Swim In Your Own Lane
My personal life motto is “nothing happens to me by chance.” I don’t believe in coincidence. I know that there are times where things happen for a specific reason. Today was one of those days where I saw a sign from God.
On this day exactly seven years ago, I found myself cheering my daughter on at a local swim meet. It was a last chance qualifier for swimmers to make the city meet finals. During that meet, she won a race and made the finals in the butterfly; which was one of her least favorite races. Each week prior to that I reminded her to just swim her race and not focus on anyone else.
Today I found myself driving home in tears. I was a vendor for a Tuskegee University Alumni conference. During the weekend, a lot of people gave me positive comments. I’ve spent so much time in the past comparing myself to others. I found myself always downplaying my work to avoid disappointments. That way I wouldn’t feel bad if others didn’t like my designs or ideas.
This weekend I was reminded why I started. It wasn’t to become the next hot brand. One of Ivan Ray’s mottos is “to leave people in a better position than how I met them.” That’s where Ivan Ray’s true success lies.
I’ve been contemplating something for over a year, but wouldn’t commit for fear of not being good enough. But today we step out on faith. I would like Ivan Ray’s to start giving out scholarships to help students go to school. The ultimate desire is to one day provide a scholarship for college and another for trade school. Today I remembered the lessons that I tried to teach my daughter years ago.
Swim My Own Lane and Leave People Better Than How I Meet Them
Attached is a picture of the first scholarship that I received my senior year of high school. I had to write a paper detailing why I needed help for college. My paper was selected as the first in my county. It was one of the times I am reminded of the potential that others saw in me that I didn’t see in myself. I want Ivan Ray’s to do that same thing for others.
