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Written to Empower

This is for you, the parents and the families. Now, of course, if you have been following me, I understand some of the information might seem repetitive. However, if you read along, perhaps this text might be useful in future interactions between you and your family.

This is also for the “Not in my backyard,” fanatics, who seem to believe this is a fact (until they see that it’s not) and they learn their lessons too late.
So to them, I say this. I have news for you.
It is in your backyard. And it’s in mine too.

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The Ongoing Goodbye

The following is a rehearsed note that is said by many and delivered by few. This is not about me or you or us. But yet this is about me and you and everyone else.
This is about the goodbyes I wished I had always said. This about the people I wished I walked away from, long before we even met. This is about pain and feeling and emotion. This is about the celebration of leaving. This is about the life I had and never want to revisit and the people I knew that I never want to be surrounded by again.
I wrote this while thinking about life and life’s situations, which we talk about, and then we look back and we wish we could have found the bravery to stand up and walk away.

Let’s face it though. Change isn’t easy. Neither is walking away sometimes. More accurately, neither is being alone or being an after thought or regarded like say, “Hey yeah, remember him?”
Please read on and if you can relate then perhaps this might encourage you to take the next few steps because after that . . . you’re gone

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The Strength To Stand

When I began to consider my life and contemplate the ideas of taking on a new direction, I thought to myself, honestly, and I looked around at the fixtures on my wall in my home.
I looked at the photographs I had and the smiles on people’s faces. I swore, i didn’t want to be the way I was, but yet, I was.

I considered the people in my life. I thought about my friends and my family. I thought of this and after surviving me and defeating ideas of “Why me?” and, “Why do things like this always happen,” I took an honest look at me and my role in this opinion.
I looked at the things I did and all the projects I began but never finished. I looked at my perception of hope. I looked at my ability to endure and to continue.

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Learning To Learn

   Today is day five of a five day, 30 hour course I am taking to gain a new certification. This will help propel me one step closer to my goal. The course has been broken down into five parts, all of which have been helpful and educational.
Most of all, I learned that I should always keep learning. I learned that I should always keep growing, that I should always seek and not be satisfied or complacent with old models of thinking, and more importantly, I should always remain teachable and learn how to learn.

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Surrender To Win

I used to fight a lot. I used to argue. I used to complain a lot too but nothing changed. I used to shake my fist at the sky and cursed and spit.
I fought with people. I fought over places and things. Most of all, I fought with myself.
I fought with me about me, in which, I mean I fought to be heard and to be justified. I fought because I swore if I didn’t fight, I would go down and lose control.
I fought to gain control but this is when I had the least control. Eventually, I lost sight of what the fight was for. After a while, I fought for so long, I had no idea how to retreat. I had no idea who my enemy was or what they looked like. I had no idea that in many cases, my enemy was me.

Surrender to win.

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From The Farm: Between Before and After

Between the before and after is a pivotal moment that changes us. This can change our lives and change our world. The pivotal moment between before and after is the catalyst of change that alters the way we see, think, or feel. This can happen frequently or infrequently. This can come up suddenly, often, daily, or once in a lifetime. The catalyst is not aligned with good or bad or even indifferent. The moment can be either or. A catalyst is something that creates change. Nothing more, nothing less.

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About Music

I feel bad for the kids today. They have no soul. I tell you they have no earth to them, no depth—and they’re mad about this. They’re mad because they never went outside to like, say, build a clubhouse or play hide and go seek.
They don’t even have real cartoons these days. The kids today have no idea what it’s like to wake up early on a Saturday morning to watch Bugs Bunny, or Woody, or even Heckle and Jeckle, Magilla Gorilla. I mean, my God, some of the kids I’ve spoken with don’t even know about The Flintstone’s for Christ’s sake.

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From The Source

Of all things I have ever wanted to be, the one thing I’ve always wanted to be is happy. I want to be happy with where I am. I want to be happy with the person I am and happy with the things I do. Of all things I’ve wanted, I have always wanted to be able to look myself in the mirror at the end of the day and be comfortable with my reflection. I want to like what I see, not regret it. In fact, I don’t want to regret a thing.
There are people who appear happy. There are (of course) the social media posts which give the appearance of happiness. There are people that seem to have their life together. They have their happy family and their happy lives in their happy, beautiful homes with a garage or perhaps even a detached garage—and to all others, the appearance would seem wealthy and fine.

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