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Friday, September 29, 2006
Meet my Parking Angel Parking Angel Posted on Original Brotha 9.29.06 I have often told people I have a parking angel. It seems as though whenever I drive onto a parking lot, I have a good parking space ready for me. This has happened to me more times than not. Why? Because I have a parking angel that goes before me and finds me a good parking space near the front. Don't drink hateraide if you don't have an angel. Whenever people ride with me, they are amazed at how often I find good parking spaces. What's the real deal with this? It's simple. I expect to get a good parking space. I truly expect that when I pull onto a parking lot, I will have a good parking space waiting for me. I drive to the front of the store and start looking for the parking space closest to the door and then start working my way to the back of the lot from there. I go into every parking lot thinking that I will get a close parking space. It starts by the way I drive to the front of the lot first and then start by working to the back. This is completely opposite of a lot of people. A lot of people drive onto a parking lot and take the first available parking space because they figure it's the best they are going to get. I hope this isn't you. But these people don't expect to get a good spot and start settling early on in their pursuit of a close space. I have found this is the case in life as well. Some people go through life ready to settle for something that is "good enough" from the very beginning. They don't really expect for things to go their way and they are willing to quickly settle for the first opportunity that comes their way. Author and Pastor, Andy Stanley says; "the good is the enemy of the best". This is true in the lives of most people. They are too willing to accept the good instead of risking that for the best. I always want the best. I want the best effort from those I work with, I want the best toys and equipment, I want the best for my family and I even want the best parking space I can find. That's how I live my life, searching for the best. I would admit, it's often a risk to go for the best and not settle for something that's good. There have been times that I have passed up the good in search for the best and ended up with something worse. Unfortunately, I have passed up a good parking space that was close because I was looking for a better one and ended up even farther away. This happens sometimes because there are no guarantees with my parking angel, just like in life - no guarantees. Like searching for a parking space, I should go into every situation in life, by heading to the front of the pack and expecting a favorable outcome. By doing this I have found the good spots more often than not. Do you believe? Word... Pasta' Alex posted by Pasta' Alex # 4:50 PM 1 Comments Links to this post   Monday, September 25, 2006 Would you lie to save a buck? The other day I went miniature golfing with one of my friends. The place we went to was expensive. As a matter of fact... it was double the highest price I had ever paid to play miniature golf. The place offered a discount of one dollar for those under a certain age. After I stepped up and paid I noticed my friend telling the cashier that he qualified for the discount. This struck me odd because he didn't look anywhere near like the age to qualify for the discount, it struck me even more odd that she was about to give him the discount. As a good friend and mentor I did what anyone else in my position would have done, I called him out! In front of the cashier, our other friends and everyone else in line, I let it be known that he was well past the age of 12! I couldn't believe he was willing to lie about his age to save a buck on putt-putt golf! I was pretty disappointed in him and took it upon myself to express this to him. I talked about the importance of telling the truth at all times and gave him my speech on integrity and doing the right thing, etc. Everything I told him was true and it was obvious he needed to be reminded of these things. When the conversation was over, I was still amazed that he lied, but even more amazed that he didn't think it was a big deal and admitted that he would probably do it again. All the time we were playing miniature golf, I kept thinking in my mind about how disappointed I was in him and how I would never do such a thing, and definitely not to save a buck! On the drive home, the thought occurred to me that I'm really no better than my friend. I mean, I too have lied to save money in the past. My lies were not necessarily to save a buck, but I had lied to save money. I was dogging him and looking down on him for doing something that, truthfully I have done more than once. Although I would never lie to save a buck, I had lied to save a couple bucks, several hundred dollars and even a couple of thousand dollars. The truth be told, I'm no better than him and perhaps even a little worse. My lies weren't to save a buck, but to save much more money. My lies possibly cost some other honest person even more than this buck that I have a major problem with. What about you? Have you ever lied to save a buck? Would you? Is it a big deal to say that you are a student at the movie to get the student discount? Have you ever misrepresented the truth to save money on your car insurance? Is it wrong to receive the employee discount from the store where your friend works? We all know the answers to these questions, but are we living them out in our daily lives or are we lying to ourselves, again?! Word... Pasta' Alex posted by Pasta' Alex # 10:18 PM 0 Comments Links to this post Monday, September 18, 2006 What had done happened... What had done happened... The other day I went to lunch with a kid from my youth group, I've been trying to connect with this kid for a while. This kid stands out from the rest with his natural charisma, friendliness and personality. Everyone seems to like him and want to be around him. He's one of those kids that I would say is just "cool". So, our lunch encounter was the opportunity for me to get to know him a little better so that I could see what he's all about. It didn't take long for me to recognize his deal. He was a kid who had a lot of talent and abilities but often got sidetracked because of his greatest ability: that is to make excuses and blame other people for his shortcomings. During our conversation I found that he was in the middle of being suspended from school for three days. When I asked him about it he proceeded to explain: "see, what had done happened was... it wasn't really my fault.. the teacher over-reacted and suspended me for knocking over a water bottle... that's all I did..." We talked about his past and how he was busted as a juvenile for stealing. "Man, that was bogus. I was with my friend who was stealing and I got busted for being with him." I asked him if he was guilty he said no, he didn't do it. Three minutes later, he proceeded to tell me how he used to steal all the time as a teenager. "But, what had done happened is... I wasn't stealing that time.. it's not fair that I get caught the time that I'm innocent..." You get the point, don't you? Doesn't this seem to be a prevalent theme for people today? Most things in life aren't their fault. Someone else is to blame. They have an excuse for all their shortcomings and failures. The sad part of this is that some of them will never grow out of this mindset. There are a lot of adults who live by this same philosophy. It's not their fault when something bad happens and most of the time they are not ready to own up to their own "crap". My prayer for them and for you is that you adopt the philosophy that the buck stops with me. The sooner you are able to realize that you will mess up sometimes and that you don't have it all together, the quicker you will be able to accept responsibility and learn from your failures. This is when you will be able to move past them. It is on the other side of failure that we learn what true success and achievement is. By making excuses and letting the "what had done happeneds" flow easily from our mouths, we are only prolonging our learning period in life. Make sure you are on the right path to success. Leave the "what had done happeneds" for someone else. Word... posted by Pasta' Alex # 5:22 PM 2 Comments Links to this post Saturday, September 16, 2006 The Skinny This is BRAND SPANKIN NEW. Check back REAL SOON for some posts from some Original Brotha's. posted by Q # 11:55 PM 0 Comments Links to this post |
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