Before I wrote my first book, A Diamond In God’s Dirt, I had just finished graduate school, obtaining my master’s degree in social work. Although I was pleased about achieving such a huge accomplishment, I wasn’t happy.
I was in a space where I was trying to suffice all of my loved ones, trying to ensure that I was making them happy. I wanted to make sure that I was making my parents happy, I wanted to do what made my siblings happy, I wanted to do what was making my woman happy, I wanted to make sure I was making my friends, family, and everyone around me happy.
But in the midst of all of this, I compromised my own happiness putting it on the backburner and wasn’t happy myself. I was constantly moving and on the go – trying to do specific things to satisfy everyone. The reality of it all is that regardless of what I did (and do now), I wasn’t going to be able to appease everyone! It was just impossible, but I wasn’t thinking logically at the time.
In an unfortunate circumstance due to all of this, I suddenly tore my Achilles tendon and was forced to sit down, reflect, and think about what truly makes Tiriq happy. When I sat down in deep thought about my life, I got back to my element of writing which has always put me in a euphoric space. I didn’t realize this until my time of reflection though! Well, I wrote my very first book, “A Diamond In God’s Dirt,” during my down time and made the best out of what seemed to be a bad situation.
Tiriq with his first published book. (Photo courtesy of Tiriq)
Recently, I had a conversation with a friend, and he mentioned Bruce Lee. He compared the way I approached writing my book to that of Bruce Lee when he had his tragic incident with his back and had to be on bed rest, which ultimately led up to him writing his first book that was very successful. I had never thought about it until he brought it to my attention.
It also made me think about how we all deal with tough situations (no matter what it is) in our lives. It’s simply up to us to be able to handle tough times, and since we are given the strength inside of us to overcome these obstacles, we just have to tap in to our full potential to do so.
WATCH: BOOK TRAILER CREATED BY TIRIQ
Fortunately, my strength along with many other gifts that were inside of me came to fruition, and I got my first book published. Ultimately, in the scheme of things I found my true happiness, which is writing! Since I seek to inspire and help others as the social worker I am, I will continue to do so in my writing and all that I do moving forward in my life.
Find and keep YOUR faith, find YOUR true happiness, find YOUR true purpose, and shine!
A Diamond In God’s Dirt is now available through all online bookstores! You can also learn more about Tiriq by clicking here. His book signing will take place in Brooklyn, N.Y. at “The Tea Room” on October 10th.
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