Donald Trump

Donald Trump has been elected as the 45th President of the United States of America. I know it sounds weird saying that. It felt even more weird typing it. The Same Donald Trump that got famous for the words “you’re fired” is going to be leading the Greatest nation in the world. How can this happen?

This is how, the American people were fed up with a system that was filled with politicians who were being put in place by huge campaign donors, who had the resources to infiltrate the air waves with ads for their guy. Then these elected politicians will work for the people who donated the funds rather then the people who he was elected to represent. Then the odd sum of them would go on to be crooked in some form or get caught up in some ridiculous scandal. 

This election, they had the standard bearer politician but they already was caught making mistakes and poor choices in the roles they were chosen to fulfill prior to their campaign aka Hilary Clinton. She was engulfed with controversy, her husband, the foundation, her emails, her top aides. Everything around her was crooked, nothing was peaceful. 

Then we had another guy on the other side. Who wasn’t backed by any large donors. Who was attacking and pointing out the flaws of his opponents. Not sharing anything prepared but just mercilessly attacking the weaknesses of his opponents. 

He showed some bravado, some charismatic traits, no experience in the political arena but experience in showmanship and selling himself to not be better then anyone but not as worse as what was available to the American public.

He wasn’t influenced by any big campaign donors, he envoked fear into his own party. He backed himself when no one was backing him. He said the ridiculous things no one would say but it all pointed him towards the most powerful seat in the land. 

The American people wanted change, a change from the standard politician. A change from Bush,Clinton and Obama. A change that has never occurred in America in the last 20 years. They elected a billionaire real estate mogul as the next President. They have entrusted him to Carry on the legacy of that Prestigious office. 

An office that has a history of being marred by scandals, that has been caught up in war propaganda. An office that was friendly to big business. An office that was never safe but just hanging on by a thread. 

The American People , the last 16 or so years has allowed for a Donald Trump to seize the present moment. He will get his four years, it’s only fair but hopefully everyone was paying attention to how he came to be. It was the people before him who allowed this to happen. It was the churning of disappointment after disappointment of broken promises by those standard bearer politicians who didn’t sound convincing enough selling their own policies. 

Hopefully that future president is currently watching and waiting to seize his or her moment in 4 years. Maybe 8 but hopefully they are waiting and watching on how to achieve such status here in America, through disappointment and fear or through hard work and real goals and policy making. 

Today we live in A Trump presidency, it’s allowed, he did nothing illegal. He played by the rules and the system wasn’t rigged, it allowed him to get the throne. It only means ,that future president watching this today can set themselves up really well, if they sell policy, if they remain controversy free and if they believe in themselves and bettering America, they too can hold the highest seat in the land. Good luck and God Bless.

Dear life

Dear Life, 

Why must you always throw curve balls these days? What happened to the good ole days of the fast ball, the one I knew was coming, and the one I knew I could hit no matter who was pitching. What happened to those days?

These days all I get are curve balls. I live in a society where expectations are to go to school, get a job, find a good girl, live a good life. What happens when the fast balls stop coming and I start getting the curveballs?

What happens when I went to school and graduated with a degree that doesn’t get me anywhere? What happens when I can’t find a good job, and I have to depend on others for funds? What happens when I never meet the right girl, but only the bad ones. This isn’t the good life? I can’t hit these curveballs.

Where do I go to learn how to adjust the swing? How do I learn to bat against these curve balls? I keep swinging and swinging and striking out over and over again. How many more innings do I have left in this game?

Can I keep practicing or will I continue to strike out? Will I wake up early to practice and stay focused and study everything I can about the curveballs? Maybe if I understood the velocity, the speed, the angle. If I could just sit and watch curveballs being thrown over and over again, will I be able to hit it better? 

I don’t think it’s about just understanding the curveball. I think it’s also about knowing when it’s coming and sometimes choosing not to swing. If you don’t swing , maybe you don’t strike out. If you don’t strike out, maybe you can get on base. Getting on base maybe will point you in the right direction. 

I don’t want to not swing, I want to swing and hit it big. I want to hit a grand slam not just a home run. I want the bases loaded. I want to return to the good ole days. I want the curve ball to be my fast ball. So I go and practice. I go learn everything thing I can about it. 

It’s ok if I don’t know when it’s coming. But if I know everything about it, at least if I practice hard enough, work hard enough at it, just maybe I can be a little more prepared to make the choice of swinging, not swinging and even if I miss it, I know there will be another game, another day, another moment to practice and prepare to get that grand slam. Never give up, never stop trying. 

The Cross you Bear

Sometimes in life we all go through struggle. Each of our struggles are different from the person next to us. Some struggle with addiction. Others struggle in their relationships. A few struggle with work. If we are able to box up that struggle and ship it away on a FedEx truck, we would. But that’s just not how life works.

The struggle is there to help us learn. The struggle is there to help us appreciate what is in front of us. Sometimes we feel like the struggle never ends. We don’t know if we will ever figure out life. But if we can learn from our struggles, and embrace it, then how much greater will we be if we figure out a way to overcome it.

Isn’t there some joy in those who overcome addictions? Aren’t those who figure out their relationships better for it when they decide to stick it out instead of taking the easy way out and giving up on one another? Isn’t it more glorifying to solve conflicts then to leave something damaged and broken?

Life is hard, it’s suppose to be. I never met a person who didn’t have their own struggles. I never met a successful person who didn’t struggle and fail before they found that success. If we can understand that this struggle, whatever it may be is there to help us grow, and not to make things worse, then we can move forward in figuring out how we can embrace it. 

We all have a cross to bear. There is a story about a boy who was carrying his own cross. He then told God, I cannot bear this cross any longer, please allow me to find another cross. So God said to him, fine, lay that cross right there in that room. Now go through that next door and see if you can find another cross. So the boy looked all through this room, he saw crosses so large you couldn’t see the tops of them, then finally he saw a smaller cross and chose that one. God said to him, that’s the same cross you just put down. 

Sometimes when we compare what we are going through , and see what others have to bear, whatever we are going through doesn’t seem so overwhelming. It doesn’t seem so difficult compared to what others around us are going through. If we take one second , to see what’s around us, maybe we will appreciate what’s in front of us. No matter how difficult the struggle seems, or how large, we still can bear that cross. Never give up, embrace the cross in front of you. 

Death

What exactly happens to one when they die? Do they just get buried and rot away in that casket 6 feet under? Is there some after life waiting for them, where their soul goes to? I believe in the after life. I am a practicing Christian, not a perfect Christian. I been saved and baptized. I believe Jesus came into this world to die for not just my sins, but for everyone who is willing to accept him into their heart. 

I believe that when a person dies, who is of the Christian faith, they die a physical death but not a spiritual death. In the Bible death is compared to a deep sleep. We aren’t aware of what is happening around us when we die. When God created man, he formed the body from dust and then he breathed his life giving spirit into this body and the result was a soul, or a living being. 

When a person dies, this process reverses itself. The breath leaves the body and the body returns to the ground and becomes dust again. But the spirit that was living in the body returns to God, and that person lives again. 

Jesus say In John 11:25 “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die. He shall live.” The Bible says those who are dead will rise again on the day of ressurrection when Jesus returns.  Both the righteous and the wicked. So death is a time where one rests, they are asleep. But those who have accepted Christ into their hearts and live according to the gospel, they will achieve that eternal life, where the pains and sorrows of this present earth no longer can touch us.

 On that day of resurrection, the dead in Christ will rise first, so we have tremendous hope that if someone leaves us tomorrow and they have accepted Christ in their hearts , we shall see them again one day and be with them for eternity, when God calls us up when our time comes. 

Ballers

Recently I’ve been watching Ballers the TV show. It’s a very interesting concept. A retired professional football player trying to be a financial advisor for future and current NFL football players. The financial advisor role – Spencer Strasmore is played by none other then Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson. The interesting part about Dwayne Johnson’s character is that he’s really broke on the tv show but doesn’t let any of that come out in front of the players he is representing. And here he is trying to prevent other players from going broke. 

His own failures have motivated him to help other people. Isn’t that how most stories turn out? A recovering drug addict becomes a counselor. A parent makes sure their children don’t make the same mistakes they do so they create better opportunities for them to succeed. This is the same way Spencer Strasmore plays his role in the lives of his clients. These young fresh overnight millionaires who are exposed to anything and everything money can buy. Spencer is the one trying to reign them in when they think they are invincible and making sure they don’t spend all their new found fortune in one week. He is trying to make sure they will have that fortune for the rest of their life. 

The ironic part of this whole TV show is that Dwayne Johnson, in real life was named Forbes Highest paid actor for 2016. Imagine Him having to play a retired, has been athlete who is running on broke and having to borrow money from his clients to stay afloat but in real life being hailed as the highest paid actor. If you pay attention to his social media account, he sometimes shares his humble beginnings of when he barely was making ends meet as an up and coming wrestler. This is a prime example of “experience is always the best teacher”, hence why Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson plays the character Spencer Strasmore so well on the show and carries the same mantra in real life. They both are one and the same. #muchrespect #peopleschamp

Potential

Everyone has potential, but does every person tap that potential to do something great? Doing something great doesn’t always involve advancing ones own cause or ambitions. It might mean helping the cause of another soul. It might be encouraging another person to be more ambitious. Potential can be dangerous, it can throw you into situations where you aren’t always the most comfortable, but those situations where seeking your full potential, and stepping out of the comfort zone will help you grow as a person. 

Growing is better then being stagnant and comfortable. New challenges exist every where. For some it might be finding the discipline to lose weight. It might be to control emotions in unique situations. It might be a relationship with a significant other. All these situations have potential. It takes patience to develop discipline for some of these activities. There is sometimes a great fear of disappointment when you are trying to tap into this hidden potential. What if you try and fail? But isn’t “not trying” worse?

Isn’t knowing you have the potential to do something great and you just thought about it and never did anything about it, doesn’t that wear away at the soul? knowing someone could have been impacted for the better but you chose comfortability and yourself over others? It’s difficult to live in a such a way.

Unleash that potential, tap into it. Seek it out until you have a hold on it, where you can use it for good, to better the cause of someone else, to benefit others, to help advance another’s life, and in some small way you will have advanced yourself to being great and you didn’t get there alone. You take everyone with you that you met and impacted along the way. 

Potential can be dangerous. It all depends on one’s perspective. Tap into it. 

Dwade- #3

I always been a sports fan. I’m a Lebron fan. I’m a Kobe fan, I’m a MJ fan, I’m even a fan of Dale Earnhardt Jr. But those guys sometimes you have to view from a distance, we never get any behind the scenes news unless it’s purposely leaked to the media. 

I titled this Dwade, because I’m a huge Dwyane Wade fan. I don’t follow many people on snap chat but I do follow this guy. Where many superstars of his stature are inaccessible, this guy lets us have a look into his life, like a behind the scenes of all the cool things he is asked to do and gets to do.  

Sure is it a bit creepy to have such access, a little bit, but does it allow us to see the demands of a super star during his everyday life. As in, what is asked of him day in and day out. All the places he must go , all the people he must meet, to be successful off the basketball court. All the training he must do, to be successful on it. It allows us to see the people who surround him, like his manager Lisa (by the way her snapchat with her kids are hilarious) and allow him to focus on basketball, while his business empire grows. 

It allows his followers to see how much he cares for his kids, and how he is committed to them and their growth. He is a pretty cool dad to have by the way . Also how he pokes fun at his wife for odd things like her telephone service not working in Asia. We also get to see his team and how they all operate together to make his brand successful. It’s a pretty good model to follow to be successful. 

He basically has a normal everyday life, where normal people have friends, and kids and a family and work duties, He just happens to be a professional basketball player which has all those three priorities in order, just on a bigger scale. 

I like the way he is honest on the snap chat. He shares the cool, funny stuff, like “lying Reggie” is always my favorite character he does. I hope if I ever run into him here in Chicago, he allows me to say the part “shut yo lying a$$ up Reggie”. He also shares his “robe” talk or cloth talk about life. 

This is a guy from Robbins, Illinois, who got to play basketball in Miami. Out of all the places you could live and work. This guy lived in Miami, how cool is that. He made a career there, worked hard there, He Won championships there. He worked with some of his best friends there (Lebron, Bosh). Then he left it all, because he wanted to go back home. 

That’s the story most people know if you don’t know anything else about this guy. Some may not even know that story. I once read a story about Dwyane Wade where he said his first paycheck from one of his first jobs during his teenage years was at KFC , and it was for $250. Then when he got to the NBA , his first paycheck he cashed was for $50,000. It’s really not the dollars we should focus on. It’s the fact he had to start somewhere, even if that place was KFC. Hard work always pays off.  

I wish snapchat was around so we could have been able to see those stories as well. But I’m glad myself and his other followers, get the real stories. You could never be mad at a guy who shares his real stories. 

Thank you snap chat for allowing such a platform but really thank you Dwyane Wade for taking advantage of this platform and always sharing your story. For not being so big headed or so Hollywood. For allowing everyday fans like myself to just get a small view of how hard you work and what goes into such an interesting and fun life. It allows one to understand how you must be surrounded by great people to make progress in this life. 

Thank you for continuing to take up new challenges like the one ahead of you in Chicago with the new look Bulls. But above all, Thank you Dwyane Wade for inspiring and motivating people around the world like myself. 

Your fan, 

Dan

The Tight Rope Walker

This one is for individuals , or a group of people , a team trying to achieve some specific goal ;

In 1859 the Great Blondin, the man who invented the high-wire act, announced to the world that he intended to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope. As the story goes, 5,000 people gathered to watch. Halfway across, Blondin suddenly stopped, steadied himself, backflipped into the air, landed squarely on the rope, and then continued safely to the other side. 

Just as he was about to begin yet another crossing, this time pushing a wheelbarrow, he turned to the crowd and shouted, “Who believes that I can cross pushing this wheelbarrow?” Every hand in the crowd went up. Blondin pointed at one man. “Do you believe that I can do it?” he asked. “Yes, I believe you can,” said the man. “Are you certain?” Blondin asked. “Yes,” said the man. “Absolutely certain?” “Yes, absolutely certain.” “Thank you,” said Blondin. “Then, sir, get into the wheelbarrow.”

So many of us believe in our goal but are we willing to get into that wheelbarrow ,trust in the fact, our preparation, our discipline it will help us achieve whatever that goal is. To the group of people or the team, are you willing to trust each other? 

You see there is a difference between believing and trusting someone? How many of us are willing to get into the wheelbarrow today? 

I once…

I once met a man who lost everything, his job….his house, his car, but started over again, never gave up ….regained even more once he picked up the broken pieces, and he did these things at an age when most people usually retire and die.

I once met a kid who was about to transfer schools because they wouldn’t allow him to sit for an exam for technical reasons but some way , some how, this kid got the attention of one of the executives of the establishment who proctors the exam, and told him his story and convinced him to allow him to take the exam. 

I once met a kid, who didn’t know much English who got caught drinking beer at work and his boss overlooked it because he was a more productive worker then all the others who were employed there. 

I once knew a girl who complained about all the work she had to do but never got around to doing her actual work but besides complaining about it, because she felt like it was too much work and not enough pay. 

I once knew a guy, when times were tough, and he didn’t have money for gas, he would go to the local uhaul store late at night, take a suction tube, hook it up to the uhaul truck gas tank, inhale on one end until he got gas flowing out and then hooked the other end to his car’s gas tank and emptied out the gas into it. 

I once knew a guy who slept all day, and complained about his life and about money he didn’t have. He had every ability in the world. But he refused to do the one thing that could bring him some money and help him achieve his goals…..WORK!

Some of these people were highly motivated, never gave up when times got tough, and turned their life around through effort and hard work. Some of these people, did the opposite, let the moment overwhelm them, got stuck in that moment, and became a slave to their circumstances.

We all have our moments. We all can relate to tough times and making decisions in these moments. But the one thing we can control to a certain degree is our reaction when these moments occur, do we fight on? Or do we give up and become prisoners of the moment? 

Case study 1

Today I wanted to share a story. I work with this kid. He is about 23 years of age. We work at a grocery store together. When he was in high school, he ended up getting a girl pregnant and had to drop out and ever since then he has just been living pay check to pay check providing for his kids. 

He always says he enjoyed school and he always has an urge to go back. I ask him why he hasn’t went back or Atleast worked on getting his GED. His response is always time constraints, and of course working and taking care of his kids. He loves his kids. 

The kid is smart. He knows how to work and get things done but his mind is to distracted by insignificant matters of the world. I always told him that getting his GED will improve his chances of getting better job opportunities and of course it will allow him to pursue higher education. If he chooses this path, he will be able to provide more for his kids so they don’t make the same choices he did or go down that similar path. 

I remember when I was in high school, I never even thought much about getting involved with girls because I knew it wouldn’t be as valuable as school. I just worried about school and that’s all I focused on. I Went to school, studied, and made good grades that allowed me to go to college.  

Of course I had my parents support and encouragement along the way and my parents gave me enough which allowed me to succeed. Now my friend at the grocery store, I don’t know much about his childhood besides the fact, there is a resentment towards his father and his mom occasionally is mentioned when he says that he needs to pick his kids up from her house. I never dug deep into this resentment issue. 

I imagined his parents separated or there wasn’t much encouragement in his household growing up. Of course him having kids changed the trajectory of his future. So I ask myself while sitting there I have a college education, no kids, working at the same establishment as this young man, what would have been had he not had the kids, finished high school, went to college and got a degree? 

How did two complete strangers, who made different choices in different periods in life, end up working at the same place? The same way I’m wondering about what his life could have been had he went to college….is he wondering the same things about me? What the f*** is this kid doing here with everything he has?

Two Different people, different upbringings, different choices, same establishment of work, presently. Do I get paid more? Of course, are my duties greater then his? Not really. Do we report to the same people? Yes we do. 

I think me and him met because I was suppose to help him. I was suppose to encourage him and tell him, he can have more, he can achieve more he just needs to apply himself. I have been doing that ever since I met him. I bought him some GED material. I check up on him to make sure he is studying that material and if he is working towards that goal. 

I know I met him for a reason. Me and him are really good friends now. But I learn from him too. I learn that people so young can have so many responsibilities and lives depend on them. I learned that whatever I don’t have or think I need and don’t possess , it really isn’t the end of the world. I appreciate every moment I have because i Atleast have some freedom to do things. To travel, to go places, see new things. That freedom doesn’t exist for everyone when you have kids and you can’t be selfish with your time. It makes me reflect back on all the choices that made me end up meeting and working with this kid. 

I still want to do more. I know I will be able to do more. This job is a job of convenience for me to help me make some money on the side while I’m pursuing another degree. This job to my friend ,  its pretty much, his livelihood. It provides for him and his family. He doesn’t have the luxury to stop working and go to school, if he wants to. 

Two different people, two different upbringings, different choices in life. Same establishment, same goal presently …Making sure we survive and make it to the next day. Everyone’s different. Not everyone has certain luxuries. Some people are happy with a lot, some people only need a little. Everyone needs somebody to help them appreciate the different moments and phases in life. If you don’t, you will fail to find what you are called to do.