Be Yourself

One of the things I always told myself is that when I grew up, I would be a better man and father than my father was.  I wanted to set myself apart from the other men in my family since they all were going to prison or living a life that I didn't see myself living.  I had the mentality to realize that if I live the same life that they did then I too would end up in jail, on drugs, or worst.  So I focused on being a better person and not following any body's footsteps but my own.  Doing it my way got me a High School, Diploma, a College degree, and loving family and friends.  It's important especially as men that we realize that being our own person is the best thing you can do.  We need to understand that life is almost designed for you to fail in some ways and without the right mind set there is no way you can achieve greatness.  We need to get out of the mind set that if this person did it so can I.  Although its a good way to look at things, but it could also be a way of holding yourself back from progressing.  This doesn't just apply to men, women suffer from tailoring their life to her mother as well.  It isn't a bad thing to be like her either, but having a baby before 18 because your mother did is.  As well as caring yourself in a non womanly manner, dealing with your men and your relationships the same way because that's what mom did is not a great way to achieve greatness either.  We as people will only prosper if we look at what came before us and tell ourselves "I want to be better than my father, mother, brother or sister.  Let's reach for higher goals and let our kids know or any kids that we deal with know as well.  When my son gets a little older he will probably say he wants to play ball like Lebron James.  I will tell him "No, you want to be better than him."  This is not to discourage him, but to let him know that not everybody is perfect and to remember that being like somebody is nothing compared to being your own person.  Set your own guidelines on what it takes to be a great parent, if you were never shown the way.  Take time to be the best person you can be and not just a mirror image of someone that you thought had it all.  We can have so much more as people if we utilize all our strengths and talents to excel to greater heights.