Friday, June 26, 2009

Learning in Economic Quicksand

F.E.A.R.
F
aith Eventually Attracts Resources
When you step out on faith… people will doubt you based on their insecurity (“You left your job to do what???”). Few will support YOUR vision that THEY just cannot see, until THEY see YOU hang in there. Don’t be mad at them. Ultimately some will want to get on board so they can seem like the ‘reason’ for your success. Don’t worry about their reason. When you believe in yourself you invite others to believe in you… and they will!

B.E.S.T.
Better, Easier, Smarter, Tougher
We set ourselves up for failure with the cliché, “Practice makes perfect,” because we can never attain perfection. And when we fall short, we beat ourselves into submission (“Stupid me. I did all that practicing and I didn’t make the team, get the promotion, or win the contest…”), and eventually we may even give up or surrender (“… I won’t waste my time going through all of that again.”). Always do your best. Practice doesn’t make perfect. It prepares you to succeed.

However, just like no gain without pain… we’ve got to understand our T.E.S.T.: Trials, Experiences & Stress are Temporary. Thus, what we should concentrate on is Time, Expectation, Spirituality and Triumphs. We’ve all been through something. Why would you think you won’t make it through something else? Patiently measure your steps, trust in your faith and get your testimony.


Stay brave and do what you believe will help you overcome the next hurdle, so that you will continue to learn to S.H.I.N.E.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Fathers' Moments

Ricardo "Rick" King March 31, 1931-October 27, 2002

There are two sets of children in my family. The oldest 3, of which I am one, experienced my father, Ricardo King, leaving when we were 3, 2 and 1 year old. However he can never be called a dead-beat dad.

He and my mother were “2 Chiefs… no Indians” and agreed to live their lives apart. It was not a case of his having any kind of free reign to come and go, with my mother being one of his women. They separated… no divorce.

I can’t remember the stretch of time not hearing from him, though I remember my mother once telling a story of how many years we hadn’t. I do remember how frequently I heard from him, and how his not being there seemed entirely natural. His calls were to express his love by checking to see if we needed to be disciplined. He called it a “Home Sweep.”

A Home Sweep was where each of us got a whipping, when all of us deserved one. For example, if I messed up in school in January… I had to wait for my brother and sister to go against my mother’s rules or mess up as well, before he would come over and share his belt. Thus, it could be 2-3 months before all 3 of us deserved a whipping.

We’d congregate in the same room and watch one another get their turn, as he ‘preached’ with each swing about how he couldn’t understand our not valuing an education and having a good mother to take care of us. I can’t count the number of times I heard about how he would’ve become President of the United States if he were allowed to go beyond his 6th grade education… if he had had a decent mother…. The Home Sweeps were always about those 2 topics.

My mother would calmly come to the door and signal him when she felt it was time to stop. Of course he’d get in another minute or two before she’d come back and really tell him to stop. He would either leave, or sit and talk with her for a while. No matter what their differences, they respected one another. And I learned to respect them both.

Living with my mother, I could see some of my father’s short comings. However, there were some that I learned were his standing tall as a man. I chose to adopt some while rejecting others. I chose him as my role model of what it takes to focus on being the man of the person I am today. Besides my now understanding the Home Sweep as one of his ways to stay in my life, and guide me to appreciate what he could only dream of, here are some of the values he instilled toward my development.

* Treat women good, so that your sister won’t be mistreated
* Never wear another man’s name on your back (sports jerseys)… it means they own you
* Work with people… at a company… for yourself
* Be on time
* You lie to those you fear… and you should fear no man

He never once said he loved me. I never once doubted that he did.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Learning in Economic Quicksand

H.O.P.E.
H
aving Over-Powered Evil
My expectation of God is what he gives me in the end... not how he treats me getting there.
© 2009

I posted the above on my weekly inspirational message, “Passing Thoughts,” and received the following addition, which I thought would be a nice share.


"My thought on this: if I (or we) continue to move in the light of understanding that all we have to do is just keep moving forward with Love… the path always keeps opening to new opportunity for me to express my divine wisdom. It’s an inside job. If you think you can, then you can. IT's ALL GOD."
- Anthony Jackson

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Learning in Economic Quicksand

S.M.A.R.T.
Simply Marvelous And Right on Time
This is truly a great time to reclaim our relationship with our children. We hear people say that children are our future. I believe that children are their future… while being our present, and what we say and do with them today is what’s really important. When we surrender them to the media and negativity, we set them up to fulfill a prophecy of failure. When we tell a young boy he’s gonna be just like his no good daddy… we plant a seed. When we tell a young girl she’s so damn fast and is gonna grow up to be a tramp with that attitude… we plant a seed.

When we tell a young boy that he’s smart and handsome… we plant a seed. When we tell a young girl she’s smart and pretty… we plant a seed. Take notice that intelligence comes first.

Additionally, when we see little girls and tell them how we wish them to grow up to be sweet young ladies, what we must also be mindful of is telling them how smart they are and wish them to grow up to be happy.

If you haven’t told the little girls in your life how to enjoy life, other people will… and their formula may not be the best. Remind little girls (and boys) to be smart... and you will surely S.H.I.N.E.

The Master of Listening

The Master of Listening
... and Smiling