New Age Serenity Prayer?

Let me start by saying that I've been intending to create this post for some time. However, for no reason other than my own laziness, I just never got around to it.

So, even though the song is beyond outdated, my thought still seems valid...so let's get into it.

"So in conclusion, we all seem to stumble planning our own demise. Forgetting the bigger picture and making it wallet sized. So to what's important in my life, I apologize. I promise to stay faithful, focused and sanctified. We all get distracted. The question is would you bounce back or bounce backwards? Would you not know how to act or take action? It’s just a part of life and if your vision’s impaired, you probably lose it all tonight." 

"Growing Apart (To Get Closer)" - Kendrick Lamar

This is a song that describes the divide between two people and one party's inability to understand why they are growing apart rather than closer. In true Kendrick storytelling fashion, he takes a step back and evaluates their entire relationship and how he's been feeling in order to explain the divide.

He touches on his struggle to remain motivated within personal and professional aspects of his life. This leads him to question every aspect of his life and triggers the feelings he's having that are ultimately resulting in their growing separation.

Similar to myself, after letting out his feelings, he's able to properly analyze the reason behind his behavior.

The moral of the story speaks to how as people we often times get in our own way and sometimes out of fear of the unknown unintentionally plot our own demise. After convincing ourselves that a situation can go nowhere but down, we "forget the bigger picture and make it wallet sized." 

Within Kendrick's example, he even went as far as questioning his beliefs and whether living according to those principles was even worth it if "that place called Heaven is unfair to me." Yet, after being able to take a step back and really look at the situation he was able to see the error in his judgement. "So to what's important in my life, I apologize. I promise to stay faithful, focused, and sanctified."

I make the comparison to the Serenity Prayer, because similarly it serves as a spiritual tool to help you get back on track when life throws challenges your way. It acknowledges the fact that we're all human, therefore capable of falling victim to making mistakes.

The difference between Kendrick's verse and the Serenity Prayer is that Kendrick leaves room for self-reflection. He poses questions that allow you to digest the words that he's saying and makes it up to you to make the decision in your life to make a difference. "The question is would you bounce back or bounce backwards? Would you not know how to act or take action?"


Stay tuned for a future post covering my admiration for Kendrick Lamar and other artists.