WHEN YOU ARE BLESSED.

My great niece MeMe

Dear Readers,

I stopped taking my blessings for granted.
Think about all the unnecessary complainting people do about what they don’t have or the things they think will make them happier. May I suggest you take a moment to think about the Millions of people who are struggling to meet their basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter.

I was one of those people who felt that a better apartment in a rich neighborhood would make me happier. But, my reality is I am abundantly blessed to have a beautiful, affordable, clean, safe, peaceful, and warm apartment in a quiet neighborhood, where people respect their homes, and an excellent landlord who cares about his tenants.

I am employed at not one but two places of business, my dream job as an educator and writing consultant, in addition to my part time gig as a counselor in a group home. Both allows me flexibility with my schedule, thus blessing me to be financially self sufficient to meet my other basic needs of food and clothing. The extra added bonuses such as travel, girls night out, buying good wine, and recently upgrading my living room and refurbishing the kitchen is all part of the amazing ways I am blessed.

Thus far I am deeply grateful to have made it through this pandemic without losing income, or more importantly friends or family to this virus, and none of my family lost their jobs or their homes. And in January 10, 2020 our family welcomed a new addition my great niece MeMe.

It doesn’t take much to look in your own back yard, so to speak to see the blessings. Think about this the next time you walk past a person sleeping on the streets in the cold, rain, heat, and snow. Don’t judge them we don’t know what lead them to their circumstances. And there might be some truth to the saying, ” we are all one pay check away from being homeless.” The next time you are in the presence of a person begging for food and he or she might be genuinely hungry. Think about how easy it is for you to purchase food using instacart, grub hub, doordash, and Uber or the tons food we throw away. While others are digging through garbage bins, grateful for food banks, soup kitchens and the SNAP program.

Dropping money like its hot shopping like the millionaire your not. Do you need to purchase another pair of designer shoes when the ones your brought last month haven’t been worn yet. Hand bags, outfits, shoes, boots, and jewelry piling up cluttering your already cluttered home, but you claim not to have anything to wear. I remember when I was a kid living in my parents house I had to eat what my mother prepared without complaining. Fast food, Chinese food, the corner Bodega, Dunkin Donuts, or 7 eleven wasn’t an opinion. My parents where thankful that they could provide hot meals, clothing and shelter for me and siblings.

I complain about not having a car, the reality is that I live in the greatest city ” The Big Apple” where mass transit operates 24/7, in addition to Uber, lyft, and other car services, I don’t mean to bragg, but I am fortunate to have a private car service, so why am I complaining, when I see people sleeping in trains and in train station for shelter and warmth.

The bottom line is regardless to all the crap I’ve experienced, and how bad I think my life is, as the old saying goes, ” there is someone out there who would change places with me in a heartbeat.” I am learning to practice gratitude daily. I am thankful for my life, and all that I have.

Me and my cousin

Question. Are you thankful for your life and all that you’ve been blessed with?

A Few Things I Want to Say

Dear Readers, there’s is a few things I would like to address, please bear  with me.

This new idea of a genderless society is a step towards taking away our individual identify. I have never been fond of the principle of assigned gender roles. I am a supporter of equal rights regardless of gender some people interrupt this as women’s desire to compete with men this thinking is wrong. It is by natural selection that we are given our gender and identity. Furthermore, due to advance science and technology parents are able to discover the gender of an embryo, so much for the elements of surprise. There is even speculation of future technology that will allow parents to select certain features that they deem desirable resulting in their children being born with certain characteristics that will allow them to an advantage over other children. This all seems so absurd and out of control. Remember Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s literary masterpiece Frankenstein. This narrative illustrates the consequences of man going beyond the order of nature. What I observe occuring in society is the reordering or recreating a world to fit the needs of particular groups of people who feel the need to create a society that is out of the natural order. In today’s society practicing morals and good value is no longer important.

Our leaders have failed to stand firm on issues of family values instead they bend to every movement and organizations that cry foul when they feel that their basic human rights have been violated due a difference of opinions on issues like same sex marriage, gender neutral restrooms, the right to life, affordable housing, and the right to earn a fair wage. We have become so divided that we challenge whose life matter more. Black lives matter, the me to movement, along with other movements only serves the purpose of further diminishing people based on race and gender. Not to mention the that we currently live in a ” except me as I am society” where being unhealthy and overweight is viewed as body shaming so the practice of encouraging obesity is expected. Even the religious people are fleeing from their houses of worship to join non denominational churches because they are at odds with the strict rules of religion.

This chaos has led to an increase level of anger. Am I the only one who notice the increasing number of people who are angry? People are short fused. Patients, sympathy, compassion, understanding and reasoning is something of the past. Anger seems to be the new way to express displeasure, venting, going into a rage, and spewing out insults is becoming a normal part of people’s character. People blame social media, the overcrowding of public transportation, long commutes, the daily grind of life, high unemployment, hopleness, and high levels of stress, the list can go on and on, but the plain true is people are angry. This anger is spilling out into everyday life. Parents are short tempered towards their children. Couples are fighting more than usual over the smallest issues turning their home into a battle ground. There seems to be more anger at the workplace thus creating an unpleasant and hostile work environment. In the service industry consumers and customer service representatives are at odds due to complaints of low quality serve. People who are employed as wait staff, hair industry, driver’s, retail, healthcare, phone representative, postal workers all have the same complaint. They deliver poor service because they are shown very little appreciation for the services they provide.

If I am painting a picture that the world is on a collision course with itself just think about what is currently taking place immigrants are the focus of this administration, no one is seeking solutions to high unemployment, the homeless, drug abuse, and the increasing numbers of business closing. The politicians are focused on their personal agenda and they have no regards for the people who elected them to protect and provide for our well being in order to build a stronger and better world for the sake of all humanity.
Does any of this make any sense? If so what say you?

Get the Clutter out!

Dear readers,

I found this great quote by Eleanor Brown ” Clutter is not just physical things; its old ideas, toxic relationships, and bad habits. Clutter is anything that does not support your better self.”

Toxic people are those individual who walk around with a dark cloud over their heads, nagging, complaining and being negative these people can drain the life out of you. CLUTTER!

Mental clutter in the form of old ideas and myths that are meant to keep people stalled in old ways of doing things or myths that serves as untruth. Think about that people are saying to you and the intentions behind the words.

Question. Are you paying attention to the Clutter in your life? What are you going to do to clean out, get rid of the clutter in your home, removing toxic people ( wife, husband, children, co-workers, church members, friends ). What about all those useless ideas that only serves the purpose of holding you back from creating new ideas.  Come on lighten the load so that you can clear the way to receive good people and situations in your life.

What say you?