Where is the Love?

It is quite apparent these days that there is a lack of love in our society. Hate is running rampant throughout the world. There are so many conflicts going on, from the violence and unrest in other countries, to the very hate here is our own neighborhoods. Here right at home in the United States people are being murdered, raped, children abused, wives beaten all due to a lack of love for your fellow man, woman, or child.
"Love thy neighbor" "Treat others as you want to be treated" these two great quotes seem to have been lost on this past generation. The basic commandment to love each other as you love yourself is being ignored. Growing up in Richmond, Ca. I have seen my share of violence on the streets. I have seen firsthand how the senseless acts of others leaves a family scorned for life. Hurting others is simply not OK. Violence never solves anything, evidence by the IRAQ war that went on for 8 years without a solution.
Love can start with you. I urge everyone that is reading this to be kind to your fellow neighbor. That includes your wife, kids, friends, co workers, and random people whom you have never met before. If you see an older person, offer to assist them with their groceries, or open a door for them, you will be surprised at how good you will feel after doing something kind for another person. I try each day to be kind to others,  to treat others with respect and dignity, its not very hard to do and goes a long way in helping our society generate more love.

Positive Natured

Sometimes life gets hard and you feel overwhelmed.  Remember life is never to hard to give up on it.  We need to remain focused in those times of desperation and keep moving forward.  The best thing we can do as people is to keep bettering ourselves and passing knowledge down to people that isn't fortunate enough to get good information for themselves.  We all have trouble with work, relationships, bills, kids, family, friends, and etc.  The key is to not let the negatives of life hold you down.  We need to remember that we all go through it and everybody has moments when they allow negativity to creep in.  As long as we keep our faith and always believe that it will be better, it will be.  When you allow negativity to enter your thoughts, that's exactly what you get.  Negativity in my eyes is stronger than positivity because it's so easy to get down on yourself.  Always remain uplifted and upbeat you will find that that way it's much harder to let negativity sway you. The best leaders in the world understand that negativity will be thrown their way, but they understand that's part of being that leader.  Taking negativity and continuing to stay positive and focused is one of the few things that can never be taken from you.  It's important for us to keep positive influences in our lives to avoid being down on ourselves for the things we lack.  Instead of beating yourself up about the things you do not have, push yourself to become stronger so that one day you can reach that goal to get it.  The one thing about positivity is that it attracts, just being a positive person will attract so many positive opportunities.  As a positive and motivated person you will find that you see things in a different light and you begin to understand what should be required of you.  In the end we ask that we all do our part in being positive and reinforce our values and all of the things that we were taught growing up as kids.  Not all the time do people realize how negativity impacts their lives, so we need to be aware that remaining positive will help you achieve greatness.

Values and Morals

First off, what are Values? Values are those things that really matter to each of us ... the ideas and beliefs we hold as special. Caring for others, for example, is a value; so is the freedom to express our opinions. No doubt most of us learned our values or morals from home, church or place of worship, or from school. But, where are our children learning their values? Maybe from parents, teachers and religious leaders, but society has changed. Too often young people today are most influenced by what they see and hear on television or on the street.

I began to think about the values my children are learning. Are they learning them from me or from what they see on TV and movies? As a parent I want to make sure my kids are learning their values and morals from their parents first and foremost. I lead by example and try to show them what a man of good moral standing looks like. Its also important to talk to our kids and explain to them the value of honesty and trust. Explain to them that people who lie are not trusted, and people that can't be trusted aren't liked. Observe your child while playing with other children, teach your child to share toys and the value of fair play. Teaching children about playing fair helps them become fair adults. 

Our value system is what defines us. Its what allows us to stand up for ourselves and not follow what everyone else is doing. The values you learn as a child stay with you throughout adulthood, and shape your life. We as parents must make sure our kids are learning good morals and values.

Old Feelings

It seems like the older we get the more we tend to try to stay young.  I just recently found out that my youth has slipped from my hands.  While playing a friendly game of football I messed my knee up really bad.  Not bad enough to require surgery, but bad enough to still feel it nearly a month later.  The youth in me knew that I could still play, but the age in me knew that this time would come.  As I wake up each morning with a slight ache I grimace, but still kind of smile because I know, that this happen doing something that I love to do.  Sometimes as adults we shy away from some of the fun we had when we were younger, because we tend to believe that we can't do the things we used to do and that's not always true.  However there are things that some of us are not as good at doing as we used to in our younger day.  Partying has changed for a lot of us older people. Some of us are not able to drink as much or hang out as long, but always tend to try.  It's always interesting how we realize that we should have been doing something when we wake up the next morning.  When it's all said and done we should be able to look back on our youth and be proud of the things we did.  Also realize that we cannot do some of the things that we used to do, but we can enjoy ourselves in other ways which is just as fulfilling.  Lets not be the generation that's at the club at 50 trying to pick someone up, lets leave that for our kids.  Its important for us to accept that somethings are just better left to the younger generation.  I plan to explain to my son how the things he love to do will come to an end at some point, and to make sure he's satisfied once it's all over.  I want to let him know that things won't get worst as you get older only different and that he should enjoy every second of being young, because it only comes around once.

Patience

Patience is probably the key skill that a parent needs to master when it comes to dealing with kids. It always seems so simple and easy to loose patience and yet so difficult and sometimes almost impossible to find more of it. Of course it’s impractical to be patient all the time trying to cover up the true frustration you feel inside…but we need to do our best as parents to exercise patience with our kids.
I have had trouble all my life with being patient. I am a person that wants things to happen now rather than waiting for things to develop over time, and I do not like surprises at all. As I became a parent I began to really understand the need to be patient. Kids require you to be patient. When you are trying to explain to them that they cannot throw balls in the living room, or trying to get them to pick up their toys off the floor, we have to be patient and understand that they are just learning. We have to exercise patience when they do something wrong as well. We should not be so quick to yell, or to punish our kids without taking to the time to talk to them and explain what they have done wrong. I make a point to always discipline with love and let my kids know why they are being punished before the discipline is handed out. This takes a tremendous amount of patience on our part but it is something that can be done.
One thing you want to do is never lose your temper with your children. They can sense when someone is upset or when they are angry or whichever the feeling may be. Children have something almost like a radar that just picks up on those feelings and it makes them worrisome and anxious causing them to act up more, so whatever you do, keep your calm. It's definitely easier said than done, but if we attempt to never lose our temper and exercise patience we can help our children be the best people they can be.

Healthy Choices

One of the most important things of maintaining a good life is great health.  Its something that we all need to keep at the top of our to do list.  A lot of people feel that as long as they feel healthy that nothing feels wrong with their body then they are fine.  This is not the a good reason to avoid keeping your body healthy.  One of the first things you can do is get checked up regularly, you will be surprised of the things that could become wrong with your body over a period of time.  With all of the fast food we consume in our society we at risk for things such as Obesity, High Cholesterol, High Blood Pressure, and Diabetes.  If we don't get these things taken care of and checked out it could cause very serious illnesses and may be even death.  These things can be taken care of with trips regularly to see your physician.  Also keeping your body fit by exercising regularly can keep most of those things from occurring .  Its not all about gym memberships, you can keep your body fit by walking and jogging on a regular.  Take time to figure out what exercises works with your body the most and try to keep up with that exercise consistently.  One of the best ways to keep your health up is to avoid eating so many salty foods and red meats, these are one of the leading causes for the death in African American people.
The most important part is if you have kids insure that they don't pick up these bad habits.  The eating habits that your kids will start with now will usually are the habits that they live their lives with.  We here at Dajs Daily we try to make it a point to give you tips as well as tools to put in your parenting Tool Box.  Our country is one of the most unhealthiest countries in the world and that's due to bad eating habits growing up.  The World health organization did research from 2000 to 2008 and found that our country is 66% percent obese, that's third most in the World at that time behind American Samoa and Kiribati.  We have to change the way we approach our kids and the way they eat and be cautious of the things they intake on a regular basis.  Men remember that we will never see our children accomplish what we want them to if we're not here to witness it. 
Happy Good Friday everyone.

Are you Living for Pleasure or Meaning?

In his book Risk, author Kenny Luck relates a story told by Laurence Gonzales, an editor at Playboy in the 1970's:  "I was on top of the world making millions...I had a private jet, unlimited expense accounts, meals served by butlers and, of course, famous Playmates running around the mansion.  One day I couldn't take it anymore and took a walk and pondered the ultimate question: 'Can I have too much pleasure?"

Laurence isn't the only one who has to ask himself this question. All of us should inquire whether we are living for pleasure or meaning. Pleasure is easy and readily available, but meaning is much more fulfilling, though sometimes more elusive. Pleasure visits illicit websites when no one is looking, while meaning works through the difficulties of a tough marital relationship. Pleasure seeks to drown its sorrows in alcohol or too much work or play, while meaning embraces the difficulties of family responsibility and lives for the long term gratification of raising successful children. As I have found it's very difficult not to give in to temptation. We have to train ourselves and constantly do the right thing until it becomes second nature. 
We all need to ask ourselves if we are truly living for our own fleshly pleasure which can only last for a short time, or are we living for lasting fulfillment and enrichment? In the end, pleasure leaves us without meaning, but living for meaning will become our greatest pleasure.

Financial Burden

One thing as parents we need not over look is how to teach our kids how to value money.  Lets help them understand that using their money wisely will work about better for them in the long run.  We try to prevent doing things in front of our kids that we think are bad habits for them to pick up.  The way we use and treat our money they see as well and will eventually pick up any bad monetary habits we have.  For example:  If our kids see that we spend money as we get it and never put any away they will think that is the way it's supposed to be done.  Lets help them understand why they will need to save, and why they would need to invest.  Most of the time we only tell our kids not to spend money and what they can't buy, if we start to feed their brains on the best ways to treat their money early they will have a better understanding of how to deal with money once they get older.  Do you really want your children to have to deal with debt?  So many young teens goes out and get a credit card as soon as they turn 18.  In some cases there are those that can maintain the credit life and there are others who can't.  We need to make sure that our children knows that the credit card they will receive should not be for buying those brand new sneakers that came out, or that Chanel purse because it went so well with your club outfit.  Make sure that they are smarter than that when dealing with those things.  Don't allow your children to grow to be oblivious to interest rates.  It's up to us to make sure that our kids have a chance to be successful in life.  A lot of issues younger adults encounter when encountering debt is dealing with loans.  A lot of that stems from going to school, and these days most of us have to get one.  The important part is that we help them understand why its necessary for that particular debt to be payed off as quick as possible.  There are a lot of people that don't know that student loans can not be files in Bankruptcy cases and that the debt will need to payed off.  When young adults are not aware of this situation they tend to let the debt go believing that it will go away or it will be dealt with later.  Keep them aware that it will always be there and only get worst the longer it is ignored.  Here at Dajs Daily we never want to come across like we know everything we just want to give people something to think about in case they haven't.  Let keep our younger generations aware of how to keep their future straight.

3 Things your son must know...

Author Robert Lewis says there are three things your son must know before he leaves home - that you love him, that you're proud of him and that he's good at something. I began to think about this and wonder if he could be successful with just these three things.
The importance of my son knowing his father loves him very much will serve him well if he is ever in a situation where he needs help of any kind. If he is pressured by others to start getting in trouble, if his grades are to slip and he needs to come home, he will know his family is there for him and love him. Knowing that he is loved unconditionally will give him the courage to stand on his own and not to follow others.
Having the assurance that your father is proud of you is priceless. Above the love and affection, its almost more important to let our kids know just how proud of them that we really are. We should be our children's biggest cheerleader. We should let them know at every opportunity that they have exceeded our expectations and that we know there are more great things to come in the future.
Finally they need to know that they are good at something. That something can be a sport, such as basketball or tennis. It can also be something as simple as making up their bed. But the key is to let them know that we think that they have a real skill at something. This builds lasting self confidence in a child. To this day I still remember my grandmother after watching a pickup basketball game I was playing in say to me "You are pretty good at that game." That's all it took to have my confidence soaring.
These three things are not hard to show our sons before they leave home. If we are able to show them these three things they should be well equipped to go out into the world and become outstanding citizens of our society.

Ultimate Kindness

Here at Dajs Daily we try to spotlight people that we feel go beyond what their supposed to do to better peoples lives.  Jon Jones may not look like much here in this picture, but he is currently the UFC Light Heavy Weight Champion one of the best fighters in the world.  In March of 2011 hours before he was scheduled to defend his championship crown, Jones stopped a train burglar trying to escape.  Jon Jones subdued the criminal and saved someones valuables.  Later that night Jon Jones went on to win and defend his crown.  Now just a week ago Jon Jones was checking into a Miami hotel as he overheard a woman arguing over the phone with her boyfriend.  Apparently the woman's boyfriend had abandoned her and her young son without money or any means of shelter.  Feeling sympathy for the woman Jon Jones put the woman and her child up for a few nights while they waited for their flight out of Miami.  Once again the super fighter went beyond his means to help another individual out of a situation. 
We spotlight these things because it shows how a superstar athlete can put his life a side for a moment to help someone in need.  So often super athletes are criticized over the things they do and don't do.  It's important the we show our kids humility such as this, so that they understand that it isn't always about just being famous.  Sometimes having power isn't just about what they can do, but what they can do for others.  I think it's great that we have an athlete out there that kids can look up to that's actually putting others in front of him.  Let's teach our kids and others to give back when they can, and always stay humble.

Friends

The bond of a strong family is unbreakable. A lot of the things discussed here at Dajs Daily are for the benefit of building strong families. Mothers and Fathers, aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents all play a vital role in building and keeping the family strong. One other critical part of this equation for me is my great group of friends whom are just as important as family to me. I have been blessed to have a best friend whom I can collaborate with professionally and kick back with personally. Someone whom has always had my best interest at heart and looked out for my well being. He is also a great father, which cannot be overstated. The love he shows toward his son is inspiring. That bond that has been created is just as strong as my bond with my family. With this growing friendship his family has become my family and vice versa.
I believe the people that we choose to be in our lives as friends are so important because of just the fact that we have "chosen" these people to be in our lives, its not something that we have to do because they are family.
Teaching our kids to pick their friends wisely is an important lesson to learn. Their association with the wrong crowd can result in tragedy.  It's important that kids realize that the people you spend time with will shape their lives as well as their futures.  Not only that, but great friends tend to have morals that will apply to them and help them grow as people.  I try to let my friends know as often as I can that I appreciate them and am glad to have them as not only friends but family as well.  So as you sit back and enjoy your weekend with your loved ones, never forget to let the ones that mean the most to you know how they affect your life in a positive way.

Looks aren't everything

What attracts somebody to you?  Is it the way you look?  The way you dress?  Or is it simply the way you carry yourself?  Most men tend to be attracted to the beauty of a woman before he gets to know the woman behind the beauty.  Men we need to take time to know that woman before we lay down with her.  This applies to both men and women.  Take time to understand what goes along with that pretty face before you make a long term decision on being with that person.  A lot of the time we get caught up in worrying about how beautiful the person is and we forget to learn who this person is mentally.  I've known people to fall in love with the other person just because how beautiful they were, but turn around and say I can't stand the way their attitude is months later.  The most beautiful people are the ones that have so much beauty in their hearts that you can't stand to be without.  The type of people that make everything look so much more clearer because of the way they see things.  We stereotype people all the time because of the way they look without never giving them a chance.  We don't want our children deciding who they should become or hang out with just because of what the person looks like or what they can do for them.  This leads to children to grow into something that they are not.  Let's make sure that while they grow up we help them understand that it's someones inner beauty that makes the person.  It's so important that we take the time to show our kids what they could miss if they only base something off of it's looks.

Materialism

British playwright George Bernard Shaw once asked a woman if she would sleep with him for a thousand pounds. The woman answered that, indeed, she would. Later he asked if she would sleep with him for fifty pounds. She angrily replied: “What do you think I am?” “Madam,” said Shaw, “we’ve already established what you are. We’re just negotiating over the price.”
Shaw was pretty harsh, but he did drive home the point - how often we neglect our principles when money is on the line. I just seen last night where an assistant coach at The University of San Diego and nine others including the school's all time leader in scoring is facing criminal charges for running a betting scheme and point shaving. How sad is it that these kids who are supposed to be getting a higher education, are instead throwing games for money. To hear that an assistant coach was involved really makes you wonder about the integrity of the entire University. Our principles should not allow us to get involved in these types of dishonest practices. We have to show by example that we will not compromise our integrity for money. Teaching our kids that being successful in life is not equal to the money you earn will show them that our personal conduct matters more than monetary gain. There are many people in this world with lots of money that still are not happy.  Instead of working late, we should get home to spend time with the our loved ones.
As we have spoke about quality time is what is the most important. Money will come and go, but your family is forever. The legacy we leave behind will endure through all eternity.

Appreciation

It seems we as people don't use the word appreciation as much as we should.  We get so caught up in saying the words I Love You, we forget to say 3 other useful words "I Appreciate You".  Showing appreciation for someone is an important feature in a relationship whether it's romantic or not.  We need to let the ones that we know and love how much they are appreciated.  There are a lot of things that us as men don't do as much and expect our women to do as well as vice verse.  We need to make sure that we let our significant others know that we appreciate them for the things they do.  You will be surprised how far those words go in a relationship.  It simply lets the other know that they are loved for one thing, but appreciated for the other.  You never want anyone to think that they are loved for the same things that they are appreciated for.  Loving someone is due to the way that person makes you feel, not by the things that they do.  Once you understand the difference between the two, you will understand why it's also important to tell someone how much they are appreciated as well as loved. 
My grandmother would always tell me, "People do things for you because they want to, not because they have to."  As a kid I could never fully understand what she meant until I started to do things for people myself, and that's where I started to grasp the concept of what she was saying.  When you get a chance tell the people  you love, that you appreciate what they do.  Also why you appreciate what they do.  You will notice that those people will tend to try to do more for you simply because they understand that you appreciate them for what they do.  We spend a lot of time pushing ourselves to get more and more and kick ourselves when we don't achieve it.  We need to take time to appreciate the things that we do have so we can hold on to it.  There are people that keep themselves up at night worrying about so many things, and forget to count their blessings on the things that they do have.  So many people don't have good friends, great parents, healthy kids, a home to live in, means to eat, or loving spouses.  It could be funny how a lot of us don't appreciate what we have until it's gone.  Try to figure out who you don't let know they are appreciated and make it a point to tell them soon.  Lets all start appreciating some of the great things we have already.

Appreciation can make a day - even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary. ~

  Margaret Cousins

Your Child's School

How involved with your child school are you? Do you know his/her teacher on a first name basis? It is very important to know your child's teacher and have them know you. Parent involvement in the school shows the teacher and the administrators at the school that you care. It also shows that your child's education is of utmost importance to you. Teachers respect involved parents more than less involved parents, and may even pay more attention to your child as a result.
The participation will also have a good affect on your child as well. You will see them paying more attention in class as a result of knowing that the teacher has a direct pipeline to their parents. After having the latest parent/teacher conference at my daughter's school, I was blown away by all the wonderful things the teacher had to say about my child. It is inspiring to hear someone outside the family give a detailed assessment of your child. This is someone that spends a lot of time around our kids and we should take the time to have a one on one conversation with this person at some point early on in the school year.
Taking the time to participate in our kids education will go far in showing them the importance of education. It starts as early as infancy, teaching our kids and shaping their love for knowledge. This love for knowledge is the key to being successful!

Life Lesson #1-Mistakes

Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from.

Al Franken,


We all make mistakes, it's how me rebound from those mistakes that make us great people.  It's important that we understand that mistakes are going to be made, we just have to make better decisions once it's over.  The number one thing when making a mistake is to insure that you don't make the same mistake twice.  Be sure to to understand where you went wrong and made the mistake, that will allow you to tread carefully when approaching a situation like that again.  We have to also remember that everyone makes mistakes and holding that mistake over someones head does not help him or her grow.  Being constantly reminded of that mistakes does nothing but stunt growth.  Most people that make mistakes want to forget about that issue, so we need to allow them to learn their life lesson the way they will learn it.  They say mistakes are meant to be made and that could only be because it would be hard to understand how to improve on being a better person if you didn't make them.  One of the things that I like to do is try to make myself a better person each day, and that involves critiquing my faults and mistakes so that I grow from the person making them.  We all would like to live life perfectly and never have any set backs due to mistakes, but in life shows us how to improve.  It's important that we help our children understand the importance of learning this life lesson so that they don't spend their youth not learning from their mistakes.  The earlier we understand that mistakes is part of life, the sooner we understand our true potential to become great people.  I've heard the saying once a cheat always a cheat.  Which can be true, but that is probably because the person who continues to cheat hasn't learned from their mistakes so they have a hard time getting away from that situation.  However there are some people that made the mistake of cheating and realized that it was a mistake they can deal with anymore.  They will never make that mistake again because the lesson they learned was valuable enough to keep in their life tool box.  There are some people that will not date a person due to the fact that they cheated on a significant other before so they believe it will happen to them as well.  We do not fully know if these people have learned that life lesson until we give them a chance.  Some people pass up good relationships with people because of their past mistakes which isn't really fair.  We need to ask these people if they learned from mistakes and what they learned.  Ultimately we do not want to judge anybody from their mistakes, lets give people the opportunity to prove that they are past their mistakes and have learned one of their lesson for their life tool box.

Disagreements

"Honest Disagreement is often a good sign of progress"
-Mahatma Gandhi

Every couple has disagreements from time to time. The major subjects that couples disagree on vary from serious subjects to silly subjects. Most of it is not worth fighting about and some is worth an argument. What do people argue about? Almost anything for example such as money or kids. Sometimes Sex. Perhaps past ex girlfriends or boyfriends. In the heat of the moment we often say stuff that we normally wouldn't say. Those words later on echo in the minds of our significant other and can have a real negative effect.
We need to realize to relax and talk in a normal tone of voice before speaking to someone when we are upset about something. Words are something that can't be erased very well once they are spoken to someone. It is difficult for many people not to yell or swear during an argument with someone. We need to exercise self control. I know self control can be very difficult to maintain when we are upset. Self control isn't something that is learned overnight or in a few days. We often get mad or upset over things that aren't even really worth it.
I have found that it is much more beneficial to be mild tempered, and positive with my spouse during times when we are having a disagreement. Using a good tone and positive words even when I feel I am right in the situation oftentimes can stop an argument from even beginning. The important thing is to try not to let disagreements, which can be positive, turn into arguments that most likely are negative and nothing gets solved. Work on maintaining self control in the workplace, with our children, and with our relationship partner and disagreements will be kept in their place and not escalate into arguments.

Stay Motivated

What motivates you?  For me there is no better motivation then looking into my son eyes and knowing that I can't let him down.  Motivation is the catalyst to a healthy and happier life.  We need motivation to propel us through our work day, to achieve our goal, and to just be better people.  There isn't much that anyone can achieve if they are not motivated properly.  Find a way to motivate yourself daily to achieve your goals and stay focused on your dreams.  With proper motivation there isn't anything that can stop you on your pursuit to happiness.  When you find yourself lacking motivation to achieve your goals, try to focus on something that makes you happy or something that drives you to complete those goals.  We shouldn't spend all of our time being motivated on getting money, sometimes we need to be motivated just to show that we can complete our goals even if only for self righteousness.  If you take a look you will notice that a majority of the people that fail in life are the people that didn't lack talent they didn't possess the motivation necessary to achieve their goals.  For me my motivation comes knowing that my son may not have a great future if I do not achieve my goals, so I try to focus on being a better person so that all the rest follow.  It's possible that you may not be able to find what motivates us, and that's OK.  Remember that it is important that we understand that everyone gets motivated in their own way.  Try asking a friend or family member what motivates them and you will be surprised on differences that you will hear. Remember that motivation comes from within, you have to want to be motivated so that you don't fall in the Procrastination realm.  Let us know what motivates you and how you maintain it.

Sportsmanship

Most younger children do not understand fully what is meant by sportsmanship. When a physical education teacher asks his class to explain sportsmanship, he hears such replies as: "Don't Cheat", "Don't get mad, or cry when you lose" or "Don't yell at your teammates when they make a mistake". Children often have a hard time understanding the concepts of competition, winning and losing.
It is up to the parents to teach their children to respect the game, the players, and the officials.  Its important that we teach them that it is OK to lose and what is important  is to do your best and strive to improve your own abilities. This will also encourage children not to cheat by not placing so much importance on the final outcome. Playing sports can build lasting friendships, teach kids how to be part of a team, and build an appreciation for health and fitness. All those good aspects have to go hand and hand with being a good sport.
Some parents and adults get so wrapped up in the competition because they are living vicariously through their children. Others may have unrealistic expectations about their child, thinking he or she might be the next superstar. To ensure that children gain the benefits of sports participation, however, it is important for parents and coaches to evaluate and monitor their own attitudes and behaviors so that good sportsmanship is learned.
In this day and age of so much self promotion I urge all of us to teach the kids of the future a much more team orientated approach to sports. Teaching our children to be humble in victory and gracious in defeat will teach them such valuable life lessons.

What are you waiting on?

You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." Martin Luther King, Jr.


One of the biggest problems with people these days is Procrastination.  It seems to effect everyone just a little, but it's those that recognizes it that are able to keep it from effecting their lives.  People tend to want to postpone things that needs to be done immediately until the last minute, this could sometimes cause problems in your life.  What causes people to procrastinate?  Why is it that a lot of us tend to think that "I can do tomorrow what I can do today".  A lot of procrastinator's are educated and talented people that are sometimes afraid and intimidated by what needs to be accomplished immediately.  I've found that some of the best ways to fight procrastinating is by having a strong set of supporters behind you.  Usually if your supporters are not one to procrastinate then typically you won't either.  Also try to set daily goals for yourself, sometimes understanding that you have daily goals to meet will help you accomplish small task that you would usually push off.  In my life time I have met a lot of people that procrastinate and don't realize that they do.  These could be the worst type of people, simply because these people tend to make excuses on why their goals aren't being met and how doing it next week will somehow work out better.  When trying to rid yourself of the procrastination bug it's best to recognize that you have an issue with procrastinating and try to figure out what makes you start procrastinating.  Benjamin Franklin once said "You may delay, but time will not".  In life we all have opportunities to be great and to live our dreams, but it's the procrastination bug that kills all of that.  Alot of us have fell victim to losing out on love, jobs, and other opportunites that could have drastically changed our lives, just because we were to afraid of working for it.  Lets utilize all the opportunities we have and capture them today, we are never guaranteed tomorrow.  I would suggest to anyone trying to achieve a goal, to not wait until tomorrow to capture it seize your opportunity today.
Please let us know if you are a victim of procrastinating or if you know someone who does.  We would like to know how you deal with the situation.

Parenting Tools

If I was to ask 100 people how to raise children, I would probably receive one hundred different answers. The truth is most likely each answer would be correct. There isn't any road map so to speak for raising responsible, well adjusted kids. Parenting varies so much between families. The thoughts we try to bring out  are tools to have in your parenting toolbox. Each time there is an issue you can pull out the right tool to assist you in solving the issue, whether it be listening, communicating better, or curving our anger.
I believe the most important and really the only parenting tip that should be universal across the board is putting parenting first. It isn't easy in this competing world with so many demands on our time to really put our children's needs first. Parents need to consciously plan and devote time to parenting. Sitting down to eat dinner together and talk about each others day is a great way to catch up with your children each day. Studies have shown that families that eat dinner together four times a week produce children with superior academic performance, improved nutrition, and increased communication. These results also show that these statistics cross racial barriers and was a greater indicator than whether the child was in a one or two-parent family.
As parents we need to remember that our children should always be our number one priority. Never lose sight of how precious they are and the importance of our time. I always try to do everything out of love when it comes to them. If its discipline or if its just talking to them I want to always do it out of my genuine love for their well being.