I know as soon as you looked at the title of this blog it made you feel a certain way, especially if you have seen this happen around you. For those that don't know Webster defines Gentrification as "the process of repairing and rebuilding homes and businesses in a deteriorating area (such as an urban neighborhood) accompanied by an influx of middle-class or affluent people and that often results in the displacement of earlier, usually poorer residents". To put it simply, out with the old in with the new... I have seen this happen to places here in Cincinnati and other places that I have visited like Harlem. I don't like it because the places loose a lot of what made them special. You will always have to ones that tell you that "change is good" and in some cases it is.
Before I get too far down that road and I will in a different Blog, but this one is dealing with positive Gentrification. Well how can Gentrification be positive when it is updating the area, increasing the value of it and making it impossible for those that are there or were there to move back there after the updating? Well if you are talking about people with a lot of history there then that is not a good thing. What I am referring to is the Gentrification of your MIND!!!
I am talking about updating your thinking patterns, getting rid of the old things that brought down your value and self worth and replacing them with things that increasing your self esteem and self worth. "Out with the old and in with the new" fits perfectly here. We are holding on to things in our minds that actually holds us down or back. They are things that we were told when we were younger either by family or friends or even by a mean spirited stranger. That thing has taken up residence in your mind and will not leave. It has not affected the value of the situation it was associated with but it has also brought down the property value of the all the other things around it. If you know anything about real estate then you know that one bad house can bring down the property value of all the houses around it. That is exactly what that negative memory is doing. It is devaluing all the other things that come your way. The things you hear like, "You're not good enough", "You'll never be able to do that", "You're too dumb", You're too ugly", You're too fat", You're too poor", You live in the ghetto and that's all you'll know", "You were a mistake", "I Hate You"...I could keep going but you get the picture. But you know which once stick around the longest... the ones we say about ourselves without anyone saying it to us. We put negativity on ourselves. Take anything that I mentioned above and replace the "You're", "You'll" and "You" with "I'm", "I'll" and "I". We speak take to ourselves and handcuff ourselves based on things that we think. Now our thoughts may be a result of what we see around us or hear people say but necessarily to us, just in general. Negative attitudes spread like wildfire. It is much easier to hold on to a negative thought than a positive. The reason is that we are surrounded by negativity. That is why Mental Gentrification is necessary. We have to replace those long standing negative thoughts with positive ones. Now, just like with real Gentrification, you have residents that have been there for a loooong time and are going to leave without a fight. But you have to get them out in order for things to change and become more positive. You have to make it uncomfortable for that thought to come back. If you put a lot of positive thoughts in your head it will feel strange when that negative one pops in your head. It will become easier and easier to push that thought to the side.
Now the first part of any updating is to realize that what you have is out of date and not moving you forward and needs to be replaced. Once you do that then you can start the process. You will need to change your thoughts about yourself and others and be more positive. Then you should expect those close to you to begin to see that change and acknowledge it and hopefully begin the process themselves. Remember what I say, "If you can't change the people around your, change the people around you." If is import to be around like minded people. There are a lot of things that will change you just have to be ready and accepting.
I've talked long enough... Much Love
#ReadySetGo #NoMoreExcuses #MentalGentrification #motivation