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Showing posts from August, 2012

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Conservatism, Reaction, and the Elder's Responsibility: A Message to My Age Grade

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Conservatism, Reaction, and the Elder's Responsibility: A Message to My Age Grade Great Day, Fam. This one right here? It’s not for everyone. If you’re not at or approaching Eldership—defined in our tribe as about 55 years old and up—you might not feel all of this. But if you’re curious, or if you’re one of those younger souls already walking with wisdom, you’re welcome to keep reading. This message is for the Elders. For those of us who should know better. And yes—I’m including myself. Let’s Start With the Mirror I’ve got to confess something. I’ve been guilty. Guilty of being reactionary. Guilty of falling into the trap of conservatism. Guilty of romanticizing the past. Guilty of looking at our young people and calling them “soft”—as if we were born warriors, as if we didn’t have to become who we are through fire, failure, and guidance. Many of us Elders are stuck in a loop. We remember only the highlights of our youth—the toughest times we survived, the boldest moments ...
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Being successful on the Journey of life is a habit. This habit of success is built up on practices that are consistent and empowering. The warrior on the Journey needs to develop personal practices that grow into habits that move them toward their goals. By developing these habits they make their movement a fact, habits once they are cued will begin without thought. This frees the mind of the warrior to be able to create more habits that will further free him/her to create more habits so that eventually their life is full of balanced habits that move them toward a successful life and peaceful Journey. For those that are new to the Journey and may not know too much about the Gye-Nyame system let me explain what a warrior is. When we look at the definition of warrior we find that it simple means: “One who is experienced or involved in conflict” Looking at this definition we find that a warrior is not limited to only a battle field, swords, spears, bows and arrows, and guns. Whe...

Habits II

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I had the pleasure of reading or should I say listen to some powerful books, and because of the content I was forced to retrace my step in my library. These books (Power of Habits by Charles Duhigg, The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell) all spoke about building habits of success and in some of my memories and notes I noticed the word habit kept appearing, but I never gave it the true focus that it needed. Habits build the template of our lives, guide our decisions, and more importantly our actions. Habits have been the topic of discussion in almost every book that I have read, but this obvious fact has escaped me. Here are some quotes about habits from some of the people that I have ran across in my readings: “Your beliefs become your thoughts,  Your thoughts become your words,  Your words become your actions,  Your actions become your habits,  Your habits become your values,  Your values become your destiny.”  ―...

Habits

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I've just bookmarked The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business (Unabridged) Part 1 at 1:13:05. habits are at the root at how we behave often without us realizing it.. Via #Audible for #Android. Get the app free: http://audible.com/wireless @audible_com Study the science behind habits, so that i can help myself and others on the Journey. This is an excellent book that tells you how to start habits that can help you move your life to another level. Check  out the book or the audio. Full of excellent information and motivating ideas, and some practical steps you can do.

Cultural Legacy

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I was given a challenge, and I accepted. I have to develop a character building curriculum for a school and implement it throughout the year. This means that I had to do some research to add to what I already have in my head. I was fortunate enough to run into a book that I had been told to read before, but I let it pass. The title of the book is "Outliers" by Malcom Gladwell. Excellent book, and I also had the fortune of running into a app called Audible.com that allowed me to listen to the book on the move and make notes. I would suggest this app for all those on the Journey. Enough of my commercial and to the meat of this blog today. After listening to the book and Malcolm Gladwell stressing the importance of "Cultural Legacy" in the development of people, the question of what is my cultural legacy? Many may not think this is an important question, but after listening to "outliers" I have to strongly disagree. In the book the author was able to...

Ramadan

Today I must focus on the fact that my strength is that I know my weaknesses & not everyone can handle that.. #eidmubarak -- Shelia C. Sales (@chyvaughn)

Simba 2012

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Time moves so quick it seems that it was just time for me to leave for Simba, and now it is over. This was a stellar year for the Columbus Chapter (Gye-Nyame Tribe). We had an opportunity to expose 21 young men to a camp that transforms lives, and that is exactly what happened. Simba is unlike any other program/camp that I have ever been apart of, the focus is providing young men with a safe place to transform and see the possibilities of greatness that lie in their soul. While the camp focuses on the young people it remains a transformational experience for everyone involved, from the kitchen staff to the people that care for the camp. The power of Simba pulls people together and forces them to look inward, release pain, and begin to grow. This year was full of spontanaity and emergence. To write about this things is one thing but to watch in action is another. This year due to my age and length of time in Simba I was able to sit back and watch the power of the Nation blossom. If yo...