Salutations,
Time has been flying lately. So much so that I completely forgot that last month was February. If you’re a Catalyst alumni you would know that I didn’t send out my annual Valentine’s Day Catalyst. For those who don’t know, I send out a Catalyst every February to help single people stay patient and couples to, well, stay patient with each other. I know it’s hard because love is a completely irrational and counterproductive emotion. When in love, it seems as if your heart breaks monthly (or even weekly depending on how deep your love is). However, without it life seems somewhat bland and predictable.
Love is a multi-dimensional emotion. It brings out people’s best and worst all at the same time. Love can make a knuckle head change his ways and become a gentleman. It can also make a woman take a criminal charge for her man. Love is strange that way. Whether you’re looking for a man with a future or a woman with a past we all have that perfect person we daydream about. I would describe my perfect woman to you but it’s pointless. She doesn’t exist. It took me a while to realize it but the woman of my dreams is just that, a dream (but if she did…watch out there now!). Don’t laugh because I know some of you are still waiting for Mr./Ms. Perfect. You’ve looked high and low for the “right” person and still find yourself alone. I’ll tell you now that your standards are too high. You’ll NEVER find the person that has 100% of the qualities you want. But you can find someone that has 90% or even 80% of what you’re looking for. Is that not good if enough for you? (Keep in mind that in school you can pass with 70% or above) I’m not telling you to settle for less than you deserve. I just want you to understand that you are not perfect so your mate won’t be either.
I know that some of you are in relationships. You’ve already committed to a person yet you want to change them to fit your flawless mold. You have an idea of what they should be and you nag, manipulate, and complain in order to surrender to your vision of “us”. The only problem is that, for the most part, people don’t change. I’m not saying they can’t change but 9 times out of 10 they won’t. This means that you need to accept how they are right now. One of the reasons most relationships fail is because couples get together based on what they’re relationship could potentially be. One person feels that the other will eventually settle down and be a good spouse. They’ll eventually give you compliments. They’ll eventually lose weight. They’ll eventually spend more time with the kids. You’re setting yourself up for failure if this is how you think. What did we talk about last week? If you want to know how your relationship will be in the future look at how it is currently. If you plant apple seeds you’re going to get apple trees. No matter how much you pray, think positive, and meditate for bananas you will only get what you planted.
Please understand me. My purpose is not to take away your hope. But I don’t want love to take advantage of you. When I look at Chris Brown and Rihanna, I have to shake my head (and don’t get me started on BeBe Winans). Love is supposed to make you feel like you can take over the world. Love isn’t supposed to send you to the emergency room. Nor is it supposed to send you to the psychiatric ward. Love should be a shelter you can go to during the hurricanes of life. Unfortunately, no shelter can protect with a *feckless foundation.
“Love is an emotion experienced by the many and enjoyed by the few.” - George Jean Nathan
Dream Big. Live Bigger.
The All-American
www.rallostyles.com
www.blestbabyproductions.com
http://thecatalystexperience.blogspot.com/
*Word you’ve never heard…
feckless /FECK-lus/ adj. – weak, ineffective
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
The Catalyst
Hello All,
Frauds such as psychics, prophets, and fortune tellers maintain they can see the future. These people allegedly know what is going to happen before anyone else. They use crystal balls, tarot cards, or even scriptures to hoke* up the fact these individuals can no more see the future than I can eat BBQ ribs with chopsticks. It’s a shame that everyone doesn’t possess these magnificent abilities. Couldn’t we all benefit from seeing the future even if it was just for one moment? Sure it would be nice. But alas, whether you want to believe it, no one can see what is going to happen next. Personally, I think knowing the future takes the spice out of life but I digress. While some of you have your best days ahead of you, the rest of you have already achieved the apex in your life. No matter which category you fit in there is only one thing you need to focus on: What do I do right now?
Everybody should take at least 20 minutes each day to figure out what they are doing with the life they’ve been blessed with. So many of us take our existence for granted. I don’t think that we purposefully waste our lives. I just think that there is so much information we have to sort through that it’s hard to find a purpose. We have our parents who want us be one thing. Then we have our spiritual advisor(s) who want us to be another. On top of that, society in general takes one look at us and tells us how to think and live based on gender, race, and other meaningless traits. Unfortunately, what gets lost in the shuffle is what “we” want. Not only are we trying to figure out what we want, we also have to figure out how to get it and how long it should take. Not having solutions to these issues brings about a desperate confusion which causes us to question our own judgment, fall into depression, and put our complete trust in individuals who otherwise would have never earned our confidence. It’s easy to become vulnerable to con artists who offer peace of mind in exchange for money especially when you have questions where the answers can’t legitimately be proven.
There is no reason to wonder what the future holds, people. As long as you do the right things now the future will take care of itself. Whether you’re a scientifically minded individual who believes in cause and effect or you’re a holy roller that believes that one reaps what one sows; the same truth applies. If you take care of business now you will insure yourself a prosperous future. If you’re happy now, you’ll be happy later. I know that times are tough. The future seems uncertain and it should be. Like I mentioned before, uncertainty makes life interesting. Knowing the ending of a movie spoils the experience. All you need to concern yourself with is what’s happening right now. If you want optimism look to the past. It will show you all the situations you thought would break you. It will show you the times where you faced tremendous odds and you overcame. Don’t walk sheepishly through the day wondering what will happen tomorrow. March triumphantly because you understand that no matter what your situation looks like you are a survivor and this too shall pass.
“To get up each morning with the resolve to be happy... is to set our own conditions to the events of each day. To do this is to condition circumstances instead of being conditioned by them.” – Ralph Waldo Trine
Dream Big. Live Bigger.
The All-American
www.rallostyles.com
www.blestbabyproductions.com
http://thecatalystexperience.blogspot.com/
*Word you’ve never heard…
hoke /HOHK/ verb - to give a contrived, falsely impressive, or hokey quality to --usually used with "up"
Frauds such as psychics, prophets, and fortune tellers maintain they can see the future. These people allegedly know what is going to happen before anyone else. They use crystal balls, tarot cards, or even scriptures to hoke* up the fact these individuals can no more see the future than I can eat BBQ ribs with chopsticks. It’s a shame that everyone doesn’t possess these magnificent abilities. Couldn’t we all benefit from seeing the future even if it was just for one moment? Sure it would be nice. But alas, whether you want to believe it, no one can see what is going to happen next. Personally, I think knowing the future takes the spice out of life but I digress. While some of you have your best days ahead of you, the rest of you have already achieved the apex in your life. No matter which category you fit in there is only one thing you need to focus on: What do I do right now?
Everybody should take at least 20 minutes each day to figure out what they are doing with the life they’ve been blessed with. So many of us take our existence for granted. I don’t think that we purposefully waste our lives. I just think that there is so much information we have to sort through that it’s hard to find a purpose. We have our parents who want us be one thing. Then we have our spiritual advisor(s) who want us to be another. On top of that, society in general takes one look at us and tells us how to think and live based on gender, race, and other meaningless traits. Unfortunately, what gets lost in the shuffle is what “we” want. Not only are we trying to figure out what we want, we also have to figure out how to get it and how long it should take. Not having solutions to these issues brings about a desperate confusion which causes us to question our own judgment, fall into depression, and put our complete trust in individuals who otherwise would have never earned our confidence. It’s easy to become vulnerable to con artists who offer peace of mind in exchange for money especially when you have questions where the answers can’t legitimately be proven.
There is no reason to wonder what the future holds, people. As long as you do the right things now the future will take care of itself. Whether you’re a scientifically minded individual who believes in cause and effect or you’re a holy roller that believes that one reaps what one sows; the same truth applies. If you take care of business now you will insure yourself a prosperous future. If you’re happy now, you’ll be happy later. I know that times are tough. The future seems uncertain and it should be. Like I mentioned before, uncertainty makes life interesting. Knowing the ending of a movie spoils the experience. All you need to concern yourself with is what’s happening right now. If you want optimism look to the past. It will show you all the situations you thought would break you. It will show you the times where you faced tremendous odds and you overcame. Don’t walk sheepishly through the day wondering what will happen tomorrow. March triumphantly because you understand that no matter what your situation looks like you are a survivor and this too shall pass.
“To get up each morning with the resolve to be happy... is to set our own conditions to the events of each day. To do this is to condition circumstances instead of being conditioned by them.” – Ralph Waldo Trine
Dream Big. Live Bigger.
The All-American
www.rallostyles.com
www.blestbabyproductions.com
http://thecatalystexperience.blogspot.com/
*Word you’ve never heard…
hoke /HOHK/ verb - to give a contrived, falsely impressive, or hokey quality to --usually used with "up"
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