In Support of My Vision

When God gives you a vision you are eager to share it with a select few but don't expect support. After all it is YOUR Vision. One time supportive individuals may become quiet haters and destroy the vision. You may even receive distant words of encouragement, but you know deep down in your soul that the person did not mean it. You can also expect your closest friends or relatives to not be genuinely supportive, and may even try to encourage you into abandoning your vision.

I say to you right now: it may be better to keep your God-given vision to yourself! God will not give you a vision for a company unless you have gone through the practical application of living the experience. When you go through that rough patch in your life those same close individuals will see your struggle and they may or may not help you; but a real struggle nobody can pull you out but God.

The individuals you share your vision with may walk off and share it with others. The other person listening may be the very person implementing your vision as their idea, which meant somebody believed in what God had given you even if they did not know you.

Keep the vision to yourself until you acquire the where-with-all to pull it off. If you just have to share with someone, simply throw out bits and pieces of possible business start-up ideas in a laughable fashion. Never assemble those pieces and present to anyone that is not completely ready to invest and support the vision at the time.

Don't let someone else implement your vision... keep it to yourself until it is ready to launch. Believe In You!

Evolution of a Parent

Growing up as a child you are presented with as many luxuries and activities your parents could afford even to the extent that they are lacking. Ideally, the concept of a parent is to provide your children with an increase from that of your childhood experience. That is whatever you were lacking as a kid, you thought was your responsibility to provide for your children with increase.

Parenting Does Not Come With a Toolkit

In some cases it is unfortunate that your parenting skills come from examples set by your parents or those responsible for your upbringing. Not all of us are raised in the best scenario; namely, in a healthy, natural or loving environment. An environment full of joy was not privileged to every child. In such cases a parenting toolkit would be an excellent source of guidance.

Moral Principles

"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22:6) Found under moral, ethical and spiritual precepts in the Bible's Book of Proverbs.

"You should carefully teach them [God's precepts] to your sons, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and rise up. And everything about your house; its decorations, the pictures and plaques you hang, the magazines that lie around, the TV shows you watch, the music you listen to, the entertainment you engage in; should all be tools of teaching your children of God and His holiness." (Deuteronomy 6:7-9) http://a-voice.org/main/raischld.htm

The Holy Bible speaks volume clearly without a need for additional interpretation, and it is the only viable toolkit available in life. The "he" referenced above is directed toward males and females.

Bell-Shaped Curve

If you are in your 40s or upward in age and think of your parents as the X-factor, and you (their child) as the Y-factor then you are at a point of reflection (between red midpoint area). Interpretation: you are now in the peak of your life's curve and your living parents are on the right-sided downward slope of the curve (green to blue area). The reference is to the below bell-shaped curve where as the left side is indicative of your youthful years newborn and up, middle of curve at the mean point is your middle age and the right down sloping side are the elder years.

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In simple terms, you are probably faced with or is visualizing an impending need to become a caregiver to your living parent(s). Yes, people are living much longer than in the past due to enhanced health solutions and discoveries.

Return on Parental Investment

Essentially our parents raised us through age 25 in many cases (including college and our return home to launch careers). Give or take a couple of mishaps along the way that required our return home. So let us just guess that we owe our parents at least 30 years of our support, if needed.

Given the shift in the US economy, it is likely that your parent(s) have lost jobs from which he/she had planned to retire. Perhaps there was an accident that caused unrepairable damage. In either case, doing the right thing may come with some discomfort in your lifestyle. However, if you were that child that was trained up in such a way that he or she should go when old, thinking of your parent as a burden would never happen. You will love them even through your possible financial hardship, continue with that loving communication and you will both enjoy each other through the end with gratitude in your heart.

Motivational Shift

Motivate your parents while they are in their 40s and upward to accomplish tasks that perhaps they intended to, but were unable to do so. For instance, your parent may have delayed his/her education because of the unplanned pregnancy of you or your sibling early in their life. Encourage him/her to return to college. Help them fill out the FAFSA paperwork, select and apply to a college/university, and aid with developing tasks. It will be a rewarding experience. Lost jobs do not mean lost of ability to be self-sufficient, but may indicate that re-education is necessary to regain independence. You become the motivator, it will be greatly appreciated. [SN: My daughter motivated me, and I will graduate this Summer 2011. I love you daughter.]

The Sequel Continues

Hopefully, our children will reciprocate by bringing us into their homes when we are unable to adequately care for ourselves, because we have lead by example with our parents. As you age the thought of yourselves becoming dependents is inevitable.

Love Life, Embrace Life and do it through Biblical Principles and Precepts.

Opportunistic Mates

In my journey of returning back to college as a middle-aged non-traditional student, my experience has positioned me in an area that is of far more difficult substance than I would like to recognize. Please understand that the subject-matter written about today is coming from a no-holds barred approach to a real-time issue, so don’t blame me for voicing my opinions. CAN WE TALK - REALLY!

The new trend is: going NO-Where young men and ladies are establishing a taste and target market for going somewhere young ladies and/or men to ride out. Unfortunately, men more so than women nowadays are the opportunistic mates, because far more females are opting for more advance college educations.

• Parents of mentally challenged kids are not appropriately warning their kid's partners of those suspected pre-existing conditions:

o e.g. your kid is now in his/her 20s and you have failed as a parent, because you have not had him/her institutionalized for what you have witnessed through your parenting process.
o you as a parent have thrown in the towel, and by doing so have happily passed on your problem to an unsuspecting participant.

• Older guys are engaging in dating activities with young ladies that ages match those associated with what could be their children.

• O. G's (older guys seeking cool points) are working to make them relevant by positioning themselves as mentors in these young men lives to teach mental control concepts (called game).

The sad scenario is that all of these tactics lead the unsuspecting individuals to believe that these relationships are based on love. Facts that I know about LOVE is that:

• Love does not cause you to hurl furniture across a room…
• Love does not cause you to inflict mental or psychological cruelty…
• Love does not cause you to inflict physical cruelty (pain that typically follows mental cruelty).

Those are all signs of mental instability in your mate, and you should remove yourselves from those situations as an impacted individual. It is just a matter of time before someone is reading about you in the obituary; some trying to purchase your car, others trying to see if they can make a connection with grieving family members they know, investors seeking to acquire clients, etc. Make your lives relevant and not just an opportunity for someone else to advance in your demise. Please understand that you are replaceable, however, close family and friends will grieve you as a loss to them for years.

The parents of the child that commits the crime will plead for their child’s life, because they knew their child had an issue all of their life. So, despite their inability to acquire the appropriate help for their child, to save face: the insanity defense may very well prevail.

Although they may feel sorry for your grieving parents and possible friends - It Is What It Is! It would be the moment for redemption for the parent that had no idea how to deal with or raise a troubled child, the O.G. that wants to remain relevant or an unsuspecting mate (or vital statistic) that really had no clue as to who they were dealing with

Turn Up The Light

This Spring 2011 semester at Columbus State University is very intense, and is appearing as a dimmer on the light. The consensus amongst seniors is that classes are exceptionally difficult. My senior level course load consists of:

1. Compensation/Benefits Administration
2. Information Technology Management
3. Managerial Finance
4. Quantitative Analysis
5. Staffing

My Compensation Benefits instructor has divided the class into 3-partner project teams, and has assigned us the task of designing a pay system for FastCat (fictitious company) based on the concepts and techniques established in Milkovich and Newman textbook, Compensation. We are working intensely through Milkovich's Cases in Compensation 10e, a 74-page booklet that is challenging students' will to achieve an A out of the course. This is a semester long project that requires 5+ hours of time each week, and is conducted in project phases:

• Phase I - Alignment: Designing an Internal Structure
• Phase II - External Competitiveness: Pricing the Structure
• Phase III - Performance and Management

Since I am a Human Resources Management major, it is a joy to work on such a complex system. The excitement brewing between HR Mgmt majors is astonishing. Students taking the course as a business elective are extremely angry.

My Managerial Finance and Quantitative Analysis (math-related) courses require a lot of study time per week as well. Honestly, this a very stressful semester for me in particular. Only one course during the summer semester is needed and that is the Exit - Strategies class. Transitioning from the Dean's List in the Fall 2010 semester into the realization that I am going to need to work outrageously hard to pull off two C's in those two math-related courses.

My family has begun to call me, because I who is known for calling has not done so. My mind is almost entirely focused on these classes and projects. Not to mention my Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team is currently writing scripts and practicing for regional competition to be held on April 4th in Atlanta.

My guess is that when you are in a position to see the graduating degree light at the end of the tunnel, that some unforeseeable force narrows the scope in the lenses to dim the lights. I know that as long as I follow that small glimmer of light, the reward is great once I step through at the end. My focus is on the light! Keep me in your prayers.