Oct 9, 2017

The Light Within YOU

There is a plan for your life. No matter how many times or how far you stray away from it, it will always be calling you to it. Those moments of uncertainty is a calling of reflection. Always reflect on where you are, what you’re doing, where you want to be and what it takes for you to get there. Nobody ever said life was easy, and that’s because it isn’t. There are a lot of things that are going to stand in your way that you will have to hurtle over. You may be struggling now, you may struggle tomorrow, but the greatness that awaits you is always there. What makes you happy? What skill have you been blessed with that you can in turn bless the world with? Those skills are a part of your calling. It may just be a hobby that you like to experiment with in your spare time.  What sparks the worlds interest in you? When you do something you love and that you are passionate about, no one can replicate that. They may be able to be in the same field as you, but they are not you and can not bring what you can bring to the table. The foundation of this success is built upon your mindset. Your mind is your weapon, and an awful thing to waste. You can be your best friend, or your worst enemy. Use your mind, heart, and spirit to your advantage. In the words of Buddha, “what you think; you become. what you feel;  you attract, & what you imagine is what you create.” Do not compare yourself to others, you are your own form of beauty and greatness. Perspective is key. You can look at one situation a thousand different ways. You can change your world by changing your thoughts. Humble yourself. Frederick Douglass once said “You are not judged by the height you have risen, but by the depth you have climbed.”  Life is not about what happens to you, it is about how you move through it and overcome your obstacles. Through pain, strength is created and utilized in its best form. Instead of dwelling on the darkness, be the light if you can’t find it anywhere around you. Keep moving forward, walking in faith and believing that you can be as great as you want to be. Each day that you wake up is another chance to go after what you really desire. Every day is christmas, and every night is new years eve. You are constantly blessed with new beginnings and opportunities. Never stop educating yourself, knowledge will always equal power. When you learn something new, apply it to your life and pay attention to the change it brings. It’s one thing to think about doing something and another thing to actually do it. You may genuinely want to do something and don’t know where to start. The first thing you do is put it on paper, look at in physical form. Create goals to reach and don’t underestimate what it takes to accomplish it. Trust and be patient with the process. Everything takes time and effort. You may not get instant gratification but that is okay, do not quit. Claim your victory, affirm to yourself that you will get there, no weapon formed against you shall prosper. You must arrive at your destination before your life does. We live in an energetic universe. What you put out into the world is what will come back to you, sevenfold.  The universe aligns you with people, things and situations that match the energy you put out. The more you improve yourself and raise your vibration, the more you will see things that are beneficial to your well-being. A part of humbling yourself is putting your ego in check. The ego says “ I shouldn’t have to suffer,” that thought makes you suffer so much more. It is a distortion of the truth, which is always paradoxical. The truth is that you need to say yes to suffering before you can transcend it. Not in the sense of; “yes let me suffer,” but more of “yes, I may suffer, but the greatness that awaits me thereafter will bring me greater joy.” Suffering has a noble purpose: the evolution of consciousness and the burning of ego. Frederick Keonig said it best, “We tend to forget happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.” Your life unfolds in proportion to your courage. So do not let fear or doubt consume you to the point that you procrastinate.  Although it is never too late, it will be much more challenging for you to overcome the mindset that led you into procrastination in the first place. Love yourself, and your neighbor. It may seem hard, but with the right perspective it becomes extremely easy. Love is the one thing people truly can’t ignore within themselves. Love is a powerful energy that pierces through the coldest hearts and darkest minds. The special thing about other people no matter who they are or where they are in  life, is that there’s always something you can learn from them. Whether it’s from a good situation or a bad one, there’s something great to be taken away from every one of them. If you know God, you know that he works in the most mysterious ways. One of the most common ways i’ve experienced myself, was through other people. The nectar of compassion is so wonderful. If you are committed to keeping it alive, then you are protected. What the other person does, or says will not ignite the anger in you, because compassion is the real antidote for anger. Those judgements you have a hard time getting rid of, are actually a reflection of how you see yourself. We tend to make these judgements not realizing they go hand-in-hand with our own behavior. That is another reason why reflection is so important. It’s easy to put your time and energy into other peoples issues than it is your own. Be constructive, not deconstructive. You can hear without vibrations of sound, see without eyes, talk without tongue, and feel without being touched. You are a force to be reckoned with. Life works according to your consciousness. You are more than just a shell, you are a being. In order to tap into that being you have to indulge in the spirit, not the flesh. When the being speaks, all nature and the universe responds. Now, GO BE GREAT! MUCH LOVE, NAMASTE.

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Oct 6, 2017

The Peace To The Puzzle

Joseph Clements

My Papa, Joseph Clements was born Charles Fiedler in October of 1933 in Detroit. When he was 3 years old he was given up for adoption. He was adopted by Bessie and Charles Clements who gave him the name Joseph. The mystery of his biological family would haunt him until he was well into his 80s. He was such a vibrant, upbeat person even in his old age. He valued family more than anyone I’ve ever witnessed to this day. He had 6 children of his own, one of which he met at 83 yrs. old and took on a lot of people as family throughout his years. He didn’t sugarcoat much, was always very verbal about his opinions and contribution of wisdom. His legacy consisted of being a huge part of the church for many years, owning his own business, working in GM until retirement, serving for his country, but most of all his love of family. He had such a way of expressing himself and he gave the credit to growing up an only child with white skin and black parents. Growing up in the times that he did, he faced a lot of different obstacles that he never let take control of his life. He had fairer skin. So much so, that in the early 50s, he would be kicked out of “colored-only” bars.  For years, I remember hearing my grandfather ponder on the existence of his biological family.

 

In 2014, at 81 years old, Papa finally received his real birth certificate listing his parents as Paul

Paul Smith

Smith and Evelyn Fiedler. At which time, he proceeded to get their death certificates that listed next of kin. During this time, through Ancestry.com we began to find more answers. We found and became in contact with both the Smith and Fiedlers’ side of the family. For the first time, my Papa was meeting his family in the flesh. The joy in his heart and eyes still makes me happy to this day. Paul was a black man and Evelyn was a white woman. He had a biological sister, Mary Joy who recently passed and had been looking for him all her life. By his half-sister, we were told that at some point Paul became under the impression that his only son was dead and it effected the remainder of his life tremendously. I remember the day we were invited to his nieces’ home to eat and look over pictures of the family we never knew, it was a very emotional day for us all. He was even gifted with hats Paul always wore. We had connected with Pauls’ family in Detroit and wanted to truly connect with Evelyns’ side, but to our surprise we weren’t as welcome. Story goes that Evelyn put him up for adoption, she moved on to have another family with a white man. Not that it made much difference to us, we just wanted to connect with our long lost family. Papa actually went and was able to sit down and talk to Evelyns’ eldest daughter, his half-sister, for a short time and later received a letter with photos of her. The letter was a request not to contact the family again. We arrived at a very crucial time in their lives as their loved one, who would have been Papas’ half brother Dennis, had just passed. Through the grapevine, the younger generation of the Fiedler family became aware of my grandfathers’ existence and wanted to reach out regardless of their elders’ opinion. His nieces, Pam and Lisa Christianson and Nephew Dave Lowin traveled across Michigan to visit him for the remainder of his life.

 

Not very long after meeting his family he was diagnosed with stage 4 bladder cancer. This was a very challenging time we all had to grow through as a family. The common goal of promoting the longevity of his life and being moral support brought us all closer together. I remember my grandfather so bluntly saying that he was ready to go on to see the Lord and didn’t want to go through chemo. We all struggled with the idea of chemo, but wanted to prolong and enhance the quality of his life so we took interest into healthier, more natural alternatives. Papas’ diagnosis caused a ripple effect in our lives, we couldn’t look at things the same. Through everything, how happy and grateful he was just to have us around truly challenged our perception of what happiness is. For a long time he felt there was something missing. But the whole time, he was the peace to the puzzle.

Oct 4, 2017

Environmental Awareness

Have you ever noticed how much plastic is being used in today’s society? We all know the plastic bag, full of plastic bags, or the containers that deli-meats come in, which we naturally want to use as tupperware. Next time you’re out grocery shopping pay attention to how much of the food is wrapped or contained in plastic. The amount of plastic manufactured in the first ten years of this century will approach the total produced in the entire last century.  What if i told you that the amount of plastic being used is not only taking up space, but destroying everything in its’ path? Both the environment and those who inhabit it are tremendously effected by just the existence of plastic. In New York alone, people throw out almost 2,000 tons of plastic bags each week. The Worldwatch Institute estimates that Americans discard 100 billion plastic bags each year. People are in a fast-paced society constantly looking for convenience but that generates waste. This waste has no where to go, other than giant landfills in poor neighborhoods, and in our oceans. Plastic buried deep in landfills can leach harmful chemicals that spread into groundwater. Floating plastic waste, which can survive for thousands of years in water, serves as mini transportation devices for invasive species, and disrupts habitats. Plastic debris, laced with chemicals and often ingested by marine animals, can injure or poison wildlife. Birds, fish, whales and many more are dying of starvation because their bodies can’t digest plastic.  Chemicals added to plastics are absorbed by human bodies. Some of these compounds have been found to alter hormones or have other potential human health effects. “One very common hormone-disrupting chemical being Bisphenol A (BPA). Food packaging is the largest source of exposure to BPA. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found it in the urine of more than 90 percent of Americans sampled. In 2009, tests commissioned by EWG were the first to find BPA in the umbilical cords of nine of 10 infants sampled.” (Knoblauch, 2009). Studies suggest that BPA bonds with estrogen receptors (ER) in humans and are linked to early puberty, obesity, developmental disorders, and cardiovascular disease. In addition to individual research and understanding of how plastic has effected you, it is now detrimentally important for everyone to be proactive for the sake of our future. Thankfully, as a nation we’ve begun to reevaluate the conveniency of plastic due to recent studies and innovate different ways to recycle plastic material.

 

References:

Knoblauch, Jessica A. (http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/dangers-of-plastic, 2009)

Photo Credit: avaaz.org

Oct 2, 2017

For All The Wrong Reasons

People are causing an uproar over recent events of Colin Kaepernick’s tidal wave effect on taking a knee during the National Anthem in the NFL. There are a lot of different opinions that people are expressing passionately, especially the opposing ones. A lot of Americans feel that the kneel is disrespectful to what America stands for and we’ve come here to challenge that perception. Starting off with facts, the government has been paying the NFL since 2009 to incorporate the National anthem to promote Military recruits. According to the US Flag Code Chapter 10.1761, it states “ The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever.” Although football is not a platform for political stance, Kaepernick found an opportunity ( just as the gov.) to further implement his cause. Colin takes the knee to protest against the wrong doings and injustices of black americans on a systematic level. On a larger scale, Black Americans include themselves beyond their non representation. Americans argue that they’ve fought and died for freedoms we still have an issue utilizing as a black community, considering Kaepernick no longer holds his position in the NFL. It seems that as Americans we forget to include the black families who also sacrifice and suffer for these freedoms, or the black families in which we built this country atop of their backs. When mentioning any sort of beneficial factor that we have as americans we neglect the Black Americans who were right along side us in more ways than one. Black Americans, even through all their struggles, have and present respect toward their opposers. So, the outrage as a result of this protest is all the evidence we need to understand that either we have our American Motto misconstrued, or that it just isn’t intended for everyone. Our own beloved President, Donald Trump believes that those who kneel to protest against prejudices are “sons of bitches, who deserved to be fired,” and that those who protest for the advancement of prejudices have the potential to be “fine people with valid points.” As a member of society I do understand that the years leading up to today have misconstrued a lot of people’s idea of what freedom is and who it implies to. As a nation we have not dealt with or included Black American struggles into our plan of solutions, and that is solely why we continue to find ways to present our case after so many years. If it is not known to you for obvious reasons that the abolishment of slavery and the act of desegregation has not eliminated the social issues in which Black Americans encounter on a daily basis, please take the time to research what those social issues are regarding your fellow American family. Not only would we greatly appreciate it and hold it near to our hearts forever, but it is also all the right reasons we take our stands, or kneels. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me through Facebook, or twitter. https://www.facebook.com/ariana.mcbride, twitter: @Beautyofmind96

 

Featured photo credit: Facebook

Blog Reviews: 120

Oct 2, 2017

STDs On The Rise!

As the years go by we have more of an external influence, than an internal influence with our youth about sexual intercourse/health. Everywhere you look there is a subliminal message seeping into our subconscious influencing us sexually, while our peers are too uncomfortable to relay the proper messages directly. We have an increase of activity within our estrogen receptors thanks to the processed foods and the materials we eat those foods in, causing hormones to spiral rapidly at younger ages than usual. Needless to say we are bombarded with the idea of acting on such hormones without sufficient education to be aware of the risks, (i.e. STDS). In 2016, Americans were infected with more than 2 million new cases of gonorrhea, syphilis and chlamydia, the highest number of these sexually transmitted diseases ever reported according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Beside those three, along with HIV cases which are required to be reported to the CDC each year, they’ve estimated that there are more than 20 million new cases of STDs in the US. At least half occur in young people ages 15-24.

Courtesy of The Daily Mail

Chlamydia is one the most common diseases easily transmitted through all forms of sexual activity; vaginal, oral, and anal—as well as through childbirth. Most people have no symptoms, meaning it usually goes untreated, ultimately causing a pelvic inflammatory disease that can scar and affect fertility in women. In men, it can cause testicular pain and swelling. Gonorrhea can also be a silent infection but usually is accompanied with burning during urination and vaginal or penile discharge. If caught anally, it can create itching, bleeding and painful bowel movements. If not treated, gonorrhea can cause severe and permanent health problems, including long-term pain and infertility. Although Syphilis was once less prevalent in our country, it has now become once again a harmful, potentially deadly disease on the rise. It can easily be mistaken for other disease due to its wide range of symptoms which include rashes and chancres, or sores, fever, swollen lymph glands, sore throat, headaches, muscles aches and fatigue. As the disease progresses, the symptoms go away, and progress silently to it’s most deadly stage.

What makes matters worse is that sexual education is on a decline in the US, according to an analysis of survey data from 2006 to 2013. “The declines in formal sex education we observed since 2006 are distressing, but unfortunately are part of a longer term retreat from sex education, especially instruction about birth control methods,” said lead study author Laura Duberstein Lindberg of The Guttmacher Institute in New York. The researchers used interviews taken from nationwide household surveys administered continuously between 2006 and 2010 and between 2011 and 2013, focusing on respondents aged 15 to 19 years. The analysis included responses from about 2,000 teen boys and 1,000 teen girls in each wave of surveys.In the 2006 to 2010 surveys, 70 percent of girls and 61 percent of boys said they had received formal instruction about birth control, which dropped to 60 percent and 55 percent, respectively, in the 2011 to 2013 surveys.Girls also reported less formal education on STDs, HIV and AIDS prevention, and saying no to sex over time. Both girls and boys reported more formal education in saying no to sex without instruction about birth control in the second survey wave, the researchers report in the Journal of Adolescent Health. As of 2013, fewer than 5% of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students aged 13–21 reported that their health classes had included positive representations of LGBT-related topics.

We have an increase in sexual interest and activity due to many reasons, yet we also have funding cutbacks for prevention, education and healthcare programs, and an overwhelming amount of social media influence that have all contributed to the rise. Young adults are not only less educated on the topic, but more influenced by it, causing an increase of vulnerability. Adults on the other hand, should learn to be more pro-active when it comes to their own indulgence and advocate for their offsprings’ sexual health as well. It’s time to start having the conversation and being more conscious about who we lay down with so that we can start utilizing prevention methods.

 

Featured photo credit: medicaldaily.com

Jul 11, 2017

The Tyra Hill Show Season Finale

What an AMAZING Season Finale!! #TheConversationWasGreat & The Entertainment for the night was GRAND! Chanel Jones Of Curves Rock Weekend graced us with a Monologue that was #Dope!! The infamous KissiB song the roof off the building & gave us an AMAZING interview!! & The LIVE Studio Audience gave us LIFE……Check it Out!! #Enjoy