Alls My Life, I Has to Fight: Relinquishing Your Power In Order To Gain It
Letting go the limitations and the word “unrealistic”
BRIIIIIIIIIIIIINGGGGG!….BRRRRRIIIINNNGGGG! “Hello,” I said as I answered Eniafe Isis call. The call came at 11:29 PM EST on Saturday night, which was definitely outside the normal. Her voice was a calm sort of chaos, which let me know that it was serious. She, indeed, was putting out a last minute fire in preparation for an event production she was directing. The request that came from her was for a quick turnaround design. One that pretty much needed to be completed as soon as possible, like right then. Instinctually, my “let’s get this work” attitude kicked in. So, in less than 30 minutes the request was fulfilled and the fire was doused. So we thought, or this peice would end here…
The action of changing my mind in that split second, not based on circumstances, or what I knew to be true; but because of what I believed, has changed my perspective on getting things done.
Sitting in church the next morning, Isis’ name flashed across my cellphone screen. “Uh oh,” I thought to myself as I texted her to see what was up. She revealed that in haste, there was a mindless mistake with what was sent over the night before. I cringed in my seat. There wasn’t time for lamenting about my mistake though, we needed a solution and we needed it quick. What could I possibly do from my cell phone (that doesn’t have the appropriate application) to redesign this file for print? She assured me that it’d be okay and that she’d figure it out. But I couldn’t….I wouldn’t, settle for failure caused by my own weakness. I sat in church floating in and out of attention to the message being spoken, then the word “unrealistic” came to mind.
Unrealistic— based on what is wanted or hoped for rather than on what is possible or likely : not sensible and appropriate.
The term floated into my reality three weeks prior, in dealing with a situation where I was told something that I asked for was unrealistic. And, it had never left my consciousness. Now, I was the one who was being stared down by a task that seemed unrealistic to me. I sat in my seat at church and thought, there has to be a way OR I will make one. It was in that moment that I gave up the power of reality and challenged myself to make what seemed impractical, possible. I Googled for what seemed like forever, looking for tools, generators, and converters. I needed to get the file in a format that I could edit from my phone, then send it from my phone directly to Isis. Then, the solution found me. Eureka. Boom- bam crisis adverted.

After church I pondered on what had just happened. Changing that file was, in some ways, unrealistic to me at first. Not because it was impossible; but because I limited my reality to only think in the vacuum of what I already knew existed, what I thought I could do and what was already proven to work. When I dared to ask “what if” and relinquished my control and understanding to the unknown, the unrealistic became reality. The power that I had lost to circumstances suddenly did a 180 and the power to change the circumstances became mine. I’ll have to admit, in the moment, I was impressed with the ingenuity that had demonstrated itself. I’m even more blown away in hindsight, in how simple this request was and how quickly it became a challenge.
The action of changing my mind in that split second, not based on circumstances, or what I knew to be true; but because of what I believed, has changed my perspective on getting things done. It’d be irresponsible for me to tell this story as if I didn’t ask God for help in that moment. I did acknowledge my mistake. I knew that in my own strength, I had been weak-minded and thoughtless. I then held tight to this conviction: because my skills come from Him, they’re divinely empowered by Him who is limitless. And I know that in that very moment of deep belief, the strategy to figure out a solution came to my mind.
Let go of your limitations, relinquish your power to control every thing and watch the wise and miraculous happen in your life. However small, However grand. Transcend the circumstance. Cause “Wouldn’t you know, We been hurt, been down before….We gone be alright!” (SHAMELESS Kendrick Lamar Plug) . That’s guts and glory!

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This piece was written by Ashley S. Ashley is the fiery founder of ‘Tempel’. As an entrepreneur, fine arts scholar and branding professional, she is also the Executive Creative of business management firm Patent Ventures. She is a believer, gym bad gyal who lifts, and avocado aficionado who loves being creative and helping businesses perform.
