Urban Thought Collective

Hello Beautiful UTC People,

I know it’s been a while since we’ve last connected but I have my head down grinding. Will Smith said in an interview that once he has a goal in mind he’s like the Terminator. I’m adopting that same mentality.

I had to take a breather (while riding the train on my way to work) and share something with you.

Once I graduated from high school, I started working at a bank part time while going to college. Eventually, I migrated to Atlanta and arranged my life where I worked as a bank teller, went to Georgia State University and lived in a studio, all on Peachtree Street. It was the best set up. I’d catch one bus or train everywhere. And since I lived in Midtown and all of the hot clubs at that time were in the city, I was always partying. (Let’s have a moment of silence for Club Kaya!) Good times. Good times.

One day the manager of the bank, Karen, said she wanted to talk to me. I remember her boss was there. He was a cool dude, but I thought it was strange that he’d been spending a lot of time at our branch. Anyway, Karen informs me that the bank (she and her boss) wanted to promote me to assistant manager. The bank would give me a raise, pay for my training and even fork over tuition assistance. Do you know what I said? NO!

I remember the look on Karen’s face. She was shocked, absolutely shocked and bewildered. Here they were rolling out the red carpet, and I guess in some way, I spat on it. My parents didn’t quite understand either, but they kept their thoughts to themselves and I thank them for that.

I just remember with every word spilling out her mouth my stomach churned. The thought sickened me. Why? I couldn’t articulate it then, but I know so clearly now why I said no.

I call it the beautiful distraction.

I believe we all have several incredible talents that wow people. And we choose how to share those talents. But it doesn’t mean our choices are aligned with our divine path. Yeah, I know how to count a lot of money and am friendly and work well with others and possess leadership skills, blah, blah, blah. But in that moment my spirit knew that, although I would excel as an assistant manager and had the skill and drive to climb the ladder, it wasn’t my destiny. Taking that promotion would have been a detour off of my path. How, you might ask? Well, at the time, I had no clue what to do with my life. NONE! But I knew banking wasn’t it and I wasn’t willing to make such a huge commitment like that to them. It didn’t seem right. But I see now that when I said no to them, I essentially said yes to my destiny.

By saying no I allowed my journey of discovery to continue. No, I didn’t have all of the answers but I didn’t need them. I trusted that I was led to move to Atlanta for more than becoming a bank executive. And I was right.

What’s interesting is once I turned down that offer, I decided to transition out of that career. I asked to become a “floating teller,” someone who isn’t assigned to a particular branch, but instead, is more like a fill-in for branches short on staff or for those who called off. It was my way of detaching myself from a space I was so complacent in.

Eventually, I quit and started working other customer service jobs until I became a writer. But the difference between who I was as a bank teller and who I was as a customer service representative (CSR) is the teller was attached to what I was taught: go to school, get a good education so you can get a good job. That’s the message you get from teachers, family, friends, etc. all of the time. My father, however, planted the “find something you like to do” seed. The CSR remembered that message and nurtured it the best way I could without knowing the big picture… Now that I think about it, I only had one CSR job after quitting the banking business and transitioning into a writer. ONE. What a blessing.

I say this to you UTC family because you can’t be afraid to say no. It may seem like you’re rejecting something valuable, but if it’s not aligned with your calling, it is worthless. Don’t invest energy in it. Keep moving forward even if you don’t know where you’re going. At least you know where you’re not going. Give yourself credit for that. And when you say no, the heavenly gates open up and magic happens. It always happens when you say no to distractions and say yes to your destiny. Always!

Until we connect with each other again…
UTC readers: In all that we seek to be or do or have, we humbly realize that in the Presence is our power to think, our very thought of aspiration, our will to commence, our strength to keep on, our power to achieve, and the glory of all our accomplishments. This is the Truth and it is now done. ~ A prayer from “Discover the Power Within You”
Envisioning you with much love, light and fulfillment.

Yaminah Ahmad is a Goddess with a few professional titles that are supposed to mean something, but they don’t mean so much to her anymore. She can be reached at missyaminah@gmail.com.