Wednesday, April 13, 2016

To all my friends, and ESPECIALLY my younger friends and former students, please take a moment to read this... The election year we are in has been a very emotional one for people. There has been a lot of slander, hate-mongering, libel, mud flinging, and belittling on all sides. I'm sure your news feeds, like mine, have been filled with mean political memes, your friends' negative opinions, and all sorts of information that promote intolerance. This does nothing but continue to find new ways to divide us; politically, religiously, ethnically, and morally. This is NOT the way.

Whether our political views align or not, I want you to know I RESPECT YOU! I respect your opinion, your right to your opinion, and all of your differing views from mine. We are so blessed to live in a country where we are allowed to have these different views, and no matter what yours are, I respect you and honor your right to have them. Please don't get caught up in all the negativity that plagues social media, and please don't believe that everything you read is true. In this day in age, where companies get paid based on whether you click around their site, you cannot trust everything you read or hear. Take a moment to look up some truth. Don't deny yourself your right to follow your own instincts and make your own decisions. Reconsider everything you hear, especially if it doesn't sound right. Don't believe all propaganda, all the hype, be safe, be smart, and enjoy your life.

Don't be part of the problem, be part of the solution. Hate does nothing but divide us, and love is ALWAYS the answer. Stay strong out there young ones, the world is not fair. Trust the ones you love, and love the ones you trust, and in the end...peace, love, unity, and respect ARE the way.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Monday, February 21, 2011 11:09pm

What is it you want out of life? Do you want to be successful? By who’s standards? Yours, your family’s, friends’, society’s, the Bible’s? Do you want to be famous? Among whom? Yourself, your friends, your community, the country, the world? What do you want to be known for? Healing, empowering, gratifying, saddening, humiliating, disgusting?

To be what you want to be you have to have ability. That ability comes from two places - talent and skill. In talent we have natural talent, athleticism, physical features, and just raw natural ability. In skill we have earned ability. In skill with have the honing of skills, long hard worked hours in order to become better at something. The merger of skill and talent combine for great possibility and opportunity. To work hard and hone your craft in whatever ability it is that you seek to master, it is profoundly rewarding. That’s where people’s want meets their ability and they are able to accomplish the very thing they’re looking for. Once they achieve their goal, they set their eyes on a new prize and seek it out, continuing the cycle. But yet, achieving one’s goals in life is extremely satisfying.

If you want something bad enough you will do what it takes to get it. You will work hard, devote your time, money, and energy towards accomplishing that in which you want. Your focus will be unshakable. Your drive will be constantly red-lining. It never seems like it’s enough but it’s all you’ve got. You just have to want it bad enough.

Sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes you want something so bad, and yet none of the ability, talent, or skill in the world can help you. Sometimes it’s just completely out of your hands. Sometimes all you can do is “let go and let God.” That’s when it’s hard. That’s when the emotions become wrecked, stability is shaken, and you find yourself wondering if you can hang on and maintain. Patience. Patience is a virtue that carries a lot of “wait.” (weight). =)

The waiting is the worst part. The waiting is what paralyzes. The waiting is like a chloroform that knocks me out, unable to stay on my path of determination and goals. It incapacitates me. It immobilizes me, and yet causes a stir of emotions. I’m left only to feel, my cognition focused on itself and on my feelings. Feelings are never wrong, because we can’t control them, they’re are just feelings. We can choose how we want to respond to our feelings, but we can’t help feeling what emotions come over us. So my feelings aren’t wrong, but they still hurt. They still wound me. Sadness plagues my feelings, telling me I’m not good enough, won’t ever be. No matter how much I work on my skill, and utilize my talent, my ability will never be good enough. That’s what I feel. Feelings are never wrong.

But I said it’s all in how you respond to your feelings. It’s not about allowing your feelings to stand in your way of something you want. Not if you want it bad enough. It’s not about becoming immobilized by your emotions and giving them control over you. Not if you want it bad enough. Taking back the control over your feelings is hard. Apparently lots of things are hard. Nothing worth doing is easy. Easy is the enemy of ambition. All it takes is all you’ve got. If it takes all you’ve got, make sure you’ve got it.
11:29pm