Be your own hype man

I recently read this book at the end of 2019 called the Year Of Yes by Shonda Rhimes. In this book I was faced with a mirror that showed me how I've been living my life. Last year although I had many challenges I played it safe. I allowed myself space to step out of my comfort zone, but only when I had to. I saw people do great things all around me, but never once did I think I was able to do incredible things for myself. Don't get me wrong I'm a hard worker, but even more importantly I am an amazing hype man.

If you're one of the few people in the world that doesn't know what a hype man is let me break it down for you. A hype man or gal is a person that plays back up rapper to the primary rapper. A hype man repeats some of the lines the rappers says to give emphasis, cheers them on, and gives off extra energy to get the crowd going. The main goal of the hype man is to make whomever he's hyping up look good. I'm an excellent hype man. I was born for this role. As the second oldest of six I've been playing hype man my whole entire life.

I work for a peer led non profit where I challenge young people everyday to step out of their comfort zone. The non profit is art based, so a lot of our kids are poets, musicians, dancers, visual artist, singers, rappers. You name it we have it. When the opportunity comes around for the teens to shine, I try to be there for them as much as I can. I become mentor, coach, advocate, auntie, play mama, big sister, driver, editor, order keeper, and biggest supporter. In essence the ultimate hype man. I'm not only the hype man for the boys and girls at our center, but also my cohorts. Whatever they need me to do, or wherever they need me to be I'm there, because I believe in our mission.

The thing is though if I am the hype gal, to this hype team, where we do all these hype things, then why do I struggle so much in believing in my own hype? That was the question I asked myself after reading Shonda's book. So in order to find out if I really do believe in me I promised myself that in 2020 I would take more risk. I would believe in my creativity. I would stop living in fear of not being good enough. I would be bold when I speak; and I would no longer shrink to fit into places I've outgrown. In this season I am worthy of being the primary rapper, and the hype man for myself, all at the same time. And you are too.