Hump Day Reflections on the Perspective from Your Experience 04/4/18

I find myself sitting here before sunrise trying to get my mind right for the day. I'm finally at a place where I can just relax and not worry about a thing. Honestly, I am feeling the best that I've been in the last several weeks. I feel like I'm finally starting to break free from a few things that have weighed me down. Although, I don't know how quickly I can ‎be completely free, I know I'm on the right path. If I've learned anything, I know that life sometimes needs to break you down in order to get you back on track. Over the last couple of months, I've experienced every emotion that I could handle. I've been tested on many levels with my personal relationships, professional‎ relationships, and the like. What I've grown to realize is that a lot of our misunderstandings result from an inability to see things from another's perspective. We can all sit here and say, "That we can understand what a person's going through and why they feel they way they do." And in most cases, I don't think that's true as I believe we often times blur the lines of empathy and understanding. Not really sure where I'm going with this, but I got quite a few things on the brain right now. Strictly from my perspective, I have quite a few layers to get through to understand how I feel. What I'm about to say, it's pretty much my reality so take it with a grain of salt. This is me: African American Male(black) Child of divorced parents Big Brother Uncle Godfather Moved to Germany at the age of 6 Returned to USA to live at 18 College Graduate Racially Profiled on more than one occasion This is merely a snapshot of a collection of things that have played a part in shaping my experiences in life. There are many things that I've done that people could relate to, but one can not relate to all. Much like myself, you have a lot that you've experienced that maybe people can't relate to. It's for this reason that I'll always say that unless you've been in a person's shoes or can see everything through their lenses that you can't appreciate why they feel the way they do. The older I get the more I'm learning to appreciate the the complete perspective of all situations. Whether it's parents, friends, or the like they can try to shield you from things based on their experiences, but there is a catch. The landscape that they experienced those things in might be slightly different and how you are affected just might not be the same. I say this in full confidence as it reminds me to think about the world we live in. On paper we live in a world where we are one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all. From my perspective, I understand the words yet my experiences still tell me that we still have work to do. One day I hope that many perspectives can change as people learn to understand that all of our experiences will never be the same. Unless you were in a position all your life where you were taught to be 10 times better, knew that you had to always have an edge, or knew that someone was always looking for a reason make you the example you just might not get it. As convoluted as my thoughts may be, I used myself as example of what many of us may go through trying to be understood. Without knowing how it feels to be passionate about some things based on experiencing them yourself and being directly impacted by them how would you understand? In the words of Bartholemew J. Simpson, "It's a Bart thing, and you wouldn't understand!" Any questions? ‎ As you go forward with your day, recall your experiences and ‎think about who might understand your perspective and why. ‎

Monday Thoughts on Recognizing Your Lifelines 03/20/18

As I sit here thinking about where I've been, I'm beating myself up because I'm far behind on my writing. I was reminded recently that I had a special gift and it's a part of my ‎purpose. Walk in your purpose young man they said, so here I am. Not really sure the road that my thoughts are taking me right now, but I can tell you it's going to be interesting. Back in the day, all of America used to be tuned ‎in to the show 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?' and we can all remember those famous lifelines. Phone a friend, 50/50, & Ask the Audience. I am using this as an illustration of how most people deal with situations in this day and age. In some form or fashion we are using lifelines in a lot of our day to day activities/decisions. ‎Lifeline: 1) a rope or line used for life-saving, typically one thrown to rescue some in difficulties in water or one used by sailors to secure themselves to a boat. 2) a thing on which someone or something depends on or which provides a means of escape from a difficult situation. As I think about the definition, I have thoughts that form in my head about our perspectives on lifelines. You have people that will reach out for a lifeline and those that will throw out a lifeline. There are times in life that you may find yourself in both roles. Phone A Friend Lifeline - We all have someone or several people that we can pickup the phone and reach out to when we have something ‎going on that we feel we can't move forward without having them involved in the conversation. 50/50 Lifeline -‎ You put yourself in a situation to where you've narrowed down your choices to make a decision, yet you still aren't quite sure which direction to go. You feel the need to reach out and get a little advice based on a couple options that could work for you. Ask the Audience Lifeline - In the age of social media, we find that a lot of people will put feelers out to see what people think about what they have going on. It's a safe way for some to ask for help or even check in to see if others have similar thoughts. Lifelines are an important part of our lives, but there are some that are very selective about giving/taking lifelines. I completely understand the reasoning in most cases, as I know some people who lowkey will give you a lifeline with strings attached. If you aren't doing it out of love, then I honestly don't want it. And then there are those that feel that they will take a lifeline from someone who is financially successful or known by the people. Essentially taking the lifeline because they believe it makes them accepted. Regardless of what ‎you have going on in life right now, you'll always have the opportunity to give a lifeline to someone. Whether you believe it or not there's someone out here that needs that word of encouragement or that shoulder to lean on to regain balance. Or maybe it's you that needs the lifeline? Did you ever think that might be it? Answer that one and see what you got then.