The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living

"The First Step To Getting What You Want Out Of Life Is: Decide What You Want."
-Ben Stein

So many people these days get stuck in the struggle for less. They sell themselves far shorter than they are worth. I don’t know were it happens, well I sorta have a couple ideas but that is a blog to itself altogether…but somewhere along the way they decided to be more realistic and lost their aspirations and beliefs that they can do ANYTHING. A friend of mine gave me a good visualization once. He said that as a young boy he would hang pictures of super expensive cars on his walls like every boy does...such as Lamborghini's, Ferrari's etc. But once he reached 15 he realized that those cars were far too unreachable by his means so down they came and up went the Civics souped up with ghini doors. So is it reality that settles in or is it the belief that we can not get what we truly desire because of the belief in ourselves? Someone owns those cars...why not me? What makes them different? What makes them better? It is only in your mind, they believe in their worth and value themselves so much that they become succesfully driven people. Most people lose their dreams and become broken and settled. My Pastor at Eagles Nest, Rick Godwin did a sermon called “Quitters, Campers, and Climbers”. Quitters are people who quit and never see things through. Campers are the majority of people who make it to a nice plot in life and decide that they could do better but remain camped out for the remainder of their lives. Climbers are people who stop to camp and rejuvenate, replenish, and then continue the pursuit for more. I have learned these following things in my climb that might be of some value to you.

-Simplify our lives. Stop collecting. Start celebrating, for no apparent reason.
-Gather memories instead of memorabilia.
-Do some genealogy about your family ancestry. What were they like? What soul-deep legacy, if any, did they pass on to us? What did we learn and love most about our grandparents and parents?
-What will we gladly give up to improve the quality of our lives?
-Dream as if we had forever. Live as if this was the last day to live.
-Think globally, act locally.
-Don’t just treat everyone the way we want to be treated. Treat everyone the way they should be treated to believe they can reach their full potential, based upon their own beliefs and heritage.
-Never judge a person by their belongings. They may be healthier, wealthier, wiser and happier than us, and probably is.
-It’s not nice to fool with Mother Nature.
-Love what you have, even if you don’t have all that you’d love.
-We are All different, on a life path heading the same way.

Since we are all different we have developed our own beliefs and values but we are all moving forward to death and we are all going to get their eventually. So lets make this life a great blessing and be joyful for the time we have.

Get Bitter or Get Better

"Accept The Pains, Cherish The Joys, Resolves The Regrets; Then Can Come The Best Of Benedictions 'If I Had My Life To Live Over, I'd Do It All The Same"
Joan McIntosh



Sometimes God works in ways that hurt. Success is based on being able to look at those hard situations and know there is a purpose for them. In order to be successful you have to accept His fate and will and act on it. So you can either get bitter or get better.

Success is determined by growing. You can be the most talented person in the world but never grow to use your God given abilities. We can make bad decisions and mistakes along our journey. In fact, it is pertinent. I wish we didn’t but we are fallible human beings. A lot of people fail in life because of 2 reasons. They succumb to it through discouragement and the inability to pick their selves up after something tragic in their life throws a curve ball or they don’t have the ability to commit. Some of the most talented individuals never make it to the top because they cannot stay committed to hanging in their during the seemingly monotonous daily routines. That is what makes you a champion. Too often they look for the shortcut, or the easy way. Champion is a word that can be used in any situation for success. I was not a champion in Angie and my relationship because I was not able to stay for the arguments that were necessary to get us through all of our stuff. Therefore it fell apart. I always looked for what was easiest for me, not for us because all I say was the things that caused me harm and my way of dealing with it caused her harm. It all comes down to this. “In life, you get what you pay for.” This means that you have got to put in the effort, the hours, or even the years that are required to master a certain skill that make up the mindset of a champion. These special skills need to be branded into your subconscious so they will become habit-knit patterns of behavior like driving your car or brushing your teeth.

The most successful champions in every arena in life don’t press, push, or struggle their way to the top, conscious of every move and mistake. On the contrary, they function in the zone: a quiet place where there is no past or future, only the present moment. They have internalized the skills through hours of coaching and practice to set them free for victory.

Winners don’t force themselves to win. They allow themselves the freedom to win by depending on their reflex actions of the body, spirit and mind that they have learned over a period of time. If it takes an astronaut, gifted musician, or Olympian many years of daily training why do we expect to be able to do it by eating a magic pill or with immediate gratification?

The problem that most people have in becoming a winner in life is that they spend most of their time practicing their mistakes and errors, rather than practicing the correct moves and reinforces success. For example, every time high handicap golfers go out on the driving range to hit a few buckets of balls, what happens? Much of the session is spent reinforcing an incorrect swing.

What we all need are role models and mentors to talk us through and demonstrate the winning techniques and swings in our lives. In addition to accepting the fact that winning and losing are learned habits, I believe there are three fundamental habits of a champion.

A long-term vision of success, A short-term view of failure, Laser focus on near-term goals

A Long-Term Vision Of Success
Success is a lifelong process, not a status. To help you reach your goals, break them down into sub-goals and priorities.

A Short-Term View Of Failure
Failure is delay, not defeat. So when you fail, get more information and insight then try again.

Laser Focus On Near-Term GoalsIt has been discovered that the main reason individuals fail to reach their goals is that they never really set them in the first place. Have you set a date for moving down a size in those jeans…or securing your financial future…Think of your own dreams and goals as previews of coming attractions in your life, you are the producer, scriptwriter, and star performer in an exciting documentary. Remember, focus always precedes success.

Science Is Organized Knowledge. Wisdom Is Organized Life.

"We Don’t Receive Wisdom; We Must Discover It For Ourselves After A Journey That No One Can Take For Us Or Spare Us."

Marcel Proust (1871-1922)

A philosopher, in the original sense of the word is a lover of wisdom. It is an alarming reflection that in the west, wisdom is no longer a concept or category in common use. People are admired for being skillful, or rich, or famous (or in the case of athletes all three). No one is admired for being wise, or even described as being wise. The reason for that I suspect is that wisdom was to be found, it was among the old that it would be found. These days it is unfashionable to be old, and if the old are capable of being wise, who cares?
I am reading 2 incredible books by some of the wisest men who I believe ever lived on Earth, The Analects of Confucius and Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. In their books, wisdom gets mixed emotions.

In the Tao for example:
Banish wisdom, discard knowledge, and the people will be benefited a hundredfold.
(T19)

And The Analects:
The good man rests content with Goodness; he that is merely wise pursues Goodness in the belief that it pays to do so.
(A4.2)

They can be a little more enthusiastic than this don’t you think:
True wisdom is different from much learning; much learning means little wisdom.
(T81)

What is true wisdom, and did Confucius and Lao Tzu themselves posses it? I would argue that they did. If we call people wise, we generally mean two things.
That they know which things in life are important.
That they know (or have a good idea) how best to go about achieving those great things.
The questions Confucius and Lao Tzu constantly come back to are very simple. How can people be good? How can they be happy or in another book I am reading by Ben Stein How to Ruin Your Life suggests how to avoid making themselves unhappy? And for rulers, how can they best maintain order and keep their people contented?
If we ever get tired pursuing youth, celebrity, and beauty, we could do worse than listen to the answers in both of these books. That is all I am simply suggesting.

Charity Sees The Need, Not The Cause

One of the serious obstacles to the improvement of our race is indiscriminate charity.
Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919)

Too many have dispensed with generosity in order to practice charity.
Albert Camus (1913-1960)

I am re-reading an incredible book right now called The Prayer of Jabez. It is a powerful book that I read over a year ago. The book speaks of asking for abundance in this abundant world. Not to be selfish but to be charitable. How much can you give if you have nothing to really give? In the book it says, and I quote,
“Take our feelings. Do we really understand how far the American Dream is from God’s dream for us? We are steeped in a culture that worships freedom, independence, personal rights, and the pursuit of pleasure. We respect people who sacrifice to get what they want. But to be a living sacrifice? To be crucified to self?” Well thank God we no longer need to sacrifice goats anymore because of the sacrifice on the cross that was made. ( I don't think I need to go into this any further right? Cool...) Jesus took care of that for us but we need to sacrifice ourselves and our lives to those who are less fortunate. Now, again, you can sacrifice everything you have and live like Mother Theresa, which probably is not your desired life, but you have to ask for an abundance in your life and ask for God's will so you can give that much more to others. Be a blessing. This is an abundant world, but let us also take our hearts into mind when it comes to charity. It is awesome to be generous but that is not charity. Jack London said “A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry with the dog.” It has to be from the heart and be a sacrifice so it comes with its full value. We can still have an abundance of things and make a huge difference. If you don’t believe those commercials that say feed a child for just a dollar a day, well you better believe you can feed a child for a year for only $365 bucks in Africa. If you don’t believe it, take a look at these photos and hopefully you will find it in your heart to see the rest of the world that is not as fortunate as our wonderful, abundant country.

Enjoy.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words, But, Words Make You View The World Differently

"All Human Actions Have One Or More Of These Seven Causes: Chance, Nature, Compulsion, Habit, Reason, Passion, And Desire."
-Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC)

-A Story From Mountain Wings-
It was a dark morning in downtown Atlanta.
My father was a businessman, he had a store downtown, a wig and cosmetics store. He would take his sons downtown before school around 5:30 am and we would pass out flyers to women hurrying to work.
I stood on a particular corner. I learned a lot about crowd psychology from those early cold downtown mornings. If there was a crowd of people coming across the crosswalk as the light changed, it was vital that you got the first person in the crowd to take one of your flyers.
If the first person took one, the rest would likely take one.
If the first person refused, the rest would likely refuse.
One morning a particularly rude lady brushed me aside with a rather mean look. That wasn't unusual and it is not her that I remember. The rest of the crowd following her across the street also refused my proffered circulars.
It was just a circular, and you get used to rejection when passing out circulars in the pre-dawn hours of a major city.
I don't remember the rude lady in front of the crowd.
I remember the last lady.
She was an older lady, perhaps mid-sixties to early seventies.
Her race was different from mine.
Her hair was white with age and her frame frail from the years.
She wore a black dress.
Did those things matter?
No, I just remember them.
She didn't need a wig and looked as if she never had or would wear one. That I could plainly see.
Knowing the demeanor of the rest of the crowd, I made no real attempt to give her a circular, after all, she was the one person in the crowd that couldn't use what I was selling.
She stopped and extended her aged hand for one of my circulars.
I gladly gave her one and with that transfer, it lifted the rejection of countless others before her.
She spoke three words . . .
"Jesus loves you"
and walked away.

There are times in our life that constantly ring in our head because somebody made a difference. Something that if you retold the person would probably not relate to it. They have a similar story they remember and will forever but won't totally grasp the entire emotional experience you are. I have countless memories of moments that ring. Good and Bad. Our memory is selective. Some have better recall of conversations and what not but those moments that move you either good or bad are unforgettable.
For Example...
Last year I had a test on my left wrist to see the ligament tears. The clerk put on a little band around my wrist. She must have noticed I was nervous because as she put on my bracelet, she touched me with both hands....and rubbed my arm calming me down big time.
She said something. But, I don't remember what she said.
I do remember the touch though. It has stayed with me for some time now. Anyone who really knows me knows that I pass out for most medical procedures due to a disorder I have called Vasovagal Syncope. Basically because I am a pussy.
It is amazing how such a simple thing can be remembered for so long. Think back on an act of kindness that you remember from long ago. I just wrote a blog on inspiration. Those are the moments of inspiration whether you chose to let your mind absorb them as such. I guarantee they happen daily. I guarantee it.

You Can't Wait for Inspiration. You Have To Go After It With A Club

"Had it not been for you, I should have remained what I was when we first met, a prejudiced, narrow-minded being, with contracted sympathies and false knowledge, wasting my life on obsolete trifles, and utterly insensible to the privilege of living in this wondrous age of change and progress."
-Benjamin Disraeli

"Here is the secret of inspiration: Tell yourself that thousands and tens of thousands of people, not very intelligent and certainly no more intelligent than the rest of us, have mastered problems as difficult as those that now baffle you."
-William Feather

Each weekday when I drive to work, I notice an overweight woman jogging. She is often so very red that I find myself worrying about her, but I am also deeply moved when I see her because it is clear that she has a fair amount of weight to lose.
2 weeks ago, while driving to a very early morning class, I observed the woman out jogging in the rain.
I felt compelled to pull over and share with her that I see her each morning and I am so impressed by her discipline. I gave her my heartfelt praise at her diligence and determination and told her that she should be SO very proud of herself!
She could barely respond, but upon catching her breath, she told me that at the very moment I had stopped to speak with her she was feeling so tired. The hill that she had just run up was especially difficult for her and she was feeling quite discouraged and overwhelmed and was questioning whether she was actually making any progress toward her goal.
I told her that I was certain that she was indeed not only making progress, but I also knew that she had all she needed to achieve her goal. She thanked me, and, as I pulled away, I glanced in my rear view mirror and saw her broadly smiling as she jogged away.
It was in that moment that I was reminded that we are, all of us, faced with hills in our lives that so often seem more than we can climb. We grow weary, and it is in those times that an encouraging word can mean so very much and help us find the strength to keep going.
In that moment I also knew that while she thought it was she receiving much needed encouragement, the truth is that each time I have seen her running, no matter the challenge that is in my thoughts for that day, I find inspiration in her spirit and believe that I can manage whatever hills are ahead.

Afraid To Succeed?

"The Chief Progress To The Human Race Is The Human Race."
-Don Marquis (1878-1937)

"You can never rise above the image that you have of yourself in your own mind."
- C. Elijah Bronner

How many times do we assume something won't or doesn't work, someone won't or can't love, that we never have been and aren't appreciated, when in truth it does, they can, and we are?

The next time you feel like being bitter, resentful and angry --- even if the circumstances justify these emotions --- consider the inspiring words of a man who, after 27 years of imprisonment by his government, had every right to be bitter, resentful and angry:
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?'
Actually, who are you NOT to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
These are words of Nelson Mandela, who gave this inaugural speech in 1994, after being elected President of South Africa.
He became the leader of the government that had for so long sought to take away his voice.
This man had every right to be bitter, resentful and angry at the world.
How dare he inspire us to greatness? Shouldn't he have instead approved our sloth?
After all, is anyone really appreciated for what he does, regardless of the extent of the sacrifice?
Nelson Mandela confirms that you are expected to be great.
Nothing less.
You can even be more than great if you decide to ignore the non-existent limitations that everyone else can see.
What kind of glasses are they wearing?
I know I'm gorgeous, brilliant and talented.Simply put, I am fabulous.
What about you?

By C. Elijah Bronner

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why is it? Why do so many people lose their beliefs and passion through the daily routines and grudges of life? Is it really that they don’t believe they can do it or are they afraid to see if they can, or even afraid of what may happen if their dreams actually come true?
Believe it or not, people actually have a fear of success. It is more common than arachnophobia. It just isn’t talked about as much. It is more poisonous than any spider you will come into contact with though. It will slowly drip into your veins until every drop of life is taken leaving you with nothing but “I didn’t live up to my potential” on your death bed.
We all know we only have one life to live. Now you may believe in reincarnation but we do not know it to be true. We DO know that there is only one life. We also have heard to make it the best you can I don’t know how many times. So what are you waiting for? Why are you not going out and trying to be what you want and live the way you want and see the things you want? I aint talkin’ ‘bout working hard in a cubby or in construction unless that is your dream job. I don’t know about you but I have never heard I child say “I want to be a bricklayer when I grow up.”
Do you think you are not good enough? Not deserving and less worthy than say Bill Gates? Ok, not everyone can come up with the next best things that will change the world forever…but how much money do you need to see the world and do the things you deserve? Me…it will only cost me roughly $100k/ year to afford the lifestyle I desire. That is really achievable. So don’t sell yourself short. Go out and make the small baby step differences that will grow over time and change your life forever. Don’t be afraid to succeed. You are worthy and deserving. God made you to be a success.
“Do things today that most won’t, so that tomorrow you have a life that most don’t.” Don’t wait till you are lying on your death bed feeling guilty and worthless and think your life was wasted. I promise you that it will hurt your family to think you feel like you were a waste just as much as it hurts you. If not for you, do it for something or someone bigger than you.
A good friend of mine said this and it has rung constantly in my ears for 3 years now.
“It is a blessing to be a blessing.”

Go be a blessing.

Lost In Translation

"We Have Too Many High Sounding Words, And Too Few Actions That Correspond With Them."
- Abilgail Adams (1744-1818)


To sum up MY opinions: Translate my Translation ~A MountainWings Original~

1. The "authorized" KJV was never really authorized. Read on to learn how the King's mistress helped the Bible.
2. The NIV is a more accurate translation from the original.
3. I can read and understand the modern translations better.
4. I've never known anyone to falter due to the translation.
5. The problem with Bibles is not the translation; it's that people are neither reading nor following them.

Read on for the rationale and explanations:
The battle over translations is not new and is very mild now compared to what it has been historically. When the Bible was only in Latin, you were burned at the stake if you were caught with ANY translation other than the Latin which only the priests could read. William Tyndale who translated the first English Bible was killed for translating it. The church called it heresy. Eighty percent of the KJV came from the Tyndale Bible.I would like to present some history and MY opinion on translations.
This is just MY opinion and some history. It is neither to dissuade nor encourage you to read the KJV but to simply explain my rationale why I choose to often use other versions.
First, ALL of the English versions of the Bible are translations.NONE are the original word. With any translation, there is some loss of meaning and nuance. To my knowledge there is no way to avoid this unless the original writer is fluent in several languages and writes his own material in each language. That is the only way to truly accurately capture exactly what the speaker meant and even then some languages are more adept at expressing certain points than others.
The Bible says, "God is Love" but there are several Greek words for Love. Translating from the Greek "agape" to the English "love" loses something in specificity of meaning.
I am sure there are some modern English words for which there are no exact Greek, Aramaic or Hebrew equivalents.
The translation loss rule even applies in science. To change energy from one form to another is never 100% efficient.Something is always lost in the translation. To change coal into electricity is not efficient. To change electricity into light loses a great deal of the energy as heat. To change fossil fuels into energy that moves your car loses a major portion of the energy just due to translation or changing from one form to another.
Not only do you lose with the translation of fuel to motion, you even lose with the translation of motion to motion. The turning of your car engine never transfers 100% of the energy to your wheels. There are frictional losses in the transmission.
Even in engineering and science, translation from one form to another is rarely 100% efficient.
So it is with language, especially complicated spiritual things.
The Old Testament was written in Hebrew and Aramaic. The New Testament was in Koine Greek. Jesus and the disciples are believed to have spoken mainly Aramaic with Koine Greek as a second language.
There is a fascinating history and timeline of the Bible that you should read. It explains how the battle over translations is nothing new. It explains how the first "authorized" Bible by the King was because of the King's mistress. It's fascinating reading. http://www.mountainwings.com/past/bibh.htm
The actual Authorized King James Version was never officially sanctioned by the English monarchy or the clerical hierarchy of the Church of England. It was never officially "authorized."Have you ever wondered why the Catholic Church doesn't use the KJV? Read the story:
http://www.mountainwings.com/past/bibh.htm
The actual original "Authorized" KJV has 14 more books (commonly called the Apocrypha) than the KJV we use today.
I will admit that the King James Version is without a doubt far more poetic than any other version. It flows with a grace and style that is unmatched. The problem with the KJV is that the meaning is often unclear.
My preference is the New International Version (NIV). The NIV was translated from the original languages. When I am preparing sermons, I often check the KJV and the NIV against the original Greek and Hebrew to see which is more accurate to the original.
From my experience, it's the NIV. As a matter of fact, I have only found one instance in actual use where the King James Version was more accurate. That's Matthew 6:22-23.
"The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." KJV
"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light." NIV
The original text does actually say "eye" instead of "eyes" but that isn't going to send anyone careening off to a life of sin.
This is the only instance that "I've" found using the Bible where the KJV is more accurate to the original text than the NIV. As a matter of fact, that single eye isn't too easy to understand anyway and opens up a level of discussion that's rather complicated.
There are two or three valid instances where the KJV is more accurate to the original meaning but there are many more instances where the NIV is more accurate especially considering modern language understanding.
Check it yourself but be sure to check against a Greek/Hebrew dictionary and what the original Greek/Hebrew text actually said.Often we base it on what WE THINK it said, meant, or should say.It only counts what was actually said from the original texts.Check the text first.
Have you ever listened to Hip Hop rap or Acid Rock music?
If you have and you are not of that generation, you have a hard time understanding the words. To those who listen to rap and acid rock regularly, the words are as clear as a bell. Language of the times is best understood by those of those times.
Often I must read other translations to figure out exactly what the Bible is saying because the KJV leaves some doubt as to the actual meaning simply because of the language.
The other big factor is this.
I have yet to find a single solitary soul who has erred in life due to the translation. Nary a one. I'm not saying that there aren't any whose lives have descended to a life of wanton recklessness because a word was mistranslated in a modern Bible.There could very well be, it's just that I've never met or heard of them.
Everyone whom I know who is backslidden or frontslidden for that matter (what do you call people who've never been straight to start with?) isn't even reading the Bible (any translation).
I often use other translations simply because people can understand them better (including me), and words without understanding are simply not as good as words with understanding.
The modern translations are much easier to read. I don't have to spend mental energy trying to figure out what the language means.
Paul said it when talking about speaking in tongues but not being able to clearly understand:
(1 Cor 14:6-9 KJV) Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine? And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped? For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.
At any rate, go and read the history of the Bible. If you read the Bible, you should know its proper history. All of it.
Bible History
http://www.mountainwings.com/past/bibh.htm
If you do an internet search on "KJV vs NIV controversy" you will find plenty of websites devoted to the argument, most in favor of the KJV.
Again in MY opinion, below is one of the most balanced websites that deals with the controversy from a point of historical truth.It explains WHY there are differences between the two versions.
http://www.foundationsforfreedom.net/Topics/Bible/Conspiracy.html
~A MountainWings Original~

Last week I got into a discussion after watching a CNN special on Jesus in preparation for Easter. We discussed in very little detail the Apocrypha and the historical book Josephus. I received this email this morning and though wow, once again mountain wing's sends me an email about something I need at the right time. Now I know where I can find more information on this topic and have a credibile source and not some idiot who wrote a bunch of crap during his spare time while smoking joints on his state college.
http://members.aol.com/FLJOSEPHUS/home.htm
Flavius Josephus's book is a historical reference of the times around AD 70. It is not a religious book but historically discusses in detailed accounts of Jesus amongst many other things of that time including the downfall of Jerusalem. So for you non-believers out there, I suggest reading this book if you need proof there was ever a person who lived in those times named Jesus who was performing miracles. Now this does not prove Jesus was the Son of Man and the Son of God, but it does account for his living.

Integrity In The Common Worker

"Life Grants Nothing To Us Mortals Without Hard Work."
-Horace(65 BC-8BC)

This past week I have thought hard about what my father taught me as a child. It is something I have always believed in but rarely put forth the full effort towards in the "working moment". He always said "Ian, take pride in your work. Enough pride that you would put your name on it. No matter if it is taking out the trash or whatever. It is a true reflection of you."
Have you ever noticed that Donald Trump puts his name on everything? That is because he is known for quality and what he stands for and with his name stamps his approval. Trump Towers is a billion dollar building...there are other Towers with his name on it throughout the world. Trump stands for something. Let your name stand for something.
Here is a story I find amusing.

Paid By The Hour
When my husband and I arrived at an automobile dealership to pick up our car, we were told the keys had been locked in it.We went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver’s side door. As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was unlocked."Hey," I announced to the technician, "its open!"To which he replied, "I know - I already got that side."

How many people do you know that work like that? Trying to get one over on you or not doing what is right or their best? When you work diligently and with integrity, you find value in yourself. You find pride in what you do. You find more effort and others recognize and chose to follow in your steps. Now some devils in people make some negative or look down at you like you are just kissing ass, but that is the devil trying to pull you down. Ignore it...but if you succumb to your laziness you are beginning a terrible cycle of depression and worthlessness that is not easily fixed. I have fallen victim to that since I have been in Warner Robins. I feel like I have not accomplished anything nearly close to my potential. In part my fault, in part my leaderships fault. By I chose to succumb to it.
Take pride in your work cause it is a true reflection of your principles and who you are no matter the position you chose to work. Military or not, you volunteered and made the choice to do everything in your life...well, if you live in the U.S. of course. If you hate your job or the people you work with then do something about it. It is your life they are affecting. If you don't then you are weak and have accepted less than you are worth. So do the best you can and believe in yourself because you are stronger than you can possibly fathom. You just have to find it in yourself to be that way and surround yourself with people who want you to succeed!!!

Do more than exist...live.
Do more than touch...feel.
Do more than look...observe.
Do more than read...absorb.
Do more than hear...listen.
Do more than think...ponder.
Do more than talk...say something.

Almost Deleted

"It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend."
-William Blake (1757-1827)

A Story From Mountain Wings

Not too long ago my husband and one of his best friends had a tiff. After telling me what had happened, my husband told me to delete his friend's name from the cell phone speed dial. I hesitated and told him he was just angry and not to act too quickly. He insisted he would attempt to do it himself if I didn't, so I did. I told him, "It's easy to delete his name from the phone, but be careful about deleting him from your life. Friends are blessings from God and even though sometimes they disappoint us, we should realize they are just human." From nowhere (I know now it was the Holy Spirit) I said, "What if God deleted our names from the Book of Life every time we let Him down? I wouldn't have a chance because I know I fail to live up to His expectations everyday." Nothing else was said but I thought about it for a very long time. We so often let anger cause us to banish people from our lives for the most trivial reasons, only to regret it, sometimes after it's too late. Thankfully my husband and his friend worked things out and their friendship survived. What I learned most from the experience was how grateful I am that I serve a loving God who doesn't delete me just because I let Him down.

I seem to have a problem with forgiving friends. I need to work on it because I know I have let my friends down before. I have never flat out deceived someone behind their back though with the exception of girlfriends. It happens to me a lot though. I do not know why they do it to me. It just happens. I am a sensitive man and maybe people read that and think "I should not tell him the truth because I do not want to hurt his feelings." Well, let me make that decision. Let me have the opportunity to decide and discuss what is going on. But if you deceive me and I find out then that hurts more than anything. If you have a reason to hide something, which generally means your conscious is telling you that you are doing something you should not be doing. So back to the subject...if my friends have hurt me generally I will write it off as a loss and move them out of my life and press on. That only makes it worse though. Because now I am left without the friend I enjoyed having. So I need to find a way to get over myself and realize people make mistakes, sometimes unforgettable, but never unforgivable. I should not try and erase them from my book of life. To the friends out there (who never read this by the way) I am sorry I have pushed you out. I am sorry I have taken myself out of your life when you may have needed me. I am sorry you felt the need to decieve me. I am sorry that we may have missed some great times in this crappy city. But know you mean a lot to me and I am grateful for the things I have shared with you all.
I receive mountain wings inspiration emails daily and sometimes, well most times they hit the nail on the head the day I need to read it. So the last few day I have received emails about this friendship subject...hear is the last one I received that sums it all up.
Now a days it just don’t seem cool but tell me what am I supposed to do?
And then a wise man once gave me a clue, he said sometimes the only way out,
...is the way through.
~from the movie, “Love Don’t Cost A Thing”~

My Route to Live

"Always Bear In Mind That Your Own Resolution To Succeed Is More Important Than Any One Thing."

Abraham Lincon (1809-1865)

My Favorite Proverb...trusty number four.

Hear, O children, a father's instruction, be attentive, that you may gain understanding!
Yes, excellent advice I give you; my teaching do not forsake.
When I was my father's child, frail, yet the darling of my mother,
He taught me, and said to me: "Let your heart hold fast my words: keep my commands, that you may live!
"Get wisdom, get understanding! Do not forget or turn aside from the words I utter.
Forsake her not, and she will preserve you; love her, and she will safeguard you;
The beginning of wisdom is: get wisdom; at the cost of all you have, get understanding.
Extol her, and she will exalt you; she will bring you honors if you embrace her;
She will put on your head a graceful diadem; a glorious crown will she bestow on you."
Hear, my son, and receive my words, and the years of your life shall be many.
On the way of wisdom I direct you, I lead you on straightforward paths.
When you walk, your step will not be impeded, and should you run, you will not stumble.
Hold fast to instruction, never let her go; keep her, for she is your life.
The path of the wicked enter not, walk not on the way of evil men;
Shun it, cross it not, turn aside from it, and pass on.
For they cannot rest unless they have done evil; to have made no one stumble steals away their sleep.
For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.
The way of the wicked is like darkness; they know not on what they stumble.
But the path of the just is like shining light, that grows in brilliance till perfect day.
My son, to my words be attentive, to my sayings incline your ear;
Let them not slip out of your sight, keep them within your heart;
For they are life to those who find them, to man's whole being they are health.
With closest custody, guard your heart, for in it are the sources of life.
Put away from your dishonest talk, deceitful speech put far from you.
Let your eyes look straight ahead and your glance be directly forward.
Survey the path for your feet, and let all your ways be sure.
Turn neither to right nor to left, keep your foot far from evil.

A Little Story From Mountain Wings...

I once asked my Aunt, Dora Jane, who raised me as if she were my mother where we stood on the spectrum between rich and poor.
I said, "I know we live well and have money, but we don't have millions of dollars. What does that make us?"
She responded by saying, "I beg your pardon! We are rich, we have always been rich and we will always be rich!"
I responded, "But Auntie, we don't have money like the Getty's?"
She interrupted me and said as she pointed to her heart, and then to her head, "Rich is in here and up here.
You will always be rich in heart and mind.If you have a lot of money that makes you wealthy.If you have no money, that makes you broke.
You see, richness is a state of mind; not how much money you have.It does not matter how much you have that counts in life.It's what you do with what you have that counts. And so long as you remember that you will always be rich."

~Jake Ehrlich III~

...my little footnote, so you can be wealthy and do nothing and be selfish, or you can be wealthy and do incredible things for a lot of people around the world. Also, you can be poor and bitter and broke and do nothing. To state the facts, more hate related crimes happen to those in poverty. Just a thought...You decide.

A Day of my Life in 5 Years

I dream a dream like never before. Dreams are reflections of our sub-conscious mind and on occasion our conscious mind. Some believe you can program yourself to dream a specific dream if you tell yourself what you want to dream about right before you go to sleep. So as I sleep I dream of heaven. I dream of a world where people around me are achieving great things. So I sleep well now. Deep, peaceful sleep.

I wake up around 8 or so. Not because my alarm clock wakes me but because I am excited about my morning swim and the event taking place tonight. I have finally moved into my new home on Austrian’s Thomson Lake about 3 months ago. My backyard is filled with beautiful mountainous scenes and a glass water lake. Here is a picture of my house.


The white one there in front before we installed the deck.













I have sliding wood blinds that open on command. I can set them to a clock if I chose to or I can use the remote to open them. I uncover myself from my soft down comforter and reach for the remote. The soft sheets on my back slide off when I reach. I open the blinds just enough to let in the sun and see the shimmering lake. What a view.















I stand up from my bed without even a desire to yawn after my fulfilling nights rest. I do a simple morning stretch and walk towards my doors which are sensor operated glass doors just like the ones in hospitals, only quicker. The bedroom is not my favorite color of paint so I am hiring someone next month to come in and do the work.

See the sliding wood blinds? The glass is open behind the blinds on the track so they are hidden.















A view from the outside











I immediately get a rush of fresh air that you only get in the nature. I take off full speed running towards my lake filled backyard and dive head first off of the dock’s edge into the freshest water I have ever swam in. What a rush as the brisk, cold water immediately wakes me up.
After my swim I dry off by lying in my lounge chair on the deck for about 20 minutes just appreciating the nature around me. Off in the distance I see a huge hawk diving for trout. I see an otter building a damn near the mouth of the river. I also see many different colored butterflies flying around. What an incredibly gorgeous day. You just know there is a God some days.















I walk back in the house after drying off and walk upstairs to my office which is also my library. Oh you have to check out this staircase. What an incredible piece of art. It is hard to believe someone in the world has such ability and focus on detail.















I walk through the doors to my own personal office. It smells like a brand new car. I spent a lot of time thinking about what I would like to have in my office. I also have a view of the outdoors and my fresh herb and veggie garden through the 8 foot window right behind my computer. My computer encases a 32 inch flat screen monitor. A little excessive but it definitely makes a statement. I like my office; it is a place where I can actually enjoy planning, dreaming and thinking.

Big Screen huh?





















I also have a mind blowing library around the corner of the office. It has a bookshelf full of inspiring works and biographies of some of the most influential people and greatest thinkers in our world’s history. Just looking at it is breathtaking. There is a chase lounge in there to relax and read without any distractions.




















I sit down at my computer to look at what the papers printed about the upcoming concert tonight at my jazz club in Paris. It is going to be awesome! A tribute to Michael Brecker as well as a fund raiser for the research and development for the disease he has called myelodysplastic syndrome. The event has been getting raved about for at least a month. The incredible lineup of artist coming to pay their respects in person to one of the most influential saxophonist and musicians in our lifetime is unbelievable. Joshua Redman on Tenor Sax, Herbie Hancock on Piano, Kenny Garret on Alto Sax, Wynton Marsalis on Trumpet, Pat Metheny on Guitar, Stanley Clark on Bass, Brian Blade on Tubs, Eddie Bert on Trombone and Al Jarreau singing some smooth melodies. It is going to be an awesome performance for an awesome purpose.

It has been my project for 2 years now. I have been putting together this beautiful club called “The Orchid”. It is something I have dreamed of since I was a child. A place where people could actually sit and appreciate music without the distractions of clanking plates and chattering mouths of business people or drunken friends catching up with each others busy lives. Yes, there is a section where you can sit and catch up or handle your business in the VIP/Cigar section. But, “The Orchid” is certainly not a place for socializing. We do have a restaurant with great food. The thing is though that after 9:30, roughly 15 minutes after the band takes the stage, all tables will be cleared. That way they are free from noise; except for the drinks of course. My club, “The Orchid”

VIP/Cigar Area with Private Bar.













View from the stage.














Well it is going to be a thrilling night so I better start calling everyone to make sure everything is in line. There is a lot of preparation that goes into these events. No need to get into all the details except that I must be sure that our special guests are well taken care of.
I have a train to catch soon so she can make her stylist appointment and be prepared by 7pm for some PA events.
It does not take me long to get ready but I start anyway. I get so excited sometimes that I think if I just get ready early it will come faster. I walk to my custom bathroom and get the water running. It is a bit cold outside so I throw a couple logs in my fireplace that is located in the BATHROOM! It also goes to our bedroom as well. I know, who needs a fireplace in their bathroom? It extremely enhances the serenity on those champagne and bubble bath nights though. So, I think we will keep it.

See the fireplace?













I finish my shower and when I get out I begin to make myself a light with fresh squeezed orange juice from the Jack Lalane juicer. I eat my breakfast quickly because I have to run down and pick up my clothes from the dry cleaners.
My bedroom, I know I showed you one already but I have 4. I doubt I will be getting many guests to fly all the way to Austria so I use 2 for myself. The other is spectacular too. This one is upstairs though. Practically the whole floor is a master suite. That is the room that connects to the fireplace bathroom. I just sleep downstairs because I love running to the lake in the morning. I can’t do that upstairs unless I am suicidal and want to hit my head on the lake floor. I have 2 fifty galloon fish tanks in the wall that look like paintings. They come in and out on a sliding platform so we can feed them. The water filters itself through the plumbing system so it is really low maintenance. It is just a joy to have in there. I also have two walk in closets that encase so much stuff! I knew I had a lot of clothes and stuff but gosh. Anyways here is the bedroom and the closet.

You can kind of see the fish tanks in the wall.













The closet













I throw on my jump suit and head to the 5 car garage where you find several special vehicles. A brand new Lamborghini Diablo, it came in canary yellow but was too intense of a color for me so I painted it camaro orange. I am trading it for a new Lamborghini Gallardo which is to come out in about a year and a half. This car is like the bat mobile. I am one of the first on the list and am super excited about this engineering achievement. I also have an outdated 2009 Ferrari F430 which is still incredible with the NOS and stuff. I am just not a Ferrari guy anymore. Not to forget what I will be taking tonight to the train station; the 2010 Maybach which ran me a cool $378,000. Ouch.

The brand new, freshly painted Lamborghini Diablo.













The canary yellow before I painted it camaro orange.















The 2012 Lamborghini Gallardo.














The Ferrari F430 and interior.














I hop into my favorite racer, the Lamborghini, which rides so smooth and snug to the ground, 100% total control. I go riding on the roads not too crazy but at enough speed to get a thrill. Whipping around corners and feeling that indescribable raw power. There isn’t anything like the roads of Europe. These cars are made for these roads. I race in and out of turns with speeds in excess of 100 MPH. Sounds crazy I know but the vehicle is made for these conditions like a cheetah on the African Plains.
I pick up the dry cleaning. Figure out a way to set them in the small car without wrinkling them while the lady stands there watching and appreciating the car. I can feel her giggling at the cars impracticality. She is right, but so what. She aint never driven one so little does she know. Maybe I will take her out for 5 minutes some day.
I finally get them in there snug and of course race my way back home in the same fashion. Angie knows I have been racing again because of how long it took for me to get back so she gives me that “Ian, you know better” look. I just smile and put the dry cleaning up on the rack and start to pack a small suitcase for the weekend trip.
I am now packed and finally ready. I walk down to the garage where myr driver has the Maybach prepped and ready for. You see; I don’t usually use a driver. It is just that you do not leave 400 thousand dollar car sitting in a train station parking lot. Oh, I didn’t show you a picture of this beauty. It deserves two large pictures all to its own.

All Ready To Go, Thee Maybach.
























The Maybach’s Interior, Champagne anyone?




















I arrived at the small train station where I hop on to this innovative train. It is designed to go speeds up to 360 miles per hour. They do not run it that fast the whole way but it is very intense. The engineering on it is far more advanced the rest of the World . I have the good seats. It is a train ride through the Swedish Alps for about 3 hours or so to Paris. I sat next to some very nice people who have taken this ride several times too. I guess they knew were to book the good seats as well. They were all from the USA so we exchanged business cards and talked a little bit about Usana and some other things I do. It is crazy how easy this business is. I am very fortunate to have this freedom at such a young age. Anyways, here are some pictures of the train ride and from the kick ass view from the train looking out as well as the nice people I got to meet.

The Bullet Train












The Bullet's Interior, pretty neat huh?


















I arrived in Paris a lot quicker than I thought it would take. I invited the folks to the event free of charge and said au revoir. I walked from the train where my RV bus was waiting. Check out this beast. It has it all. I actually took it to the Normandy shores about 4 months ago.

My Bus on the Normandy Shores












I head towards the club for the final prep and I start getting ready as well. I have to make sure everything is going as planned. I look over the menu, taste the soup and sample the lobster as well as the filet and asparagus. Wow!I brought in this new chef straight from The Paris Culinary Institute. Genius, that’s all I have to say. Anyways, that is something I wish I had a talent for. Cooking. I burn water but I am learning slowly.
Everything looks to be going smoothly so far but you can never think everything is going to be perfect. It is just the name of the game. I have some incredibly intuitive, observant thinkers always around me assisting and suggesting new ideas to me. I would have a hard time alone. I trust that they know how to handle it though.
I head over to the radio booth where they are setting up for the live broadcast. They didn’t have any problems at all and where able to get things running and tested without any glitches. We are recording this too. I have Verve Records here who is going to put out the album. That is a whole other topic that will take its own slide show so we will again spare the details.
They graciously thank me for what we are doing and how important it is to keep the art alive. I was grateful and said, “Thank you. We all play a huge roll in it as a whole. No part is larger than the other.”
Now that it looks like everything is going as planned, I decided to relax and have a small drink. Southern Comfort and Sprite of course, little bit of ice. Smooth just as I like it.
I go in the back and start to clean up and get an awesome suprise! My family said they would not be able to make it but they lied. My brother is there too. He flew in with his wife Shinyoung from Korea. It was all setup behind my back. What an awesome surprise!
Dylan walks over and we chat for a little bit. I see him looking Wynton’s Monet Trumpet which costs roughly $40k and is made out of 24k gold. Wynton is standing right there. I know Dylan remembers playing that horn when he was in the 5th grade. I ask if he wants to meet him again…hell, maybe Wynton remembers. I am sure it happened to Wynton a lot but you never know. So I walk him over and introduce him. I leave them talking and get back to my parents. I feel good in my black on black Versace suit with the black tie highlighted with white edging on the border.
The event goes off without a hitch. The performers were great. In perfect unison, complete synergy. The solos where flowing like words off Walt Whitman’s tongue. It was better than perfect. The audience was inspired and the place was just going crazy. Solo after solo. It seemed like magic was happening. Michael was tearing with joy and appreciation because all of these people were here for him in support of his hard struggles with the cancer. I could not have planned it any better. What a night.
After the crowd leaves and the band is tearing down, I sit in the corner of the room just awestruck of what we did in such a short period of time. I love this life. I get up from the table and slowly look around at the people cleaning up.
Here are some pictures from the event.

Joshua Redman on Tenor sax



















Stanley Clark laying it down













Wynton on his $40k Monet



















Kenny Garrett on Alto Sax














Brian Blade Whallin' on the Tubs

















Al Jarreau Skattin'













Herbie Hancock mashing some ivory













Eddie Bert playing something fierce














Pat Metheny on his F Body Ibanez













I browse through the club picking up some bottles and throw them away. I can’t believe what has transpired with a little bit of hard work and surrounding myself with people who shared the same vision. It all came together just like I dreamed of for so many years. What a wonderful world. What a wonderful God.
We leave the event while they are tearing down still and take my family on a tour of the bus. They are amazed that all this stuff can fit in here. The bus expands out from the side so it gives it a lot of extra room. We drive through Paris around the Eiffel Tower and look at it for a little bit. We get out to let them take some quick pictures. We are going do a tour tomorrow but the nighttime is the best time to see the tower.

The Tower at night.



















I make it back to my suite with my family and got them some rooms too, I am exhausted. The suite is very nicely accommodating. We have a small snack section full of fruits to hold us over until the morning. The bed is body forming and you sink right in with the right amount of support. I am going to sleep very well tonight. Tomorrow we will take a tour of Paris and then be on our way back to Austria to start planning my next event and fund raiser. ‘Til then,

The Hilton in Paris, Ha, Paris Hilton

About To Lose Everything?

We believe in heaven
Yet desperately cling to this life.
We look to the other side and the transition with fear, foreboding, and dread. As if there was nothing better.
"I'm about to lose everything!"
We have all heard it from someone either on TV or a close friend sometime in our lives.
So what exactly is everything? What most mean by everything is material stuff. Don't get me wrong, losing material stuff can be traumatic; but it's not really everything, it's just stuff. This lifetime and the stuff in it is NOT everything. It's something but it sure isn't everything. How we live, What we look forward to, What we focus on, What we long for And what we lament over is largely determined by what we view as everything and what we view as the biggest thing.
Make sure your everything is not "things" and often when you do that
..."everything" is alright.
Live like this?














Or Live like this?















You make the choice.

Not So Feeble

"How long will you be poring over that newspaper? Will you come here right away and make your darling daughter eat her food?"
I tossed the paper away and rushed to the scene. My only daughter Sindu looked frightened. Tears were welling up in her eyes. In front of her was a bowl filled to its brim with Curd Rice.
Sindu is a nice child, quite intelligent for her age. She has just turned eight. She particularly detested Curd Rice.
My mother and my wife are orthodox and believe firmly in the 'cooling effects' of Curd Rice. I cleared my throat and picked up the bowl.
"Sindu, darling, why don't you take a few mouthful of this Curd Rice? Just for Dad's sake, dear. If you don't, your Mom will shout at me."
I could sense my wife's scowl behind my back. Sindu softened a bit and wiped her tears with the back of her hands. "OK, Dad. I will eat not just a few mouthfuls, but the whole lot of this.
But, you should..." Sindu hesitated. "Dad, if I eat this entire Curd Rice, will you give me whatever I ask for?"
"Oh sure, darling."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
I covered the pink soft hand extended by my daughter with mine and clinched the deal.
"Ask Mom also to give a similar promise," my daughter insisted.
My wife slapped her hand on Sindu's muttering "Promise,"
without any emotion.
Now I became a bit anxious. "Sindu, you shouldn't insist on getting a computer or any such expensive items. Dad does not have that kind of money right now. OK?"
"No, Dad. I do not want anything expensive."
Slowly and painfully, she finished eating the whole quantity.
I was silently angry with my wife and my mother for forcing my child to eat something that she detested.
After the ordeal was through, Sindu came to me with her eyes wide with expectation. All of our attention was on her.
"Dad, I want to have my head shaved off this Sunday,"
was her demand!
"Atrocious!" shouted my wife, "a girl child having her head shaved off? Impossible!"
"Never in our family!" my mother rasped. "She has been watching too much of television. Our culture is getting totally spoiled with these TV programs!"
"Sindu, why don't you ask for something else? We will be sad seeing you with a clean-shaven head."
"No, Dad. I do not want anything else," Sindu said with finality.
"Please Sindu, why don't you try to understand our feelings?"
I tried to plead with her.
"Dad, you saw how difficult it was for me to eat that Curd Rice," Sindu was in tears. "And you promised to grant me whatever I ask for. Now, you are going back on your words.
Was it not you who told me the story of King Harishchandra and its moral that we should honor our promises no matter what?"
It was time for me to call the shots.
"Our promise must be kept."
"Are you out your mind?" chorused my mother and wife.
"No. If we go back on our promises, she will never learn to honour her own. Sindu, your wish will be fulfilled."
With her head clean-shaven, Sindu had a round-face, and her eyes looked big and beautiful.
On Monday morning, I dropped her at her school. It was a sight to watch my hairless Sindu walking towards her classroom.
She turned around and waved.
I waved back with a smile. Just then, a boy alighted from a car, and shouted, "Sinduja, please wait for me!"
What struck me was the hairless head of that boy.
"Maybe that is the ‘in’ stuff," I thought.
"Sir, your daughter Sinduja is great indeed!"
Without introducing herself, a lady got out of the car, and continued, "That boy who is walking along with your daughter is my son Harish. He is suffering from leukemia."
She paused to muffle her sobs. "Harish could not attend the school for the whole of the last month. He lost all of his hair due to the side effects of the chemotherapy. He refused to come back to school fearing the unintentional but cruel teasing of the schoolmates. Sinduja visited him last week and promised him that she will take care of the teasing issue. But I never imagined she would sacrifice her lovely hair for the sake of my son! Sir, you and your wife are blessed to have such a noble soul as your daughter."
I stood transfixed. And then, I wept.
"My little Angel, will you teach me what love is?"

~Author Unknown~

Isn't it funny as adults we have to be manipulated because we may not have the heart to know the whole story and just say that is wonderful baby, we will shave your head right away. We have to have our children manipulate us to make us realize the good in the world. I hope I have a daughter like this...sometimes it is ok to let go of your inhibitions and just do what your conciousness tells us.

I Think I Can, I Think I Can

"Victory belongs to the most persevering. "
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)

Muscles strained and veins popped as a determined frown spread across my face. I put all of my manly strength forth. The thing held fast, but I was determined that I would not be beaten. Taking a deep breath, I lunged forward again, bending down and putting all of my 145 pounds behind it over and over. I trembled. It trembled. These are the times that vex a man's soul. Manhood is at stake. To fail now is the ultimate insult against all that is masculine. Not me. Not now. I would not fail. "Yield! Yield! Yield!" I secretly thought, hoping that my mental shout would somehow affect things. I was almost outdone. Almost out of energy, I felt both fatigue and pain set in. With one last effort, I summoned all within me, calling upon every last muscle cell, every ounce of willpower, the inner strength that has carried countless men through such ordeals. For all mankind I let a silent cry escape my lips in this last all or nothing attempt. I felt it give! Ever so slightly, I felt its unyielding hold loosen. I felt it open slightly and then I knew I had it. I knew I had won. There comes a surge of energy with the knowledge that you will not fail, that manhood will be preserved. I had felt it give! Spurred by the newfound confidence, I continued my relentless pull. With a loud "POP" it gave up, surrendering to the greater force. I felt a sole drop of sweat travel down my left cheek. That's OK, I had stood the test, met the challenge, and passed. Exhausted but valiant, I smiled in satisfaction.
I looked at my Angie smiling with joy and surprise. She could see eons of primordial testosterone powered chest thumping in my eyes. She was proud of her man. With a smug look of confidence, I raised my hand with the evidence of my victory firmly encased within my grip. She took the evidence of my triumph quietly acquiescing to the greater strength.
I leaned back and arrogantly pondered the accomplishment.
My left eyebrow rose slightly as I saw my Angie grinning.
I was scared internally as I masked my anxiety, wondering my true strength. I wondered silently,
"Why in the world do they make wine bottles so hard to open?"
For all the men that have had to open wine bottles in front of their ladies as well as their friends. You understand.

Just for some fun...

Count every "F" in the following text:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTI
FIC STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS

Click Comments for answer...

Do You Remember The Titans?

Watch Who You Callin’ Nigga’ Fool, If You Aint Careful, That’s All You Eva’ Gon’ Be!

READ THIS FIRST
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/17/nagin.city/index.html


“A racially integrated community is a chronological term timed from the entrance of the first black family to the exit of the last white family.”
~Saul Alinsky

“One day our descendants will think it’s incredible that we paid so much attention to things like the amount of melanin in our skin or the shape of our eyes or our gender instead of the unique identities of each of us as complex human beings.”
~Franklin Thomas


Can you believe it? Can you possibly believe that it has been 140 years since Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and our country still has these issues and I am bloggin about them? It is understandable I guess. Nobody knows how long it will take, if ever, to be completely washed away from the horrendous inhumanity that occurred prior to the emancipation proclamation. Well, washed away should never occur but, understanding and moving forward towards embracing our differences and utilizing them to prosper should. We ARE created equal. Ok, well maybe black men can naturally jump higher, but for the most part men are men…and women are women.
Socioeconomic as well as life experiences take a huge part of who we become both as individuals and as a collective community whether it is on a city block scale or a nation as a whole. But it baffles me still to think we are that different in our minds. We know racism is wrong, but yet we choose to stay ignorant. We choose to not understand. We choose to live the way we do and fight for everything that is not working for a better tomorrow. A great leader once said, "I am doing today what most won't, so that tomorrow I can have a life that most don't." If we were forced to live together and understand, we would overcome because we were forced to just like in the movie “Remember the Titans”.
It is not an easy thing to do. It seems that ever since Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, there has been a decline of monumental black leaders. There have been great speaking, intelligent black men working in this country to further themselves…but not as a black “movement”. They have all had their own agendas. Which can be looked at like, I did it, so can you…but that is not what leadership is. Realistically we know what our parents tell us…if you had parents, but who ever raised you even if you were in a foster home or orphanage, hopefully, somewhere along the way somebody said, “You can be whatever you want to be.” If not, know this, YOU can be whatever you want to be. So with that out of the way, back to the subject. You now know you can be whatever you want and there still aren’t any great black leaders with the followers that MLK or Malcolm had. So now a great movement that worked or was working and changed so much in the ignorant thinking of white America came to a crashing halt because of an assassination. That movement needs to find a heartbeat again because America is falling apart. We can not do this separately. We need all races and sexes combined to become Captain Planet.
Really though, there is a black movement going on in America and sadly it is seemingly trying to separate blacks from whites and totally destroy the very work by one of the greatest men to ever live. Racism is just ignorant. Separatism is just ignorant. You cant make it on your own and we cant make it on our own.
"I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions. This will be the day when we bring into full realization the American dream -- a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few; a dream of a land where men will not argue that the color of a man's skin determines the content of his character; a dream of a nation where all our gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone, but as instruments of service for the rest of humanity; the dream of a country where every man will respect the dignity and worth of the human personality." My main man MLK. That is a great leader with a positive outlook. Al Sharpton's outlook..."If black people are unemployed it's lazy, if white people are unemployed it's a depression." This is the “black leaders” outlook of today and I am sorry that they exist.
Oh and by the way Mayor Nagin, I mean Ray, you can’t apologize for me not taking the words you said the way you "meant" them. That is not an apology. Way to go American “leader”. I wonder what would have happened if I was mayor and said something of the same with white insinuations. I don't think that would fly too well. Don't feed on separation. Let's work together.

Paraskevidekatriaphobia: Fear of Friday the 13th

"It Is Bad Luck To Be Superstitious."
-Andrew W. Mathis


















I just finished reading the abstract of a study published in the British Medical Journal in 1993 entitled "Is Friday the 13th Bad for Your Health?" With the aim of mapping "the relation between health, behaviour, and superstition surrounding Friday 13th in the United Kingdom," its authors compared the ratio of traffic volume to the number of automobile accidents on two different days, Friday the 6th and Friday the 13th, over a period of years.
Incredibly, they found that in the region sampled, while consistently fewer people chose to drive their cars on Friday the 13th, the number of hospital admissions due to vehicular accidents was significantly higher than on "normal" Fridays.
Their conclusion:
"Friday 13th is unlucky for some. The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52 percent. Staying at home is recommended."
Paraskevidekatriaphobics — people afflicted with a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th — must be pricking up their ears just now, buoyed by seeming evidence that their terror may not be so irrational after all. But it's unwise to take solace in a single scientific study — the only one of its kind, so far as I know — especially one so peculiar. I suspect these statistics have more to teach us about human psychology than the ill-fatedness of any particular date on the calendar.
The Most Widespread Superstition
The sixth day of the week and the number 13 both have foreboding reputations said to date from ancient times, and their inevitable conjunction from one to three times a year portends more misfortune than some credulous minds can bear. Some sources say it may be the most widespread superstition in the United States. Some people won't go to work on Friday the 13th; some won't eat in restaurants; many wouldn't think of setting a wedding on the date.
Just how many Americans at the turn of the millennium still suffer from this condition? According to Dr. Donald Dossey, a psychotherapist specializing in the treatment of phobias (and coiner of the term "paraskevidekatriaphobia"), the figure may be as high as 21 million. If he's right, eight percent of Americans are still in the grips of a very old superstition.
Exactly how old is difficult to say, because determining the origins of superstitions is an imprecise science, at best. In fact, it's mostly guesswork.


Bad Friday
It is said: Never change your bed on Friday; it will bring bad dreams. Don't start a trip on Friday or you will have misfortune. If you cut your nails on Friday, you cut them for sorrow. Ships that set sail on a Friday will have bad luck – as in the tale of H.M.S. Friday ... One hundred years ago, the British government sought to quell once and for all the widespread superstition among seamen that setting sail on Fridays was unlucky. A special ship was commissioned, named "H.M.S. Friday." They laid her keel on a Friday, launched her on a Friday, selected her crew on a Friday and hired a man named Jim Friday to be her captain. To top it off, H.M.S. Friday embarked on her maiden voyage on a Friday, and was never seen or heard from again.
Some say Friday's bad reputation goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden.
It was on a Friday, supposedly, that Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit. Adam bit, as we all learned in Sunday School, and they were both ejected from Paradise. Tradition also holds that the Great Flood began on a Friday; God tongue-tied the builders of the Tower of Babel on a Friday; the Temple of Solomon was destroyed on a Friday; and, of course, Friday was the day of the week on which Christ was crucified. It is therefore a day of penance for Christians.
In pagan Rome, Friday was execution day (later Hangman's Day in Britain), but in other pre-Christian cultures it was the sabbath, a day of worship, so those who indulged in secular or self-interested activities on that day could not expect to receive blessings from the gods — which may explain the lingering taboo on embarking on journeys or starting important projects on Fridays.
To complicate matters, these pagan associations were not lost on the early Church, which went to great lengths to suppress them. If Friday was a holy day for heathens, it must not be so for Christians — thus it became known in the Middle Ages as the "Witches' Sabbath," and thereby hangs another tale.


The Witch-Goddess
The name "Friday" came from a Norse deity worshipped on the sixth day, known either as Frigg (goddess of marriage and fertility), or Freya (goddess of sex and fertility), or both, the two figures having become intertwined in the handing-down of myths over time (the etymology of "Friday" has been given both ways). Frigg/Freya corresponded to Venus, the goddess of love of the Romans, who named the sixth day of the week in her honor "dies Veneris."
Friday was actually considered quite lucky by pre-Christian Teutonic peoples, we are told — especially as a day to get married — because of its traditional association with love and fertility. All that changed when Christianity came along. The goddess of the sixth day — most likely Freya in this context, given that the cat was her sacred animal — was recast in post-pagan folklore as a witch, and her day became associated with evil doings.
Various legends developed in that vein, but one is of particular interest: As the story goes, the witches of the north used to observe their sabbath by gathering in a cemetery in the dark of the moon. On one such occasion the Friday goddess, Freya herself, came down from her sanctuary in the mountaintops and appeared before the group, who numbered only 12 at the time, and gave them one of her cats, after which the witches' coven — and, by tradition, every properly-formed coven since — comprised exactly 13.
The Unluckiest Day of AllThe astute reader will have observed that while we have thus far insinuated any number of intriguing connections between events, practices and beliefs attributed to ancient cultures and the superstitious fear of Fridays and the number 13, we have yet to explain how, why or when these separate strands of folklore converged — if that is indeed what happened — to mark Friday the 13th as the unluckiest day of all.
There's a very simple reason for that: nobody really knows, though various explanations have been proposed.


The Knights Templar
One theory, most recently propounded in the novel "The Da Vinci Code," holds that it came about not as the result of a convergence, but a catastrophe, a single historical event that happened nearly 700 years ago. The catastrophe was the decimation of the Knights Templar, the legendary order of "warrior monks" formed during the Christian Crusades to combat Islam.
Renowned as a fighting force for 200 years, by the 1300s the order had grown so pervasive and powerful it was perceived as a political threat by kings and popes alike and brought down by a church-state conspiracy, as recounted by Katharine Kurtz in "Tales of the Knights Templar" (Warner Books: 1995):
"On October 13, 1307, a day so infamous that Friday the 13th would become a synonym for ill fortune, officers of King Philip IV of France carried out mass arrests in a well-coordinated dawn raid that left several thousand Templars — knights, sergeants, priests, and serving brethren — in chains, charged with heresy, blasphemy, various obscenities, and homosexual practices. None of these charges was ever proven, even in France — and the Order was found innocent elsewhere — but in the seven years following the arrests, hundreds of Templars suffered excruciating tortures intended to force 'confessions,' and more than a hundred died under torture or were executed by burning at the stake."
A Thoroughly Modern Phenomenon?
There are drawbacks to the "day so infamous" thesis, not the least of which is that it attributes great cultural significance to a relatively obscure historical event. Even more problematic, for this or any other theory positing premodern origins for Friday the 13th superstitions, is the fact that no one has been able to document the existence of such beliefs prior to the 19th century. If people who lived before the late 1800s perceived Friday the 13th as a day of special misfortune, no evidence has been found to prove it. Some scholars suspect the stigma is a thoroughly modern phenomenon exacerbated by 20th-century media hype.
Going back a hundred years, Friday the 13th doesn't even merit a mention in E. Cobham Brewer's voluminous 1898 edition of the "Dictionary of Phrase and Fable," though one does find entries for "Friday, an Unlucky Day" and "Thirteen Unlucky." When the date of ill fate finally does make an appearance in later editions of the text, it is without extravagant claims as to the superstition's historicity or longevity. The very brevity of the entry is instructive — "A particularly unlucky Friday. See Thirteen" — implying that the extra dollop of misfortune attributed to Friday the 13th can be accounted for in terms of an accrual, so to speak, of bad omens: Unlucky Friday + Unlucky 13 = Unluckier Friday.
If that's the case, we're guilty of a misnomer for labeling Friday the 13th "the unluckiest day of all," a characterization perhaps better reserved for, say, a Friday the 13th on which one breaks a mirror, walks under a ladder and spies a black cat crossing one's path — a day, if there ever was one, best spent in the safety of one's own home with doors locked, shutters closed and fingers crossed.

Source:http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/historical/a/friday_the_13th.htm