A Message to My Peers

When I was 18, I was filled with anxiety.

My entire life, I had felt like an outsider, but I was always a good actor.

I knew how to operate in a crowd and maneuver around the world with a fair sense of observation, but it was never enough to keep me from peer pressure or the desire to fit in.

I was the lone wolf in my friend group, the only one who chose the university I decided to attend.

I was stressed, alone, and alienated.

Everything was unfamiliar, and every bias I had was being challenged.

I was defensive, angry, close-minded, and weak.

Isolation turned into depression, and fear of change made me seek comfort in the wrong people—the same ones who contributed to my pain.

But I was too self-absorbed to see it.

I thought I had all the answers.

Somehow, I still believed I was the smartest person in the room.

Isn’t that crazy? To be so insecure, yet so arrogant at the same time?

As life became harder—school, relationships, body image, self-worth—I started seeking understanding.

Maybe it was all the lessons my mother taught me growing up beginning to reverberate in the back of my mind, slowly but surely coming back to me.

I had a strong foundation, and even though I strayed, my roots were still there.

But this time, isolation wasn’t about being consumed by the world.

It was about detaching from it—intentionally.

Slowly, I cut out distractions.

It was a learning curve.

When you grow up in a culture that sees people as cogs in a system, you never fully actualize yourself as an individual.

You know you’re human—you breathe, bleed, laugh, and think—you go through the motions.

But do our thoughts truly belong to us?

I started asking myself, Who is Heaven? 

Not according to the world’s terms, but my own.

I knew how people perceived me.

I knew I had talents.

But who was I?

So I read more.

I used my phone less.

I spent time outside.

I talked to my family.

I started doing things that made me happy; like painting again, watching old cinema.

I started spending time with myself!

But the biggest shift came when I stopped speaking and started listening. 

I cut out the noise and took control of my mind.

I realized peace wasn’t something I could chase—it was something I had to choose.

Being alone gave me the space and clarity to recognize and appreciate my strengths while also challenging me to confront my weaknesses and work on neutralizing them.

I humbled myself.

I accepted that I don’t know everything, but the one thing I could truly know is myself. 

And when I stopped resisting, I became open to learning.

I no longer just tolerated people—I accepted them.

I stopped condemning others for not meeting my expectations and instead learned to adjust my own behavior.

That’s what it means to respect people. 

Even if you don’t agree, you don’t demean or belittle.

You simply walk away.

I realized I couldn’t change the world, but I could change myself. 

And when I discovered who Heaven was—my God, is she worth knowing.

Now, at 20, my mind has completely transformed, and I’m beyond excited for what’s to come.

I know storms are on my horizon and life won’t be easy, but if we’re being honest, no matter what route you take, life will never be easy!

Some people say I have an old soul, but I don’t.

God has simply shown me favor and I’m blessed and grateful beyond measure to have figured out the things I have so young, because now this means, (God willingly), I have more time to live a life according to His will.

And the purpose He has for our lives if we allow Him in, exceeds our own imaginations and expectations.

To follow the crowd or lack ambition, you set yourself up for consequences that will reap little to no return in the end.

But to take a path less followed, I have the confidence and faith in my Lord to bring me through any battle.

Yet, at the same time, it saddens me to see so many of my peers still trapped in the same illusions I once was. 

Mental Extermination

To end the insurrection in the midst of what we now know as the Haitian Revolution, Napoleon’s strategy was to “Exterminate every black on the island over the age of 12” and replace them with “docile imports” from Africa. 

These are human beings he was referring to as cargo by the way. 

Because there were free men on the island and a majority adult slave population who had known a time before the brutal Saint-Domingue slave regime, Napoleon wanted to commit a genocide, so that those left and those brought over, would never remember or have an idea of what freedom truly was.

And even if they did, the trauma they experienced from this event would scare them into submission for the rest of their lives. 

You see, the earlier your mind is controlled, the harder it is to break away from all that you were indoctrinated by, and when you don’t know who you are, the easier it is to manipulate you.

Our modern world has implemented a new method of mental extermination.

We call it social media. 

Age of Illusion

If you’re slightly younger than me, the same age as me, or maybe just a few years older, then you know we have never truly known a time before this.

Our entire lives, we have been bombarded and overwhelmed with information of all sorts. Everything we’ve ever wanted to search, learn, see, or hear—at any given moment—we could pull out our devices and have access to the entire world at our fingertips.

What a blessing and a curse.

We are a generation completely immersed in the internet.

In what felt like a blink, childhood play turned into social media addiction, real-world conversations into digital interactions, and the pursuit of knowledge into an algorithm-fed echo chamber.

We have only ever known the age of information—yet, instead of wisdom, we’ve been left overstimulated and misled by a world that prioritizes clicks over truth.

Social media feeds us the lie that in our youth, we have endless time to make mistakes and waste our lives away because “we can always get it together later.” 

It glorifies, rewards, and celebrates young women who sell themselves for attention and typically have abrasive egos, appealing to the lust of men and the envy of insecure women.

It uplifts, esteems, and encourages young men to throw their lives away to chase fast money instead of acquiring real skills.

Scamming is prevalent and I find it interesting how common it is to see the promotion of gambling now, masquerading as fun and simple sports-betting.

The adoration of romantic relationships and real friendships have become a thing of the past, because as long as you have what everyone wants—money and/or status—your reckless behavior is excused.

And if you have neither, no one cares to engage with you anyway.

In our world, emotional maturity and empathy no longer exist.

These same values are drilled into us through our music.

Nearly every mainstream song is about sex, money, violence, envy, unforgiveness, egotism, crime, objectification, and body image—nothing of substance.

And in order for a video to go viral these days, it must have the same ingredients.

Negativity and perversity always seems to gain a large audience, whereas positivity usually gets swept underneath the rug.

And don’t get me wrong—these things have always existed.

Digital media just amplified it.

Take a step back, and you’ll see how all of this has completely corrupted our minds.

Everyone thinks the same.

Everyone acts the same.

Think about it—how many people do you know who are truly different?

Basic social skills are deteriorating, and instead of looking inward to change, people point fingers at everyone else.

Although the detrimental effects of social media have no age—older generations are just as prone to believing everything they see on the internet as well—it is especially nasty for us, because at least they can reflect on a time before.

But many of us? Our lives are completely rooted within a device.

Instead of experiencing the real world and judging our lives based on tangible reality, we look digitally, living by the principles of people we don’t even know.

Everyone has an agenda they’re trying to push, and it’s always at the expense of you.

But worst of all, pride runs rampant.

We all think we’re better than one another, when in reality, no one is.

Don’t you see?

A life pictured like this will always come to a screeching halt.

One day, you’ll look up and realize you wasted your youth on people who only used you. You’ll scramble to pick up the pieces, settling for whatever you can find because you neglected your future for short-term pleasure.

You let an external force corrupt your mind, and now your heart is hardened by the foolishness you indulged in.

Instead of using your energy to build yourself up, you lived for others—becoming a people-pleaser because facing yourself was too hard.

You took the easy way out because it’s easier to follow the crowd than to carve your own path.

People pride themselves on being hyper-independent while secretly craving validation, because sitting alone with their thoughts and committing to self-improvement is too much work.

Our arrogance is so out of control that many of us don’t even realize we’re being controlled.

Social media is the greatest tool of distraction ever created.

It preys on our fears, tracks our thoughts, and builds an algorithm to feed our pain.

And because you’re hurt—because your view of the world is warped, because you’re weak—you seek out others who think like you.

Instead of shedding weight, social media makes you heavier—obese with the desire for attention, a prideful heart, and an amoral mind.

My message to my peers is this: being “young and dumb” doesn’t have to be your reality.

That phrase is nothing but a copout for people who refuse to take accountability.

We all make mistakes, but at what point do you learn?

At what point do you stop, reflect, and choose to move differently?

The world is yours for the taking.

You are far more capable than you think, and just because society pushes you toward a certain mold, that doesn’t mean you have to fit into it.

Napoleon wanted the people of Haiti to serve France forever, but they rejected the mold they were forced into—and won back their freedom.

You, too, can take back your freedom.

I believe our greatest source of strength comes from and is in God, because this is not an easy thing to do.

2 Timothy 2:22 calls us—young people—to surrender ourselves to the Lord and reject the temptations of our youth.

We are naturally foolish, but by seeking counsel from God and pursuing “righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” we set ourselves up to live a truly fulfilling life.

God will never lead you astray.

Satan is the god of this world, and the sinful nature of man works alongside him to distort reality.

People doubt God, but He has never forsaken His own—it is us who reject Him.

Misery loves company.

Those who are lost spread their sorrow to discourage you from seeking truth, and this is why you cannot look at people for your source of strength.

A singular person or a group of people will never be a good example for you to model your life after.

Influencer culture and celebrity worship have become nothing but another form of idolatry. They are simply people—just like you and me.

And many people ask, If God is real, why does He allow us to suffer? 

And to that, I’ll first say—I completely understand why you’d ask that.

I asked the same thing.

But this is why faith is so important.

This world is imperfect—full of cruelty, confusion, and strife. Being a follower of Christ does not make you exempt from the perils of this world.

Jesus himself wasn’t.

But being a follower of Christ gives you peace, hope, an unshakable foundation, and the tools to operate in this world.

Human beings have an innate desire to worship.

Whatever stirs up your reason for doing is your god.

If money is the driving force behind all your decisions, that’s what you worship.

If you struggle with self-control and find yourself weak for lust, consuming sexual media or often engaging in the act, sex is who you serve.

If you have a strong desire for power and use deceit and manipulation to control and get what you want out of others, I’d be remiss for not saying the god you serve is not God.

As humans, we’d like to think we’re bigger than the program—and what I’m saying could seem like nonsense to you—but it’s the truth.

The cracks in the wall of the worldly principles we’ve been fed since birth have always been there.

But as you begin to peel back the layers and look deeper, you’ll realize nearly everything we’ve been told is a lie.

Earth is not our final destination.

By believing and serving God, you reconcile with the Father and your name gets written in the Book of Life.

I’ve come close to death a few times, and when I look back on those moments, I can’t help but rejoice in the Lord even more, because I almost met my end without ever knowing Him. Yet, He still spared my life.

He gives us so many chances to make things right; and the more you reject Him, the more distant you’ll become and eventually you’ll be cut off.

The idea that we have all the time in the world—”You can always get it together later”—has been proven wrong for me more than once.

Don’t you want to live forever?

In a place where there’s no sickness, no wars, no poverty.

In a place where there’s no jealousy, no envy, no pain.

In a place where you never have to worry.

In a place where death doesn’t even exist.

So things will happen in this life, but God has made provisions on our behalf so that we have a real future.

And even in this life, when you experience struggles and pain, God will still comfort you.

He will never leave you.

He will always provide.

But you must trust Him.

This life is empty without God, and it’s pointless without understanding.

But He is the One who gives it any ounce of meaning.

Read the scriptures for yourself.

Open your heart.

Slow down, open your eyes, and He will remove the scales from your lens which blur your vision.

Proverbs 19:2 (NIV) Desire without knowledge is not good—how much more will hasty feet miss the way!

Proverbs 19:3 (NIV) A person’s own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages against the Lord.

Proverbs 19:8 (NIV) The one who gets wisdom loves life; the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper.

Proverbs 19:9 (NIV) A false witness will not go unpunished, and whoever pours out lies will perish.

Proverbs 19:11 (NIV) A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.

Proverbs 19:16 (NIV) Whoever keeps commandments keeps their life, but whoever shows contempt for their ways will die.

Proverbs 19:20 (NIV) Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.

Proverbs 19:21 (NIV) Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

Proverbs 19:23 (NIV) The fear of the Lord leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble.

Proverbs 19:27 (NIV) Stop listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.

2 Timothy 2:11-13 (NKJV) This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

2 Timothy 2:24-26 (NKJV) And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.