Be thankful and be a blessing

I thank God for allowing me another day on this earth. I woke up this morning and I just feel blessed. I am thankful for my wife, my kids, my family, their health, my health, my car, my job, my house, my friends, my trials and tribulations (because without them how would you grow as a person), my education. I could go on and on but I will stop there. But a lot of people get caught up nowadays on what they don't have and instead of looking at the things that they do have. Again I say I feel blessed. I am thankful to be where I am today. I will not be the same person years, weeks maybe even days from now, however I grateful that God has given me another day to walk upon this earth and try to be a blessing to others. So I ask how will your life be defined? Will it be defined by what you have/don't have? Or will it be defined by the experiences that take place in your life. Money can buy you a number of things but the one thing it cannot buy is true Happiness. Be THANKFUL for what you have and Be a BLESSING to someone else today. 

5 Things we must do after the verdict

By now everyone has heard the verdict from the George Zimmerman trial.  If you haven't, two words, Not Guilty.  I wanted to talk about this because there will be a lot of emotion and anger within the days to come.  There are 5 things that we (all people) need to do going forward. Accept, Forgive, Move Forward, Be Aware, and Pray.  First we must ACCEPT the fact that the justice system is flawed.  When you can receive more time for shooting yourself (Plaxico Burress), for harming an animal (Michael Vick), not even killing anyone (OJ Simpson) than actually shooting and killing an individual.  That is a PROBLEM!  Second we must FORGIVE George Zimmerman for what he has done.  In the Bible it says that we are to forgive.  In Colossians 3:13 is states that even as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive.  Forgiveness is key.  Look at the Civil Rights movement from the 1960's, the people then practiced forgiveness.  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. practices this during this time frame.  They forgave the white people during that time for all the things that they did to them and said I will be right here waiting for you when you want to change. Although you forgive someone you do not have to forget.  Third we must MOVE FORWARD.  Although this may seem like the injustice of all injustices, it is by far just another.  These things happen and they seem to happen a lot to one group of individuals.  So the verdict was issued, be mad for the day if you want, for a week even.  But don't let it distract you from your focus.  Don't let it cloud your judgement and miss the opportunity to receive a blessing or be blessing to someone else because you are overcome with emotion or anger over something that some that has no direct effect on you.  However I am aware that just because it doesn't effect you directly, it probably effects you indirectly as does most people.  Which brings me to the next point, fourth BE AWARE.  We must now be cautious in every thing that we do.  We must be aware of how we are going to be perceived because in that instance, as we have seen from this case, it could be a matter of Life and Death.  It is not fair that it is this way, but it is what it is.  Think about this, you know that wearing a certain color in some parts of LA can lead to you being associated to something you have nothing to do with.  Because you understand that and how different gangs perceive certain colors.  I feel that as a society we have become immune to the fact of perception because we feel that we have come along way (which in certain aspects we have others not so much).  But the fact remains that now we must all be more cognizant of our surroundings, realize how we are being viewed and try to project on others the way we want to be viewed.  Last we need to PRAY.  Pray for the family of Trayvon Martin as they go through this difficult time.  Pray that there will be Justice for Trayvon.  Pray for George Zimmerman that he repents for the wrongdoing that was done.  And if you have a hard time praying for Zimmerman just pray to God because at the end of the day Zimmerman will have to face and answer to him when it is all said and done.  So Accept, Forgive, Move Forward, Be Aware, and Pray.  These are the 5 THINGS WE MUST DO AFTER THE VERDICT.

Thanks, But No Thanks

Nowadays it's nothing for a ninja to drop $300-$400 on a pair of new sneakers.  Factor in the release dates and that same ninja done spent $2k in a matter of a few months.  I remember growing up and wanting those popular sneakers (back then they were more reasonably priced, less than $120).  But I say if you got it like that more power to you.  Half the time they don't even wear them.  Some ninjas get em just to say they got em.  Not this negro though.  I refuse to buy a pair of kicks and not wear them.  When I think about insanely priced shoes, I always think back to two conversations I had with my father.  The first was when I was younger, we were in a shoe store that was going out of business and everything was like 50-75% off.  I found a pair of shoes that really liked.  I think they were about $90 (somehow they only got a 10% discount, that's that BS).  My dad was like, "Would you rather have one pair of shoes or 3 pairs of shoes?" He said, "Yea it's nice to have those, but wouldn't it be even better to have a different pair of shoes everyday of the week?"  So I traded the one pair for 3 pair.  The other convo was when I was older.  I asked my dad how come they never bought me any Jordans or other high priced sneakers.  His reply was "You have a car right?  Would rather have that car or those Jordans?"  That to me was a no-brainer.  Give me a car any day.  (Look I can drive my girl to the movies or I can have a bunch of fly kicks and we be riding the bus.  If you're fine with the bus that's cool.  If you are not sure what your girl would say please refer to Jay-Z Blueprint 3 album Track 7 - On to the Next One~only song title need apply here.)  Anyway what I learned from him was that from the cost of one pair of sneakers I can get 3 or 4 other pair that are of equal quality.  And why spend so much on sneakers when you could put that money into a car or another asset that adds value to my life.  Listen we all value things in life, expensive sneakers are just not high on my list.  I still buy Nike and other sneakers that look nice.  Only difference is mine are not attached to a name.  Because that is really all you're paying for.  Does it matter to me?  No, because at the end of the day if/when you ever decided to lace em up on the court it will have no effect on your game.  For some of you, your game will still be trash, you will just look good playing like it.  So when I see the next release date for the uber expensive new Js, Foamposites, or Lebrons that will be hitting the market, I think back to the two conversations with my Father that I had.  And I say, To all the Foot Lockers, Finish Lines, and Champs Sports stores emails I get informing me about the freshest, hottest, newest shoe release date, I say THANKS, BUT NO THANKS.

Not a typical Sunday

Usually on Sundays my family and I wake up around 7:30am. Everyone heads down stairs for breakfast. Nothing big probably some cereal or something else quick. Then it's time to bathe and get dressed for the day. After getting dressed, we pack the family in the car and head to church (It is important that we keep God first in our household.) After receiving some glorious word from our pastor, we head home to relax, do some house chores and prepare ourselves for Monday. But this past Sunday was not a typical Sunday. The morning routine was the same as it usually is, breakfast, bathe and get dressed. However I proceeded to leave the house a little earlier this day. I headed north on I95 towards Baltimore. My destination: 1 Winning Dr, Owings Mills, MD. Let me just say it has been my dream to play in the NFL ever since I can remember. On this day, I attended the NFL Regional Scouting Combine in Baltimore at the Ravens Practice Facility. They tested us in different drills. 40 yd dash, short shuttle, position drills and a few others. After the combine, I got back in my car and headed home. Along the way I made a few phone calls to people who inquired about my day. When I got home I was greeted by my daughter with a big hug. She and my son were happy to see me along with my wonderful wife. As I reflect on the day, I know that experience has put me one step closer to realizing this dream I had since I was little. While there's a possibility I don't make it (which I highly doubt, not being cocky just very confident in my abilities..lol), there is also a chance that I will make it (because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me). Now I will pray and leave it in God's hands. If it should happen that I do not make it for whatever reason, I find solace in the fact that I gave it my all and I'm proud of myself for that. I realize not a lot of people can say they did what I did that day. But the ones who have done it will tell you, it's definitely NOT A TYPICAL SUNDAY.

My Thoughts Exactly

I really thought I would be further along in this process by now and not writing my first post just today but whatever. It's never to late to start and you gotta start somewhere. Just to be clear these are my views, opinions and thoughts no one else's, so if you don't like it or have a problem with it don't read it. Now that we got the disclaimer out the way, lets begin. I originally started this blog a while ago with a different name, Thoughts without a radio. It was an ode to my old vehicle which had a broken radio. I even wrote a post for it but never posted it. I may share it later. The perfectionist in me would not post it until it was a masterpiece free of grammatical errors and every sentence flowed off the tongue and it read like the perfect novel. The other part of me was worried what someone might say about. Well things have changed. I'm not that person anymore and I don't have that car anymore, which is what prompted the blog name change. I started this blog to just speak my mind on issues, events or nouns (for those of you that are a little behind a noun is a person, place or thing.) Yes, I did just take you back to grammar school! But again I am just stating my opinions and views on certain things. Maybe you won't like it but maybe it will make you say "Those are MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY!"