Give Everything To Your Dreams

Far too often we say but don't do. Fortunately, Dr. King did more than say he had a dream. He took real, tangible action. Most were untelevised. We know people attacked him with threats, jail and bombings yet he kept on doing something about his dream.

To hear us tell it, you'd think Dr. King's main thing was having a dream. A more accurate historical context for Dr. King is that he gave all he had to a dream.

Dr. King was led by his beliefs. He was not deterred by the physical dangers to him, his family and supporters, he understood the greater dangers that threatened millions more like me who would have a dream. Dreams that could help and heal this world. So he gave.

'I give you' is worth more than 'I love you'.
--Traditional Tutsi proverb from Rwanda.

Thankfully Dr. King is not remembered for saying I love you. His life and the millions of others who were murdered so we could have basic rights are at least worth giving everything to our dreams.

Fear, Failure & Belief: Another Perspective

This article from Litemind coincides with this blog in so many ways.

Overcome Fear of Failure, Part I-Building The Right Mindset

I like the fact that "another perspective" doesn't necessarily mean it runs counter. Continue to feed nutritiously.

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Voices, Personal Growth & Spirituality

What if Muhammad Ali had a military career?
What if Michael had been a school teacher?
What if a school teacher were a singer instead?

What if Imhotep had not created what Hippocrates appropriated?
What if Lewis Latimer's, Norbert Rillieux's, Jan Matzeliger's, Garrett Morgan's and Elijah McCoy's voices were never heard?

Medicine would be on a different course. There'd be no light bulbs. There'd be sugar for the rich only. There'd be no paying less for shoes. There'd be chaos in the streets. There'd still be a slow churning to the Industrial Revolution.

What if I were someone else?

---

How I Tried

Tried singing chorus
voice didn't blend
Tried playing sports
skills didn't win
Sought girls attention
Only got chagrin
Tried disco dancing
jitters cut in
Gave words a try
found Pit Bull friends
Tried make-believe
GI Joe and army men
Fought to reconcile
what soldiers defend
Tried another legacy
Can't stop my pen

---

What if any one individual person works at working, instead of being, living extensions, of their created intentions. It is the makings of tragedy. Life on Earth is decidedly different. There'd be no eloquence.

Don't live a tragic life in triumph simply working away at each day as your best and strongest voice is never heard above the noisy grind.

Listen - to your own - voice.

Be One or the Other

I was able to make a contribution because we had the Brotherhood and because I wasn't afraid.--E. D. Nixon, the person who recruited Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Asante for the person, E. D. Nixon, whose person-all convictions were stronger than fears. He looked the gangbangers in the face, stayed the course and continued to make contributions that have lasted into my person and lifetime.

We fear because we don't “understand” history in the context of its everyday all day impact on our thoughts, behaviors, lives and situations. Neither do we “understand” the impact of each person on the continuum of history.

Dr. King and Rosa Parks succeeded because they put their person into how they lived. They also succeeded because of others. E. D. Nixon succeeded because he put his person--all in also. His success was enhanced by the Brotherhood and enough community members to support a boycott.

There seemed to be more persons, “ones and the others,” way back in the day who understood their ability to change history and impact lives in accordance with their beliefs. There seemed to be more persons then, than now even though being afraid seems more warranted then, than now. Those people were jailed, assailed, bombed and what not. We succumb to mediocre M-bombs.

They gave up convenience when it interfered with courage. The bus boycott lasted three hundred and eighty-one days. Nowadays, each person can at least give up those supposedly convenient stores in their neighborhoods that ain't doing their communities a bit of good and drive to the ones that will. [economic impact] Each person can at least vote in people with their interests in mind. [political impact] Each person can at least begin the mental journey back to Ancient Egypt. [cultural impact] The ancestors are waiting and rejoice each time one person enters the epicenter of all history...[spiritual impact]

E. D. Nixon put up his house in order to bail Rosa Parks out of jail. Many of them gave their precious resources to the futures of what was right and necessary. They put up their jobs. They focused on the dismantling of systems not just individual situations.

In one sense, E. D. Nixon was already doing better than most since he had a "good" job as a Pullman Porter. In the true sense, he didn't do what he did for himself or his family...understand the personal and historical impact of this one person's actions. He understood legacy. Thankfully he was not too busy or tired.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was successful because economic banks were breaking, yet the will of the people could not be broken with fear.

Who will be the next person, the one to step to the front or the one to support someone who is not afraid? Be one or the other.

Flying & Flowering

In solace, the banter of birds, however unknowable, feels full of living...Wonder... do sparrows desire eagle's lives the way we seek paths not our own?...Do clover aspire to be plants that climb to trumpet honeyed fragrance?

Fortunately, to be anything other than themselves is not in their nature.
How much more should all our human energy remain focused on why we were born and bred?

What are our specific contributions supposed to be?
Unsure?
Find out through solace.
Get to know a little more about yourself and the feel of living.

Wondering still...What if some sparrows didn't fly and clover neglected to flower?...How crazy would that be? What if they spent half their time tending the business of others? When could they individually be?

It takes full time use of our best energy and time to develop clarity, calmness and a sense of correction.

Life Sentences #5

1. Wherever and whenever you find yourself, at least you've found yourself.
2. Exercise your brain and your body. Doesn't matter which one you do first just which one you do second.