I sat in a classroom for 8-hours, learning about mental health with the main premise, based on a few different acronyms. One idea above all stood out to me. They called it the four L’s.
Two instructors alternated, subject by subject, which I thought was brilliant because their upbeat energy was enough to keep the classroom alive. They complimented each other very well and kept the information interesting, which is good because an 8-hour class is a long class to be in. All the while, both instructors stressed the four L’s, which are Live, Love, Laugh, and Learn.

I was walking down a long hallway after turning passed the corner near the principal’s office. I was making my way to a classroom with a few teachers and some counselors that helped me navigate through the halls.
They were taking me to to a class where a roomful of seniors were waiting to hear what I had to say. This was part of a police initiative that was created with the intention to teach students what drugs do. This was to keep the student’s clear of the drug life.

I have to admit it. I was scared. I was afraid of what they would think of me and how I would sound. I was afraid I would be a flop.
Then it would be exactly the way it was when I was in school, uncomfortable and awkward, with me being the brunt of someone’s joke.

Life is nothing more than a series of lessons, which means we learn along the way. We learn from birth, all the way up until the day when we pass.
We learn about life. We learn about the basic things and the obvious things. We learn about the birds and the bees.
We learn about love and we are taught what love is supposed to be, what love is supposed to look like, about beauty, how to love beautiful things, and as well; we are taught what beauty is and what beauty isn’t.

Ever find yourself on the bad end of a decision?
Of course you have. Everybody has. Everyone has made a mistake at one point or another. Unfortunately, sometimes, some of our mistakes are costly. Some of our mistakes can be painful. Some of our mistakes will hurt other people and sometimes, our mistakes damage friendships or result in the separation of important relationships.

There was a helpful exercise I remember from a class that I took on transformational coaching in which, the entire class held up a sheet of paper. Everything else was to be cleared from our desk,
The instructor told us all to close our eyes and hold up the sheet of paper.
With our eyes closed, we were instructed to fold the paper in half and then rip off the top, right hand corner of the page.

Make no mistake, There needs to be a plan before we go forward. This plan needs to be clear and thought out. There needs to be a goal and a strategy to achieve it. We have to establish this; otherwise, we find ourselves on the doorstep of an undesirable outcome.

Before heading into a meeting, or making a phone call, and before starting a job or a project, regardless to the work we have to do, there needs to be an idea. There needs to be a vision to focus upon or else we run the risk of missing our target. Keep in mind, everything we do we do for a reason. Everything we do is to honor a want, a thought, a feeling or a need. This will run the gamut between simple and complicated, but regardless to the details; the same rules apply. So make it a plan.

After a while, it comes to the point where we can’t bang our heads against the same wall anymore. Eventually, there comes a moment when we face the realization that no matter how hard we try, certain things will always be out of our control.
Take the idea of approval, for example. Think about the energy we spend in effort to seek approval. Think about the effort we put into outside validation.
Think about the effort behind people pleasing the and outcomes, which will often come up short.

I think there needs to be a new way to address our oppositions. In fairness to us and in fairness to those around us, I think we have to understand what our opposition is.
Is this really a threat?
We need to understand how our opposition affects us. More importantly, we have to understand why our opposition affects us. Is this real, or, is this something more internal with a deeper meaning?

I was midway through a class to gain a state recognized certification. The area was familiar to me.
We were uptown near 116^th St and Park Avenue to be exact. I used to go here when I was different person and for a much different reasons. However, times have changed for the better and so has the neighborhood. I was attending a school to achieve something and better myself, which, in fairness, years back, I used to go to 116^th to better myself too.
Only, now my intentions have changed. My reason for taking this class was to help people get away from the same reason I used to go the spot up on the corner.