Black Lives Matter

With all of the discrimination and racism that is going on in this world, and all of the police brutality that is happening to people across the country, it is hard to find what words to say. With that being said, I decided that it was time to take a step back and really think about the person that I am, what I believe in, and what I stand for. 

            In the past I will admit that when people first started hash tagging black lives matter, I didn’t fully get the concept. I was a person that would think, well.. all lives matter and it didn’t seem right to just be saying black lives matter. However, I have seen more of the world as I’ve gotten older and I think I now have a better understanding of what the true meaning behind the black lives matter movement is. 

I’ll admit, I am not always the smartest in the room and can be naïve to situations that I have not had to face myself. After reading “dumbed” down/simplified explanations of the reasoning behind what BLM really stands for, I support it. I will never know what it is like to grow up as black person (or any other minority for that matter) and I will never have to endure the things that they are going through. However, I will continue to educate myself on the matter and try to educate others when possible. Together we can all make a difference.   

            As time goes on, I see more and more questionable police interactions that involve the blatant brutality and murder of black people—and it truly hurts my heart to see. When I heard multiple stories from black parents that consisted of them instructing their kids how to act just to go to the park—so that they could make it home alive—is when I truly realized the struggles that black individuals face. No parent should have to have that kind of conversation with their child. They should be able to say, “Go and have fun with your friends, just come home when the streetlights come on”. No parent should have to fear that their child may be apprehended—yet alone killed—by police, when they are just at the park playing with their friends. It is not fair that black individuals have to constantly “be the bigger person” because other people were raised to be racist. Seeing this pain in a parent’s eyes and hearing it in their voice is something that just hits a different way.

            You shouldn’t judge a person by the color of their skin. You really shouldn’t judge anybody at all to begin with. I hate the way the news portrays events and groups of people. Personally, I feel the news plays into stories to create division more than anything. When I first saw stuff about the protests and how people were looting stores and causing chaos, I thought, “How is this supposed to do to help your case?” However, when I read into it deeper, I realized that for the most part the people creating this chaos aren’t the protesters or a part of the BLM movement. In reality, it is a group of people who are taking advantage of the situation by initiating madness at peaceful protests and by inciting violence—since this is something that is easier to get away with right now.

With that being said, the vast majority of people are peacefully protesting. AS THEY SHOULD. People need to be heard and I think that is starting to happen. At the end of the day, I believe everybody just needs to be a decent F****** person. Treat people with respect. Be kind to one another. Have an open dialect with kids when they have questions on these issues and explain to them how it is wrong to judge another person by the color of their skin. If everybody were to just be kind—and truly treat people how you would want to be treated—this world would be in a better place. 

 BLACK LIVES MATTER

            Much Love and God Bless

Chasing Dreams

I feel that it is important to continually grow each day. This is something that I will say often. Like I have said before, on a chalk board as I leave the house, I have “Dream Big” written on it. This reminds me that each day I need to make sure that I am dreaming beyond my imagination and shooting for goals that at one point I thought I couldn’t do.

            The latest and greatest goal/dream I have is to get my motorcycle endorsement. It would be a while before I can afford to buy a motorcycle, but I have often considered something cheap for the summertime. Something cheap that I could ride on nice weather days to work to save on gas on the truck. To be able to go out and just enjoy the weather and cruise. It would be something that would be neat to be able to do with my brother as well. Just hit the road for the weekend and travel.

            I have ridden dirt bikes a few times in my life and would definitely need to take the course to know the proper way to ride. I know that it is a freeing feeling when I am out on my 4-wheeler and I would assume it would be close to the same type of feeling riding a motorcycle on the road. Feeling the wind hit against you as you control this machine underneath you. I need to update my vision board, but this is now going to be on it. I am looking into motorcycle classes currently so if you have any tips, tricks or locations in the metro Detroit area let me know!

Strengths and Weaknesses

If I were to ask you about your own strengths and weaknesses what would the list look like? This is something that I decided to do recently, and I discovered interesting things. I made my list and tried to be as honest with myself as possible. This can be difficult to do. You don’t want to admit things that you are bad at, but it is important that you are honest with yourself, so you know what needs improvement. My lists are as follows.

Strenghts	Weaknesses
Good work ethic Team player trustworthy reliable  accountable people person humble cares for others open minded	Can be too passive doesn't follow through can be forgetful Get overwhelmed

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What made this more interesting for me was that I took the time to ask other people that know me well what they thought my strengths and weaknesses were. Believe it or not, most people don’t want to tell you what they think your weaknesses are even when you genuinely ask them. the responses from friends and family though made me think more about myself and how I am perceived to others. I want to make it clear that the opinions of others don’t matter as long as you are staying true to yourself. This is something that I have working on for a while and can be difficult. However, the people that did participate answers are as follows.

Strengths ·         People person                               ·         Encouraging ·         Creative ·         Caring ·         Able to handle jokes/criticism ·         Will do anything for other people ·         Willing to try new things ·         Genuine when communicating ·         Leader ·         Positive attitude ·         Ability to adapt ·         Willingness to work ·         Work hard to provide for family and others ·         Good friend ·         Smart ·         In their words “badass driver”

Weaknesses         Forgetful         Don’t follow through         Get sidetracked      Not being confident         I don’t posture myself as the leader I am     Shy/introverted     Does stupid things every now and then      Let people walk over me      Communication (didn’t tell my cousin I was getting married. She found out through Facebook)

 

 

            Half of the people I asked wouldn’t say what my weaknesses were. On one hand I get it, but this is for research! The point is that other people see the good qualities in you that you might overlook. Although most are ones that I believe to be true, the leader part is one that stood out as crazy to me. I never have thought of myself as a leader. I like to be in the background and assess the situation and go from that point. I don’t really like having the decisions fall on me, not because I think I will fail, but because I don’t like being the person that any potential hostility can be thrown at. This is something that I need to work on however because I do want to be able to be a leader. I believe that leadership is something that can open many doors in my life.

 Some of the weaknesses that others pointed out took me a little by surprise too. I know that I don’t like conflict, but I never took the step back to realize that I have let people walkover throughout parts of my life. I need to stand up for myself and as Madea would say “speak my damn mind. Hell”. I know that I am forgetful, and I need to work on that. If any of you have tips or tricks to increase memory however, I am all ears!! Without fail I will forget at least one thing at the grocery store every time I go.

As you can see, parts of my lists for myself match with what others have said. The others list however, touch on points that I would overlook on most occasions. It brings more awareness to myself and the things that I know I am doing well at and the things that I need to improve on. If you are feeling up for it, try this out with your friends and family as well. You may be surprised with what people say (if they truly say what they feel). This isn’t something that you should get upset about either. take others opinion as just that, opinions. If you feel it is valid and you want to do something with that information, then that is totally up to you.

 

Much Love and God Bless

Early Start to the Day

 Update on my post about getting a dog the other day. I am currently watching my moms’ dog while she is out of town. I couldn’t tell you what breed he is because I really have no clue. But he is a smaller dog that kind of looks like a mop in a cute way. With everything going on, dog groomers haven’t been able to cut his hair in a while. He is a little shaggier than normal.

            The time was 330am. He was whining at the back door because he needed to go out. Let him out. Notices that he does his business and, on his way, back to the house, it looks like he keeps squatting down. I don’t realize until he is in the house and smelling like BOOTY that something is up. Check it out and to my surprise……… IT is smeared allllll ooovvvveeerrrrr his back side. Keep in mind that it has been 80 plus degrees in this house, already haven’t slept for crap. Now at 330 in the morning I have to give this dog a bath. I know its not his fault. He’s got long hair; he can’t control it. What makes it worse though is that this little dude doesn’t want to stay still in the shower while I am trying to clean him! Like my man, I am doing this for you! for reference I usually get up at 530am for work, so I now have an hour and a half of time that I cant fall back asleep. This is going to set up for a great day.

            I will take this opportunity however to make a real breakfast this morning, maybe take a shower just to cool down and try to restart my day. So, todays p.s.a is to either get dog that doesn’t grow moppy type hair or to invest in some trimmers and get that fur short to avoid this problem.

 

            Much Love and God Bless

Get a Dog

Let’s talk about dogs for a minute. They truly are man’s best friend. Growing up I had two dogs, Chance and Cleo. They were both yellow labs but very different from one another. Chance was a loudmouth and was always getting into trouble. Whether it was getting into dog food, getting animals in the backyard or occasionally getting out of the yard, he was a handful. Cleo on the other hand was very quiet and almost skittish. She was a really friendly dog and just went with the flow of whatever. She was so quiet in fact that we accidentally left her tied to a picnic table at a campground… we made it about 5 minutes before my friend pointed it out to my parents. She was obviously excited to see us when we returned, and we all felt terrible.

            Dogs have a way of knowing what is going on around them. Our current dog is very playful but protective of his momma. On the same note however, when my fiancé is having a bad day, somehow Leo will know and give her extra cuddles. Dogs can be a pain in the butt and rewarding at the same time. They can make situations difficult at times but also much more joyful in other times. The biggest downside I see with Leo is the second that you have food, he is on your butt and drooling just waiting for something to drop! Regardless though, dogs have a way of making bad situations better, and better situations great. They will do anything for you and stay by your side when stuff hits the fan. So really, today's p.s.a is to go get a dog. That is all

 

            Much Love and God Bless

Vigilant of your Surroundings

The people you surround yourself with have more of an impact than you may think. I’m sure you have heard before; you are who you hang out with. I only partially agree with this statement. I do think that your surroundings and the people that you hold close to you play a major role in your life, but I don’t believe that they can define you. The people that surround you only change you as much as you allow them too.

I have noticed that when I am around people that are more upbeat and enjoying life that it is hard to be in a bad mood. When these people are doing positive things for themselves and others and you can see the end result, its easy to want to make those same positive choices. This is because I allow them to influence my life though. I have seen how in a group of positive people; someone can still be that negative Debby downer. This is because they are not letting the surroundings influence their state of mind.

At a previous job I had, the overall daily attitude was greatly affected by others. As soon as one person would get pissed off and in a bad mood it would spread through the warehouse like wildfire. Especially when you are at work and you can’t physically get away from a negative person since you work with them, it can be hard to stay in your own mind space. I like to believe I am usually a happy and positive person but there were days that got the best of me and I wouldn’t be that positive person.

            Let’s face it, if you hang around criminals all day long and keep them close to you on a personal level, the chance for you to fall into that lifestyle increases. You listen to the conversations and stories and you may want to be able to tell those stories yourself. In the same manner, if you surround yourself with high achievers and people that are successful (keep in mind every person has different views of success) you have a higher chance of becoming successful. If you plan on making a big career change in your life, chances are you want to know what you’re getting into or how to maximize this change. If you were a mechanic but now want to get into stock trading, you most likely will want to start associating with people who trade stocks. You learn from the ones around you and they bring value to you.  It is important to be adding value into their lives also, otherwise the relationship you have may fall apart. If it is one sided for too long, that relationship starts to become parasitic. This is where one continues to benefit at the cost of the other.

            When you surround yourself with the people that you want to become you start to talk like them. You start to act like them and most importantly, you begin to think like them. You prepare yourself for the changes in yourself. This is why it is important to be aware of your surroundings. Unless your friend group is toxic to your life and who you want to become, I don’t think you should leave them all behind you. Long friendships are something to value and cherish. Like I said before though, there needs to be value added from both parties to make that relationship work better. Challenge each other is a positive way so that you both continue to grow.  At the end of the day the important thing to remember is that your surroundings help influence your life and your decisions. Sometimes to make the big changes if your life you have to decide what you want to keep in your surroundings and what you need to get rid of. 

 

 

            Much Love and God Bless      

Weekend Reflection

Weekend reflection. As the weather starts to get hot and the sun is shining, I want to take a moment to reflect. This week was my first week back to work in 2 months. I am happy and unhappy to be back. I’m happy to be back in a routine but I am going to miss spending so much time with the fiancé and the puppers. I did get use to all the cuddles. I’ve stayed busy this week between work, running errands, changing brakes, cutting lawns and more. Today and tomorrow I plan on relaxing and spending quality time with the fiancé and puppers outside while it is nice.           It’s important this weekend to remember why we have this long weekend in the first place. This weekend we remember all those who have sacrificed in order to protect our country and the freedoms we get to enjoy. I know right now with the government restrictions; some people feel we don’t have those freedoms. This time will pass however, and we will be stronger in the long run. I want to thank all of those who have served and send my condolences to the families that have lost loved ones fighting for our country. The military is something that is not for me but I respect the hell out of anyone that answers that call.

            I plan on making some cornhole boards hopefully this evening and finding bean bags so we can continue to enjoy this weather tomorrow. This weather makes me want a boat that much more so we could be out on the water with friends and family and jump in the lake when we get too hot. Spend this time with those that you love and remember all of those who are no longer with us this weekend. Stay safe and soak up the memories.

 

            Much Love and God Bless