May today there be peace within you, may you trust your highest power that you are exactly where you are meant to be, may you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith, may you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, and to bask in the sun. It is there for each and every one of you.
-- Anonymous
When they start mess’n with you today, remember the peace with in you. When the test feels too impossible to pass, trust your highest power. When you’re unsure about where you’re going, about whether you can make it the next step, know that there is no limit to where you can go and no stamp that says you can’t get there.
When you get tired and frustrated, and when you feel misunderstood, neglected, or invisible, use what God gave you to make the people see and hear you, to calm yourself and find your niche that must be acknowledged and respected. Love the naysayers because you’ve been loved to death.
And, most importantly, when all the tables turn and you find yourself on the wrong side, know that you are a precious and forgiven child of God and He will never leave or forsake you.
Sadiqqa © 2007
Aug 31, 2007
Aug 30, 2007
The mighty ocean teaches us so much. It is where many songs have been written. It is where many lives have been lost. It is the place of battles and celebration, crises and conquest. Its rushing tides are not afraid nor intimidated. It just flows and brings to the shore those things that it chooses and hurls them at the land as if it were evicting certain objects and snatching others. Perhaps that is why the ocean has persevered for so long. It knows how to release some things and grasp others. If you are going to survive, take a lesson from the ocean. Hurl some things away from you and bring others to you, and when all else fails, just go on.
-- T. D. Jakes
Think of the other lessons that nature teaches us –
The seasons teach us to prepare for each new phase of our lives. They teach us that change is inevitable, and with every new phase of our lives, something different is required. Perhaps our summer season allows us opportunity to reveal more of ourselves, possibly sweat some stuff out of our systems. Maybe our winter season finds us coming back in or taking cover to protect ourselves from the cold and calculating moods and temperatures that sometimes surround us. Maybe our spring and fall allow us breathing periods to flow and develop gracefully into whatever is coming next.
The wind teaches us to brush ourselves off, sometimes brushing briskly for immediate clearance; other times offering gentle swishes that remind us that we are still alive and moving. It teaches us like each passing breeze, circumstances and situations pass too, but when they blow past us they can be refreshing and rehabilitating. And the breeze sometimes gives us a whiff of something pleasing and delightful.
Trees show us how to grow despite the wear and tear of the season, the foundation they stand upon, the soil they’re grown in, or the right or wrong end of the planting season. A tree teaches us to shed what’s no longer providing sustenance, and germinate more of what is productive and beautiful. Trees teach us to rest when it’s time.
Weeds teach us about endurance and strength. They confirm for us that there’s nothing too hard or too out of reach for us to penetrate and overcome. Weeds show us that even through intentional destruction, there is something we can find within ourselves that keeps us going, growing, and coming back even tougher than before, with attitude so commanding, somebody gives you a fabulous name and you become the most popular whatever that ever walked this earth.
Look around you today and notice what nature is trying to show you. Nature replenishes and heals itself. So must you.
Sadiqqa © 2007
-- T. D. Jakes
Think of the other lessons that nature teaches us –
The seasons teach us to prepare for each new phase of our lives. They teach us that change is inevitable, and with every new phase of our lives, something different is required. Perhaps our summer season allows us opportunity to reveal more of ourselves, possibly sweat some stuff out of our systems. Maybe our winter season finds us coming back in or taking cover to protect ourselves from the cold and calculating moods and temperatures that sometimes surround us. Maybe our spring and fall allow us breathing periods to flow and develop gracefully into whatever is coming next.
The wind teaches us to brush ourselves off, sometimes brushing briskly for immediate clearance; other times offering gentle swishes that remind us that we are still alive and moving. It teaches us like each passing breeze, circumstances and situations pass too, but when they blow past us they can be refreshing and rehabilitating. And the breeze sometimes gives us a whiff of something pleasing and delightful.
Trees show us how to grow despite the wear and tear of the season, the foundation they stand upon, the soil they’re grown in, or the right or wrong end of the planting season. A tree teaches us to shed what’s no longer providing sustenance, and germinate more of what is productive and beautiful. Trees teach us to rest when it’s time.
Weeds teach us about endurance and strength. They confirm for us that there’s nothing too hard or too out of reach for us to penetrate and overcome. Weeds show us that even through intentional destruction, there is something we can find within ourselves that keeps us going, growing, and coming back even tougher than before, with attitude so commanding, somebody gives you a fabulous name and you become the most popular whatever that ever walked this earth.
Look around you today and notice what nature is trying to show you. Nature replenishes and heals itself. So must you.
Sadiqqa © 2007
Aug 29, 2007
In the grand scheme of it all, is it really worth the price of beans?
-- Author Unknown
We spend a lot of time obsessing over things that either make no difference or have little, if any, impact on our individual lives. Who cares about Michael Vick and his pit bulls?
Now, before you delete this “Thought...,” for its sheer insensitivity and audacity, Vick’s participation, whatever it was, in the dog fights was abhorrent and worthy of punishment, and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, certainly have cause to protest and even ask for his suspension and release from the Atlanta Falcons. However, in a country whose sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, and moms and dads are dying or becoming incapacitated daily to protect and resurrect a disastrous government 2 steps shy of collapse and extinction, what difference does it make to you what one man does on his property with his dogs? Yes, it was an immoral act. Okay, established. Yes, he served as a role model to thousands of children who looked up to him and lauded his accomplishments. So! Perhaps it’s our fault that we held him in such high esteem in the first place. Perhaps we need to rethink who we set before our kids as role models so none of us will be all that disappointed.
Today commemorates 2 years post Katrina and its devastation to the gulf coast of America. Except that the flood waters have receded, today, 2 years later, that region still remains largely untouched by relief and rebuilding efforts. Former gulf coast residents are scattered throughout the country and making new roots for themselves, many having given up hope that the government, as promised, was going to do its part to resurrect their sunken cities. There is talk of nominating Michael Chertoff, secretary of Homeland Security – the federal department designed to protect American citizens from harm here at home – as the next Attorney General of these here United States, and, although, if nominated by President Bush for the position, he will receive very hard questioning from our elected officials in Congress. However, the likelihood that the man who bungled provisions and assistance for the lives and livelihood of displaced people will be appointed as the main legal advisor to the U.S. government is very high and extremely disconcerting. Yet, headlines on your local evening news broadcast and criticized an Idaho senator for his misdemeanor private longings and indiscretions. Who gives a damn about that other than his wife, kids, mom and dad? Maybe some of his constituents in Idaho care, but at the end of the day, they’ll still eat, sleep well, and make love to whomever they want.
And do you care that Brittany Spears was spotted in a long blond wig? Do you care that Lindsey Lohan admitted her drug use? Who cares if Lionel Richie’s daughter turned herself in to the police and her best bud was just released from jail? That’s their business. It doesn’t pay our bills, unless you’re their publicist or the reporter who covers their highly overrated the stories. The fact is, they’ll be back on top tomorrow and you will have wasted your time following their next moves.
People are dying in Darfur and Somolia. Haiti, after years of tyrannical rule, was further destroyed by hurricane winds. Six black students and other black residents in Jena, Louisiana can still find no justice for themselves in this “salad bowl” country. Utah residents resignedly await any news about their loved ones lost underground as mining continues without adequate and aggressive regulations and enforcement. The moon was eclipsed by the earth’s shadow which, if you saw it, gave you an amazing sense of your being and the proximity of the world around you. The Southern drought is killing cows because there’s no grass or hay for them to eat. The Midwest floods are driving up the price of corn. The West is still on fire and due an earthquake any day.
Hell, Michael Vicks’ escapades don’t amount to a hill of beans for the price of a dollar.
Sadiqqa © 2007
-- Author Unknown
We spend a lot of time obsessing over things that either make no difference or have little, if any, impact on our individual lives. Who cares about Michael Vick and his pit bulls?
Now, before you delete this “Thought...,” for its sheer insensitivity and audacity, Vick’s participation, whatever it was, in the dog fights was abhorrent and worthy of punishment, and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, certainly have cause to protest and even ask for his suspension and release from the Atlanta Falcons. However, in a country whose sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, and moms and dads are dying or becoming incapacitated daily to protect and resurrect a disastrous government 2 steps shy of collapse and extinction, what difference does it make to you what one man does on his property with his dogs? Yes, it was an immoral act. Okay, established. Yes, he served as a role model to thousands of children who looked up to him and lauded his accomplishments. So! Perhaps it’s our fault that we held him in such high esteem in the first place. Perhaps we need to rethink who we set before our kids as role models so none of us will be all that disappointed.
Today commemorates 2 years post Katrina and its devastation to the gulf coast of America. Except that the flood waters have receded, today, 2 years later, that region still remains largely untouched by relief and rebuilding efforts. Former gulf coast residents are scattered throughout the country and making new roots for themselves, many having given up hope that the government, as promised, was going to do its part to resurrect their sunken cities. There is talk of nominating Michael Chertoff, secretary of Homeland Security – the federal department designed to protect American citizens from harm here at home – as the next Attorney General of these here United States, and, although, if nominated by President Bush for the position, he will receive very hard questioning from our elected officials in Congress. However, the likelihood that the man who bungled provisions and assistance for the lives and livelihood of displaced people will be appointed as the main legal advisor to the U.S. government is very high and extremely disconcerting. Yet, headlines on your local evening news broadcast and criticized an Idaho senator for his misdemeanor private longings and indiscretions. Who gives a damn about that other than his wife, kids, mom and dad? Maybe some of his constituents in Idaho care, but at the end of the day, they’ll still eat, sleep well, and make love to whomever they want.
And do you care that Brittany Spears was spotted in a long blond wig? Do you care that Lindsey Lohan admitted her drug use? Who cares if Lionel Richie’s daughter turned herself in to the police and her best bud was just released from jail? That’s their business. It doesn’t pay our bills, unless you’re their publicist or the reporter who covers their highly overrated the stories. The fact is, they’ll be back on top tomorrow and you will have wasted your time following their next moves.
People are dying in Darfur and Somolia. Haiti, after years of tyrannical rule, was further destroyed by hurricane winds. Six black students and other black residents in Jena, Louisiana can still find no justice for themselves in this “salad bowl” country. Utah residents resignedly await any news about their loved ones lost underground as mining continues without adequate and aggressive regulations and enforcement. The moon was eclipsed by the earth’s shadow which, if you saw it, gave you an amazing sense of your being and the proximity of the world around you. The Southern drought is killing cows because there’s no grass or hay for them to eat. The Midwest floods are driving up the price of corn. The West is still on fire and due an earthquake any day.
Hell, Michael Vicks’ escapades don’t amount to a hill of beans for the price of a dollar.
Sadiqqa © 2007
Aug 28, 2007
There are a lot of ways to get to the top of the jungle gym.
-- Cynthia Copeland Lewis, “Really Important Stuff My Kids Have Taught Me”
You could see the top of the jungle gym, the culminating point of where you were trying to get. You bet the view from up there was incredible and the most rewarding view you’d ever laid your eyes on or set your mind to. As you stood leaning on the tree beside the jungle gym, you were anxious to reach the top because you were bored with the monotony of being down there at the bottom on the stinking playground. The trouble was you were stuck down there because you hadn’t figured out how to get up there.
Several times you’d started out toward that goal, but each time it seemed as though your plans somehow went awry. Sometimes you ran into people who stood in your way like boulders, leaving you with the monumental task of figuring out how to get around them, and, in some cases, get over them, without falling off, out, or behind. Sometimes your plans, your steps, were too large because you forgot to break them down rung by rung, so they ultimately got left behind whether they were good ideas or not. Sometimes you worked your way into a culdesac and ended up doubling back to travel the same route and do the same work you’d done before which meant you didn’t move any closer or higher to the top – you just stayed in one place. In trying to reach the top, you sometimes tripped over and stepped on your own feet and got all twisted up then sat down and pouted too long about the pain and unfairness of it all, so long that you just wanted to give up and go home. Covered with sweat and the eyes of others you knew were watching and laughing at you, you chucked the idea of getting to the top of this jungle gym and simply settled for the safety of swinging on the swing set. But oh how you longed for the top of that jungle gym.
Each day you visited the park, you realized there was always going to be some thing, big things perhaps, thrown in the way of your plans to get to the top of that jungle gym. But you also figured out that just because there was an obstacle didn’t mean you wouldn’t get to the top. You would just have to be clever enough to come up with a good plan. Maybe a few good plans.
On one trip, you thought you’d ask some of the bigger kids sitting at the top of the jungle gym to pull you up. That wasn’t such a bad idea. Only you had to be sure the person or people pulling you would take you all the way and support you once you reached the top. You could never be sure so you set that idea aside for later and went to slide down the slides instead.
On your next visit, you thought perhaps you’d ask someone to pick you up and place you on the top of the jungle gym. That’s a way, you thought. But then you figured that’s sort of like cheating. You wouldn’t be doing any of the work, no sweat off your brow, you’d just be carried and set there. Where’s the fun in that? That day you played on the merry-go-round.
The next day’s visit found you thinking about how you could get dropped off there, like from a helicopter, or, the big tree that sat beside the jungle gym! You’d really never paid that tree much attention except to lean against while making plans for climbing the jungle gym. But now you eyed the expanse of the tree, walked its circumference, touched it, and felt for juts and grooves. You’d sized it up pretty good before you realized that if you could climb that big oak, certainly you could climb that jungle gym. But then you thought if you could climb that tree which was much bigger and higher than the jungle gym, you wouldn’t even care about that old jungle gym anymore. So you decided to climb the tree instead! On that day you began to climb the tallest tree in the park without a hint of fear or hesitation. It took some time, but by nightfall, you had climbed that big oak, come back down, and reached your front porch just in time for the street lights to flicker on.
Why could you find the wherewithal to climb that tree and not the jungle gym? Who knows? Maybe because nobody else was climbing it, it was your great idea. Maybe because it was a mightier feat, a more attractive and rewarding goal and adventure than the rusty old jungle gym. Maybe climbing the jungle gym to get to the top to view the world below was too trite, predictable, and boring. Maybe you climbed the tree because you wanted a better view than what the jungle gym could ever offer. Who knows? All you know is there are a million ways to climb to the top of and beyond the jungle gym.
Sadiqqa © 2007
-- Cynthia Copeland Lewis, “Really Important Stuff My Kids Have Taught Me”
You could see the top of the jungle gym, the culminating point of where you were trying to get. You bet the view from up there was incredible and the most rewarding view you’d ever laid your eyes on or set your mind to. As you stood leaning on the tree beside the jungle gym, you were anxious to reach the top because you were bored with the monotony of being down there at the bottom on the stinking playground. The trouble was you were stuck down there because you hadn’t figured out how to get up there.
Several times you’d started out toward that goal, but each time it seemed as though your plans somehow went awry. Sometimes you ran into people who stood in your way like boulders, leaving you with the monumental task of figuring out how to get around them, and, in some cases, get over them, without falling off, out, or behind. Sometimes your plans, your steps, were too large because you forgot to break them down rung by rung, so they ultimately got left behind whether they were good ideas or not. Sometimes you worked your way into a culdesac and ended up doubling back to travel the same route and do the same work you’d done before which meant you didn’t move any closer or higher to the top – you just stayed in one place. In trying to reach the top, you sometimes tripped over and stepped on your own feet and got all twisted up then sat down and pouted too long about the pain and unfairness of it all, so long that you just wanted to give up and go home. Covered with sweat and the eyes of others you knew were watching and laughing at you, you chucked the idea of getting to the top of this jungle gym and simply settled for the safety of swinging on the swing set. But oh how you longed for the top of that jungle gym.
Each day you visited the park, you realized there was always going to be some thing, big things perhaps, thrown in the way of your plans to get to the top of that jungle gym. But you also figured out that just because there was an obstacle didn’t mean you wouldn’t get to the top. You would just have to be clever enough to come up with a good plan. Maybe a few good plans.
On one trip, you thought you’d ask some of the bigger kids sitting at the top of the jungle gym to pull you up. That wasn’t such a bad idea. Only you had to be sure the person or people pulling you would take you all the way and support you once you reached the top. You could never be sure so you set that idea aside for later and went to slide down the slides instead.
On your next visit, you thought perhaps you’d ask someone to pick you up and place you on the top of the jungle gym. That’s a way, you thought. But then you figured that’s sort of like cheating. You wouldn’t be doing any of the work, no sweat off your brow, you’d just be carried and set there. Where’s the fun in that? That day you played on the merry-go-round.
The next day’s visit found you thinking about how you could get dropped off there, like from a helicopter, or, the big tree that sat beside the jungle gym! You’d really never paid that tree much attention except to lean against while making plans for climbing the jungle gym. But now you eyed the expanse of the tree, walked its circumference, touched it, and felt for juts and grooves. You’d sized it up pretty good before you realized that if you could climb that big oak, certainly you could climb that jungle gym. But then you thought if you could climb that tree which was much bigger and higher than the jungle gym, you wouldn’t even care about that old jungle gym anymore. So you decided to climb the tree instead! On that day you began to climb the tallest tree in the park without a hint of fear or hesitation. It took some time, but by nightfall, you had climbed that big oak, come back down, and reached your front porch just in time for the street lights to flicker on.
Why could you find the wherewithal to climb that tree and not the jungle gym? Who knows? Maybe because nobody else was climbing it, it was your great idea. Maybe because it was a mightier feat, a more attractive and rewarding goal and adventure than the rusty old jungle gym. Maybe climbing the jungle gym to get to the top to view the world below was too trite, predictable, and boring. Maybe you climbed the tree because you wanted a better view than what the jungle gym could ever offer. Who knows? All you know is there are a million ways to climb to the top of and beyond the jungle gym.
Sadiqqa © 2007
Aug 27, 2007
Reading is power and we can have power if we read.
-- Author Unknown
A 2002 survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Endowment for the Arts revealed that only 46.7% of the U.S. population reads literature (novels, short stories, plays, etc.). Of that 47%, roughly 57% had read a book of any kind in the past year compared to over 60% ten years ago. The study further presented that men read less than women; Hispanics and African-Americans read less than whites; and teenagers abhor picking up a book as opposed to talking on a cell phone, watching television, surfing the web, or playing a video game, all of which cater to and generate shorter attention spans and immediate forms of gratification.
Of course the survey isn’t talking about readers of the “Thought...,.” Each of us is an avid and diligent reader.
Hey, who laughed?
If you’re not reading, you’re brain is a flat as a pancake. Reading is the single best way to build up the left hemisphere of the brain which is the part of the brain that is in charge of our verbal processing and analytical ability. The more we read, think about, and reflect on what we read, for example, the greater the strength of the neural pathways that develop, strengthen, and increase brain power.
Reading, unlike watching television or playing a video game, requires a greater measure of active attention and engagement thus increasing intellectual ability and interests. In their study, the Census Bureau and Endowment for the Arts found that readers are far more likely than nonreaders to participate in volunteer and charity work as well as visit art museums, performing arts events, and ballgames. While this may or may not be true – given the interests of the surveyor – just being a part of such an elite group should make you want to finish that copy of Nietzsche’s “Beyond Good and Evil.”
Or not.
Seriously, if you’re not reading, you’re missing quite a bit. Though not a literary venture, in your local newspaper each day, lies news and information about the world outside your door. In the newspaper you’ve got news about a never-ending war and its impending impact on your safety and security. There’s information about presidential candidates whose messages are watered down and more of the same and others whose approach to politics will actually and positively change the state of the nation. And, your local newspaper will tell you that although the crime rate in your city is at an all-time low, the crimes being committed are those most heinous. If you’re not at least reading the newspaper, how can you stay abreast of current events and make some sense of the world in which you live? Where’s the power in that?
If you haven’t picked up a good book lately, shame on you; you have no idea the wealth of knowledge, entertainment, and experience you’re forfeiting. There are fiction tales that take you away and nonfiction books that make your current station more livable. There are a plethora of short, one-sitting reads; books that take weeks to read; and books you never want to put down. There are children’s books that make all problems solvable and your heart warm again; and mysteries that keep you guessing and lying awake at night from either fear or sheer delight at the meanderings of a great writer.
There’s the “Good Book,” or the Bible, either in King James’ version, the New International Version (NIV), the American Standard Version, the Message, Darby Translation, or any number of other versions suited for your taste and translation. Whichever your choice to read, talk about power!
All say reading is fundamental and that to hide something from someone, place it in a book. Let’s be among the 47% - 57% of Americans who do read and let our power ring eternal!
Sadiqqa © 2007
-- Author Unknown
A 2002 survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Endowment for the Arts revealed that only 46.7% of the U.S. population reads literature (novels, short stories, plays, etc.). Of that 47%, roughly 57% had read a book of any kind in the past year compared to over 60% ten years ago. The study further presented that men read less than women; Hispanics and African-Americans read less than whites; and teenagers abhor picking up a book as opposed to talking on a cell phone, watching television, surfing the web, or playing a video game, all of which cater to and generate shorter attention spans and immediate forms of gratification.
Of course the survey isn’t talking about readers of the “Thought...,.” Each of us is an avid and diligent reader.
Hey, who laughed?
If you’re not reading, you’re brain is a flat as a pancake. Reading is the single best way to build up the left hemisphere of the brain which is the part of the brain that is in charge of our verbal processing and analytical ability. The more we read, think about, and reflect on what we read, for example, the greater the strength of the neural pathways that develop, strengthen, and increase brain power.
Reading, unlike watching television or playing a video game, requires a greater measure of active attention and engagement thus increasing intellectual ability and interests. In their study, the Census Bureau and Endowment for the Arts found that readers are far more likely than nonreaders to participate in volunteer and charity work as well as visit art museums, performing arts events, and ballgames. While this may or may not be true – given the interests of the surveyor – just being a part of such an elite group should make you want to finish that copy of Nietzsche’s “Beyond Good and Evil.”
Or not.
Seriously, if you’re not reading, you’re missing quite a bit. Though not a literary venture, in your local newspaper each day, lies news and information about the world outside your door. In the newspaper you’ve got news about a never-ending war and its impending impact on your safety and security. There’s information about presidential candidates whose messages are watered down and more of the same and others whose approach to politics will actually and positively change the state of the nation. And, your local newspaper will tell you that although the crime rate in your city is at an all-time low, the crimes being committed are those most heinous. If you’re not at least reading the newspaper, how can you stay abreast of current events and make some sense of the world in which you live? Where’s the power in that?
If you haven’t picked up a good book lately, shame on you; you have no idea the wealth of knowledge, entertainment, and experience you’re forfeiting. There are fiction tales that take you away and nonfiction books that make your current station more livable. There are a plethora of short, one-sitting reads; books that take weeks to read; and books you never want to put down. There are children’s books that make all problems solvable and your heart warm again; and mysteries that keep you guessing and lying awake at night from either fear or sheer delight at the meanderings of a great writer.
There’s the “Good Book,” or the Bible, either in King James’ version, the New International Version (NIV), the American Standard Version, the Message, Darby Translation, or any number of other versions suited for your taste and translation. Whichever your choice to read, talk about power!
All say reading is fundamental and that to hide something from someone, place it in a book. Let’s be among the 47% - 57% of Americans who do read and let our power ring eternal!
Sadiqqa © 2007
Aug 22, 2007
This is a good day for living. Follow your heart, sing happy songs, check your attitude, believe in yourself, share your talents, be on time, demand the best, keep your promises, preserve your heritage, reaffirm your faith.
-- Queen Mother Burnece Walker Brunson, “Life Is Like”
This is indeed a good day for living. No matter how hot and dry the day; no matter how early you had to wake up to be at work somewhere within the vicinity of “on time;” no matter how many people rub you the wrong way just by opening their mouths; no matter the number of bill collectors that call you on your job even after you’ve told them countless times not to call there; no matter that the only thing you have for lunch today is peanut butter, crackers, water, and a mint because payday is Friday and all you have in your pocket and your bank account is due to the bill collectors calling you on your job; no matter how long your work day runs beyond your regular hours because the 4:00pm meeting was postponed until 5:30pm and somebody forgot to tell the West coast people on the conference call that you had a life beyond work; no matter how late it is when you get home, only to realize your electricity has been off all day because the power company’s transformers malfunctioned in the heat – and you only know this because you called the power company to be sure you’d paid your bill and got the recording that said they’d already dispatched people to work on the transformer for your area and apologized for the inconvenience; no matter how uncomfortable it is to sleep in one spot because moving would make it hotter in your house, it is indeed a good day for living.
Because if you didn’t live, stay conscious, and value this day, you wouldn’t be able to appreciate the cool air when it clicks back on and fills your house. You wouldn’t be able to share affirming and encouraging exchanges with those who most annoy you, ignoring their insensitivity and pettiness and walking the high road that Jesus walked. You wouldn’t be able to remind the collectors of your billpayers rights since you usually pay your bills on time but just happen to be a little behind right now then feel satisfied when they thank you for that and extend your due date another 3 weeks. You wouldn’t be up for the accolades and opportunities for career and financial advancement you received from sticking with the West coast’s late appointments, and you definitely wouldn’t know how to deal with another day like this when it comes around again.
You wouldn’t be able to follow your heart, believe in yourself, demand the best, or reaffirm your faith if you didn’t keep living, being, listening, learning, going today. Yes, today is indeed a good day for living.
Sadiqqa © 2007
-- Queen Mother Burnece Walker Brunson, “Life Is Like”
This is indeed a good day for living. No matter how hot and dry the day; no matter how early you had to wake up to be at work somewhere within the vicinity of “on time;” no matter how many people rub you the wrong way just by opening their mouths; no matter the number of bill collectors that call you on your job even after you’ve told them countless times not to call there; no matter that the only thing you have for lunch today is peanut butter, crackers, water, and a mint because payday is Friday and all you have in your pocket and your bank account is due to the bill collectors calling you on your job; no matter how long your work day runs beyond your regular hours because the 4:00pm meeting was postponed until 5:30pm and somebody forgot to tell the West coast people on the conference call that you had a life beyond work; no matter how late it is when you get home, only to realize your electricity has been off all day because the power company’s transformers malfunctioned in the heat – and you only know this because you called the power company to be sure you’d paid your bill and got the recording that said they’d already dispatched people to work on the transformer for your area and apologized for the inconvenience; no matter how uncomfortable it is to sleep in one spot because moving would make it hotter in your house, it is indeed a good day for living.
Because if you didn’t live, stay conscious, and value this day, you wouldn’t be able to appreciate the cool air when it clicks back on and fills your house. You wouldn’t be able to share affirming and encouraging exchanges with those who most annoy you, ignoring their insensitivity and pettiness and walking the high road that Jesus walked. You wouldn’t be able to remind the collectors of your billpayers rights since you usually pay your bills on time but just happen to be a little behind right now then feel satisfied when they thank you for that and extend your due date another 3 weeks. You wouldn’t be up for the accolades and opportunities for career and financial advancement you received from sticking with the West coast’s late appointments, and you definitely wouldn’t know how to deal with another day like this when it comes around again.
You wouldn’t be able to follow your heart, believe in yourself, demand the best, or reaffirm your faith if you didn’t keep living, being, listening, learning, going today. Yes, today is indeed a good day for living.
Sadiqqa © 2007
Aug 21, 2007
Whatever you’re faced with is a spiritual battle. The issue is not whether you win but whether you are developing the tools to maintain a faith-filled stance through it all. Right dead in the middle of this battle, you might just discover what an indestructible, untouchable, battle-winning, marvelously creative child of God you are!
-- Esther Davis-Thompson
And what a revelation it is to discover that you are an indestructible, untouchable, battle-winning, marvelously creative child of God! You sensed you might be, but it took the valley, storm, and a few midnights to unearth what you knew to be true.
So now that your fabulousness has been confirmed, what will you do with all that energy?
Will you simply box it up and hide it away for fear that you will be required to do more, be more, and give more of yourself and doing such may cause you to fail or look funny? Will you run from it or act counter to it, making people believe it was a once in a lifetime occurrence for you to show such outstanding character? Are you so tired and out of breath from the whittling you received that you’ll just as soon rest on the present accolades, put forth little to no effort to develop and enhance them, and leave your newly interred qualities unnurtured and wide open for detraction and compromise?
Yeah right!
You’re going to allow your true Self, the one polished by adversity and made supple trial and error, to order your steps and carry you to greater heights, the places you didn’t dare put on paper because you thought they were unreachable, even unreasonable. You’re going to allow who you’ve become to rule your interactions with the world and its many people who have yet to realize their own power and potential!
You’re going to let the person you’ve uncovered unlock doors you previously believed barred and off limits, and step boldly into opportunities with confidence and flair only wrought through the lessons learned in a battle. Your newfound sense of Self will lessen the length of your future battles, improve your resiliency skills, and make you less afraid of struggle’s intensity and its unconstructive influence on your person!
You are going to use your indestructible, untouchable, battle-winning, marvelously creative child of God Self to change lives and help others come into their own indestructible, untouchable, battle-winning, marvelously creative child of God Selves. You will unreservedly celebrate your Self daily, noting how strong you’ve become, and incessantly strengthen your Self through constant attention to internal and physical detail. You will allow nothing, absolutely nothing, to dampen your spirit, squash what you worked hard to develop, or turn you around!
That is what you will do.
Sadiqqa © 2007
-- Esther Davis-Thompson
And what a revelation it is to discover that you are an indestructible, untouchable, battle-winning, marvelously creative child of God! You sensed you might be, but it took the valley, storm, and a few midnights to unearth what you knew to be true.
So now that your fabulousness has been confirmed, what will you do with all that energy?
Will you simply box it up and hide it away for fear that you will be required to do more, be more, and give more of yourself and doing such may cause you to fail or look funny? Will you run from it or act counter to it, making people believe it was a once in a lifetime occurrence for you to show such outstanding character? Are you so tired and out of breath from the whittling you received that you’ll just as soon rest on the present accolades, put forth little to no effort to develop and enhance them, and leave your newly interred qualities unnurtured and wide open for detraction and compromise?
Yeah right!
You’re going to allow your true Self, the one polished by adversity and made supple trial and error, to order your steps and carry you to greater heights, the places you didn’t dare put on paper because you thought they were unreachable, even unreasonable. You’re going to allow who you’ve become to rule your interactions with the world and its many people who have yet to realize their own power and potential!
You’re going to let the person you’ve uncovered unlock doors you previously believed barred and off limits, and step boldly into opportunities with confidence and flair only wrought through the lessons learned in a battle. Your newfound sense of Self will lessen the length of your future battles, improve your resiliency skills, and make you less afraid of struggle’s intensity and its unconstructive influence on your person!
You are going to use your indestructible, untouchable, battle-winning, marvelously creative child of God Self to change lives and help others come into their own indestructible, untouchable, battle-winning, marvelously creative child of God Selves. You will unreservedly celebrate your Self daily, noting how strong you’ve become, and incessantly strengthen your Self through constant attention to internal and physical detail. You will allow nothing, absolutely nothing, to dampen your spirit, squash what you worked hard to develop, or turn you around!
That is what you will do.
Sadiqqa © 2007
Aug 20, 2007
“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed!”
-- Jesus (Luke 12:49 – 50)
Jesus came into the world so that we might have freedom, peace, and eternal life. He came like fire bringing fiery truth and redemption. He came into this upside down world to turn it right side up and to restore wholeness, compassion, and right relationship with God and others. Jesus came so that he could wipe our slates clean of sin and usher us all into God’s grace and favor. Jesus laid down his precious life so that we could have new life. Jesus came to save us!
Well, neither you nor I can save the world, but each of us has come into the world with the same gusto, drive, and fire that Jesus came with to accomplish the purpose set for us. And just as Jesus couldn’t rest until he got His done, you can’t rest either.
Each day you leave your door – no – each day that you wake, you ought to be as scorching as fire as you work to accomplish your purpose. Every step you take should be in order with your purpose, and every word uttered from your mouth should be of that direction as well. Not a single step should be taken in fear; they should be bold and sure just like Jesus’ steps. Your words, spoken in and on purpose, should be forthright and deliberate so that everyone understands what you came to do. Your countenance should be confident and undaunting so that there are no questions about how serious you are about accomplishing your purpose, and your attitude should be unwavering so that people will know you didn’t come to play. Anything less waters down the fire of your mission, usurps your credibility, is a waste of time, and is not like Jesus.
Had Jesus hemmed-and-hawed when God told Him to save your soul, you’d have an excuse to dally your way out of vehemently fulfilling the purpose God set before you. But Jesus didn’t; He took the task on with love and respect for His Father AND your life, pursued it with passion, and stressed out when we didn’t (and don’t) live our lives in ways that show we know what He was sent to do for us. You must also, without complaint or wasting time, lovingly take on your purpose and accomplish it with zeal no matter which or how many of the Pharisees stress you out. Jesus didn’t break, you won’t either.
If you’re not on fire, if you’re not excited and burning with power and determination as you walk and work in and on your purpose, what’s the point? If you stop or give in before you have completely undergone the baptism, the tests and challenges you find on the path to your purpose, you may as well be ashes.
Sadiqqa © 2007
-- Jesus (Luke 12:49 – 50)
Jesus came into the world so that we might have freedom, peace, and eternal life. He came like fire bringing fiery truth and redemption. He came into this upside down world to turn it right side up and to restore wholeness, compassion, and right relationship with God and others. Jesus came so that he could wipe our slates clean of sin and usher us all into God’s grace and favor. Jesus laid down his precious life so that we could have new life. Jesus came to save us!
Well, neither you nor I can save the world, but each of us has come into the world with the same gusto, drive, and fire that Jesus came with to accomplish the purpose set for us. And just as Jesus couldn’t rest until he got His done, you can’t rest either.
Each day you leave your door – no – each day that you wake, you ought to be as scorching as fire as you work to accomplish your purpose. Every step you take should be in order with your purpose, and every word uttered from your mouth should be of that direction as well. Not a single step should be taken in fear; they should be bold and sure just like Jesus’ steps. Your words, spoken in and on purpose, should be forthright and deliberate so that everyone understands what you came to do. Your countenance should be confident and undaunting so that there are no questions about how serious you are about accomplishing your purpose, and your attitude should be unwavering so that people will know you didn’t come to play. Anything less waters down the fire of your mission, usurps your credibility, is a waste of time, and is not like Jesus.
Had Jesus hemmed-and-hawed when God told Him to save your soul, you’d have an excuse to dally your way out of vehemently fulfilling the purpose God set before you. But Jesus didn’t; He took the task on with love and respect for His Father AND your life, pursued it with passion, and stressed out when we didn’t (and don’t) live our lives in ways that show we know what He was sent to do for us. You must also, without complaint or wasting time, lovingly take on your purpose and accomplish it with zeal no matter which or how many of the Pharisees stress you out. Jesus didn’t break, you won’t either.
If you’re not on fire, if you’re not excited and burning with power and determination as you walk and work in and on your purpose, what’s the point? If you stop or give in before you have completely undergone the baptism, the tests and challenges you find on the path to your purpose, you may as well be ashes.
Sadiqqa © 2007
Aug 17, 2007
Ask if you can play, too.
-- Cynthia Copeland Lewis
Nobody ever asked you what you thought. They never considered you might have the answer to the problem at hand or a new way to make the opportunities possible. They never asked you what you knew. But you also never told them what you could do.
You’ve got exactly what they need to help them be successful. You’ve also got a chance to lead the group, change some perspectives, and make a difference in the lives of a lot of people. But you never speak up or stand up when its time to make a decision, frequently positioning yourself on the fence where it’s safe and often crowded. You can’t play in the game because they don’t even see you on the field.
You can’t get ahead this way. If you just sit around wondering how you can be a real player in the game of life, but never opening up or stepping out, never asking how and why and where, waiting for an invitation, a smile, or a friendly word, you’ll never get to play a good game. You’ve got to take the risks involved in speaking up, standing up, and having a differing point of view. Else you’re just filling space and meandering through life hoping for a big break and pot of gold to fall from the sky.
Jump in! Ask somebody how to do the stuff. Let people know you’re interested in something and that you know what to do. Never fail to show up somewhere interesting with something good to offer. If you don’t, it’s nobody’s fault but your own if you don’t get to be part of the festivities of life.
Sadiqqa © 2007
-- Cynthia Copeland Lewis
Nobody ever asked you what you thought. They never considered you might have the answer to the problem at hand or a new way to make the opportunities possible. They never asked you what you knew. But you also never told them what you could do.
You’ve got exactly what they need to help them be successful. You’ve also got a chance to lead the group, change some perspectives, and make a difference in the lives of a lot of people. But you never speak up or stand up when its time to make a decision, frequently positioning yourself on the fence where it’s safe and often crowded. You can’t play in the game because they don’t even see you on the field.
You can’t get ahead this way. If you just sit around wondering how you can be a real player in the game of life, but never opening up or stepping out, never asking how and why and where, waiting for an invitation, a smile, or a friendly word, you’ll never get to play a good game. You’ve got to take the risks involved in speaking up, standing up, and having a differing point of view. Else you’re just filling space and meandering through life hoping for a big break and pot of gold to fall from the sky.
Jump in! Ask somebody how to do the stuff. Let people know you’re interested in something and that you know what to do. Never fail to show up somewhere interesting with something good to offer. If you don’t, it’s nobody’s fault but your own if you don’t get to be part of the festivities of life.
Sadiqqa © 2007
Aug 16, 2007
Give whatever you are doing and whoever you are with the gift of attention.
-- Jim Rohn
Just before falling asleep last night, when the house was quiet and serene – the only sounds the low hum of the refrigerator, the crickets outside, and the faint whistle in your breathing – you took a moment to reflect on your day. And what a day it was! It must’ve been. Why else would you have been so tired and worn? But what exactly did you do yesterday?
Well, you remember waking up and offering your morning prayers. But what did you pray for? You remember getting dressed, even what you wore and checking yourself out in the mirror. But do you remember and did you stop and consider with complete alertness what you saw when you looked at yourself? Or did you just do a quick scan, straighten you collar, and keep going?
Do you remember listening intently to your thoughts and what others had to say throughout the day, or did you have so many things on your mind that no one thing penetrated your consciousness? Did you stay so close to the surface of the day that everything felt surreal, incomplete, and artificial? Perhaps you got a lot done yesterday; you completed a project, made valuable connections, you may have even saved a rainforest or figured out how to help NASA put the tiles back in place. But if you didn’t get a grasp of any particular moment, if attention to the inner recesses of life – the nuts and bolts stuff that give it depth and meaning – was lacking, if you failed to observe the unfolding of life around you, your existence today had no experience at all. What a wasted day.
Living in the moment is just that; it’s being “alive” at this moment. It is being present right here and right now. Being present in the moment allows you the opportunity to enmesh yourself into this time, fully getting from it the joys and displeasures only available during that moment. It is being alert and awake to what is around you, and taking in the messages and the variety of experiences and nuances, no matter how small, of the present time. Being present, living in the moment, is wholly concentrating on where you are, what you’re doing, and how it all feels to you.
Bet you don’t even remember the experience of driving to work this morning. Bet you can’t recall the movement of the trees or the state of the people you encountered on your way in to work this morning. You were caught up in anything but the moment. Perhaps you should have stayed home instead of wasting your moments in time.
Life is but a moment, and it must be experienced moment by moment. If we spend our moments rushing through them or passing them by without bare attention to their existence, we miss opportunities and possibilities and, most importantly, we miss our precious Selves who are waiting to be attended. Life is but a moment but it’s about the moments within. Pay attention to them.
Sadiqqa © 2007
-- Jim Rohn
Just before falling asleep last night, when the house was quiet and serene – the only sounds the low hum of the refrigerator, the crickets outside, and the faint whistle in your breathing – you took a moment to reflect on your day. And what a day it was! It must’ve been. Why else would you have been so tired and worn? But what exactly did you do yesterday?
Well, you remember waking up and offering your morning prayers. But what did you pray for? You remember getting dressed, even what you wore and checking yourself out in the mirror. But do you remember and did you stop and consider with complete alertness what you saw when you looked at yourself? Or did you just do a quick scan, straighten you collar, and keep going?
Do you remember listening intently to your thoughts and what others had to say throughout the day, or did you have so many things on your mind that no one thing penetrated your consciousness? Did you stay so close to the surface of the day that everything felt surreal, incomplete, and artificial? Perhaps you got a lot done yesterday; you completed a project, made valuable connections, you may have even saved a rainforest or figured out how to help NASA put the tiles back in place. But if you didn’t get a grasp of any particular moment, if attention to the inner recesses of life – the nuts and bolts stuff that give it depth and meaning – was lacking, if you failed to observe the unfolding of life around you, your existence today had no experience at all. What a wasted day.
Living in the moment is just that; it’s being “alive” at this moment. It is being present right here and right now. Being present in the moment allows you the opportunity to enmesh yourself into this time, fully getting from it the joys and displeasures only available during that moment. It is being alert and awake to what is around you, and taking in the messages and the variety of experiences and nuances, no matter how small, of the present time. Being present, living in the moment, is wholly concentrating on where you are, what you’re doing, and how it all feels to you.
Bet you don’t even remember the experience of driving to work this morning. Bet you can’t recall the movement of the trees or the state of the people you encountered on your way in to work this morning. You were caught up in anything but the moment. Perhaps you should have stayed home instead of wasting your moments in time.
Life is but a moment, and it must be experienced moment by moment. If we spend our moments rushing through them or passing them by without bare attention to their existence, we miss opportunities and possibilities and, most importantly, we miss our precious Selves who are waiting to be attended. Life is but a moment but it’s about the moments within. Pay attention to them.
Sadiqqa © 2007
Aug 15, 2007
Do you ever feel the true you is hidden, even from yourself? There’s only one way to get to the real: by reclaiming emotions you learned to bury a long time ago.
-- Mark Epstein
Well, if you knew how to reclaim those buried emotions, you’d have already done that, right?
And, if you even knew what those emotions were, you’d already be well on your way, isn’t that the truth?
The real truth is that you’ve probably already reclaimed those emotions and run into who you really are time after time but you had no idea it was you and those were the emotions you’d kept hidden because it all somehow got minced in with your everyday routine and the facts of your life.
So break your routine. Do something different that requires you to think about what you’re doing. Do something unpredictable, something that surprises you. Do something so uncharacteristic that you have to stretch to find yourself and a comfortable comfort zone. You’ll find yourself and the hidden emotions will stand out.
It may be a small step, but remember – small steps keep you from being buried.
Sadiqqa © 2007
-- Mark Epstein
Well, if you knew how to reclaim those buried emotions, you’d have already done that, right?
And, if you even knew what those emotions were, you’d already be well on your way, isn’t that the truth?
The real truth is that you’ve probably already reclaimed those emotions and run into who you really are time after time but you had no idea it was you and those were the emotions you’d kept hidden because it all somehow got minced in with your everyday routine and the facts of your life.
So break your routine. Do something different that requires you to think about what you’re doing. Do something unpredictable, something that surprises you. Do something so uncharacteristic that you have to stretch to find yourself and a comfortable comfort zone. You’ll find yourself and the hidden emotions will stand out.
It may be a small step, but remember – small steps keep you from being buried.
Sadiqqa © 2007
Aug 14, 2007
... compose a mission statement. It doesn’t mean your life will follow the exact pattern, but you will still have set a course for who you believe yourself to be.
-- Oprah Winfrey
Every business has a mission, a purpose, a reason for being, and this mission tells stakeholders the needs it addresses, what it values, and how it does its business – all in a mere few sentences. Without such a statement, no one who had any interest in the company – from stockholders and CEOs to employees and their families – would be on the same page, nor could the company effectively plan for its future.
Consider that perhaps our lives can be treated like that of a business, and in order to ensure our continued success – or at least our sustainability – we should develop personal mission statements that will keep us from living haphazardly and too far from the realm of reality. Consider drawing up a personal statement that seriously answers the question, “why do I exist?” A statement of purpose that is alive and upbeat because you are, thoughtful and convincing, inspiring enough that it will draw support and commitment from others, and short enough for you to remember and spout off when asked what you do makes for a powerful one and sets you far above those who go wherever the wind blows and simply take life as it comes.
Of course developing your personal mission statement would suggest that you at least have some idea of who you are, what you can offer, and what you value. Knowing what is true about yourself; being tuned in to your talents and gifts, strengths and weaknesses; and understanding your needs and beliefs and their points of origin are all necessary for constructing a personal mission statement. Without knowledge of these components, you’re simply putting a puzzle together without the inside pieces.
Barring that you’re fully aware of the above (and if you’re not, now’s as good a time as any to get started. You don’t want to be 80 years old and either not know who you are or simply resigned to being whoever rose with the sun.), your statement of purpose should be written clearly and concisely, and once you’ve got it in stone, you can set your goals and daily activities along its path.
Regularly review your personal statement to purge staleness and irrelevance, and remind yourself that doing anything other than actualizing your mission can be detrimental to your survival and success and should be eliminated quickly. Keep your mission front and center at all times and see what your future unfolds.
Sadiqqa © 2007
-- Oprah Winfrey
Every business has a mission, a purpose, a reason for being, and this mission tells stakeholders the needs it addresses, what it values, and how it does its business – all in a mere few sentences. Without such a statement, no one who had any interest in the company – from stockholders and CEOs to employees and their families – would be on the same page, nor could the company effectively plan for its future.
Consider that perhaps our lives can be treated like that of a business, and in order to ensure our continued success – or at least our sustainability – we should develop personal mission statements that will keep us from living haphazardly and too far from the realm of reality. Consider drawing up a personal statement that seriously answers the question, “why do I exist?” A statement of purpose that is alive and upbeat because you are, thoughtful and convincing, inspiring enough that it will draw support and commitment from others, and short enough for you to remember and spout off when asked what you do makes for a powerful one and sets you far above those who go wherever the wind blows and simply take life as it comes.
Of course developing your personal mission statement would suggest that you at least have some idea of who you are, what you can offer, and what you value. Knowing what is true about yourself; being tuned in to your talents and gifts, strengths and weaknesses; and understanding your needs and beliefs and their points of origin are all necessary for constructing a personal mission statement. Without knowledge of these components, you’re simply putting a puzzle together without the inside pieces.
Barring that you’re fully aware of the above (and if you’re not, now’s as good a time as any to get started. You don’t want to be 80 years old and either not know who you are or simply resigned to being whoever rose with the sun.), your statement of purpose should be written clearly and concisely, and once you’ve got it in stone, you can set your goals and daily activities along its path.
Regularly review your personal statement to purge staleness and irrelevance, and remind yourself that doing anything other than actualizing your mission can be detrimental to your survival and success and should be eliminated quickly. Keep your mission front and center at all times and see what your future unfolds.
Sadiqqa © 2007
Aug 13, 2007
Sending your blessings a few times a day to a person you are in conflict with is helpful in reducing misunderstanding and hostility. It doesn’t change the other person; it changes you. It softens your heart; it helps how you treat and respond to that person. When you resent or resist someone, that negativity is felt by them just as your openheartedness is.
-- Susan Taylor
The boss is on your back just because it’s Monday morning and you look better than he does. Your honey’s love is not so sweet today and she on your last nerve. You are two seconds short of calling your kids “the spawn of the devil” for sending you clear over the edge. Bless them anyway.
The lady in the blue ’72 hooptie cut you off in traffic then proceeded to drive 35 miles per hour all the way into the city. Two of your most difficult clients gave you hell in a handbasket today; another cancelled your services and another just didn’t show. Entering the breakroom, you overheard the tail end of one of your coworker’s very racy and racist joke, and when he saw you, he and the other eager listeners burst out laughing. Bless them all anyway.
Your newspaper was thrown in and soaked by your sprinklers this morning. The kids on the block yesterday who were eating chips, cookies, and candy discarded the trash at the edge of your lawn and the wind blew it to your front door. The trash collectors didn’t get your trash today; they’re on strike because they want more benefits (you thought I was going to say pay, huh?). Bless each of them anyway.
Send them all love and words of understanding and reprieve. Even if the injurious, inappropriate, and inexcusable stuff was done on purpose, send out the energy of forgiveness and compassion. It’s certainly not easy to back away from resentment and anger, and it may take some time to calm down and remove the reeling thoughts of wanting heads to roll. But even if it makes no difference in the attitude or behaviors of the perpetrators, ask God to bless their hearts anyway and watch how your heart and sense of peace will be salvaged and blessed.
Sadiqqa © 2007
-- Susan Taylor
The boss is on your back just because it’s Monday morning and you look better than he does. Your honey’s love is not so sweet today and she on your last nerve. You are two seconds short of calling your kids “the spawn of the devil” for sending you clear over the edge. Bless them anyway.
The lady in the blue ’72 hooptie cut you off in traffic then proceeded to drive 35 miles per hour all the way into the city. Two of your most difficult clients gave you hell in a handbasket today; another cancelled your services and another just didn’t show. Entering the breakroom, you overheard the tail end of one of your coworker’s very racy and racist joke, and when he saw you, he and the other eager listeners burst out laughing. Bless them all anyway.
Your newspaper was thrown in and soaked by your sprinklers this morning. The kids on the block yesterday who were eating chips, cookies, and candy discarded the trash at the edge of your lawn and the wind blew it to your front door. The trash collectors didn’t get your trash today; they’re on strike because they want more benefits (you thought I was going to say pay, huh?). Bless each of them anyway.
Send them all love and words of understanding and reprieve. Even if the injurious, inappropriate, and inexcusable stuff was done on purpose, send out the energy of forgiveness and compassion. It’s certainly not easy to back away from resentment and anger, and it may take some time to calm down and remove the reeling thoughts of wanting heads to roll. But even if it makes no difference in the attitude or behaviors of the perpetrators, ask God to bless their hearts anyway and watch how your heart and sense of peace will be salvaged and blessed.
Sadiqqa © 2007
Aug 10, 2007
The very act of constantly dividing one’s personality between a predominately white world of work and a predominately black home community can be wearying.
-- Clarence Page
You woke up this morning in your Black home, washed and adorned your black body, combed your black hair, locked the door of your black house, got in the car to listen to your black music, and drove through traffic thinking black thoughts. Then, you walked into a lily white office.
You suddenly do 2 things – 1) tone your black down then 2) put on the white cap.
Now, some of us don’t care; we never change out of our black. We drive into the parking lot with the music booming, heads bopping, and our fists pumped, not caring who’s watching in shock, disapproval, or disbelief.
But others of us smile at everybody like we are the world, laugh along with the group as the boss tells yet another corny story that is so not interesting, and even change the vernacular of our language and voices to match that of the dominant group. Maybe we do those things to fit in and ultimately keep our jobs. Maybe we don’t want white people to think we’re not totally like them thus causing them to think us different, difficult, or unapproachable and ultimately blackballed, disrespected, and/or without a job. Maybe we want white people to think we’re different than the Black folks they saw on the evening news last night, the ones who got arrested for acting fools for whatever reason. Whatever our reasons for cloaking our black at the expense of white folks, it certainly makes for a long, hard day, one in which walking a real tight rope is probably easier.
W.E.B. Dubois called it having a “double consciousness,” and though he was referring to Black people being both Black and American, having “two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings,” this double consciousness is synonymous with having to walk in 2 worlds – a Black one and a white one. Both worlds have their own peculiarities, and as Black people, we have to walk the line between both worlds, switching back and forth as necessary. How much more comfortable are you talking with the Black secretary or janitor than you are talking with your white co-workers because of the innate similarities you and that Black person have in common? Don’t your shoulders tend to relax a little when you’re just shooting the breeze with Leroy the janitor who comes from around your neighborhood? You and he have sort of an unspoken solidarity despite your socioeconomic, gender, or age statuses.
Each day we must reconcile living Black in a white world. We must know not only how to maneuver and get along in the world of Black, we also have to know the same when we cross the emotional and physical railroads, which means we spend most of the day outside of our true selves and in the heads of white people and trying to stay 2 steps ahead. And it’s not until we’ve shown them who we are and that we’re harmless human beings just like they are that we let down our guard and keep the black on.
But there comes a day and time when you’re too tired to front any longer and you just want to be. And why shouldn’t you? White people get to just be white. You are who you are, there’s no denying that, and none of us should even begin to think we have to shut away our Black customs and individuality just to fit in and keep white people at ease. There’s no reason for us to divide our personalities. Who we are is who we are in any community.
And, whose issue is it if white people are uncomfortable with Black? It’s not ours and we should not take it.
No more hiding, acculturating, and obliterating who we really are just to make white people comfortable.
Sadiqqa © 2007
-- Clarence Page
You woke up this morning in your Black home, washed and adorned your black body, combed your black hair, locked the door of your black house, got in the car to listen to your black music, and drove through traffic thinking black thoughts. Then, you walked into a lily white office.
You suddenly do 2 things – 1) tone your black down then 2) put on the white cap.
Now, some of us don’t care; we never change out of our black. We drive into the parking lot with the music booming, heads bopping, and our fists pumped, not caring who’s watching in shock, disapproval, or disbelief.
But others of us smile at everybody like we are the world, laugh along with the group as the boss tells yet another corny story that is so not interesting, and even change the vernacular of our language and voices to match that of the dominant group. Maybe we do those things to fit in and ultimately keep our jobs. Maybe we don’t want white people to think we’re not totally like them thus causing them to think us different, difficult, or unapproachable and ultimately blackballed, disrespected, and/or without a job. Maybe we want white people to think we’re different than the Black folks they saw on the evening news last night, the ones who got arrested for acting fools for whatever reason. Whatever our reasons for cloaking our black at the expense of white folks, it certainly makes for a long, hard day, one in which walking a real tight rope is probably easier.
W.E.B. Dubois called it having a “double consciousness,” and though he was referring to Black people being both Black and American, having “two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings,” this double consciousness is synonymous with having to walk in 2 worlds – a Black one and a white one. Both worlds have their own peculiarities, and as Black people, we have to walk the line between both worlds, switching back and forth as necessary. How much more comfortable are you talking with the Black secretary or janitor than you are talking with your white co-workers because of the innate similarities you and that Black person have in common? Don’t your shoulders tend to relax a little when you’re just shooting the breeze with Leroy the janitor who comes from around your neighborhood? You and he have sort of an unspoken solidarity despite your socioeconomic, gender, or age statuses.
Each day we must reconcile living Black in a white world. We must know not only how to maneuver and get along in the world of Black, we also have to know the same when we cross the emotional and physical railroads, which means we spend most of the day outside of our true selves and in the heads of white people and trying to stay 2 steps ahead. And it’s not until we’ve shown them who we are and that we’re harmless human beings just like they are that we let down our guard and keep the black on.
But there comes a day and time when you’re too tired to front any longer and you just want to be. And why shouldn’t you? White people get to just be white. You are who you are, there’s no denying that, and none of us should even begin to think we have to shut away our Black customs and individuality just to fit in and keep white people at ease. There’s no reason for us to divide our personalities. Who we are is who we are in any community.
And, whose issue is it if white people are uncomfortable with Black? It’s not ours and we should not take it.
No more hiding, acculturating, and obliterating who we really are just to make white people comfortable.
Sadiqqa © 2007
Aug 9, 2007
Problem... here I come!
-- Esther Davis-Thompson
Everytime you open your front door, there is Problem. Bold, undeniable, in-your-face Problem.
Problem is rude. He never waits for you to open the door. He seeps through the jambs, and sometimes he just barges in and pushes you out of the way.
And Problem’s not just one of those that stays for a little while, you know, like Peace and Bliss who sometimes stay for a minute or two. No, Problem stays around, wearing out his welcome. Sometimes Problem stays so long that Bliss, Peace, and the rest of their visiting friends – Happiness, Contentment, Joy, and Harmony –leave as soon as possible and don’t come back for a very long time. They don’t want to stay around Problem; they just can’t stomach him. Problem comes in and eats up all your chocolate ice cream in one sitting, steals your energy, makes you angry, makes you cry, and has a tendency to bring in his no-good cousins Trouble, Depression, and Crisis. Problem makes your life utterly miserable.
But Problem only stays around until you put him out – you learned that a while ago, a few weeks ago, as a matter of fact, when he came calling. Problem sat around and sat around until you finally said, “I just can’t take this Problem anymore!” You were mad and Problem knew it. He started packing his dirty bags and giving you all the stuff bag he stole – your ability to sleep soundly, your appetite, and your precious smile and laughter. And just like that, he was gone. Well, he was gone after he tried to convince you to let him stay a while longer by telling you that you couldn’t live without him, that you needed him, and that you would be empty without him. While that line of reasoning had worked in the past, this time you were so sick of Problem, you escorted him out and slammed the door on his butt!
But it seems Problem has a thing for you and always returns to make you and your life surly. That’s why he’s at your door today, and he actually likes you surly.
Here’s what you need to do -
Surprise him. Immediately – don’t wait for him to get comfortable – look him dead in the face, right in his eyes, and tell him he no longer has a resting place in your space; you have no more need for Problem in your life. Tell him you are in charge and he can no longer occupy your head or balance himself on your shoulders, weighing you down with his circumstances. Make him know that you will no longer spend your days and nights worrying about him or the damage he’s causing to your psyche because there will be no damage, he’s done. Stomp his toe, give him an elbow in the stomach, and body slam him into the porch (because you didn’t let him in your house, remember?). And then tell him if he even tries to come back, you’ve got more of this for him!
He’ll probably call your bluff and come back again and again and again. That’s just the way Problem is. But every time he comes back, tell him, “Problem, come on! I dare you!” Then knock him out immediately!
Sadiqqa © 2007
-- Esther Davis-Thompson
Everytime you open your front door, there is Problem. Bold, undeniable, in-your-face Problem.
Problem is rude. He never waits for you to open the door. He seeps through the jambs, and sometimes he just barges in and pushes you out of the way.
And Problem’s not just one of those that stays for a little while, you know, like Peace and Bliss who sometimes stay for a minute or two. No, Problem stays around, wearing out his welcome. Sometimes Problem stays so long that Bliss, Peace, and the rest of their visiting friends – Happiness, Contentment, Joy, and Harmony –leave as soon as possible and don’t come back for a very long time. They don’t want to stay around Problem; they just can’t stomach him. Problem comes in and eats up all your chocolate ice cream in one sitting, steals your energy, makes you angry, makes you cry, and has a tendency to bring in his no-good cousins Trouble, Depression, and Crisis. Problem makes your life utterly miserable.
But Problem only stays around until you put him out – you learned that a while ago, a few weeks ago, as a matter of fact, when he came calling. Problem sat around and sat around until you finally said, “I just can’t take this Problem anymore!” You were mad and Problem knew it. He started packing his dirty bags and giving you all the stuff bag he stole – your ability to sleep soundly, your appetite, and your precious smile and laughter. And just like that, he was gone. Well, he was gone after he tried to convince you to let him stay a while longer by telling you that you couldn’t live without him, that you needed him, and that you would be empty without him. While that line of reasoning had worked in the past, this time you were so sick of Problem, you escorted him out and slammed the door on his butt!
But it seems Problem has a thing for you and always returns to make you and your life surly. That’s why he’s at your door today, and he actually likes you surly.
Here’s what you need to do -
Surprise him. Immediately – don’t wait for him to get comfortable – look him dead in the face, right in his eyes, and tell him he no longer has a resting place in your space; you have no more need for Problem in your life. Tell him you are in charge and he can no longer occupy your head or balance himself on your shoulders, weighing you down with his circumstances. Make him know that you will no longer spend your days and nights worrying about him or the damage he’s causing to your psyche because there will be no damage, he’s done. Stomp his toe, give him an elbow in the stomach, and body slam him into the porch (because you didn’t let him in your house, remember?). And then tell him if he even tries to come back, you’ve got more of this for him!
He’ll probably call your bluff and come back again and again and again. That’s just the way Problem is. But every time he comes back, tell him, “Problem, come on! I dare you!” Then knock him out immediately!
Sadiqqa © 2007
Aug 8, 2007
I have been carefully prepared to do the work that is before me. By each experience that I have undergone and each person I have known, by every conflict and problem and challenge set before me on my path from the day of my birth until now, I have purposely been made able. I must simply believe this to be so and walk my path to the High Places by knowing this to be so.
-- Esther Davis-Thompson
There are days you think you can’t handle it, nights that seem too hard. The task put before you seems monumental, as though you’ll never accomplish. It all feels too big, too much, too hard. So what do you do about it?
Worry.
You worry that you don’t have everything you need to make it happen. You worry that you’ll never get all the stuff done to make it happen. You worry about the process. You worry that the people aren’t in place, that you won’t make friends. You worry that you’ll say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing. You worry that you don’t have enough or won’t have enough. You worry that you’ll be stumped, look stupid, or fail. You worry that you’ll be alone. You worry about every piece and part so much that you make yourself sick and not even a dose of chewable Immodium® or Pepto Bismol® every 4 hours will stop the flood that comes from your orifices.
But if you think about it, if you reflect on the last time you had to pull a big, scary thing off, you’ll realize you did it and lived. You had everything you needed to make the thing happen before, certainly things will fall in place this time as well. Why wouldn’t they? You may have to work a bit harder and longer for this may be an even bigger challenge than before, but, so what? Just work harder and longer. You were made for this. You were built tough. You were born a winner. You’ve gone through enough stuff to know exactly how to craft your way through this. You can make it happen.
In the meantime, while you’re waiting for this challenge to pass, stop worrying and just enjoy the journey. Before you know it, that thing will have happened and you’ll be on to the next opportunity.
And don’t worry about that one either.
Sadiqqa © 2007
-- Esther Davis-Thompson
There are days you think you can’t handle it, nights that seem too hard. The task put before you seems monumental, as though you’ll never accomplish. It all feels too big, too much, too hard. So what do you do about it?
Worry.
You worry that you don’t have everything you need to make it happen. You worry that you’ll never get all the stuff done to make it happen. You worry about the process. You worry that the people aren’t in place, that you won’t make friends. You worry that you’ll say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing. You worry that you don’t have enough or won’t have enough. You worry that you’ll be stumped, look stupid, or fail. You worry that you’ll be alone. You worry about every piece and part so much that you make yourself sick and not even a dose of chewable Immodium® or Pepto Bismol® every 4 hours will stop the flood that comes from your orifices.
But if you think about it, if you reflect on the last time you had to pull a big, scary thing off, you’ll realize you did it and lived. You had everything you needed to make the thing happen before, certainly things will fall in place this time as well. Why wouldn’t they? You may have to work a bit harder and longer for this may be an even bigger challenge than before, but, so what? Just work harder and longer. You were made for this. You were built tough. You were born a winner. You’ve gone through enough stuff to know exactly how to craft your way through this. You can make it happen.
In the meantime, while you’re waiting for this challenge to pass, stop worrying and just enjoy the journey. Before you know it, that thing will have happened and you’ll be on to the next opportunity.
And don’t worry about that one either.
Sadiqqa © 2007
Aug 7, 2007
For now...
-- Reina
For now, you may have to take your lunch everyday – peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bologna sandwiches, or leftovers from your mama’s Sunday dinner.
For now, you may need to forgo expanded cable. No digitally-enhanced movie channels that feature the latest big budget blockbusters.
For now, that new pair of Jimmy Choo shoes and meal at the city’s newest and most hyped 5-star restaurant may have to take a backseat to bills, childcare, insurance, and other living expenses demanding their portion.
For now, you have to work from sun-up until sun-down to make one end even see the other end. For now, there’s more month than money, and robbing Peter to pay Paul means you also have to borrow from Mary and Martha just to keep Paul from realizing he was robbed.
For now, you may need to be alone – just you – to sort through your life’s purpose and figure out what’s really on your mind. For now, your alone time may best be spent dissecting and picking away at the scars and wounds just below the surface.
For now it’s hot outside, and when it rains, it gets hotter and the air gets thicker. For now, the heat and hazy air make you listless, have a headache, and draw cicadas – the blind ones that sting whatever they run into. For now, you’re counting the days until the first chill even though counting means you’re rushing your life.
But just as the seasons change, so do our own seasons and situation. You won’t always have to eat last night’s dinner; you’ll be able to go to the new restaurant and have lunch AND dinner if you like. Later on down the road, you will be able to buy 2 or 3 pairs of shoes using your very own disposable money, then choose which pair you’d like to wear on that evening’s date, shelving the other few pairs for the other dates you have lined up.
One day, and it won’t be too long from now, you'll see that “for now” will be yesterday.
Sadiqqa © 2007
-- Reina
For now, you may have to take your lunch everyday – peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bologna sandwiches, or leftovers from your mama’s Sunday dinner.
For now, you may need to forgo expanded cable. No digitally-enhanced movie channels that feature the latest big budget blockbusters.
For now, that new pair of Jimmy Choo shoes and meal at the city’s newest and most hyped 5-star restaurant may have to take a backseat to bills, childcare, insurance, and other living expenses demanding their portion.
For now, you have to work from sun-up until sun-down to make one end even see the other end. For now, there’s more month than money, and robbing Peter to pay Paul means you also have to borrow from Mary and Martha just to keep Paul from realizing he was robbed.
For now, you may need to be alone – just you – to sort through your life’s purpose and figure out what’s really on your mind. For now, your alone time may best be spent dissecting and picking away at the scars and wounds just below the surface.
For now it’s hot outside, and when it rains, it gets hotter and the air gets thicker. For now, the heat and hazy air make you listless, have a headache, and draw cicadas – the blind ones that sting whatever they run into. For now, you’re counting the days until the first chill even though counting means you’re rushing your life.
But just as the seasons change, so do our own seasons and situation. You won’t always have to eat last night’s dinner; you’ll be able to go to the new restaurant and have lunch AND dinner if you like. Later on down the road, you will be able to buy 2 or 3 pairs of shoes using your very own disposable money, then choose which pair you’d like to wear on that evening’s date, shelving the other few pairs for the other dates you have lined up.
One day, and it won’t be too long from now, you'll see that “for now” will be yesterday.
Sadiqqa © 2007
Aug 6, 2007
If you can start the day without caffeine or pep pills; if you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains; if you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles; if you can eat the same food everyday and be grateful for it; if you can understand when loved ones are too busy to give you time; if you can overlook when people take things out on you when, through no fault of yours, something goes wrong; if you can take criticism and blame without resentment; if you can face the world without lies and deceit; if you can relax without liquor and sleep without the aid of drugs; if you can do all these things, then you are probably the family dog.
-- Author Unknown
Sometimes life deals us some rough circumstances and throws us into places that are hurtful, uncomfortable, or just plain dumb. It’s hard to stay up and open all the time. One day you’re sitting in an easy chair on easy street and everything’s going your way; the very next day, your chair has been overturned, the street has formed switchbacks, and you can’t even find your way. That’s life.
To stay focused on the beauty and magnificence of life’s journey when things are bleak and wearisome isn’t easy; it takes a tough and resilient constitution and strong, unrelenting faith that this too shall pass and just on the other side of any mess is you the victor, the conqueror.
You could spend your life as a pessimist, doubting good things will happen and refuting that the good stuff that does happen was meant to be, not just chance or a fluke. But then you run the risk of missing out on certainties and opportunities that only come to fruition because you believed in them. Or you can spend your life as an eternal optimist who believes that every slam turns into a big juicy steak and just saying it’s all good actually makes it all good. But that’d be naïve and you’d probably feel foolish more times than not.
Or perhaps it’s healthiest to find a balance, a happy medium, between the two extremes. Perhaps living in the middle of cynicism and cheerfulness allows room to exercise your humanness and gives you permission to experience all the emotions along the spectrum of attitudes, going with the day’s feeling and flow whatever they are. Perhaps as humans we aren’t designed or intended to function in just one place, that what we deal with each day should cause us to move as a Ferris Wheel does so that we not only appreciate the ups, but we can catch another wind and pray and prepare for our ups when we’re down.
That’s what life is about – taking it all in stride, never to personally, never too casually, but simply accepting and emotionally accommodating it without too much worry or strife. Stuff happens to us all. The trick is to steady your outlook and lie comfortably, humbly, and patiently somewhere along the middle of the edges, shaking it all off your back – just like the family dog.
Sadiqqa © 2007
-- Author Unknown
Sometimes life deals us some rough circumstances and throws us into places that are hurtful, uncomfortable, or just plain dumb. It’s hard to stay up and open all the time. One day you’re sitting in an easy chair on easy street and everything’s going your way; the very next day, your chair has been overturned, the street has formed switchbacks, and you can’t even find your way. That’s life.
To stay focused on the beauty and magnificence of life’s journey when things are bleak and wearisome isn’t easy; it takes a tough and resilient constitution and strong, unrelenting faith that this too shall pass and just on the other side of any mess is you the victor, the conqueror.
You could spend your life as a pessimist, doubting good things will happen and refuting that the good stuff that does happen was meant to be, not just chance or a fluke. But then you run the risk of missing out on certainties and opportunities that only come to fruition because you believed in them. Or you can spend your life as an eternal optimist who believes that every slam turns into a big juicy steak and just saying it’s all good actually makes it all good. But that’d be naïve and you’d probably feel foolish more times than not.
Or perhaps it’s healthiest to find a balance, a happy medium, between the two extremes. Perhaps living in the middle of cynicism and cheerfulness allows room to exercise your humanness and gives you permission to experience all the emotions along the spectrum of attitudes, going with the day’s feeling and flow whatever they are. Perhaps as humans we aren’t designed or intended to function in just one place, that what we deal with each day should cause us to move as a Ferris Wheel does so that we not only appreciate the ups, but we can catch another wind and pray and prepare for our ups when we’re down.
That’s what life is about – taking it all in stride, never to personally, never too casually, but simply accepting and emotionally accommodating it without too much worry or strife. Stuff happens to us all. The trick is to steady your outlook and lie comfortably, humbly, and patiently somewhere along the middle of the edges, shaking it all off your back – just like the family dog.
Sadiqqa © 2007
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