Motivational Monday: Keep going through your hell to appreciate life

Why going through hell is necessary.

Have you ever been in such turmoil in your life, such strife, that it seems like God or some spiritual being is picking on you? It seems that as you are starting to see the sunlight, it quickly gets cloudy? I feel like at one point or another we will go through that chapter in our lives...some of us hardheaded people may go through it more than once. As much as we wish we weren't in it, it's necessary for us to go through these pains and pangs in our lives.

Think about it. You will appreciate something more if you have to work hard for it. Remember when you were a kid and your parents bought you a toy just because? Do you remember what happened to that toy? Maybe you left it somewhere or took it apart...some kind of way it ended up in the trash... But when you were given an allowance for completing your chores or had your own money and bought your own stuff, you truly appreciated that thing.Why? Because you had to work hard to get it!

That's how life is. We won't appreciate it unless there is struggle. Yes we appreciate HAVING life, but not all of us appreciate LIVING life until someone or something comes in to shake things up for us. Some of us have to go through the turmoil longer than others, but at the end of the day it's about the lessons you take from them. So as your life becomes laden with bad news, situations, turmoil and strife, don't think of it as God picking on you. Think of it as going through this hell is necessary for me to appreciate what I have, those I love, and living life.

"If you're going through hell...keep going."
     -Winston Churchill

Motivational Monday: Just Press Pause

Overwhelmed to the max! That's how I've been feeling lately. Between getting engaged, preparing to move, accomplishing business goals, working for clients, preparing for upcoming projects and realizing personal goals I feel like a circus juggler. Although I am used to having many things going on, it just seems like too much! I spoke to a few of my friends and associates about it and they all pretty much told me the same thing, "Just pause. Take things one at a time."

It's in our nature as humans to want to do everything all at once. We want to feel like supermen and superwomen and say that we can accomplish fifty million tasks. I am admitting that WE ARE NOT! No matter how much we want to believe we are, no matter how much we try to be, we are not! When we feel overwhelmed, we need to JUST. PRESS. PAUSE. (I might be saying this more for myself but...) JUST. PRESS. PAUSE.

"Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going to fast-you also miss the sense of where you are going and why."
       -Eddie Cantor

Apocalypse 2012: humanity vs survival (an essay)

One year from now, we will see if the plethora of prophecies we have come to learn will indeed come true. I can't help but to wonder if we are even ready for what the days after December 21, 2012 has in store. What will happen? Will we survive it...the supposed apocalypse? Will we survive ourselves?

I watched the mid-season finale of The Walking Dead a couple of weeks ago. The episodes leading up to the finale really had my mind spinning. I look at The Walking Dead as a show of entertainment...but being the thinking person that I am, I started to think about the deeper and hidden meaning behind the entire season. To bring you up to speed on what The Walking Dead is...

The Walking Dead is a post-apocalyptic drama about what happens after the world has essentially gone to hell. In this case, an epidemic has broken out that causes people who have passed to come back to the life (i.e. become zombies). The show follows former Sheriff Rick as he wakes up from a coma in the midst of a zombie infested Georgia. He spends the entire first season searching for his family (his wife and son) and his best friend, Shane, hoping that they are alive and not one of the walking dead. To make a long story short, he finds his wife, son, and best friend plus a host of other survivors as they make their way to, what they know as a safe place, Fort Benning.

Season two, where we are now, continues to follow them on their journey from the "walker" infested city of Atlanta to Fort Benning. Without giving too much away for those who have never seen it. Sh*t hits the fan as one of the survivors daughter, Sophia, goes missing and the crew searches for her. They take shelter at a farm owned by a Veterinarian, where they encounter a host of...unpleasant surprises.

Anyways, it got me thinking. When the world goes to hell, we will work hard to survive it. We will start to only care for the basic necessities that we need in order to survive and to keep our loved ones alive. As we strive for survival, our codes of ethics that we used to operate in our normal world will fly out the window as every man fends for himself. Kind of like what we saw during Hurricane Katrina.

After a catastrophic event, we are not simply in a battle to live through that event, we are also in a battle to maintain who we were and what we had. The more we strive for survival as a result of the post apocalyptic world, the less we strive to maintain our humanity in spite of it. Just like Shane in The Walking Dead. The more they get deeper into survival on their trek to Fort Benning, the less humane Shane seems to be. Conversely, Rick strives to maintain his humanity...in spite of their need for survival. Rick strives to maintain what he had post "walkers" that he is willing to endanger himself and the group in order to essentially have a heart. However, as we saw in the finale...in order to survive in this new and unknown world, you have to break your code of ethics if you want to live.

So my question is: If our basic instincts of survival kick in after a catastrophic situation will we (as a race) relinquish our humanity for survival or will we be able to maintain our humanity in spite of our urge need to survive?

Amy Winehouse and the "27 Club"

Jimi Hendrix
Janis Joplin
Jim Morrison
Kurt Cobain
Jean Michael-Basquiat
Freaky Tah of the Lost Boyz
Johnathan Brandis from the NeverEnding Story II

All influential and known celebrities and artists who came and touched our lives through music, art, television, and movies. All tragically and mysteriously died at the age of 27. It's sad when you think a celebrities career is just beginning to take off. It literally seems like they were here today and gone tomorrow. Now they are infamously a part of what is known as the "27 Club." The club in which famous people become inducted into when they die at the age of 27 through tragic causes.

In their deaths, lies a story. Nothing lasts forever. What can we learn from Amy Winehouse and the "27 Club?" Sure it's easy to give an "anti-drug" speech, but at the end of the day as we look at their careers, the lives they left, and the people who surrounded them there is a story lesson to be learned.

1. Live your life like it's your last day. It seems almost like these, and others, were at the height of their career. Things seems to be going to well, seeming so lucrative, and all of a sudden we get the breaking news of their deaths and find out even later that they were depressed and overwhelmed with the level of celebrity they received. No matter what, do what makes you happy. Whether it's picking up trash, inspiring others, teaching, or writing. Do what makes YOU happy. No one can live your life, but you!


2. Make your dreams a reality, despite the nay sayers. These folks lived a dream life we will never get to experience. They may have died suddenly at 27, but what they were able to accomplish is more than most of us will ever experience in our lives. Do what you can to even get a glimpse of your dream. It's worse to regret not trying to live out your dream or passion than to deal with the failure experienced trying.


3. "Yes" people are enablers, get rid of them. It's always great to have your ego stroked. We all want it, we sometimes need it. However, if you are around people who ONLY tell you how good, awesome, great, pretty, or smart you are how will you know what you need to do to get better and to grow? We need constructive criticism to progress. If all you hear is yes, how will you know how to handle the "no." We can only speculate that some of these celebrities died, especially the ones from suicide and drugs, because they had too many fans and not enough friends. Get rid of enablers, their bad for you.


4. Know when to ask for help. At the end of the day, we need help. In our darkest hour, for our progression and growth, just because. Help is available in many forms, what we have to do is learn to put our pride to the side and ask for it. I feel like if these artists were able to simply ask the right person for help, we would have had them for so much longer.


5. Empowerment is a very powerful tool we all need. Motivation. Inspiration. Empowerment. It's the tools that keep the positivity in and the negativity out. Find a mentor, speaker, book, counselor, or method to ensure that you ALWAYS have some form of empowerment and positive energy in your life.

Amy Winehouse [9.14.83-7.23.11]

Amy Winehouse was a great singer. Despite her vices and her troubles, she had a gift that she was able to share with the world...even for a little while. Unfortunately, she is now the newest member of the "27 Club." We may not ever know what problems she had in her life, but from the time we had her here...we can learn much from her and the other members of the "27 Club."

The Unemployed Entrepreneur

Motivational Monday: On Life

So...my grandmother died this weekend.

I can't really describe to you how I feel about it because I am not sure how exactly I feel. I know I'm sad of course because the last time I saw her I think I was 7 years old. I'm disappointed because I have been saying to myself for like the last year "I have got to see my grandmother soon." and now the reality is slowly hitting me that I will NEVER get to see her alive again. I'm strong looking after my mother as the news broke; she is slowing feeling better but she cried alot and my aunt....is still hysterical. I'm feeling okay, but slightly indifferent. I feel a combination of alot of things, but mostly what I feel is the need to live however I want to live as best as I can live it.

After the shock wore off, I have come to terms with the fact that death is real. Before my grandmother passed, I had an almost child-like view of death since no one in my family has died that I knew closely. Granted it's still a bit child-like, but now I realize that we have to live life because we only get one.

This Monday's Motivational quote is about life and living it...in honor of my grandmother, Kathleen Francis.

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me."
       -Erma Bombeck"

The Unemployed Entrepreneur