, lessons, and many possibilities?

So, try some of those things you have been thinking about.

Try them.

Journey with them.

It might just be possible for you.

Move! 🎉🌹

But there is also a balance to this.

Listen to advice.

Not every warning is meant to stop you; some warnings are meant to prepare you.

Take advice. Consider it. Learn from it. And when necessary, take visible action based on it.

Don't just throw good advice in the bin.

Take it, make it useful, and let wisdom guide your courage.

Follow your passion.

Explore that thing you've always wanted to explore.

Take that step you've been afraid to take.

Put your hands in that fire.

But learn how to handle the fire first.

Because courage isn't the absence of danger.

Sometimes, courage is knowing the danger, learning how to navigate it, and still deciding to move.

You just might come out unscathed. 🥺😅🔥