7 Day Challenge

One of the most common non-productive activities we all participate in is complaining.  Although frustration is real and relevant, what good comes of spending useful hours doing something so useless?  Yes, we all need to vent, but how long do we vent before it becomes detrimental to our progress?  Think about this, every time we complain we give validity to the hater,enemy, bully, etc that created the problem.  Do you really want to give that much "face time" to someone/something that is out to destroy, devalue, or depress you?

For the next 7 days I want you to join me in a challenge against complaining.  I originally wanted to do 30-days, but I believe that if we start small then we will build a strong habit.  Here is the plan:

Starting as soon as you finish reading this post

-We will replace each complaint with  the phrase "And Life Goes On"

-We will not participate in complaint parties

-We will acknowledge the problem, but seek to immediately to find a solution

At the end of these 7 days, we will end this challenge with a personal celebration.  Let's get busy defeating complaining.  

Just me

Anthony J. Albury Jr., MBA is an Author, Motivational Speaker, Life Coach, Law Student, and Entrepreneur.  Visit his website at www.justanthony.org to learn more about him, for booking information, and to purchase his book.

What's God Got To Do With It?

It's been a few weeks since I've been able to blog.  I've been sorta busy publishing a book.  Yea, my freshman project is out, "Simplewords: Your Daily Motivational Journal".  Go to my website, www.justanthony.org, to read about it and to order a copy for everyone in your home.  Nevertheless, I'm back and with something that bothered me tremendously through out the night.

On yesterday, I entered into one of my normal political conversations.  This time the topic was Herman Cain.  After sharing a few choice words about him, I went on to tell my counterpart that I believed Cain was only for the wealthy, and that he could care less for the poor.  In return he replied that one of the biggest reasons people are poor is because of their "ungodly" characters.  Astonished at what I heard, I asked for a clear explanation.  He eventually went on to say that he was in the same category until Jesus woke him up.

Yea, my mouth dropped to the floor, and I almost didn't want to reply out of the sheer absurdity of the comment.  I was born and raised in the church.  My first degree is in Theology, and I spent 3 years as a pastor.  In all that time, I'd never heard anything like that.  Now while I agree that we have the ability to work and to make life better, I find it hard to swallow that the everyone that's poor has an ungodly character.

I can remember my paternal grandmother.  She was stern, loving, and kind.  She had 12 kids, and made sure all of them were in church.  Yet if you ever visited her home, then you wouldn't mistake her for a lady of wealth.  What she lacked in finances, she made up for in faith.  Although there wasn't much money, the house was overflowing with morals.  I'm sure we all have family members, or we are the people, that don't have much in the way of financial wealth.  Yet we can attest that a Godly character isn't the thing that's missing from the homes and lives of these people.  Yes there are some poor people that don't know God, but there's something about not having much that makes you depend on something or someone higher than you.

In this same line of thought, there are some wealthy people that believe in everything but God.  They think that they are the sole reason for their success, and that God is some anomaly that may or may not be present in the affairs of the world.  Then there are some wealthy people that know the saying "If it had not been for the Lord on my side............".

I strongly believe that God blesses the wealthy and the poor.  He cares for those with much and those with little.   There are some theological inferences that could be made to argue both sides of the coin, but in general I believe that God cares for everyone, and a person's financial status isn't based solely on their connection with God.

So I pose this question to you and to my friend, What's God Got To Do With It?  Does that mean that every person in that 1% populace that makes up 95% of the nations wealth have a strong Godly Character?  What's God Got To Do With It?  Does that mean that every millionaire spends time in prayer and meditation, while every poor person forgets about God? What's God Got To Do With It?  Does that mean that Oprah, Gates, and Buffet are going to heaven, but Mary, James, and Anthony aren't?

So really, What's God Got To Do With It?

-Just me



Anthony J. Albury Jr., MBA is an Author, Motivational Speaker, Life Coach, Law Student, and Entrepreneur.  Visit his website at www.justanthony.org to learn more about him, for booking, and to purchase his book.

9/12: "The day after the towers fell"

          I was conflicted as to whether to write this post on yesterday or on today.  In honor of the lives lost, I postponed this post till today.  It is no secret that the numbers 911 now have an ambiguous connotation in the minds of most Americans.  Prior to 2001, that number was the first thing that came to our minds when we were in trouble.  Yet on that morning of 9/22/01, our eyes were transfixed on something that seemed like a scene from a movie.  To this day, whenever there’s a fly over view of the city of New York the skyline is visibly different.

 Each annual anniversary of 9/11 our minds are once again bombarded.  All across the news we hear stories about how there’s another huge terrorist attack planned.  With fear and trepidation passengers board airplanes.  Law enforcement officers work overtime to beef up security across the nation.  We sit in front of our televisions and watch different tributes paid to the thousands that died on, and as a result of, that day.  All in all, we will never forget 9/11.

Yet, this post is about 9/12.  The attacks of 9/11 were horrendous, but the acts of 9/12 showed something more powerful than I’d ever witnessed in my “young” life.  For the first time ever I saw Americans come together.  In the words of the late Michael Jackson “it didn’t matter if you were black or white”.  This nation came together as a defiant group of people, and gave a helping hand to each other like never before.  For the first time in my life, I saw what it meant to be “One Nation under God”.  Sadly, with time this camaraderie began to suddenly dissipate as if it never existed.  It would reappear on each 9/11, but would once again disappear shortly thereafter.

Why must we wait for 9/11-like events to occur before we can experience unity like 9/12?  Why does it take a funeral to bring families together?  Why does it take hardship before we are willing to depend on others?  Why is it that we wait for people to hit rock bottom before we are willing to give them a helping hand?  Why can’t every day be like 9/12/2011?

Don’t get me wrong now.  I’m not so naïve to believe that we will experience total tranquility.  I don’t think that we will all sit around the campfire singing Kumbaya.  What I do believe is that we can learn to be more cordial.  We can learn to have different political views, but still treat each other with respect.  We can all be different, but embrace the diversity that makes us different.  My simple hope is that it doesn’t take another 9/11 in order for us to show a 9/12 kind of love for our fellow man.

-Just me 

We HAD a Dream: How we’ve turned MLK’s Dream to an American Nightmare

48 years ago the world renowned Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial poised and prepared to deliver a speech that would be echoed through the annals of time.  In his normal and rhythmic tone of speaking, he began by looking at the history of “these United States”.

Behind Dr. King stood the great Mahalia Jackson.  In the middle of his delivery, history tells us that mother Jackson said “Tell them about the dream Martin”.  As if instantly reminded of a deep-seated message that was planted by God Himself, Dr. King began with those powerful words “I Have a Dream”.  The crowds erupted with excitement, edification, and enlightenment as they rode the rollercoaster of words Dr. King shared on that day.  I’m sure that many of them left that place, if wanting to leave at all, motivated to do and be all that they could in order to make a better nation.

Somewhere in history we fell off the bandwagon.  We still here the words, and for a moment they spur up something in us that motivates us.  But as fleeting as a winter in Florida, the emotions seem to never last long enough to cause any action.  In fact, we’ve moved so far from action to the point of inaction.  We’ve now turned the dream into a nightmare.

Dr. King had a dream that encouraged by the constitution; our nation would realize that we are created equal.  Yet, it still baffles the mind when 7 white males can brutally beat, run over with their truck and kill a older black man and our legal system sets them all free with the exception of 1. I say we’ve turned the dream into a nightmare.

Dr. King had a dream that one day we would all be able to sit down at the table of brotherhood.  Yet, every time congress puts its own interest over the survival of this nation, I say that we’ve turned the dream into a nightmare.

Dr. King had a dream that true freedom and justice would reign supreme. But when we punish the user of a “poor man’s” drug more than we do the user a “rich man’s drug, then we’ve turned the dream into a nightmare. 

Dr. King had a dream that one day people wouldn’t be judged by the “content of their skin, but by the content of their character”.  Yet, when we allow an unequivocal disrespect of a President based on the underlying notion of his skin color, then we’ve turned the dream into a nightmare.

Dr. King had a dream that through equality, all people would be able to become educated together.  As I walk through the buildings of my law school, I see the disparity in numbers between people that look like me, and those that are of a lighter skin tone.  Every time we spurn an educational opportunity because it’s too hard or challenging, we turn Dr. King’s dream into an American nightmare. 

The dream of Dr. King has become relegated to the centerpiece for an annual day off from work.  When it should be a never-ending flame that causes the eternal hearers to move into action that will bring honor to the dream.

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to redeem the dream.  I’m ready to fight for equality, and to empower those that are honored with equality to make the most of it.  I’m ready to fight for the day when my son won’t need affirmative action to supplement his many qualifications for a job.  I’m ready to fight for a day when we understand it is our differences that make us powerful, and not our likenesses that make us special. 

We Had a dream, and I’m ready to make it a reality.  Are you?

Just me

Do it For Them!

They speak with voices rarely taken seriously.  They come into this world involuntarily.  They are subjected to whatever life is given them.  Some are seen on TV with malnutritioned bodies that leave even the toughest character with a sentimental thought.  Others a thrown into national prominence, prestige, and prowess before they can even read.  Yet at the end of the day, they all are still the same.  They are our children.

Without going into my political beliefs, I would say that it is a shame that we tend to balance budgets on the backs of our children’s education.  We cut this and that in order to secure more lining for our pockets.  We often use them in custody battles, and as pawns to secure as much money as we can during divorces.

Last night as I lay on my sick bed, playing with my son that had gotten me sick, I begin to think.  I’ve recently made the controversial decision to leave my 9-5 in order to attend law school full-time, and to focus on my ultimate dream of owning a successful business entity.  As I sat there looking at my son, I wondered if it would just be enough to work a 9-5 and to give him his basic needs.  I contemplated if my dream chasing was really worth streamlining my budget in order to make things happen.  I wondered if studying 8-12 hours a day, while attending class, and building a company was just taking on too much.  I asked myself, “is it all worth it?”

As I looked at my son, I had no other option but to say yes.  By pursuing my dreams, I’m also pursuing a better life.  I’m setting a standard for him that he must not just settle for the easiness of life.  Now I will not require him to follow in my footsteps and attend law school.  Nor will I say he has to be like his Mother and go for his PhD.  Yet I will require of him that he gives life his all.

At the end of the day, everything I do will in some way or another affect him.  He didn’t ask to come into this world, but as his father I need to do all I can to show him all he can do in this world.  We as parents have a responsibility to set a standard for our children.  We must show them that they are able to do anything they put their minds to.  It is time for us to stop settling for what is comfortable, and for us to move into “miracle territory”.  We have to be examples to our children of what it is like to be successful in whatever we put forth our hands to do.   Our children are looking at us to show them the way.  At the end of the day, if you can’t pursue your dreams for yourself at least do it for them.

Just me

Will America Ever Grow Up?

I'm normally deliberate in what I post, and rarely do I allow anger or frustration to prompt my writing.  Yet there's a pot of water that's boiling, and it is about to pour over and cause some serious harm.

I noticed that as soon as we voted in our new President, rarely did you hear opposition call him President Obama.  They simply relegated to just calling him Obama.  Now that's not a horrible thing, because I have called him and other presidents by their last name only.  Yet as time has progressed it has become evident that this is a link to total disrespect to him as Commander-in-Chief and the leader of the "Free World".

Things moved up a notch on the disrespect meter when Rep Joe Wilson disrespectfully yelled out a childish "YOU LIE" during a live Presidential address.  Of course he went on to apologize a few weeks later, and said his emotion got the best of him.  I was willing to be on the "let's get past it" team, but I wondered if he ever heard of professionalism.  I also begin to wonder if this was just a repeat of the America of old, where no matter what I accomplish as a black man, in some people's eyes, I will never deserve the respect.  Nevertheless I let that go.

Then there came this "tar baby" reference by the rep from Colorado.  Before I jumped to say anything I wanted to get the facts of the case.  I did, but they didn't matter because as a "Professional" there's a thing called sensitivity training.  This is where I learn that there are different cultures, ethnicity, etc that work with me, and when I say/do something I must be aware of how that can be taken.  For example, if I was to make a general comment about the word Faggot in my workplace I'm sure I would suffer some form of discipline due to the sexual preference of some of my co-workers.  If you don't believe me then ask Kobe Bryant, Tim Hardaway, and a few others how the misuse of a word cost them a lot.  But this rep can use the term "tar baby" in reference to the nations first Black President, and can simply apologize later.  Now I was willing to almost let this past.

Then this morning I wake up, enjoying my Toronto and American Bar Association experience, and I go to one of my favorite websites.  One of the headlines reads Fox News affiliate article "Obama's Hip Hop BBQ Didn't Create Jobs".  This was in reference to the President's 50th bday party.  A party where there were People like Tom Hanks, Rahm Emmanuel, and some other racial identities along with some African Americans.  Of course the coward that wrote the article didn't care to attach his name to the ignorance he wrote.  I'm all for criticizing the President when it is due, but where do we draw the line when it comes to the disrespect?

This has me pissed off this morning .  Yes I'm a supporter of this President, but that isn't my sole reason for anger.  I get angry because if people can freely say these racist and offensive things about the President of the United States, then what can a racist prick say or do to me or my 2-year old son?  It is time that we stop shielding these hatemongering fools, and call them out for the idiots and racists that they are.  There's a big difference between being critical of a person's policies, and being disrespectful because of his race.  Will America ever grow up?

Just me

Opportunities

On this Daddy's Blues Wednesday, instead of a long post today I just wanted to share a thought with you taken from an excerpt of my forthcoming book "Ode To Sons".  

"Sons, at some point in our life, we are all given an opportunity for new beginnings.  It could be the birth of a child, enrolling in school, graduating from school, getting married, being baptized, or even just a new day.  Whatever your new beginning may be, the one thing it is not is an opportunity for you to waste.  I have wasted some new beginnings, and like any rationale human being, I regret some of the opportunities I had to open up a new chapter with a bang.  New beginnings don’t erase the past, but they do give new meaning to the future." 

Are you taking advantage of your new opportunities to overcome the shadows of your past?  Or are you simply allowing your opportunities to become another shadow of the past?    

Just Me