Everythings that’s good ain’t good for ya!
My boy Rich told me this recently. I don’t think he originated it but the way he said it showed his southern roots where he probably heard it from his own parents and elders. Anyway, every couple days or so it comes back to me. And I think it’s one of those principles to understand and live by.
Thanks Rich!
Great motivational speech to the students of the nation by our president. It’s too bad that many racist parents, principals and teachers kept their students from hearing it. Worst of all, too bad that they are teaching their children to think as they do. Some of the comments I heard from racist folks were ridiculous. They really think the president is their enemy. Their ignorance tells me they should have heard the speech when they were kids.
I am also happy that President Obama took that speech nation wide as opposed to what had been done before, which was to speak about responsibility and accountability to black audiences only as if black folks are the only ones needing to hear that message.
I look forward to what he says about healthcare tonight.
Recently I did a series of post about expressing my thoughts about each of my children. My son Christian decided to write his own little observation about his father. Here is goes.
I can fondly remember walking into my father’s room across the hall as he watched those late night Laker games. He would just be sitting on the bed or with his laptop watching and (if the time was right….or sometimes it doesn’t even matter) YELLING at the TV. It was like coming into a “Daddy Zone” if you will.
A situation I could always remember is Daddy’s head poking out of the door stating the next mission of the day. Missions such as “Hey Chumney, you wanna go to the Y?” or “Hey Man, you wanna go watch a game with me?” OR the suspenseful “Hey Christian, you wanna go somewhere?”….Where is “somewhere”?……YOU DON’T KNOW!!!! BUT I dared not explain to my dad that I was unaware of our next destination because “It doesn’t matter, your with your dad”. I could remember thinking that there is a 1% possibility that we were going to a retirement home to watch old people play backgammon for hours but this didn’t matter because I was with my dad.
My Dad has always been the organized and inquisitive type. Much like myself save for the organized part. You can tell that he was raised in a house where things “had to be done” to keep the house “running” (as if the house would explode if the dishes weren’t cleaned everyday). So because I can sense it, I can believe the “in my day” moments and just abide with no questions asked. I remember last year he was trying to teach me in the “Way of the List”. The Way of the List is an ancient art in which you carefully “List” your scheduled activities of the next few ydays, months and years. It takes years to perfect apparently because I could only get to about “5 minutes” ahead of the present. This grasshopper had no idea what he was going to do 2 months from now. This is just another sort of thing indicating that this man was just a little ahead of the game, which is delightfully reassuring in a father.
Playing basketball against each other was always a kind of loving rivalry we had. Pretty much every time we played against each other (which go back as far as i can remember playing basketball) he would win. I at first would always think of my game plan which was basically “man if I just run around enough he’ll get tired then I could save my energy to take him to the hole when i needed to” but to my utter demise the plan would backfire, and I would only notice that my plan failed when the game was 28-Daddy 8-Christian. (The game winning scrore was 32.) At this point I’m taking my very sweet time getting the ball when it goes out of bounce because this is the only break I get from this daddy machine. My Plan-B was “GET AWAY FROM HIM AND SHOOT!!!” I can DEFINITELY remember this working one time! It was a bright and beautiful day the first time I beat him when SUPPOSEDLY he didn’t let me win.
Every once in a while the dreaded “Father Son Talk” would resurface. This was always a time where I DID NOT want to say what was on my mind or my view on certain subjects but he would get it out of me anyways. Why is this? This is because he would set the mood for some serious talkin. We would either go out for a walk or a drive or just a little lunch. Before I would eventually give in and start letting him know things I would just think “Man I better tell him SOMETHING or else we’ll never leave”. Everything would eventually come out but the pretentious moments before were a little challenging, but my dad knows what questions to ask and will eventually say, “Just come out with it”. This would ALWAYS throw me off balance even though I KNEW it was coming, a little chuckle would precede me spilling all I knew to spill.
We have recently discovered we have a more similar taste in music. I can say I haven’t appreciated music all my life until about a few years ago but it’s a great thing to REALLY explore. This came into view after I picked up the guitar last December. I started playing and I was already hip to some of the more detailed and immersed music such as Pink Floyd and The Eagles. I sent my dad a link of a sample I did of some Pink Floyd. I smiled when I got the message back “Freakin Pink Floyd!?”. This is just another topic to explore with my father this year.
I always look forward to trying my best to impress him with what I’ve learned thus far.
I Love you Daddy ^.^
Christian
I give a lot of credit to former coach Tony Dungy for putting himself out there with Michael Vick. In recent months Dungy, a man of outstanding reputation visited Vick in prison and agreed to be his mentor for not only dealing with possible NFL reinstatement, but for life.
Dungy is an outspoken Christian who in my view really lives what he preaches which is love, forgiveness, and hope. It would be safe for him to speak with Vick on the down low and keep a public distance in case Vick messes up. But he is standing with him publically when many feel Vick shouldn’t play in the NFL again nor even make a living. I can appreciate the older and wiser Dungy putting himself on the line for a convicted felon. Lord knows there are plenty more who are unknown who need someone of influence to help them make their transitions back into mainstream life better as well.
Much has been said about the recession. I like most Americans have been affected by the change in the financial climate. Post being laid off at a company after 11 years of successful performance, I managed to keep up with all of my bills for almost a year by way of six months of unemployment checks and officiating every basketball game available to me in the states of Illinois and Missouri. I mean I had to hustle and make it happen. Eventually some things fell off and I had to make some major decision in terms of starting over. But I’m not discouraged.
If anything, what I am most encouraged about is the confirmation of what I already knew in the first place. That now more than ever the best thing one can do in terms of securing activity and opportunities in the future is to find out what his/her dream is and to do it. There is no getting around it. For decades now the direction and growth of big business has influenced people to get on board their trains. If the industry was saying that there would be more positions available in information technology for instance, people would flock towards learning those skills to try to get a spot. The name of the game was getting hooked up with one of these companies so one could gain a steady flow of income, job security and some benefits. It made sense in terms of primal survival. But at the same time, it was a Trojan horse in reality because as we can see now that regardless of the qualifications there are a lot more people than positions available within the job market. If you managed to get in someplace and obtained the right stock options like those people from Microsoft for instance, then you got over. But if you are sitting there with a degree or skill set that there is not a demand for, you’re starting all over again.
When Barack Obama became president, he sent the word out that as Americans we needed to step our games up. And I believe that wholeheartedly. I mean let’s be honest. As the leading nation of the free world we became arrogant, fat, and overloaded on self indulgent pleasure. Too many of us only cared about getting more stuff. And that only last for so long. Real living is solving problems and overcoming challenges. Real living is touching lives and helping others. Pleasure seeking is a solo project and the benefits are only material. What made Americans and America great was the belief in ideals, the innovation of imagination and the culture of creativity. Sadly we lost all of that keeping up with the Jones’ and following a cookie cutter method of career focus. I believe as a nation we have to get back to our core creative values – and fast!
This is not to say that there is not a place for big business. If it were not for big business, I would not have access to a computer or enjoy some of life’s conveniences like my IPOD. Financial institutions, car companies etc. are functional towards a vibrant economic society in that sense. There will always be a certain amount of positions needed for such companies. What I am saying however, is that you may be a Boomer or close and your dad worked for GM for 30 years and put you through college. Great! But those days are over. Historically we had a recession and then a renaissance. That renaissance consisted of invention and ingenuity. We created things, built things, and use those ideas to create opportunities for others. We sang, danced, wrote poetry, acted and played music. We delved into the creativity within our imaginations and created work that is lasting till this day. This is what it’s going to take to trigger resurgence into our psyche first which will in turn positively uplift the economy.
This is precisely the way I raise my children to think. I have a son who created his own comic strip. He’s been working on it for as long as I remember. I have boxes of them stored away while he works on new story and character developments. He does it strictly for the love of the comic and doesn’t get a dime for his work. Do you think I’m sitting there telling him that he should only focus on his formal education at school, go to college and get a business degree so he can be marketable? Heck no! I tell him that his stories are wonderful. (And they are. He has a real mind for fantasy… and I know there is a market for fantasy.) I tell him how I see his characters and offer encouragement and ideas. He knows full and well how much I value his formal education. He knows that settling for anything less than his best efforts in school is cheating himself and that I would not approve of wasting such opportunities. He may even get a business degree one day in order to learn something about marketing his product. But the issue is working the system to benefit his dreams. Not bowing to the system and aborting them.
My other son wanted to be an actor. I showed him movies of the best actors so he could understand the technique of being a believable actor. I encouraged him to do the Shakespeare that was being performed in school. Now he’s into the guitar and it seems to really spark his interest. From what I have heard so far he has an ear for music. Well while demanding that his formal education is valued, because it’s part of the basics of functioning, I encourage him to value and respect the instrument and to give it all he’s got. Who says he can’t be as successful as any of the other guitarist I love listening to now. Why not? No way would I encourage him to try to fit into a box of a corporate structure that could out source his job to India before he even gets it.
The point here is not to hate on any career choice. The point is that we should be happy. We should be striving to better our lives and not depend on the government or any corporation to fund our primal comforts. Instead, we should do what it takes to create something from within that in itself is useful and marketable thereby giving us power and jurisdiction over the very thing we create. If you write and own the rights of a million dollar song, then you benefit most every time the song is played or purchased.
Just the same if you are good at financial planning, selling, etc., If you absolutely love stock portfolios or customer service, then by all means do that with all of your heart and I honestly believe that there will be a place for you because you will be so good at it, there will be a demand for your passion and work ethic.
I could say a lot more about this. For myself, I know that writing is one of my areas of passion. So is mentoring youth. I got into sports officiating because it got me closer to kids and activities that they care about. I knew I could make a difference. Most of the time I also get paid to do it too which helps to supplement my income. The next thing for me in giving back is coaching. I had a great conversation with a coach whom I respect greatly over the weekend. And though he lives several hours drive away from me, we are going to spend some time together just to discuss that very thing. Because I want to be great at it for the kids I am privileged to inspire.
I blog for the love of writing. Certainly most of us don’t get paid to do it. But every time I put words down, it sharpens my ability; I give back to anyone who cares to read, especially a piece like this. And who knows someone may see something I write and decide that they want to pay for my takes. I have other irons in the fire as well. I work in the corporate world to do what I have to do. I provide excellent service and earn my way with the blessings of The Creator. Equally, my mind and heart are fully engaged working towards living my dreams 24-7. And it’s never too late. Someone told me recently she is going to get her law degree. She is in her mid 30s. She thought M.B.A., but greatly desires law. Her father convinced her to go with her passion damn the trends. This is what I call living.
If we are working or serving in an area of passion and skill, if we are willing to learn from others and be a blessing, we will meet the people we are supposed to meet, make the right connections and be a success. Included within that success are the monetary benefits. There is always a market for creativity, passion, enthusiasm, and a sure work ethic. The universe will always make room for those operating within the character of imagination and excellence. The universe never lays off. It moves and adjust to the places where there are needs and resources, and where opportunities lie in wait.
Selah~
ME! I just learned that I passed my test and now I am officially certified to a baseball umpire!
And sure I know what I am getting myself into. I can only imagine if people argue fouls and travels the way they do I know how it’s going to be with balls and strikes. But I’ll deal with that later.
As for today… in the imortal words of Rick James/Dave Chappell … “It’s a celebration bit*%!”
The Real Hustle and Flow Serve
Mom and her late husband George moved into a cozy apartment complex in Inglewood, California in the late 80’s. Like most complexes in the area, it’s gated with secured underground garages. With her keen eye for decore and artistic woman’s touch, I’m sure its the nicest apartment in the building. The moving in price for this little hacienda? $750 per month.
For years the rent remained the same. Mom and George knew the owners – a couple who owns several properties and a couple charter schools. George, who was a CPA did their taxes so there was a working relationship between the two parties.
There is another reason my mom became a favored tenant. She cleans not just her own apartment military style, she also polices the building for trash and debris. She sweeps from street corner to street corner, and takes a water hose to the building a couple times a week. It’s just how she is. She enjoys a clean environment and it’s good exercise she told me.
Obviously being in one place for 20 years, there has been some change with the other tenants. Some of the newer neighbors don’t value cleanliness and mom caught one lady dumping trash on the property. That led to this exchange:
Mom: Are you going to pick that up?
Neighbor lady: And who are you?
Mom: “Uhh, I’m your neighbor.”
Since that incident, mom has run into this person several times but the lady avoids eye or any other contact with mom and refuses to speak.
George passed a couple years ago. And because the rent remained the same mom was able to manipulate some figures and survive on her income alone. But a couple months ago the notice came that the rent was indeed finally increasing by $190. Shocked, stunned and fearful mom went to the office to talk about the rent. It seems that an advisor told the owners that they should be charging a lot more for the property in terms of the area and the value. I would agree that the two bed room two bath place is worth more than $750 a month. Still that was only logistics. An increase that drastic would really strain mom’s finances. She needed an edge. Something to ease this potential monkey of her back. While sitting before the owner’s wife, she thought about the services she was already providing in and around the building for over 20 years, thought quickly and blurted out, “You need a building manager?” She pointed out that she has been doing the work of one anyway without benefit, and would probably do the same even if the rent increase still went into effect. Perhaps she could continue to service the area for the difference in exchange for keeping the rent the same. After consultation, they decided it was a go. Mom could do what she was already doing and keep her rent cost down. The owners would continue to have a person who looks after the place, an already loyal tennant who is heavily invested in the community. A true win win. Mom truly demonstrated the virtues of servant-hood and her giving efforts paid off financially for her in the long run.
Her last words on the subject? “Next time I run into that littering neighbor and she ask who I am, I’ll look her straight in the face and say, ‘I’m the manager bitch!”
That’s my mom, a true treasure!
“I like to see people happy and I truly enjoy what I do. Some people are money motivated and others are motivated people who get money – the latter is me.” – St. Louis Promoter Sharee “Mochalatte” Gavin
This is a book on my list of reads. I heard that Will Smith read it and it gave him a perspective that has been key to his success in life. I have mad respect for Will, (Hancock notwithstanding) Me and my boy Rich were talking about the book and he is featuring it on his blog on Tuesdays. His Tuesday post are called, “Back On Track Tuesdays, where they will hold discussions. I will actively join in after I get the book but I will stay tuned in the meantime!
Somehow I got on an email listing from a sister whom I have never met. She sends these out once a day and sometimes I think they are really some outstanding things written that I can appreciate. I found a couple here that I will share. Thanks to sister Francello McCoy.
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