Time To Let It Go pt. 1
Sometimes you gotta let it go! One of the looniest things we do in life; in my option, is pay for storage space. We shell out hundreds of dollars per month to house miscellaneous items that most would deem as mere junk. It could be furniture that no longer compliments a new home decor or articles of clothing that have either shrunk or we have out grown. Your favorite pair of shoes are also kept there. That same pair of shoes that fit so perfect back in the day but will hurt your feet today. Hurt is a sign of pain & pain is our body’s natural notification that something is wrong. It’s lunacy to hold on to something that will cause you discomfort in the end. So lets explore why our community find it so hard to let it go!
Old emotions from previous relationships are the first thing we try want to neatly stack in storage. Holding on to old letters or even cyber stalking their social media is an uber unhealthy why to deal with parting from a spouse or companion. It only pains you to see celebratory social media posts when they put their new car, house or relationship on display. Its total malice to be saddened by another’s upgrade. Stop trying to make sure the new flame is a demotion because your face will always be in your lap once you see the new relationship was an upgrade.
Its natural to want to hold on to junk & baggage but the leader in is should be strong enough to lift the negative baggage of life & drop it off a cliff. A flourishing way to start this process is to use this filtration system. Separate all the diseased baggage away from the luggage that heathy or the baggage that is salvage worthy. Once we have determined what remains & what needs to scat, we can haul it all out at one time and drop a match on it. Just like the rejuvenating bliss we achieve from burning incenses, setting aflame unwanted emotions will give you that same satisfaction.
Please understand that Emotions are invisible products that are unable to break bones but can tear the foundation of your soul asunder. It is hard enough sweeping up the pieces of a broken heart ❤️🩹 but imagine puzzle piecing the nutrients of your soul back to a whole. Prayer is needed. Meditation is needing! A lot of me-time & soul searching is what you MUST take by the horns & control this rigid ride in the direction we want it to go. And the end of the day, we as leaders and protectors but speak our minds on some emotions & keep quiet on others. Keep in mind that sometimes silence is a POWERFUL voice. Once you defeat the demons that are draining your self mastery, you will be able to go to your storage, turn in the keys & begin to let it all go!
The Power of The Word Black
You have to be a powerful individual to change an entire concept with just your presence alone. Having the strength to show up & make a definition & ideology of a word change with night & day difference is the ultimate power. I know the intro of this post has been blogged over and over like beating a dead horse. The word I’m referring to is BLACK. Ice can be a beautiful thing but add the word black to it and black ice is the deadliest form of ice. We all would love to be listed but no one wants to be Black-listed. Black mailed, Black market are a few more examples. A magician is welcomed to put on a magic show but Black magic will kill you. Going from balled to Black balled is the worse. Everything Black always has this evil connotation. Imagine the word LIE being placed at numerical zero. Add the word white & it raises the value to a positive number. But the worse thing you can do in life is tell a Black lie.
There’s this thing called love. Love is an enormous word that makes every soul smile. But what happens when you add the word Black to Love? What happens is an indescribable emotion that can not be replicated. Society will tell you that Black love is as rare as a unicorn. Never believe the fabricated tales that society tells. Black Love is as abundant & plentiful as pollen in the air on a warm Spring afternoon. Just like pollen, just because you don’t see it directly doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
Step out of your own world next time you are out in public. Peel your eyes off of your phone for a few minutes and pay attention to what’s going on around you. Watch how black couples interact with each other in comparison to white couples. The Black man & woman will walk side by side. Both sides of the institution will have a smile of peace planted on their face. Even when there’s a disagreement, Black Love knows that no weapon formed can destroy it. Black love is potent yet gentle. It knows when to go on display. When its on display, the beauty & power that it possess is concrete evidence that there is a God.
Support A Black Business
Begin here if you love the hear What’s The Tea. If you are a fan peach tea & Black owned businesses, you should give Frenchie Baule a chance. Its a refreshing mix of sweet peach tea & vodka. The presentation is eye catching & the bottle’s contest is a nice way to end a hectic day. To enjoy this blend will not break the bank. What’s The Tea can be found at any local Specs in the vodka section or click the provided link to shop online. So grab a bottle or two the next time you want to relax & spill some tea with the fam! Peace community!
Reading Red Flags
One of my new favorite sayings is “Learn to Read the Room!” What this means is be aware of what is going on in a room. (or a situation) A lot of citizens in our community are single & ready to mingle. No matter what avenue you meet your companion, be it online or in flesh, you STILL have to keep your 3rd eye open and read to room. When you are in tune to your surround, your god given talent of noticing red flags should immediately activate as you began reading the room.
Whenever we notice something isnt right in a situation, we say its time to address the elephant in the room. But the way I see it, if we pick up on these red flags day one, there will be no need to address an elephant on day 2. The hard part of meeting someone is you are NOT meeting them; but an imitation or representative of who they truly are. Even if they choose not to show their true personality, paying attention to red flags can prevent the emotional blow of unexpected heart pains.
When you meet that “special” someone, here are a few ways to assist you in reading the room. Humans are creatures of habit so watch out for patterns of unavailability. If they suddenly have phone issues or have to be off the phone after 10pm, could be a red flag that they are n9t being totally honest you. While out at dinner, you can determine what type of person you are dealing with by what they order and how they treat the restaurant staff. Play close attention to their diction or word annunciation. This, too, will show you the real side of an individual.
I can’t even lie. There are some beautiful & flawless women in our community. We are fortunate to have some of the sexiest eye candy on the planet . But lets not get caught up in the beauty and end up wasting time and energy on the wrong beaut! Keep you eyes open an be mindful of red flags.
The Recovery Room
After a serious, traumatic event; we are immediately wheeled to the recovery to…well to RECOVER! While in the recovery room, patients are usually under round the clock supervision. Every moment after trauma is important because any wrong decision could make or break a situation.
Not every stressful situation requires a traditional room of recovery. A recovery room could be as simple as a small corner to pray in or a bedroom to play your favorite song. In this life there are only 2 types of mistakes . Ones that you can recover from & ones you had to adjust to and live with. The first step is to realize what type of mistaking you are mustering & then proceed from there. As black men, its highly important that we own up to our mistakes big or small.
Dealing with mishaps can put a strain on your mental health. Stress is a major form of negative energy that can shred a man’s focus, drive and emotions. We have to find ways t channel this negativity out of our pore so we can concentrate on getting back to our King way of life. We all deal with stress differently & we all have diverse activities to release. Some of us like fishing or bowling. My favorite active to release stress is to hit the gym or writing. There are MULTIPLE ways to get it out of you if you are dealing with an issue that is able to be recovered from.
But what about the more serious unrecoverable mistake? Lets say you stepped out on your spouse & came home with an “oops baby” ! Or you get pulled over under the influence & lose you license that you need to keep food on the table. These are not kingly movements BUT we are human at dawn. These types of errors requires a more extensive type of recovery room. They say time heals all wounds which is true. You will be healed but you may not be healed in due time but you may not heal in the fashion you hoped for. All we can do ss come to terms with out poor decision in hopes to someday find peace. Be a man. Be an adult. Admit your mistakes to the younger eyes that may be watching. Fill them in on how you felt & what you were thinking in your moment of weakness. Just sharing your experience with a young god could prevent them from making such irreversible mistakes! As men its out job to raise our community LOX. Living Off Xperience!
The Tongue: Tool vs Weapon
In grade school we learned about the Golden Rule. Do unto others as you want others to do unto you. The secondary lesson was created in attempt to keep a kid from using a weapon they were highly inexperienced with. That weapon was the tongue. Mrs. Teacher always told us that if we do not have anything nice to say, then do NOT say anything at all. Having a sharp tongue can be a blessing & a curse. But to a child, the tongue is a fleshy organ used to taste pastries & to stick out at a peer you are not too keen of. What magnitude of damage can come from a taste tester?
At my age I can say I’ve almost seen & heard it all. Theres a “game” we just to play as kids that sharpened our weapon in the name of entertainment. We used to call it “Rank On” & the generation before us call it “The Dozen” ! The purpose of playing Rank On is to tell mean spirited joke at the expense of someone else’s physical flaws or financial situation. Despite joking about someone, the wrong words can hit hard & cut deep.
Its human to have parts of our anatomy that we wish we could change. The skinny wish they had meat on their bones. The thick wish they had less meat. Short stacks wish they could be elevated a bit. I could go on and on. I have my own less desirable parts that I wish I could snap my fingers & rid myself of. I’ve been crushed numerous times in my past from when a woman I pursued wasn’t interested in me due to my imperfections & boy does that burn right to the core.
Now as adults, we have a better sense of control when it comes to using our weapon. Mastery of your tool will lead you to places you never thought were possible. Negotiators have talked lost souls off suicide ledges. Pastors have used their tool to inspire & spread hope that tomorrow the sun will shine regardless. The power in words is such a remarkable force when used by motivational speakers. You can influence people by the masses & that energy is an unstopped force if used as a took and NOT a weapon. How many of you Kings attracted your spouse or lady friend with that ole mighty Gift of Gab? Its God sent to have such a tool that can responsibly be used at our leisure.
As Kings, its up to us to know when to pull the double edge & determine which side we should be active with. As I always say, without power comes responsibly. Use that energy wisely while remaining a paradigm; for little brown eyes are watching your every motion. Uncontrolled power of a brute is dangerous but controlled energy from a loyal King is calming. Just knowing I contain the power to cut your head off with my tongue but rather use my tool to build advice to your head is the type of celestial energy we need in our Kingdom!
Blaxic Masculinity
About a week ago I toyed around with the idea of trading in my paid off 2007 Mercury Milan for something a bit newer & shinier. I wanted a small SUV but really didn’t NEED another vehicle because my 14 year old mode of transportation is very reliable. The “salesman” continued to poke fun of my trade in saying things like it looks rough and has seen better days. After realizing that the salesman was full of fluff and could not fulfill all the promises he dished out over the phone, he TRIED to push me off into a 2015 car that had almost as much mileage as my ‘07. At this point I was done because he felt it was ok to draw attention to the imperfections of my Milan but I was just suppose to sit back, accept and finance ALL the damages on his car. As you begin to familiarize yourself with me, you will learn 2 things that set me off are adolescent semantics & double standards.
There’s this new term floating around called Toxic Masculinity & it really displays a nasty double standard. Just as guns do not kill people but irresponsible people with guns do, masculinity is nowhere near toxic but some men can be. Do not blame masculinity for a handful of men’s actions. The word masculinity is defined as qualities or attributes regarded as characteristics of men. As I just stated, a man may be toxic but don’t blame it on masculinity.
Here is where the problems arise. In our community, society has tried everything in its power to keep a positive black man out of the black community. They have done this by murder, incarceration or by simply incentivizing the woman & giving her tangibles & telling her she does NOT need a man. Every community needs men to protect & provide for their women and kids but they label it TOXIC when a Blackman secures & supplies for their own. Whites, for years, have taken their young boys hunting, fishing, camping and shooting so they can grow up to keep a watchful eye on their people. But soon as a Blackman wants to teach his offspring to man up, its labeled as toxic & destructive. Please do NOT let society convince our future Kings that masculinity is poisonous & deadly. We should have the same rights and privileges as they do to confidently keep our citizenry shielded.
You will always see a double standard when you compare what goes on in our neighborhoods to what goes on on the opposite side of the tracks . Little boys of non color are able to go out & indulge in “oh boys will be boys” activities. When our boys partake in the similar actions, they are held accountable & told their actions are highly toxic. The world seems to want to sissify our boys & shame them away from being the God born protectors & providers they were created to be. Our black Princes’ are being estrogen washed to the point where in the next 5 years, we will not have anyone to preserve our women & children from harm.
Black men, its crucial that we continue to bond with our young men. Its time to take them fishing so they can feed our communities off the land. Take them to the gun range so they are molded into responsible gun owners. Teach them how to hike & camp so they can lead our families off the grid if threat arises. Onyx said “Let the Boys Be Boys” & our young men should have the same opportunities to display their masculinity. Do NOT allow civilization to shame our male youth into thinking that being a man & doing manly things are toxic. Kings do kingly things & our youth should be conditioned to be the leaders, providers and protectors that the Universe manufactured us to be.
Secure A Secured Credit Card
A few summers ago Enterprise had a weekend special that was too good to refuse. As usual I reserved my vehicle online with my trusty credit card & everything was smooth sailing. When I made it to the location to retrieve my rental, there was a young black man trying to get a rental himself. I felt so bad for him because he was catching the blues all because he didn’t have a credit card. He was told he was required to pay with his debit card, leave a cash deposit of $300. They also wanted him to provide proof of residence & proof that he had steady income.
I understand a car is an expensive piece of machinery to release to just any ole body but it was rather heart breaking watching him being unable to get a rental. This is where the power of the secured credit card comes in at. I can’t speak for all black people but I wasn’t illuminated on how & why we should maintain decent credit scores. If you suffer from poor to questionable credit, a secured credit card is a solid solution.
They operate just as a regular credit card but they are backed by your own money. Once you find which secured card better suits your needs or situation, you can start one with as little as $200. If you are an income tax recipient or have the extra cash, I suggest depositing $500-$1000. The amount you put in is and same amount you will get out. You will see a nice fica score increase once the credit bureaus find out someone “trusted” you with a $1000 credit card. You can use these cards at every gas station or major retailer. The key to being successful with a secured card is to Never charge more than you are able to pay back at one time. Example. If you charge $500 that month & only bring home $300 per month, you just incited a huge disservice to your self. So keep your balances low & your spending in check.
But wait, it gets better. Some secured cards offer a cash back percentage on most purchases. You may be rewarded pennies for every dollar spent but over time, those pennies become mini treasures. But my favorite part is after 8-12 month of being a responsible card user, these companies will send you the deposited amout back & convert your card into one that is unsecured. Now you have a real credit card in your Wallet as well as your returned deposit.
It’s so much easier to rent cars, book hotel and flights with a credit card. Secured or unsecured. A credit card is a credit card. You will see how easier it is to travel & how flexible moving around becomes. So black people, invest in yourselves and secure you a secured card today.
Choosing An Abode
So I recently found 2 new loves of my life. Ice coffee’s & mini road trips. While finding a stellar ice coffee is a little a tad simpler, it still requires research to examine every option to ensure you are getting the best product & experience available. After selecting your destination of peace, it’s now time to determine the type of abode to house your family. Its not as simple as flipping a coin. Do you choose a traditional hotel or a more modern Airbnb?
Being a very novice traveler, my advice comes from research and not expertise so correct me if I relay something inaccurate. Here are my findings from my research. Hotels are the way to go. You can find great deals through sites like Expedia or Booking. These sites offer rental cars & flights as well as sleeping accommodations. They are easier to book & offer more flexible pricing options. The Airbnb I was interested in was cheaper than the hotel was per night but after taxes, service & cleaning fees, it was more expensive in the end.
Hotels also offer restaurants, bars, workout equipment, pools and business centers. This is another department were an Airbnb looses value. The traditional chain hotel is more a one stop shop to complete any destination visit. Here is the weirdest part of an Airbnb. I have seen where you get the entire flat to yourself but the “private room” ones are a bit on the unorthodox side. For a host, how do you sleep with a stranger under your roof? As a guest, how can you fully enjoy a spot knowing that the host’s family is on the other side of the wall? I find this very creepy & would lower my rate of enjoyment.
As I stated earlier, I am a pretty inexperienced traveller so do your own research to ensure you are getting the required level of peace for your short term get away.
Train Them On Love
The universe gave us 2 ears, 2 eyes & 1 mouth because we are suppose to do 2 times more listening & watching than we do talking. This is also an important factor in holding a leadership role. You have to be taught before you can teach. Before you can train you must have been trained. Training is a situational based learning that prepares a trainee how to react to a said occurrence before it happens. Example. Employees who work on an assembly line are educated on how to correct a problem in advance. It would be lunacy to wait til a Machine is inoperable to want to direct someone on how to repair it. Being visually & audibly aware of a situation allows you to spring into action in case something doesn’t go as planned.
Love isn’t an on the job training but why must we figure out how to fix a relationship when it already showing signs of impairment? As constructive leaders & parents we must train our kids on what love IS & not what society says it should be. Love is forgiving, unconditional, entire & unlimited. An abundant love is more than buying tangibles & concrete items. Show a seed love by giving them directions. You can lead a horse to water but you can not make them drink. You’ll feel better knowing you did your part by passing that knowledge along. Be there for them and experience happy days and traumatic events with them. Ensure them that no matter how hard life punches them, you’ll be in their corner ready to console them or throw in the towel if things get extremely unsatisfactory.
Its a disservice to allow an offspring to wander blind into the world without knowing the slightest taste of love. Don’t offer them a plate; give them the recipe. As kids transition into young adulthood, love should not be an experimental drug but something they recognized without a doubt. In order to be loved, you must be trained on how to recognize love. Relationships are all diverse but the recipe of love is pretty much the same. Educate our youth to know how to recognize & then how to accept and digest it. Just like the machine worker, our babies need to be able to identify when something isn’t going right and have the tools & the skills to correct a relationship on the fly.
Lead Us To Leadership
There is no secret that our community needs more leaders. I’m not speaking of hustling preacher type leaders. I’m talking about Black Men that lead by example & do not partake in the “Do as I say, not as I do!” mentality. The issue is we have ample bosses but not many solid leaders. In order to recognize what a black leader is, we must dissect that powerful term and make sense of the term LEADER. On the surface, its pretty self explanatory. A leader is someone who leads. But let’s excavate deeper into the center of a leader.
A leader is someone who is in control of a group of set people. This group follows the words or actions of the LEADER. In order to lead, you must gain the love, trust & respect of your community. The only way to obtain the trust and respect from your citizenry is to lead by example & NEVER ask the community to attempt a task that you have never done or will ever do.
Once the community sees that you are more bite than bark & you value your word, your possession of leadership is easily obtained. With any great power comes great responsibility. There are certain attributes that a leader must have to control that power. You must be aware of your surroundings at all time & know when to put that leadership into full force. Be aware of what battles are worth fighting & which feuds are not worth wasting energy on. Be mindful that eyes are always on you from people who respect you & the ones who are praying for you to fail. Do not allow an irresponsible action to tarnish the respect from your citizenry. This careless act will also catch the attention of the adversary who will find enjoyment and pleasure in your humanly mistake.
I will be revisiting this topic a few times a month in hopes that we can keep our youth on the correct path of becoming productive leaders & to redirect the adults who may have fallen astray. If you have any advice for me to become a better lead, feel free to leave your commentary below or reach out via the Contact Page.
These Jobs SUCK!
I’d say its safe to assume that 90% of Black Americans feel that their jobs suck. What exactly does it mean to have jobs that suck? Low wages? High stress levels? Long hours? Demanding upper management? Unrealistic goals? Business models that simply do not make any sense? By tossing a few of these suck factors into any hourly task is enough to drive us crazy. Our employers seem to specialize in handing us a tiny paycheck with a smile in exchange for our valuable time. Time is the most valuable resource on the planet & we can not run to our local market and pick up a dozen of it. The audacity of them to tell us what our time is worth. Show them your price tag & let them know your self worth.
My apologies for going off topic a bit. I was referring to the double entendre of when a job sucks. These jobs seem to be designed to suck away all of your energy, creativity and happiness. When your 9 to 5 extracts your soul from your body, you enter a dangerous state of functional comatose. You come home with elevated stress levels and deflated levels of enthusiasm & creativity to invest into your own passions. It’s rather sickening how these jobs exploit us from our God given talents that we should be using to lace our own pockets. They gulp you dry of all your will & happiness to the point that you can’t even capitalize on your own contentment.
This is not a post about maximizing your money to the point of financial freedom. I’ll be touching on that topic in depth later in the summer. This post is about working less hours & keeping the lights. There’s that double entendre again. Work enough hours to pay your utility bills & keep the lights on. Also ensure that once you punch that clock after your shift, you have enough power to maintain your mental lights on so you can illuminate your own abilities to craft your own Spiritual Fitness. Don’t let your job disconnect the power to your happiness!
Forgiveness Friday
The Art of Self Forgiveness
As Black people, we can be extra selfish at times. When people hear the word Forgive, the first thing that usually comes to mind is us being asked to forgive someone for some foul event that was directed at us. Let’s wash that type of forgiveness from our brain for a moment. While inspirationally living life, we need to focus our attention to the bull’s eye of self cleaning or self forgiveness.
After a long days work, we come home to a porcelain container to cleanse our bodies with warm water & refreshing soaps. But how many of us come home & relieve ourselves of the soil that contaminates our souls? An internal cleanse is just as important & vital as an external, physical rinse. Us as black people need to worship ourselves more as well as ask ourselves for Self Forgiveness!
Has there ever been a time you cut yourself short and missed an opportunity for greatness? This could be anything from not completing a college course or not taking a training for a promotion serious. We are all human & we all have missed the boat before. I can think of countless chances I’ve missed that could have landed me in a better position in life. Instead of sulking in these memories, cleanse them from your soul with Self Forgiveness.
Dear self, I forgive me for not taking education & bettering life skills more somberly. I ask that I forgive myself for being wasteful with commodities opposed to holding them in my possession for a rainy day. Please accept my forgiveness for fighting battles minute & running from brawls I should have fought. Despite my downfalls, I still worship & love thy self. And I will ALWAYS forgive thy self as well.
Whiskey Wednesday
Aint nothing like a good ole shot of whiskey after a Black Man has been balancing the world all day. A key ingredient in achieving Spiritual Fitness is unwinding & reaching a state of mental relaxation. Soon as you arrive in the land of the cool, calm & collective; your mind is able to navigate to places of the ultimate comfort. Prayer & Yoga puts in overtime when you are completely in the zone without a worry in the world.
Whiskey has power & with power comes responsibility. Just like anything else in life, too much of anything can be a problem. Fruit is great for you but too much will have you injecting insulin. A drink or 2 of power water is actually more beneficial detrimental. Add in a few cubes of ice to dilute the concentrate into something more manageable.
A responsible man who has total control over exterior energy is a god. Knowing your limits & calling it quits soon as you cross the line of niceness is an adult action that we must master to use this spirit. Feel free to list your favorite spirits that you use to reach the relaxation realm below. Also post some black owned labels so we can make sure we solely support them & pump life into the heart of their business. Today is Wednesday; AKA Hump day! I can see Friday from here but I could use a shot of something to refuel my entire being to ensure I arrive there in GOOD SPIRITS!
Travel Tuesday
Stress plays a huge factor in determining what type of mental health we have. Elevated stress can literally make us ill. A great way to destress is to remove yourself from stress. Travel is an amazing way to get things off your shoulders and will lead you down the road to a healthier lifestyle physically and mentally.
We recognize the desperate need for a healthier spiritual fitness plan & vacationing is one of the most important focus areas. A change in surroundings doesn’t have to cost an arm & a leg. A simple hike on a local path or even plane hopping to a far away destination will aide in reversing the effects of stress. The positive effects that white sands & clear waters have on our souls is somewhat medicinal.
As black people, we should NOT be afraid to travel. While planning a destination get away, it’s important to know where you are going, how much money it will take and what activities you will partake in. We do not want to increase stress while arranging a trip designed to decrease it. A travel agent could help level out some of the stress and can also aide you in finding better deals and extend your stay for a lower cost. If you know of any black travel agents, please leave their contact info below in the comments section. In future Travel Tuesday post, I want to be able to share some great summertime travel deals and ideas with the ILL family. This is another awesome way of keeping our money in community.
In closing, it doesn’t matter if you are laying on a golden brown beach or even visiting the snowy slopes, get out there, take a deep breath as you take it all in. Pack a bag but leave the stress at home.
Money Monday 5/17/21
A huge portion of maintaining a healthy & positive lifestyle is to maintain a healthy & positive bank account. Money management skills are critical to the lifeline of a surviving operation. As Black Men, we must manage and monitor every dollar that flows in and out of our accounts. We have to obligate ourselves to come up with a plan to treat each dollar of income as if it was an employee of yours and make that bill work for you in return. The secret is out. The key to financial freedom is ensuring that your expenses do not outweigh your earnings. But how can you limit the amount of your expenses? Today we will brush the surface of a few bullet points but will dig deeper in an upcoming Episode.
Car notes & vehicle expenses
Monthly Subscription Services
Cellphones
Dining Out
Sin Tax Items
Bargain Shopping
Limit Utility Usage
Multi Surface Cleaning Supplies
Unnecessary Purchasing & Financing
Impulse Buying
By monitoring a few of these items you will start leaving more money in your account. You can truly maximize what you save stopping the financial bleed. Once we find a way to patch the holes in our finances, we start to sleep a little better at nights and start beginning the race to financial freedom.
Worship Thy Self
As kids we were taught to praise and worship God in all His glory. Even when we put forth all our celestial energy and hardcore effort, we are conditioned to give God all the credit. I was always told that religion causes division. The caveat is that religion can cause that same division within your self. It’s similar to an internal civil war. Is it really a bad thing to take a little credit and celebrate a victory that you accomplish?
God made us in His image and gave us the same powers to imagine something then manifest it into something concrete. Think about some of the world’s greatest creations. They all started off as a thought planted deep into the soils of someone's mind. From there it was nurtured and sprouted into something great. We all know where the energy to put a plan in place comes from but some of us don’t even realize that we have such a power source. Sometimes it takes a being to stop listening to what’s around him to hear what’s truly around him.
Taking a celebratory victory lap after completing an accomplishment builds a Black Man up. Those victories could be big or minute. Cooking a meal that your family raves about or cutting a yard with a barbers precision & having your neighbors compliment you on a deed well done are tiny things to be celebrated and are noteworthy achievements to pat thy self on the back. Composing a master thesis or constructing a house by hand are larger feats to be proud of. Saying, “Yo, I did that!” builds confidence, character and positive energy. (Imagine building positive energy from the energy the universe sent you)
Just like it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a team of like minded individuals to create a racing team. We have Danny Driver & Fuel Guy Frank. Frank fills the fuel tank & gives Danny the power he needs to complete his task. Without Frank, Danny wouldn't be able to cross the finish line. Yet and still, Frank’s energy is useless if Danny doesn’t have the knowledge, the skill or effort to work towards the goal. Danny Driver has every right to worship him self for his job well done.
It’s time to apply this to our every day routine. When the universe sends you a power bank, be sure to have your mind crafted enough to know what to do with it. Once your mission is completed and the war is over, I’m pretty sure God would have no issue with your praising and worshiping your self.
Strengthening Your Spiritual Fitness
Theres an old saying that goes, “All black people are going to heaven because we are going through hell right now!” Whether you believe that or not, its still a very comical statement. Despite the saying having a splash of humor, it also comes with a side of seriousness. Are you spiritually fit? What exercises have you been implementing into your every day lifestyle test the strength of your spiritual fitness?
Back in 1958, only 1.6M American suffered from diabetes.In 2015, a whopping 23.4M of us have been diagnosed with the deadly disease. The American Diabetes Association suggest that we combat this with a strict diet, strenuous workouts and tons of medication. All of these thing work you out and strengthen you physically. But what are doing to beef up your spiritual fitness?
We all say “Give me my flowers while I’m here!”. What exactly does this mean? It means give me all things you want me to have and tell me all the things you want to tell me NOW! Don’t wait til I’m dead and gone to try to give me my flowers. But what can you do for yourself to give flowers to self while you are still alive on the 3rd Rock from the Sun? This is where your spiritual fitness becomes super vital.
Here are few starting point to boosting your spiritual fitness. We Will be covering them on my first ILL Episode in a few weeks.
Fasting, Yoga & Meditating
Traveling
Get It Off Your Conscience
Being Positive
Forgiveness Of Self & Others
Vehemently Attacking Your Bucket List
Reading & Opening Your Mind to New Ideas
Making Sure Ducks Are In A Row
Giving Others Their Flowers Too
As Black people, it is very important that we start working out our spiritual muscle. Once we begin to master this, our day to day lives become easier to digest and more enjoyable. You will find new meanings to your favorite songs and movies and you will begin to find peace in knowing that death is longer than life and that you did all you could to make your temporary visit on Earth enjoyable for everyone who enters your realm. I can assure you that your eulogy will hit different once you achieve Spiritual Fitness
A Black Mother’s Magic
There’s this weird correlation between black people and entertainment. Throughout my life, I’ve heard so many comedians, celebrities and common folk joke about their experiences growing up with a black mother like its some sort of entertainment. The majority of it consists of some sort of unorthodox, violent chastisement. I recall a friend of mine saying her mom threw a lamp at her head for rolling her eyes at her. I know a few people who laugh about getting a whipping with an extension cord. The Bible says “Spare the rod & spoil the child” but some of the tales we joke about actually left physical and emotional scars that continue to follow us for the rest of our lives.
What about the stories we never speak of? What happened to all those nurturing memories of A Black Mother’s Magic? The magic a Black Mother carries doesn’t need a magic wand nor any hocus pocus magic words to be activated. This magic is fueled by Black Love and recharged by the sun.
Who else in this universe can instantly heal a wound by kissing it? I smile with amazement remembering how my mother could make a 3 course meal out of mere beans, rice and a box of cornbread. Let’s not forget the disappearing act. A Black Mother can make ever ounce of stress, worry and anguish vanish just by looking you in the eyes. That magical eye contact solidifies and reinforces comfort & plants reassurance that everything will be ok.
I challenge our community to break that stigma that being raised by a Black Mother is abusive. I grew up without a lot of things but I wouldn’t change my childhood experiences for the world. Every day was a magic show and each show was more amazing & impressive than the last. Being raised by a Black Mother is honestly the greatest show on Earth.
Understand Positive Energy
Dear Black Men,
On this very day I need each & every one of you to take this vow with me. On this day, May 9th of the year 2021, I need every black man to know, learn and understand the true definition of POSITIVE. But before we learn the true definition of POSITIVE, we must learn the definition of UNDERSTAND. To understand means to see things CLEARLY for what they are & not what they appear to be. Once we get that engraved into our minds, we can then see the word positive clearly for what it is and not what it appears to be. Positive is defined as constructive, optimistic or confident.
Right now our community needs positive leaders & role models to get our next generation on code. Take an ILL look into the mirror & ask yourself when was the last time you did or said something positive? If you toss a positive aura into the universe, the universe will toss positive energy back into your soul. We possess a power that increases when we acknowledge each other in a positive fashion. If you do not believe me, try it. Next time you see a fellow black man or youth, look him in the eye and speak. Let him know that you see him as a positive entity despite what society sees.
Black Brotherhood is a real thing. The secret is there is strength in numbers. It takes a village to raise a child and it also takes that same village to love & support an adult. We all need each other because together we stand, divided we fall. Once we learn to understand the word positive and start sending positive energy to each other, our presence and value will expand. From there, the world can no longer deny our power. Sending positive vibe into the universe means you will get the same and more in return. Remember FOWARD POSITIVE ENERGY!