Get on my level.
Ages ago this seemed a catchy little tune to groove to and make the party hoppers hop a little more. It was nothing more than a passing iceberg in the cold oceans of hip-hop that would soon fade and be no more; how prophetic its verses. How deep was its message. It’s truly refreshing to be able to speak these four words and mean them. How grand to speak the words and have something of substance behind them. Get on my level. Rise above where you are in life. Elevate beyond what your immaturity tells you is possible.
It seems so simple. But yet for many it remains so hard.
Childishness would dictate that to tell someone to get on your level would require an air of conceit or superiority. It would deem it necessary to look down upon the individual and exercise the look of royalty upon a pauper of the lowest class. On the other hand a mature emotion of telling someone to get on your level would be empathy and understanding. Maturity would give way to a wisdom that would not ridicule or dishearten, but genuinely yearn for the uplifting of that person.
To truly be able to tell someone to get on your level you must really understand the low points and valleys of life that you have overcome. You cannot advise someone to elevate when you have not really done anything of consequence yourself. You are not really an independent, contributing member of this society but yet you would have the audacity to tell someone to get on your level.
A minimum requirement of “grownness” must be established before you even think of using this phrase. I hear kids using such phrases and I can barely hold the laughter. You are not grown. You are playing house. You are playing committed relationships. You are simply posers in the real world and these real levels that you are so quick to speak.
If your parents help you with bills, you are not grown. Grown people have lights, water, gas, car notes, car insurance, medical insurance, credit cards, bank accounts, rent/mortgages, renter’s/homeowners insurance, etc. You have a Dillard’s charge and a gas card bill and you are grown? No. Next. Grown-ups only live with their parents if their parents are unable to care for themselves and they come back to help. Yes the truth will set you free. If you have no car, you are not grown. How in the hell can a man call himself a man and he can’t go to a store to buy toilet tissue without picking up a phone?
Grown folks pay taxes - taxes accrued through the jobs that they use to pay for all the necessities of life. This one may put my life on the line – you are not grown if you are not taking care of your kids yourself. Your mother, grandmother, aunt, sister, cousin, neighbor friend, etc. didn’t lie down and create those kids and until you are their sole provider you are not grown. Grown folks take care of the things they create and are totally responsibility for their decisions. Yes, people can “help” but when other people see your kids more than you do, you have crossed the line to just receiving “help.”
But it’s a growing process and it’s hard to realize that so many friends, associates, relatives, etc. are not really on your level or really making your life more successful. It’s hard to hold conversations when I’m complaining about the high property taxes I have to pay and you are babbling about your layaway at TJ Maxx. I’m planning trips overseas and you can only make it to Birmingham if a group of friends ride and chip in on the gas. I may eat at Pappadeaux’s for lunch and you only go on your birthday. I want to start a business and you only want to give your money to a business. I care about local and state elections and your not even registered to vote. I can see how hard my kids are going to have it unless I start to save something for them and you can only see how hard you have it. Get on my level. Rise above where you are in life. Elevate beyond what your immaturity tells you is possible.
But time brings about change and until you can truly wish the elevation of a person, please don’t tell them to get on your level. If you truly don’t want to see them taken out of their current situation, don’t be childishness and cold. You were not always where you are now and one day you might not be there anymore.
Ages ago this seemed a catchy little tune to groove to and make the party hoppers hop a little more. It was nothing more than a passing iceberg in the cold oceans of hip-hop that would soon fade and be no more; how prophetic its verses. How deep was its message. It’s truly refreshing to be able to speak these four words and mean them. How grand to speak the words and have something of substance behind them. Get on my level. Rise above where you are in life. Elevate beyond what your immaturity tells you is possible.
It seems so simple. But yet for many it remains so hard.
Childishness would dictate that to tell someone to get on your level would require an air of conceit or superiority. It would deem it necessary to look down upon the individual and exercise the look of royalty upon a pauper of the lowest class. On the other hand a mature emotion of telling someone to get on your level would be empathy and understanding. Maturity would give way to a wisdom that would not ridicule or dishearten, but genuinely yearn for the uplifting of that person.
To truly be able to tell someone to get on your level you must really understand the low points and valleys of life that you have overcome. You cannot advise someone to elevate when you have not really done anything of consequence yourself. You are not really an independent, contributing member of this society but yet you would have the audacity to tell someone to get on your level.
A minimum requirement of “grownness” must be established before you even think of using this phrase. I hear kids using such phrases and I can barely hold the laughter. You are not grown. You are playing house. You are playing committed relationships. You are simply posers in the real world and these real levels that you are so quick to speak.
If your parents help you with bills, you are not grown. Grown people have lights, water, gas, car notes, car insurance, medical insurance, credit cards, bank accounts, rent/mortgages, renter’s/homeowners insurance, etc. You have a Dillard’s charge and a gas card bill and you are grown? No. Next. Grown-ups only live with their parents if their parents are unable to care for themselves and they come back to help. Yes the truth will set you free. If you have no car, you are not grown. How in the hell can a man call himself a man and he can’t go to a store to buy toilet tissue without picking up a phone?
Grown folks pay taxes - taxes accrued through the jobs that they use to pay for all the necessities of life. This one may put my life on the line – you are not grown if you are not taking care of your kids yourself. Your mother, grandmother, aunt, sister, cousin, neighbor friend, etc. didn’t lie down and create those kids and until you are their sole provider you are not grown. Grown folks take care of the things they create and are totally responsibility for their decisions. Yes, people can “help” but when other people see your kids more than you do, you have crossed the line to just receiving “help.”
But it’s a growing process and it’s hard to realize that so many friends, associates, relatives, etc. are not really on your level or really making your life more successful. It’s hard to hold conversations when I’m complaining about the high property taxes I have to pay and you are babbling about your layaway at TJ Maxx. I’m planning trips overseas and you can only make it to Birmingham if a group of friends ride and chip in on the gas. I may eat at Pappadeaux’s for lunch and you only go on your birthday. I want to start a business and you only want to give your money to a business. I care about local and state elections and your not even registered to vote. I can see how hard my kids are going to have it unless I start to save something for them and you can only see how hard you have it. Get on my level. Rise above where you are in life. Elevate beyond what your immaturity tells you is possible.
But time brings about change and until you can truly wish the elevation of a person, please don’t tell them to get on your level. If you truly don’t want to see them taken out of their current situation, don’t be childishness and cold. You were not always where you are now and one day you might not be there anymore.
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