“That’s cool, I like it/ The growth, the light/ The pain, the fight/ We love, we fight/ We hurt, we cry”…Walk good. 28all. Eya. *OC, RH, JQ, AG, LS*

The Warm-Up: 

“Your calling is going to crush you. If you’re called to mend the brokenhearted, you’re going to wrestle with broken-heartedness. If you’re called to prophesy, you’re going to struggle to control your mouth. If you’re called to lay hands, you will battle spiritual viruses. If you are called to preach and to teach the gospel, you will be sifted for the wisdom that anoints your message. If you are called to empower, your self-esteem will be attacked, your successes will be hard fought. Your calling will come with cups, thorns and sifting that are necessary for your mantle to be authentic, humble and powerful. Your crushing won’t be easy because your assignment is not easy. Your oil is not cheap.” ~Pastor Patrick Weaver, excerpt from Pastor Patrick’s Sermon: Your Oil Is Not Cheap

The Core: 

“I’m going to take the high road because the low road is too crowded.” ~Mia Farrow

“The only guy who deserves you, is the one who thinks he doesn’t.” ~Unknown

“You know you’re on the right track when you become uninterested in looking back.” ~Unknown

“The fastest way to raise your level of performance: Cut your number of commitments in half.” ~James Clear

“The trick to viewing feedback as a gift is to be more worried about having blind spots than hearing about them.” ~James Clear

“Are you worried about being copied or are you worried about running out of ideas? The only solution to either is to keep working.” ~Jack Butcher

“I have to constantly re-identify myself to myself, reactivate my own standards, my own convictions about what I’m doing and why.” ~Nina Simone (_nitch)

“New Paradigm Leadership: Invitation > persuasion. Sovereignty > dominance. Living the change > fighting for change. God’s miracles > our plans.” ~Aaron Rose

“Oneinarow. Any success takes one in a row. Do one thing well, then another. Once, then once more. Over and over until the end, then it’s oneinarow again.” ~Matthew McConaughey, Greenlights

“Compassionate people aren’t morally superior. More often than not, they have tasted the depths of their own darkness which makes it harder to judge, for they realize they would only be judging themselves.” ~Ayishat Akanbi

“I spent five years writing in obscurity, but I finally gained momentum this year. Email list growth: 450%. Twitter following growth: 500%. The lesson: Expect things to start slowly when you start a new project but keep going when you really think you’re onto something.” ~David Perell

“Biology and giddyup. DNA and work. Genetics and willpower. Life’s a combination. Some get the genes but never the work ethic or resilience. Others work their ass off but never had the innate ability. Others have both and never rely on the first.” ~Matthew McConaughey, Greenlights

“ENNY said there’s peng black girls in our area codes/ These black girls need to be in the shows/ Be on the runways, not just mood boards/ On top of that, we gotta see them in your team/ Look at your crown, natural relaxed/ Had a Jheri curl one time, soft and sheen/ Where black girl magic is sometimes blue/ Might have broke a hair band or two/ Raise my voice, you gonna say that I’m angry/ Kiss my teeth and now you say that I’m hood/ Kid at sixteen, you say it’s my destiny/ Drive a Range, you think I’m up to no good/ Give us a break and let us breath, man/ Give us a chance, let us achieve, fam/ And I know that my hair looks a bit different today/ So don’t touch my hair…” ~ENNY & Jorga Smith, Peng Black Girls Remix

“Every man is the sum total of his reactions to experience. As your experiences differ and multiply, you become a different man, and hence your perspective changes. This goes on and on... So it would seem foolish, would it not, to adjust our lives to the demands of a goal we see from a different angle every day? How could we ever hope to accomplish anything...The answer, then, must not deal with goals at all...We do not strive to be firemen, we do not strive to be bankers, nor policemen, nor doctors. WE STRIVE TO BE OURSELVES. But don’t misunderstand me. I don’t mean that we can’t BE firemen, bankers, or doctors...but that we must make the goal conform to the individual, rather than make the individual conform to the goal...Beware of looking for goals: look for a way of life. Decide how you want to live and then see what you can do to make a living WITHIN that way of life.” ~ Hunter S. Thompson (_nitch)

Last Set: 

“One theme should remain constant in your life every day—gratitude. When you wake up and when you go to bed make sure to show appreciation for the ones around you that shape you, make you, push you, teach you, aide you, and are always there for you. Thank them early. Thank them often. Thank them endlessly. They make you better every day and they will never let you settle for anything less than your best. Recognize them because you are who you are because of them. No one ever gets mad when you overuse the word ‘thank you.’” ~Anonymous

Call to Action: 

Next week!! If you are an active reader of the MML or even if this is your first time reading, what are some of your favorite quotes? I’m going to curate your answers—I’ll use that as the end of year MML. Thanks to those of you that have already submitted some. One love. Also, hypothetically speaking, if the MML had some merch, would you be interested in it?!...