I love the fall and the fact that we have so many really great holidays coming up even though there are idiots like that Principle that wants to do away with holidays because they are offended by them.  I say cool let the idiots give up their holidays. I don’t know about you but all they do is make me want to celebrate mine in even a bigger way.  While I am having fun and food with those I love, the idiots are sitting by themselves being hated by everyone else who can care less about their views on the subject anyway.  That said I would like to take a look at the retail stores new ideas as to how to sell holiday items to the public.  When I was a boy you knew what holiday was coming up because when you entered a store you would see holiday displays all around you.  It was exciting and it added to the suspense of the upcoming fun and games.  On Halloween you would see decorations, candy, costumes and everything in that well known black and orange inside and outside the stores.  On Thanksgiving the orange stayed but the pumpkins turned into turkeys and the costumes into Pilgrims. Since Thanksgiving was believed to be the beginning of the Christmas and New Year’s season all of the colors changed to red white and green, along with colored lights, Christmas Trees, Wreaths, and ornaments galore. You always had a section for Hanukkah, and later, Kwanza.  I will always remember the Holiday music playing in the background at that time of year.  Now we get to the crux of the matter.  For some reason the retail stores came up with the dumb ass notions that they should put the Christmas time items out at the same time as the Halloween items.  Does that make any sense to you at all?  It doesn’t even make good business sense because people still by what they need for the next holiday and seldom by Christmas ornaments on Halloween.  I went into a small retail establishment the other day and had another strange adventure.  I was looking for Halloween stuff and I happened upon a half empty isle. I asked the worker that happened to be putting things up on the shelves where the Halloween items were and he said and I quote; on isle 3 between the Thanks Giving and the Christmas stuff.  I just walked out of the store.  They are ruining it for us.  We have nothing to go out and look forward to.  We just go out one day and it is all there, done and forgotten except the money they will be counting.  The problem is not that they want to sell everything at once as much as it is that they don’t take into consideration anyone’s joy or holiday spirit.  What is or retail system coming to?  Have you ever been to the stores that have those do it yourself registers?  I have.  Do I have to tell you that someone is out of a job?  They call it convenience, I call it being cheap and caring less about customer service. I am telling you that this country is losing its identity and the lake of pride and customer service is one of the symptoms of a greater wrong being done in this country.  It is no longer about the working man and Made in America, it is about how much they can get by selling the cheapest shit possible and squeezing the consumer for the highest price possible.  I brought a Television from Best Buy Stores five years ago and had trouble with it from day one.  I paid for the Insurance on it and they took it from my home and could not find anything wrong except it wouldn’t go on.  They kept the television for 6 weeks, and sometime during the seventh week redelivered it to my home. The workers plugged it in and it wouldn’t start.  Part of the Insurance plan sold to me by Best buy said that it would replace the set if they could not fix it.  I called their corporate office. They made all kinds of promises to me, and never followed through.  Needless to say that the policy ran out during this time and Best Buy refused to help me any longer.  They said that I had to work with the insurance company directly and complain to them.  The insurance company told me that the store should be helping me.  The Television issue happened and was worked on and reported during the time the plan was active; therefore they should have replaced the set.  They did not.  I went to another store and bought another television and put the other 52” HDTV away.  I was wronged by Best Buy, and the insurance company.  I don’t have to say more, do I?  Best Buy, Sears, and many other stores who once backed their products now do everything they can to wash their hands of responsibility.  Sears charges you $100 just to come to you home and look at the junkie product they sold you.  Why are we as consumers putting up with such nonsense?  We are being used and robbed by the same stores that once took pride in their products.  Are we to go around now and like a group of idiot’s say that it is alright and that is how things are these days?  I say bullshit to that!  It is time we don’t go to stores that sell at high prices and won’t back their products.  I don’t know about you, but I am mad as Hell!

   Always be on time, out of a year going to work you should have been no more then one minute late for the year. Yes, for the year if you cannot be to work early enough to start your work day, someone else needs your position. Your work day starts the night before preparing for work, cause everything you need to get to work on time the next day, should be prepare in advanced. Going to work sleepy is not being responsible, going hungry is not being responsible. When your an adult these things are vital, and if your management, you have to beat everyone to work if possible to be the example. You cannot tell anyone to do something you won’t or can’t do yourself. This is the way you receive your position through, being responsible and accountable cause your job is to teach others and manage them. On time is vital… NO EXCUSES>>>

   Be prepared… No running out of gas, forgetting uniform, hats or tools. You should never see a police officer at work but has to go through his day without his gun because he forgot it. That’s things you should have learned in high school, and that is why high school diploma’s is necessary. If you survived that you should know how to be some what responsible. Also your image, your shoes, pants, shirt, and/or hat should be clean as possible, no matter what the profession. Uniform means you no longer represent you, but a company that pays you and your bills. This means we all eat from this company so represent it the best of your ability, starting with your image. When I worked construction, I stayed as clean as I possibly could. Hair, nails, jewelry, everything has to be neat, clean, and professional. Dress for the position you want, not the one you have.

   Set goals for yourself at work, always know your job, and everything about it. Learn from others, to be better, and know more. After you learn your duties, and can perform above average, look for other positions with more responsibility, your shooting for the top of the company. You want to work for the corporate office, why? Why do you work? Money, work smarter not harder. Get to the top of the food chain, cause the more responsibilities you get the more money your worth. Sell yourself. Everyday, and you probably see why the material you already read is so vital. Don’t forget deadlines, or important meetings. Use every second of your day to complete your daily tasks. Also find out when and how you get raises.

   Know the chain of command and what you have to do for your promotion. Let your management know about your goals in the company. Also remember to track your own progress, know what you have to do to complete all of the standards required for promotion or raise. If you need schooling see if the company have any grants to offer you to go back to school. They might pay for some if not all, or maybe a raise while you go back to school and work. Do online classes, get that promotion.

   Can’t stress this enough about your attitude, cause for a management position only responsible & likeable people is elected or decided for these positions. So remember no getting mad or acting stuck up, and don’t create any enemies. Don’t suck up, but don’t be the cause of the bad relationship. If you can defuse that situation with a kind gesture or some kind, do it. Also remember your being paid to work there, and some of that money is for what or who you have to put up with on a day to day basis anyway. So keep your mouth closed and no gossip, cause after you say something you cannot get those words back. You go to work to make money not to make friends. Business first…..

   Never forget why you have or desire a job. You probably have a family to take care of, or a lifestyle to support. You may just have bills or want your own place. You have to go to work with a goal, or a plan. Your going to make money, so explore ways to make more money. Rather within the company or your own business part time. Regardless, remember why we work, for income. So look for that raise and find out how to get more money. Network marketing is good, online marketing, auctions, yard sales, and drop shipping… Write music and sell it, or be a big you-tube hit. Be creative, and never stop learning. Definitely, if you have a job or title. Learn your job then learn someone else’s, and find that raise. That’s if you want it, just be creative, and responsible. Don’t get no one fired but set the bar high. Be the example and the one everyone looks up too….

   There are three key elements which are the Mindset, Consistency, and Exposure. So, the first one is mindset, and 99% of all your sales will come from your mindset & attitude. If your negative, you will draw in negative, but if your positive, expect positive results. L.O.A. is a numbers game, every 1 out of 10 will buy no matter what you sale. Be smart, don’t think no one is going to buy used toilet paper. So don’t take every 1 out of 10 the wrong way. 99% Attitude, 1% Skill, 0% Luck…… This means anyone can make a sell….. And it’s never LUCK!!! It’ number’s…

   Here’s an example: If you attempt to sell to 100 people how many people can you expect to buy? If you said 10, then your absolutely right. So, if you talked to 70 people you should have at least 7 sales. This is why selling content online is so powerful. Every ad you have running acts as a commercial for you or acts as one of your employee’s. They work around the clock and don’t require a break or wages. Anyway, so online if you market to 10,000 people, how many sales can you expect, based off the numbers the L.O.A. give us? 1,000, right! Remember, calculate how long it will take to get 10,000 views. So image going through your day, and making $20 per sale… Would you need a job? $20 x 1000 = 20k Wow!

   So you get the picture, how many people can you advertise to in a day. Now when it comes to averages, or numbers in this case ratios, 1 sell out of 15 people is bad, every 1:10 average, every 1:5 is great…. It’s a numbers game when it come to sales. Every customer is a number, but of course you always provide outstanding customer service… So if you see a guy everyday, do you advertise to him everyday? YES!!! He is one no, closer to yes… You used him to get closer to yes, everyday. Even homeless people make a living off the L.O.A. not that helping the homeless is bad. The average homeless person average any where from 10k-30k a year using the L.O.A…. That himeless guy that is faithful, and a hardwork could make $200 a day easy, asking for change, working his L.O.A…

   A great way to keep your attitude, while talking to as many people as possible, is to have FUN!!! When your making sales to create a living, have fun… Joke around with your customers, be humorous… Always smile, your never having a bad day in the customers mind. Your selling yourself, not the product. Your selling the fact that today is a great day, and I just want you to see what I got. That is all… People love to spend money, so let them, don’t make them feel forced. They buy it, then they buy it. If they don’t, then the next person will. If your attitude is not right that day, find another income stream that day.

    Next is consistency, which is very important… Now that you understand the numbers game you know you have to talk to a lot of people. Cause if every 1 out of 10 people will buy, that means you have to advertise to ten people to get one sale. So with consistency, you never prejudge people. Don’t try and figure out who has money and who doesn’t. Don’t sign up for that class. People with money don’t always show it, they tend to blend in, and people that look like money doesn’t always have it. And some look like money actually have it. So talk to everyone, no exceptions. You make your sale off L.O.A. not reading minds, so don’t try. The more no’s you get, the closer you get to a yes. Another thing, keep everything consistent, your pitch or script, pace or speed you talk to prospects, and your attitude. Your attitude can start out great, but one thing you don’t want to lose, is your attitude. Don’t do that, safe guard your attitude, cause that’s a big part. If your online marketing of course that doesn’t matter, but if your making direct contact with customers, of course this applies to you.

   Remember this, “Let your attitude dictate your sales, not your sales dictate your attitude.” Last thing is your exposure, everyone has to know your selling something, it has to be well known. If you have a property, trailer or stand, you need to drive by or walk by your landmark and find creative ways to draw attention. How can you sell something if we don’t know your selling something? Shirts, signs, flyers, ballons, cars tagged, hats, business cards, sidewalk signs, waving at people, music, light colors, large crowds, etc… And talk to everyone, nobody gets by with out knowing your open for business. This moves you L.O.A. quickly…

   You will have three types of days: Slow Start, Fast Start, Consistent…. So the three different types of days, first: Slow start, you opened or started at 8:00 a.m. and talked to 70 people early in the day and sold to none. The L.O.A. owes you 7 sales as of now, but you cannot lose your attitude. But guess what at 4:15p.m. you made 9 sells back to back in 20 minutes. So now you have talked to 79 people total today and made nine sells. That’s slow start… Fast start: The first 11 people you talked, to you sold too. That was from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., so don’t expect another sell until you talk to 110 people, but don’t quit because you might get another sell. Also the L.O.A. will roll over to the next day, so get the no’s out the way before tomorrow go bad… Consistent day, you continue to talk to people all day, but early you had 11 sells and the end of the day 9 sells. You broke some records, but you always start excited, and finish your day strong no matter what. 

   So thats L.O.A. you can use them with nearly anything. Nothing is perfect… So that means you shouldn’t always sell out, and you should always go without a sale. Go to my profile page to find more information simular to this, but more indepth.  

MLK Day of Service Playground Facelift
What: Lend a helping hand by assisting with a playground facelift at the Method Child Development Center. Volunteers are needed to build a bridge in the sandbox. Additionally, volunteers are needed to power wash the equipment, as well as clean the center.
When:  Jan. 16, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

Deliver Hot Meals
What: Volunteers are needed to assist with meal deliveries with Chapel Hill-Carrboro Meals on Wheels. Currently, they serve nine routes and need people to accompany the current volunteers on the routes, while assisting with meal delivery. Lunch will be provided for all volunteers.
When: Jan. 16, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Helping Wake County Seniors
What: Honor the legacy of Dr. King by volunteering an orientation to help Wake County seniors, adults with disabilities and family caregivers. Volunteers will provide weekly or monthly help with transportation.
When: Jan. 16, 2-4 p.m.

Johnston County Signature Project
What: The United Way of the Greater Triangle area is searching for volunteers to lend a helping hand in Johnston County. Volunteers will be asked to conduct a drive for clothing, diapers, etc. Lunch will be provided to all volunteers.
When: Jan. 16, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Orange County Signature Project
What: At least 500 volunteers are needed to help with this service project. Volunteers will assist with a variety of projects including assembling health kids, birthday kits and school kits. They will also sort shoes and clothing. While you’re sorting and assembling kits, bring your kids and have them create Valentines are active military members and veterans. Lunch will be provided. Volunteers are encouraged to donate new and gently used books and blankets.
When: Jan. 16, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

One Warm Coat
What: Donate any gently worn coat in the collection bins located in Burlington Coat Factory stores to help those in need stay warm all across the country. As you donate a coat, you will receive a 10 percent discount on your entire purchase at Burlington Coat Factory. This year, One Warm Coat has the goal to reach a new milestone – collecting the one millionth coat.
When: Now until Jan. 16
Where: 1213 Buck Jones Rd., Raleigh, NC 27606 or 4020 Capital Blvd. #160, Raleigh, NC 27694

For example if you’re in the sales field you will sell more. When you internalize important attitudes and practice relevant skills you will parent better. Similarly customer service providers will serve better. I’ve implemented service programs at 400 locations in five countries and most people still don’t get it. The main reason customers don’t come back is a perception of an attitude of indifference. That happens almost three quarters of the time. Managers who internalize the attitudes and skills will manage more effectively. The first step to having a positive employee is to be positive yourself. You are the magic bullet. As a matter of fact when you internalize the attitudes and relevant skills you’ll be a better father, sister, brother, teacher and the list goes on.

When you adjust your attitude in a positive direction you feel better. When you feel better you think better. Thinking well in anything you do will cause you to act better. When you act better you create positive habits. When you create positive habits you achieve greater results. The idea here is to stay positively self-motivated every day and learn to implement the most important skills first. It’s the implementation of the simple things that matters. Common sense dictates that when you improve your attitude it will have a positive impact on all that you do.

There is a synergy created when you internalize positive attitudes on a daily basis and focus on relevant skills. The sum of the two is greater than the sum of the parts. In past articles I’ve written of positive attitudes when implemented and ultimately internalized, lead to positive results.

I’ve referred to the term relevant skills for a reason. It’s the implementation of the simple things that leads to greatness. A simple truth is that this skill applies to all of us. This skill is the most important one of all. When you apply this skill you will be better in all that you do. You will be a better parent, manager, salesperson, teacher, leader, server, coach. In short, internalizing this skill will improve everything.

This skill is the most important one there is. Perhaps you are really good at this skill or perhaps there is much to improve. One thing is for sure you can always get better at it.I write of one skill not with the intent of discarding the importance of others. There are many valuable skills to learn. For a parent, recognition and other parenting skills can be useful. A salesperson with planning, prospecting, and other relevant skills will sell more. A manager with improved coaching, communication and other relevant skills will be a better manager. A teacher with improved presentation and listening skills will teach better. What I am saying is that regardless of your situation the skill I will write on is the most important one there is.

All these other skills are meaningless if you don’t have the one of which I write. I’ve written and implemented programs on all of the above over the years. I’ve had the good fortune to travel many miles and meet tens of thousands of people. People skills are the most important skills to learn. If your goal is to improve, then focus on improving your people skills.

The first step to improving your people skills is to better understand others. You’re a better parent when you understand your children. As a manger, you manage more effectively when you understand people. A salesperson sells more when she better understands her clients. A server serves better when he understands his customers. A teacher teaches better when she improves her ability to understand her students. A leader will lead better when he improves his ability to understand people. Chances are you interface with people every day so understanding others and how they process information makes sense.

Understanding people as many have discovered can be complex. Different personalities process and evaluate information differently. Different personalities are motivated in different ways. People will react differently to the same thing. When you understand how other personality’s process information you better understand how they want to be communicated to. When you adjust to the personality style of others you communicate more effectively. I’ll get into this in Part 2 of The Most Important Skill You Will Ever Learn. I’ll see you then.

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I like casual time with my woman, so we often go to our favorite Denny’s to drink coffee and talk about things. Sometimes I cant help to over here some waitresses complain about crappy tips, and I here some customers complain about crappy service. Well who do you think is in the right, is it the customer that comes in with the attitude that he or she thinks the waitress is beneath them, that most of the time the under tip them. Then you got our small minded people that think they make good wages plus tips, don’t expect good tips from these types. Or is it the waiter or waitresses that bust their butts trying to get your order right and make sure your visit is pleasant. I cant help but to fell sorry for them, do you realize that in this career that their wages are around 2.50 to 3.00 $ a hour plus tips. I know when I go out I take care of my waitress or waiter, in return they take care of me. So the next time you decided to go out think of this, they may have families just like you. Trust me show them a little more respect and in return you wont be sorry.

Hopefully I did.

These last few weeks have been a nail-biting, monopoly-playing, caffeine-driven nightmare. A lot goes into applying to college. First, you have to pick a college. Luckily, I knew where I wanted to go in tenth grade. Of course now I have to pick some back-ups because I’ve aimed a bit high in prestige and price-range. As much as I think I would cry if I had to go anywhere else but Hogwarts School of Winter and Academic Masochism, I’m still applying to the university next door and the school my sister goes to.

After that, you get to fill out applications. Now of course, it sounds easy to talk about yourself and how you’ve spent your time the last four years- ordinary conversation, right? Ha. Sure, but colleges don’t care that you’ve had six boyfriends, made multiple facebook accounts, or even that you’ve spent hours on homework. They want to see that you’ve made the most of your time by joining any sports team your school offers, worked your butt off to do well in band, squeezed in a summer job or two, and, wait for it – here’s the big one – SERVICE. They could care less what you do for yourself; they want to know what you do for your “community”. This is the part where you push that integrity and humility aside, and subtley brag about all the things you do for other people by documenting volunteer work in “hours”. Granted, you might be a racist bully who knocks people down in the hallways and posts nasty messages on Facebook, but if you sold candy at school for charity, you’re a good citizen!

Yay.

The great thing about extracurriculars is that no matter how much time you spend on them, if you aren’t great at them, you still won’t get a scholarship. You have to audition. So if you play the flute, you’ve jumped 15 chairs since freshman year, you spend eight hours a week staying after school for marching band, you practice in all those six minutes of freetime you have and you STILL can’t beat those Asians out at All-West, nobody cares.

Reccomendations are the fun part of the application that you don’t get to see or perfect for yourself. You know what that means? Pick an English teacher. Or in my case, an English teacher and the IB coordinator. Intelligence is key. I also happened to pick the teachers that know me best- one that could tell you about all my relationship, moral, and academic problems, and another that knows there’s a hard-worker beneath my procrastination.

Then there’s the essay(s). Tell us about yourself, someone that influenced you, your favorite book, a significant experience, or what Play-doh has to do with Plato. Oh boy. This is the only part where you truly get to show YOUR character, your personality, your voice, your humor, your thoughts, your cares, and your realistic diversity that has nothing to do with the color of your skin. Now fit it into 500 words and make it sound AWESOME. They’ll skim through it once. If it doesn’t stand out, or if it stands out for the WRONG reason, it gets trashed. No pressure or anything. I wrote about shoes and a treehouse.

And now… I wait. Hopefully, those things listed in the first paragraph will serve as a big enough distraction to keep me from losing my mind and my nails this next month and a half. Anyone else that can relate to me right now, feel free to comment with your coping methods.

Professionalism and Public Images of Civilization

‘Consideration’ is our ability to think about how our words/actions effect ourselves and others before we speak or act upon something. It’s a process of making sure we do the Knowledge (Aware) before the Wisdom (Discernment), because we Understand (See) the effects of our words/actions. To Civilized People, this is a Righteous obligation, not an option or elective…

With the popularity of Reality Shows and ‘rewarding bad behavior’ approach towards the crass, uncivilized, and unprofessional attitudes displayed in mainstream HipHop, basic ‘Consideration’ has become a lost art amongst People. I can understand those who have an allegiance to these American Cultural Trends that are going with this flow, b.u.t. this mentality/behavior is totally unacceptable for Gods/Earths or any person, whether Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, or etc.., who professes to live in accordance to a standard of Civilization, Righteousness, or Godliness.

Recently I had a conversation about the importance of being aware of what we say/do as a Representative/Contact Person within our Culture. Part of this conversation involved me sharing some of my experience as a Public Figure who’s been doing Community Work for many years now. As an add-on to that conversation, I just wanted to share with you a few points of interest.

First and foremost, it’s important to understand that whenever we take a stance of responsibility within our Families and Communities, we are expressing a position of Leadership. This is Leadership because we are actively involving ourselves in the solution process of addressing current/future problems. Leadership doesn’t just mean you’re THE Head, Leadership means you’re a part of the ‘ship’ to ‘lead’ People in the right direction. Anytime we take responsibility for Leadership, we must be ‘Considerate’; able to think about how our words/actions effect ourselves and others before we speak or act upon something. To claim responsibility and then minimize or dismiss the importance of maintaining a Professional, Mature, and Respectable Public Image to those within our Family and Community is not showing a sense of ‘Consideration’. The People whom we are claiming to assist are already looking towards us for guidance and support in addressing their needs, and to have an Attitude like “it doesn’t matter what People think”, “What I do is my business”, “I’m not a Leader”, or anything else that displays no ‘Consideration’ for our constituents is detrimental to building positive/consistent Relationships with them. For example: It’s like working with the youth during the day and then not caring if they cee you selling crack on the block at night… It’s like talking about how much of a God/Earth I am on FB one minute and then five minutes later posting about how the b*tches/n*ggas had it poppin at the strip club last night… Again, ‘Consideration’ is our ability to think about how our words/actions effect ourselves/others before we speak or act upon something. It’s impossible to demonstrate and maintain effect Leadership without a level of ‘Consideration’.

Secondly, in order to even be ‘Considerate’, we must be able to listen. That’s right, LISTEN. Most People don’t know how to listen and that’s one of the main reasons why we don’t learn anything –from others or through our life experiences. Non-listeners either cut People off so they can say whatever they want to say, or simply wait for People to take a breath so they can jump in and say whatever they want to say. Add unbridled emotions to this otherwise poor display of communication and it’s a sure shot recipe for disaster. Rarely do you cee effective communication taking place between People where one person speaks while the other is listening, and then they exchange roles until they both have an understanding about the information being exchanged. It’s a skill! A discipline even, and not everyone is interested in really hearing what others have to say. If you listen closely you’ll notice that they really just like hearing the sound of their own voice bouncing off of you.

The Third point I want to make is in regards to Professionalism and Public Image. There is no substitute for Professionalism, none. How many times have you gotten terrible, unprofessional service at a Store/Restaurant and have vowed never to go back again? Hey, the food or goods may have been great quality b.u.t. because of the lack of service you received, maybe even on more than one occasion, you decided to not patronize this establishment anymore. Well, teaching Civilization is the same way. As Civilized People, we must always anticipate People’s needs and exceed their expectations! This is the greatest service you can provide for someone, so it’s important that we’re Professional; or People will decide to never come back, AND tell many other People about how negative their experience was! Because of our standards of being those who have “knowledge, wisdom, understanding, culture, refinement, and are not savages in the pursuit of happiness” (17/1-40), our job is 25/8 (not 24/7). We are not only on the Stage of Humanity, we set the Stage, and as The Fathers and Mothers of Civilization, People should always be able to look at us as models of Integrity and Wisdom. Even on our sick day we should be great! This means that our outward Public Image should coincide with the Principles and Values we inwardly subscribe to. What People cee on the outside should be synonymous with what’s ticking on the inside. How we’re living at Home should be a reflection of what we’re doing Abroad. Everyone who claims to be God/Earth is an Ambassador of our Culture. If you’re a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, or etc.., you are an Ambassador of your Religion/Metaphysical System. What is the purpose of claiming something, that’s supposed to help you become a better person, if you don’t care how it effects (looks, feels, instructs, etc…) others? To me, this sounds like someone who wants the milk and no responsibility for milking the cow. It looks like a person who wants fulltime pay and benefits without being responsible for doing the work… Not only is it selfish, immature, and Egotistical, b.u.t. it’s also completely inconsiderate to expect that People be receptive to any and everything we want to say/do (our Public Image), and then dismiss their thoughts/feelings about it by proclaiming, “I don’t care what People think/say about what I do”. Not only has this person closed themselves off from receiving any comments or constructive criticism that will be effective in helping them grow, b.u.t. they’ve put a great big sign on their back that reads, “please kick me!” Being aware of our Image and how we represent ourselves to the Public is only an advantage to us, and the lack of awareness or outright inconsideration of our Public Image will always be a disadvantage and eventually our demise.

In closing, I want to encourage all of us who claim to uphold the meaning of Civilization and duty of a Civilized Person to continue taking the higher road and being a beacon of light/life amongst our People and the Human Family as a whole. What we’re saying/doing should matter first to the person in the mirror, and then this ‘Consideration’ must extend to our Family and Communities. By claiming Righteousness, we have taken upon the responsibility of adding our contributions to make this World a better place than when we got here. This is a Professional endeavor and demands the work of People who are unwilling to cut corners, take shorts, and do a half-ass job. That is unacceptable! This means that we must provide exceptional service to our People by anticipating their needs and exceeding their expectations of what being the True and Living God/Earth, a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, or etc… is!

Peace,
Saladin www.atlantisschool.blogspot.com

Image by teamstickergiant via Flickr

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Well it’s about d— time!!

I must honestly say that never have I understood the idea that ones sexual orientation or preferences could possibly detract from their capabilities when it comes to being able to fight for and defend our country.  I’d personally like to meet the person who’s so focused on it that they would take time out in the heat of battle to ask the person that is fighting beside them if they are gay or straight.  How would that work exactly?  “Really?  You’re gay?  Man, I know we’re dodging bullets here but would you mind going over to that trench there ‘cuz I’m a bit uncomfortable with that knowledge.”

Let’s get serious here people.  Show me someone who’s more concerned about the sexual orientation of their fellow service member when their lives, and the lives of countless others, are on the line and I’ll show you someone who needs to be given a crash course on life in the modern world.  The fact that this was made into such a big deal time and time again by people who call themselves leaders in our nation has always saddened me to no end.  How they could ever try to take away from the bravery and courage that it takes for ANYONE to serve in our military is beyond me.  Gay or straight, to be willing to risk your life to help those that can’t always help themselves is something that should be rewarded and honored and rules like DADT are never really about protecting those the rule seeks to silence, it’s always been about protecting the reputation of those who are just to narrow minded to understand that not everyone is the same and that’s not a bad thing.

The strength it takes for ANYONE to stand up and be willing to risk their life for our country is something that I think most people have a hard time understanding these days.  We get so tangled up in the politics of the wars that we find ourselves caught up in that I think it’s too easy for people to forget that, no matter what the reason or justification for those wars, someone who never wanted to see a battle field in their life is out there dying on one to help protect and preserve our freedoms and ideals.  Should we care whether or not the person who may be out there dying is gay or straight? 

We shouldn’t.  I know I don’t.  All I care about is the fact that that person, whomever they may be, was willing to do something that others couldn’t or wouldn’t do.  They are willing to go out there day after day and face the possibility that they may not get to come home to their family and loved ones.  That they may not have another day but that they’re gonna go out there and fight anyway so that others can keep having their tomorrows.  That’s what matters in the end.  A person’s willingness to do what needs to be done.  A person’s strength of character and spirit.  Not a person’s sexual preferences or whom they choose to love. 

Don’t Ask Don’t Tell I hope you stay gone forever.  And to those who serve in our military and any and all first responders or emergency workers, gay AND straight, I say thank you for having the strength to stand up and fight for what you believe in.  A country that is about freedom and equality for all of those who live here and for a world that is full of people who are beautiful and wonderful no matter where they come from, what they believe in, or who they choose to love.