It’s been a little while, but a new set of weekly musings is finally here! Check them out:

1. Just when we’re thinking of or are at the point of giving up, something miraculous happens…A thought, idea, experience, action, or person inspires us to press on. And just like that, we resume our course–fighting harder than ever before.
2. It amazes me how quickly misunderstandings arise.  Some of us are so quick to jump to conclusions long before we’ve allowed others to express themselves.  We disrespect others when we cut them off.  We can also make them feel as if we’re discrediting them and that their point of view holds no value or weight with us.  Active listening and thinking carefully before responding are so crucial when we communicate with each other.  It lessens the chances for misunderstandings and potential conflict.
3. No one is beyond reproach. We tend to pump people up, especially leaders, public figures, celebrities, and even ourselves.  But no matter how good we are or whether we’ve been called the best at what we do, we aren’t too good to be critiqued.  If this was the case, we wouldn’t have performance appraisals or reviews at work.  We also know that as long as we as a race of beings exist, we will talk about and criticize others no matter what.  But there’s a time and a place for it.  And if we’re going to criticize others our criticism should be tactful, relevant, and helpful. (And as the saying goes–if you can dish it then you can take it.) 
4. Sometimes it’s best to take a step back and let others shine.  Can’t always be in control.  Never should we allow our egos to hold us or others captive.  Under no circumstances should we try to dim others’ light.  Everyone deserves a shot.  How else would we have made it thus far?
5. Personal decisions are just that.  We should never feel like we have to explain ourselves to anyone.  If those who expect or feel as if we owe them an explanation are in no way impacted by our decisions, then they deserve absolutely NO explanation.

Until next time… Peace, Love, and Many Blessings!

~ BuddahDesmond

Greetings all!  It’s February (already).  Hope 2013 is going well for you so far.  If not, do all that you can to make it better.  On that note, let’s move right in to the latest weekly musings.

1. There’s so much pride in knowing, recognizing, and celebrating where you come from.
2. Knowing (and continuing to learn) your history can revitalize or reinvigorate your spirit, inspire you, motivate you, and influence your life’s path.
3. Having a strong support system that builds you up and truly believes in you, especially when growing up, can have an overwhelming impact on your self-esteem, confidence, and drive to go after your dreams.
4. You’re greater than your circumstances.  Don’t let your circumstances define you.  There is life, a better life, beyond your circumstances.  Once you realize this you can overcome anything.
5. Never let the light inside of you die.  Let it shine.  Let it shine!
6. We’re reflections of each other.  If we could love ourselves more we could love each other a lot more.  There’s no telling what the outlook of our lives and this world would be if we had more (real) love.

Until next time…peace, love, and many blessings!

~ BuddahDesmond

Greetings all! Here’s the latest round of weekly musings:

1. It’s hard having faith in a system that’s broken.  Or if not completely broken, a system in need of major rehab.  While there may be people in positions working to fix the system, resistance, backbiting, partisanship, and corruption prevent change from taking shape.  One day… Just maybe one day this won’t be the case.
2. I hope I never get to the point where my personal interests take precedence over all, especially when they are to the detriment of those around me.  Sometimes you need to take a step back and think about the short-term and long-term impact of what you do and the effects it may have on others. 
3. When only you and those like you are winning, everyone else loses.  We can’t win when self-serving and party-serving interests take precedence over the needs and interests of the larger society.  Until we get back to “WE THE PEOPLE,” everything will fail.
4. There’s an “unwritten” code or script in life that many of us follow.  Within this code or script lies expectations about the type of life we should live, how and where we get educated, the field of work we go into, who we love/marry, the type of community we live in, etc.  Now there’s nothing wrong with following this code/script…as long as it provides you with the life you truly want.  The big “Oops!” or “WTF!” moment for many of us comes when we realize that following the code/script hasn’t fulfilled us (at all).  A gaping, persistent void will figure prominently until we feed our souls what it’s been missing and revive the dreams that died on the way to PC, cookie cutter living.
5. College isn’t for everyone.  Marriage isn’t for everyone.  Having children or parenting isn’t for everyone.  Corporate America isn’t for everyone.  Christianity isn’t for everyone.  Everything isn’t for everybody.  Just because it’s working for you doesn’t give you the right to force it on to others or expect everyone else to do as you do.  Just live and let be.
6. Confidence is a light that shines through.  When it’s peaking, everyone can see it.  There’s a certain assurance and glow about you.  Everyone can see it, feel it when it’s dim too.  Oh, the difficulty trying to convince others of anything when you don’t have the confidence or belief in yourself. 
7. You cannot fully embrace/accept the love you need/want or be able to successfully sustain any romantic relationships unless you truly love yourself.  The inability to love yourself makes it virtually impossible to love anyone else (at least in the way they need or deserve to be loved). 

Here’s the latest weekly musings:

1. Not sure there’s a harder sell than making others believe in something when you don’t believe in it yourself. Persuasion/buy-in often fails without conviction, confidence, and universal appeal.
2. The more you accumulate in this life, the harder you’re going to have to work to maintain it.  So many of us are out here living lives we don’t want to live and working ourselves into an early dirt nap each day just to maintain things we don’t need. When our world suddenly changes and all these “things” we’ve accumulated go to the waysides, then what? “Things” don’t make us. But they will break us if we place more value in them than living a happy, healthy, and fulfilled life.
3. There’s something about the simple life that becomes more and more appealing the older I get. I’m striving for it. A simple life doesn’t mean a boring life. It means living within your means. It means striving for a stress-free/drama-free life. It means living to truly love yourself and not looking for value and esteem in superficial and materialistic things. The simple life means being happy and content. It means counting on your joy through it all and having success on your own terms. The simple life means balance.
4. Change is inevitable. There’s nothing any of us can do to stop change. We may be able to place roadblocks in its way or try to prolong the shelf-life of the traditional ways of yesteryear. But change will eventually take shape and form just the way destiny intended. Governing bodies, institutions, organizations and people have all been forced to change with the times. Our modern world is no different. Embrace it!
5. Maybe some, not all, of us forget that celebrities and public officials are human too. They’re everyday people with more high-profile occupations. Putting the obvious differences aside, they have the same basic needs as us and often experience the same things we do. (Don’t let the “celebrity life” fool you into thinking otherwise.) So it makes no sense that we put them on pedestals so high even they can’t compete with themselves. And then we want to shame, blaspheme, and condemn them when they do things that we don’t agree with. Our society gets kicks out of building people up and tearing them down. Just think about how it would feel if their shoes were on our feet.
6. I imagine if love were a tangible commodity that it would sell out each time it hit the shelves. Marketing campaigns would be out of this world. Businesses would face fierce competition year after year, as the industry and consumers would determine who creates and sells love the best. I figure love as a commodity would always be trendy, never going out of style. Because it’s something everybody wants. Sadly, we fail to realize that love is always in our midst.