Experiences...Updates on Life!

I'm really grateful for life, more than anything! With that ability to be grateful is the realization that everything is a gift, and for the gift of being able to live and actually enjoy life, it's a privilege not many people have!

On Sunday of last week, while I was driving with my friend, we came across one of the people on the street who would approach your car and attempt to clean the windshield. Most of the time, you're like "Don't" because usually they would expect you to give them money for their service. My friend was trying to gather all the change he could find in his car in order to give this man. I think he needed 1 dollar, but we were like about 25 cents short, my friend's Mom decided to add whatever coins she had as well, and I dipped my hands in my pocket, and took out all the coins in my pocket and handed it to the man (it was about 80 something cents) I told him, "You're lucky today". And in an ecstatic mode, he jumped up and said "I'm a winner! I'm a winner" For a brief moment, we all laughed together...and as the light turned green, and my friend pressed the accelerator to move, he said the words "I love you brother!" Certainly made my day, no doubt!

On Monday, I was able to learn a valuable lesson about asking for help. Naturally, I don't! I infact detest having to ask anybody for help...I'm so stubborn that I'll rather try and solve a problem by myself (no matter how long it might take), and give up if I can't solve it, that ask for help. But I'm learning! At this Leadership Training Camp I went to in May, this was made evident to me as a serious issue that needed to be dealt with. See, they put us in this maze blindfolded, with ropes on either side, and told us to find our ways out. The catch however was that in reality there was no way out of the maze, you just had to ask for help (at any time, if you needed it)...but I was thinking, what exactly do I need help for? Wasn't the focus to try and find your way out of the maze! Yeah, with that mindset, I was one of the last two persons in the maze. If only I'd said the words, "Jeff, can you help me" sooner enough, my blindfold would have been taken off. Read further about my experiences on Monday here ----> It's a very interesting one, with all the twists and turns that typifies losing one's sense of direction...literally!

This year, I've witnessed some major growth, and I mean really major ones. A lot of transitions has happened, and it can seem overwhelming sometimes. On Friday, I got the chance to witness a tour of this type of growth, in a Non-Profit organization called Change Happens, here in Houston where I live. The organization is basically the story of my life! You can read the details of that tour here ---->

And today, on Saturday, I walked in the rain (it was really pouring mind you)! I walked as if it wasn't raining. I was in no hurry, and this lasted I believe for about 45 minutes. It was peaceful, and serene, and beautiful! And freeing...this period, just as of a child's, is what I'm aiming to return to. I was drenched, and some of the cars that passed by splashed water on me, I didn't resist it or try to run away from it...It felt so natural...so normal! Life is too full of stress...but hey enjoy the little things, I shall!

And when I say that I'm grateful, these are the things I talk about - the ability to smell the flowers, to share a laugh with a stranger, to talk with a friend, to walk in the rain, and the list is endless...

Here is my theme song for Growth, which is an essential value that I hold strongly.