Happy Monday: The competitive spirit

Happy Monday: The competitive spirit:   My wish as usual  is for you to have a Happy Monday   Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine...

The competitive spirit

 ^{My wish as usual  is for you to have a Happy Monday}

 Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.

I never learned to foster a competitive spirit probably because of my early upbringing. My parents were farmers and before I fully understood what was happening I had my chores assigned. I also learned early that there was a price to pay for negligence. I simply learned that nature and the weather were not excuses for not getting things done. Endure what ever nature throws at you and in the end you will be rewarded. 

My parents eked out a living farming the hill side and rearing animals. Planting crops and rearing animals came with many unpredictable and uncontrollable factors. Crops were lost as a result of the natural elements and larceny and animals were also lost due to the same factors. Losses were taken as a part of life and plans were made base on expectations that the crops will produce and the animals will thrive if the necessary things are done. There was a abundance of food but scarce cash and whenever cash was on hand then maximum use was made of it. This accounted for a lot getting done with small amounts of cash.

One of the lessons I learned from farming was to endure the best that nature had to offer and to overcome. There was never the ideal conditions under which to work when you are a farmer. The most favorable condition to prepare for planting was when nature was at its meanest and the time was exceptionally dry. Rain and floods did not excuse chores not getting done and so when it rained you get wet, when it was dry you get burnt by the sun, hurricane damaged crops and the list goes on. when nature was at its harshest was the time to burst in a happy song as you work or whistle a happy melody.

The trick with farming was knowing when to plant the various crops and many times that was during the most unfavorable conditions. However, the seasons never change and the wisdom of preparing during unfavorable times always pay. There was always the risk of planting too earl or planting too late. The same principle applied to reaping because the farmer had to know when was the right time to to reap his crop. i know farmers who were off because they planted their crops out of season.

There was no need for farmers to compete because all planted essentially the same crops and all were subjected to the same weather conditions. All farmers did not reap in the same abundance because of the extras that some farmers were willing to put into caring and nurturing their crops. 

I grew up in Jamaica and one of the things that I was taught early was to limit the use of I and me in conversations. I it was often said is found in the middle of pride. Focusing on I and me often lead to bragging, an elevated sense of importance and the need to put down others in order to promote oneself. Proud persons sooner or later end up looking ridiculous.

It is not easy to write this while constantly referring to myself but in recent times I have to take note of persons whose spirit of competitiveness will not allow them to not be the one being shown appreciation. This has led to persons trying to put others down while singing their own praises. I have learned in life to go beyond what is necessary to help my fellow man. This is where I get my joy. I do not find it necessary that there is any need to talk about helping others because my payment is the joy I get from doing so. My task is to highlight the achievement of other persons and when necessary pretend that I know nothing and when necessary that I am ignorant.

There is a saying that even a fool when he keep silent is considered to be wise. There is no need to compete with anyone because if you do the things that you should be doing at the end of the race you will be among the winners at the finish line. It has become the norm to glory in personal achievement and not let anyone forget personal greatness.

This week, however,is a good time to highlight and focus on encouraging another person. The greatest things in life are the things which do not carry a price. This week is a good time to talk about and highlight others person and if possible during conversation not to use the words I, me or my.

Happy Monday: To be great is our destiny

Happy Monday: To be great is our destiny: Greatness resides in all of us and it lies  latent in our genes awaiting the right formula to be released. All to often we forget that we ha...

To be great is our destiny

Greatness resides in all of us and it lies  latent in our genes awaiting the right formula to be released. All to often we forget that we have the genes of many previous generations residing withing our bodies and minds. There is no certainty of the factors that determine the persons that we shall be but there is the possibility for one great act to trigger the domino effect. Our destiny is to be great and maximize the power of multiple generation of great genes.

Consider this, there are no two persons who are carbon copies of any other person that ever existed on this planet earth. Every individual that is born on this earth has their own unique design and characteristics. It does not matter how many children are born to the same parents, no two children are the same. No one can say for sure what will be the dominant trait that manifest itself in an individual.

On of the interesting things in life is that it is know that stupid parents have fathered geniuses and wise parents have been known to give birth to nincompoops. The uncontrollable factors in life make it impossible for parents to determine the destiny of their children. There are of course those children that fortune favors and there are the children who recognized that there is a glorious life ahead and no one set limits of the possibilities. There are many children who break through the barriers and limits set by their parents. It is vital to know that you can rise to be on par with the best.

There was a time when by virtue of birth some men were given privileges and declared to be nobility. This created an eternal problem because these nobility came into contact with their superiors who were of lesser birth but were truly noble. Then of course noble birth did not prevent some persons from being scoundrels. You and I can attain and surpass the highest standards that is set by man because our destiny is to be great. This is our advantage because man has the basic standards that is expected of us then there are those who surpass the basic standards set by man. Our task is to rise higher than the standards set by man and so display how awesome we are.

The collective knowledge and wisdom of man is taught in our highest institutions of learning.  There are the Doctors of Philosophy who sits at the top and the daring and brilliant can attain to their status. After the Doctor of Philosophy is attained there is not much further to go in terms of learning because that is near the peak of mans understanding. There is a bit of irony in that the most brilliant of these men have studied and acquired knowledge for many years. Then there is the man who somehow attain the knowledge naturally but will never be recognized. It is important that we utilize our knowledge and wisdom because knowledge and wisdom unused or under utilized makes us no better that the stupid and ignorant.

The true person who you and I are lies with the powers that are outside our of understanding but we determine if we release the potentials residing within us. This can be demonstrated in a family with many children because the one who is the head by right of inheritance is not of necessity the one that is most brilliant. There is no telling which child will be truly noble and brave and the heir may not of necessity have the best leadership qualities. In life the principles taught to one child may be better understood and implemented by another child.

We are destined to be great and being great is our destiny but we must deal with the obstacles that we encounter in life. It is through our victories in overcoming the obstacles that our true greatness will be seen.

Utilizing Time

At midnight today you and I will have spent 1128 hours out of the 8784 hours that we are allotted for the year 2016. We will have spent approximately 376 of these hours asleep or at best lying in our beds of the rest we will be at work and also have a choice of activity. The thing about time is that time does not wait on us and whether we utilize the passing hours or not time moves on.

One of the question that I pose to myself is, what impact or influence will I have or leave when I depart this earth. How will I be remembered?

It may appear bizarre that I admit that I recognize that I will one day depart this life. The reality is that I live my life with the expectation to live until I am 120 years old while at the same time recognize that I may not live to see the end of this day. This allows me to ask from time to time, what are the things in life that really matters?

I grew up in Jamaica where Christianity and the Christian life were offered as viable alternatives. At present I reside in the USA where Christianity as compared to what is practiced in Jamaica is a sham. At least where I attend church I hear more about the pastor and his family life than I hear about Jesus Christ. Persons are told that if they have a relationship with Jesus Christ it guarantees going to heaven but one does not get a feeling that this is something that is really believed.

The persons with who I associate the most are Christians but at best they reflect a fun piece I wrote recently where fun, joy, happiness and laughter have been kidnapped and are being held for ransom. In place of these are misery and stress.

Here is the reality starting at midnight tonight there will still be 7656 left hours in this year. One of the great joys to be enjoyed during this time will be to work and be gainfully employed. It will be great being in a job that you actuality enjoy. The thing to do, however, is to find ways to enjoy life and make living fun.

There are some person who advocate being busy and utilizing every second of every day. This is good advice however I have discovered that sometimes I waste a lot of time trying to get thing done. After countless effort and times without any result things just naturally fall into place without my effort. I have also experienced the joys that come with a task being accomplished through diligent and hard work. Some of my most productive time are the times when I walk and the brain has time to think. It is during these times that I formulate ideas and strategies.

Time is passing and there is no certainty that we will live to a ripe old age, retire and live happily ever after. There are simple ways however that we can enjoy life and living without being careless and or irresponsible. Set goal and work toward achieving these goal and make it a daily practice to out of the 24 hours in the day find the time to do something that you enjoy doing.

There will also come the time when we leave think about the legacy you would like to leave and devote some time to that also. It will never do to upon reflection you decide for yourself that you never impacted your world.

Valentine's day challenge

I decide to do Valentine's Day a bit early so I wrote a little poem for the lady earlier this week. Now she does not believe that I can get 1000 views for the poem " Faultless" that I wrote for and posted on this  site https://scriggler.com/Profile/prince_bradford.
Help me prove her wrong.

Happy Monday: Auditing life

Happy Monday: Auditing life: I came across this question recently "If you get the chance to relive your life and fix the mistakes that you made, would you do it?&qu...

Auditing life

I came across this question recently "If you get the chance to relive your life and fix the mistakes that you made, would you do it?"  When I read the question the first thought that popped into my mind was "What mistakes?"

The things in my life that had caused me the greatest distress, stress, depression and you name it when I look back on my life I now give thanks for them. I am better off for them and they have turned out to be for my own good.  I am fully convinced that the things that happened in my life are too coordinated to have been coincidences but that there was an unseen hand guiding me all the time. I am fully convinced that where I am at present is the spot where the Divine Ones want me to be.

Life is of such that it is wise to take an audit of life at intervals to determine if we are fulfilling the purposes that we envisioned for our lives. I believe it is okay to borrow a quote from a commercial "There are so many ways to die that it is a wonder that we are alive."  We are alive but an audit of our life will determine for us whether our existence on the earth serves a purpose or whether we are just delaying someone have to fork out our funeral expense. Life can be just as miserable if we try living and being who or what others expect of us at the expense of pursuing our dreams and goals. This is no excuse for ignoring the potential others sees in us and so open the door of opportunity.

The great difference between us and the animals is that we are subjected to inspiration and this bring out our creative instincts. Alongside our creative instincts are our desires to attain perfection. These desires to attain perfection may not be alive in every man but the truly ambitious man will want to surpass the the accepted standard set by man to reach a higher plane. There are many persons who are not satisfied with being mediocre but who desires to be truly outstanding. There are just a few individuals who are truly outstanding at birth, therefore the process of being truly outstanding require character and persistence.

Our world is not short of persons with brilliant ideas and dreams but  there are not enough persons who will see the pursuits of their dreams and ideas to the end. Initially these persons either have contingency plans or are encouraged to have contingency plans just in the event that they fail. Our world is looking for more brave men who will stake their all on their dreams and ideas. This involves setting out with the determination of success being the only option and it becomes succeed or die in the effort.

There are too many persons who have not learned the art of persistence. Life will certainly test us as it pertain to our commitment to following our dreams and ideas. It is only natural then that after the excitement of starting to pursue the dream that hardship and doubt should rise. There are too many persons who believe that life pathway should be smooth and free from obstacles and hardships. This is one reason why there are so many who are neither physically or mentally tough. There are too many persons who are content to live off pickings while the ability to be great lay idles in their psyche.

This week is a great time to do an audit of our life to see if our life is on the path to what we can truly be. Two of the saddest word in the English language are "If only" but a true reflection on life can be the impetus to change.

Life will one day come to an end and the saddest thing that can be said at the end of life is "I wasted my life" or "He never lived up to his potential."

Africans it is time to get up off your "posterior"

The time is ripe for Africans and persons of African descent to cause the world to regret that it ever laid eyes on an African.

This is an easily achievable feat because historically Africans are recognized as possessing superior strength and constitution to to other nationalities. These two characteristic were the main contributing factors which led to the enslavement of the African people by Europeans. The Africans, however, were recognized as possessing intelligence even though regarded as being inferior to, and, less than the animals.

The historical recognition of superior strength and constitution of the Africans must now be complemented by our intelligence. This characteristic has been dormant for too long and is the very reason why Africans and persons of African descent are feared.

The world knows that when our brilliance come to the forefront then we cannot be stopped.

A few years ago I was properly cussed out by a school principal for suggesting during a discussion that our forefathers in Africa were not guiltless as it pertained to the slave trade. Our forefathers facilitated the slave trade by capturing and selling each other to the Europeans as slaves. This she vehemently denied as being true and stated it was recorded by the historians to justify the slave trade. I personally do not believe that the Europeans left Europe and sailed to Africa to capture Africans but that it were the Africans that sold each other to the Europeans and into slavery.

This does not exonerated the Europeans for the slave trade but partly put the blame on our forefathers for the slave trade and also mean that the time has come for those of us of African descent  to get up off our “posterior”  get to work and take up our rightful place as leaders. There  are too man persons of African descent who are griping about being descendants of slaves and are waiting for hand out when we should be uniting and combining our intelligence to dazzle the world.

The time has come for us to destroy a system that was designed to keep us down and in poverty. Justice demands that retribution come to those who enslaved the Africans therefore the Africans will always be feared. Moreover the African epitomizes what other nations hoped to be and when others nationalities look at an African he sees what he would like to be but never will be. The lawmakers in an effort to thwart eventual justice because they foresaw the rise of the African designed the laws to make criminals of the Africans and there are too many that have fallen prey to the laws. The laws of the USA continue to recognize some people groups as superior while employing the guise that all men are equal.

Recently I spoke with an African American female and she related the woes of a poor white boy in the American school system. She told me that the benefits and privileges that were afforded her daughter as an African American were denied this boy because he was white and therefore considered to be of superior intelligence. 

An incident was reported on the news recently where the parents of a mentally disturbed man called the police. the police came and saw the mentally disturbed man with a baseball bat and shot him dead. In our house we know that when crime and violence is reported the perpetrators are African Americans.

Last week there was an incident reported on the same news channel where a man shot up a police car and while being chased he opened fire at the police from the car he was driving. The police safely took him into custody and made the excuse for his behavior that he was mentally disturbed. It took some time before a photo of the man was shown but I was sure that the fact that he was not shot and killed was because he was not an African American.

There was another case of parents calling the police because their son was mentally disturbed and threatening them. The police responded and shot and killed both the mentally disturbed man and a neighbor and yesterday i read that the police man who did the killing is now suing the parents of the man he killed for emotional distress.

I continue to hear persons lament that President Obama as an African American has not done enough for African Americans. Someone should remind these loud mouths that African Americans make up 15% of the American population and it time they stop expected to get worshiped. The preeminence  of the African American population of the USA is remarkable when compared to the rest of the population.

The African American already has two important characteristics in his favor mainly his physical strength and constitution but now he need to use his intelligence. A combination of these three characteristics  is why the African was always feared but there is no need for us as African Americans to resort to violence because we already possess the natural qualities to take our place as the greatest. There are many spheres where the Africans are leaders but the time is ripe to take over academia among others.

It is distressing that so many African Americans only find interest and entertainment in violence, sex and that which degrades others. When a post hits social media that involves these elements it spreads like wild fire but very few persons notices a post that will benefits or may involve the use of their intelligence, or require debate and discussions.

The time is ripe for the African American to be the ones creating the games instead of spending countless hours playing the games. There are better topics to write about that drugs, sex and life in the hood. It is time to break the stereotype that have been created for the African American.

We live in a society that set the rules and manipulates the rules to favor a select few but we already have an advantage and we can beat those who set the rules at their own game. It is time for us as African to recognize our brilliance and silence the critics by displaying our ingenuity. We shine individually but it is hard for others to recognize our individual light so the time is ripe for the brilliant to unite and let the world see our brilliance. The strongest countries are the ones with immense populations or which find a common umbrella under which to unite and it is time for us as Africans to take our place as the most brilliant among mankind. 

This will require us to unite under a common cause and purpose. At the same time we must keep in mind that this may not be looked on favorably by the world. We are already at the front in many spheres. We are one billion strong in Africa with in excess of 150,000,000 in the Diaspora. It is time to take our place at the top.

Black History Month is a token acknowledging the contribution of our forefathers to the development of the United kingdom, the USA and Canada. We are sufficiently strong and dispersed to outshine every people. It is time for us to take our place of brilliance  and lead the world through our superior strength, constitution and brilliance. 

Pathetic

My wish as always is for you to have a Happy  monday

February is celebrated as Black history Month in the USA and Canada so today I share from my book "Wha'a Gwaan Man (A tibute to Jamaica and to the motherland Africa)". Available http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Prince-W.-Bradford/e/B00GM5OKR6

Pathetic

The color of your skin, really

That is your claim to supremacy

You who are a product of evolution

And claim no national origin or group to belong

You originate out of nothing and that is what you are

Oh come now, please try something better

There are multi millions with skins of the same color

Ah it is only to the African that you fell superior

Well, maybe, to a few others

You do not know the origin of the genes of your forefathers

Unlike the Indians, Chinese and Japanese to name a few

Your knowledge extends to those who came

And through deception and trickery stole

Robbed and slaughtered the natives

Then went to the motherland to enslave the African

Bring him here to enrich your pocket and work your land

That was your mistake

The African showed you up to be less than a man

What have you to take to the table?

To show that you are superior

Sophistication belong to the British and Spanish

Romance to the French and Italian

Technology to the Japanese and Chinese

Population to the Chinese and Indian

Need I tell you why the African is the best?

Enslaved you valued the African less that your animals

But lust and passion rise in you when you look at the female African

In her lies the ultimate of what you desire in a woman

And standing beside the African man you fall short

Because he is what you would like to be as man

For the African man is what you never will be

For although you are prouder than a peacock

And more puffed up than Lucifer with pride

Behind mask and gowns you continue to hide

While proclaiming your hate

To the African who you claim is minority

But who shows up your inferiority

And while you clamor and shout that you are supreme

The African take to heights that you will never reach

© Prince Bradford 2015