Protecting your peace or whatever
If you know anything about anything, you might have heard about the Kendrick Lamar vs Drake and J. Cole beef.
Kendrick dropped a song dissing Drake and J. Cole and just this past week, J. Cole responded in a rap track of his own.
IT WAS LIT!!!
It’s a Cole world and we’re just living in it.
I’ve been a fan of him for a long time not only for his skilled lyricism but also for how he lives his life.
At first when I heard the response, I didn’t think much of it. I was just excited for more of his music.
There were a couple digs, but due to J. Cole’s nature, he was never going to go in for the kill. It was a gentle diss. Most rappers don’t think twice about releasing it. If someone comes after you, you go after them. Simple as that.
But J. Cole is different and I’ve always known it.
As I’m sitting on the plane, worrying about all of my life problems (thanks volleyball 🙄). This couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.
To understand this better, you should see the 4 min video:
https://twitter.com/Glock_Topickz/status/1777176191117455868
TLDR; J. Cole APOLOGIZED in front of EVERYBODY! Hyped Kendrick Lamar in front of a crowd that came to his concert and took ACCOUNTABILITY.
To be clear, Kendrick Lamar criticized this man on a track that went VIRAL! J. Cole responded, felt bad about it the whole time it was released, knew what he did was wrong according to his character, apologized on the biggest stage and cheered for the guy who roasted him.
That’s a grown ass man right thur.
Yes, I know, he still technically did it. He released the song and everybody heard it already. BUT he’s only human. No one has ever come for him before. He felt disrespected and wrongfully accused.
I can’t imagine not feeling angry about that and wanting to do something about it. I’m sure we all can relate.
So while I understand that he shouldn’t have even done it in the first place, it takes some real guts to give a real apology (no PR bs) and own up to the fact that he fell short of his expectations of himself.
It was just a great example of not only knowing who you are and admitting fault, but also protecting your peace.
When someone hurts you, disrespects you and/or embarrasses you. That’s not on you.
It sucks, it hurts like hell and you might get judged for a while, but these things will happen over the course of your life.
Protecting your peace is about what YOU do and what you choose NOT to do.
When J. Cole retaliated, he was actually harming himself.
This whole debacle taught me that peace is forgiving, holding true to your values and being respectfully honest to yourself/others. Peace is not about payback and it is not about being a push over either. Finding the middle ground and letting go of the things you can’t control.
Since my last post about being a bitter b*tch, I’ve put the work into being happier for other people. Letting go of jealousy and believing my own way will work out.
I think this adds a second layer to that, if not, just a reminder.
Even though I’ve been doing such a good job over the last couple months; recently, I’ve had a couple things not go my way. The addition of each new setback pushed me closer and closer toward utter bitterness.
I delighted in someone getting a taste of their own medicine, salivated at South Carolina’s Raven Johnson’s “Revenge Tour” and drowned myself in comparison.
But those things are not me and definitely not who I want to be. I want to treat the people I love and even people I don’t love with respect and care. Do the things I need to do to shield my own mind from harm.
I don’t need all that because I know who I am (for the most part) and I’ll be okay no matter what.
So today, this is how I’m protecting my peace or whatever. It’s a lot of work lol, but nothing good comes easy and everything good comes with time.
If you’ve got a minute… what does protecting your peace mean to you? Is it cheesy? Is there anything you do specifically in life or on social? Did you retaliate and it made you feel better? I’d love to know.
