THE PATH TO THE TOP

In a recent post we talked about Living Out Your Identity. For all of you who grasped on to that and ran with it, congratulations!!! 🎉 This is a major step and one that is rewarding, and fulfilling. I am excited ✨for your future and all that you are going to accomplish.

Of course, I would like to say that life is going to be a bed of roses from here on out, that everyone will see your purpose, calling, and love it and respect it. Well yes in a perfect world that would be true; and we all know we are not in a perfect world. So here we are freshly empowered and determined to walk out who we are and then there is the opposition that can come in so many forms that it is not even worth naming the different ways it can appear. Oh, how if life was a bed of roses… well... it is not. So how do we look at ourselves and our circumstances when the hurdles arise? Hurdles are meant to be jumped, so all that prep work of understanding and knowing your identity, protecting your peace, ‘Finding Your Purpose’, ‘The Art Of Encouraging Yourself’, ‘Knowing What Success Is’, ‘Living In The Macro And More’ (Yes, all past post, some of which you can find here) is really going to come in handy on your path to the top.

In a YouTube meandering moment and wanting to know more on Nicola Tesla, I came across videos discussing Michael Jackson, and Prince’s start. Some of you may be familiar with their career path; but it was fascinating, the challenges that each faced. Nicola Tesla had a difficult time staying funded and although he made immense strides in his work and post his death has been credited for; not only laying the foundations for innovation for the 21st century; but also, the 22nd century, he was often turned down for capital. Michael Jackson had a childhood full of pain and a career that despite his greatness had to be fought for with both internal and external teams and the press. And although Prince was a gifted musician, he had to make hundreds of calls to stations to play his music or even give him an interview, sometimes even calling the same station 3 or 4 times a day. And when he

did get to be heard, sales of his poster were initially higher than sales of his music for a stretch of time. Yes, for most of us that path to the top does not have a red carpet rolled out for us to get there; and in all reality I do not really know if anyone should ever want the red-carpet path. It seems nice from the outside as many things do; but what personally does anyone gain when they do not wrestle with something…nothing. You gain no character, substance, no beauty and nothing to pass down to anyone else. There is something about what is tried and true that is alluring, we love it. It draws us in. Its process is what creates the value.

We may follow vapid people because they look a certain way or we may be interested in the things they have; but let’s face it, no one is running to them for advice. We are fascinated with the fairy tale, the escape. The forging that happens in the process is the value. Faith without works is dead. The steps we take to overcome is our faith in action. It is that action that can produce a substance… now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not

seen. Don’t believe me? Look at the cost of a diamond. If you think you are only paying for the end product, I beg to differ… you are paying for the process. Just compare the price of an earth created diamond and a lab created diamond. Compare the quality and the characteristics of each and then tell me if you were stuck in a glass room and the only thing you had to get out was a diamond tool, would you want that tool to be made of an earth grown diamond or a lab grown diamond?

For those who are Christian, many of you are familiar with the scripture that says “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,” and maybe you may feel that there is some mystical way God has to bring this about for it to happen and maybe you are right; but I would like to propose that God embedded this result in the process for those who embrace Him and embrace the process. I know I am going a bit deep; but bear with me; because beauty here is a masculine noun, inferring strength, if one really digs into the text, it can also be talking about a headdress or embellishment, and can infer protection and establishment. So, could we just say that overcoming gives us not just beauty; but also, strength, it establishes us and grants a level of protection? Oh, and there is more; but I will not continue with all of that here, if you would like to know more, just send me an email and I will get it to you.

The path to the top is not easy; but it is embedded with rewards. Get ready for the ride and embrace it. Expect challenges to come and plan, strategize and ask for help to overcome it. It can be a formidable path; but it is worth it, and be sure to pick up the treasures you will find on your way.

See you at the top!

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Kenisa Nunley, founder & CEO of “Gowns and Gardens”, and “Gowns and Gardens House of Charities”, is a native Los Angelino and an explorer of life. She has a background in consulting, business development, events, and is a graduate from the University of Southern California, with a Bachelor of Arts in Global Business and an emphasis in marketing.

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