One of the most interesting parts of Life is that it is impossible to predict what will happen next and surprises arise on a steady pace of regularity.
Regular surprises….two words that contradict each other….. true irony.
Enjoy each and every day, no matter what happens, keep faith and head up with hope for good things and that the true meaning of each day is to maximizing happiness by sharing kindness. Lead by example.
In Life, it takes a lot of courage, patience and determination to stand strong against people who don’t have your best interest in your heart.
Not everyone in the World had the same values and not everyone has the same opportunities. It’s interesting how deeply people affect each other.
These days I am focusing on making sure that negativity stays far from my mind. Spreading love and goodness will be on the forefront of my mind. Not everyone shares the same views or perception.
Why do people do bad things?
If we only knew the answer to that question.
Weekends go by so quickly and then Monday mornings roll around and the work week starts all over again.
It’s an interesting Life and the surprises never end.
This morning I started my day off in prayer. Thanking God for my blessings, feeling grateful for good things and keeping hopeful that Life becomes better than it is right now and happiness stays at the forefront of each day.
So have a great day today, slip in a prayer or two of thanks, pray for your family and friends and grab this day by the sunshine and continue on happily and content.
Much Love. Happy Monday!
When I was in college, I worked part time in a NY State Social Services Agency as a Youth Advocate.
Families were referred to our agency via the Court System for minors who have gotten in legal trouble and had been arrested. Troubled youth were referred to our program as a last attempt to get the kids productively functioning in society. If they couldn’t stay out of trouble the Court would mandate child placement.
My first assigned case was with a family of 5 people. Michael was 15 years old and had a 4month old son. Michael was always in trouble and he had a bad temper when he got angry.
My job was to keep Michael busy and involved in productive activities that kept him engaged and focused on doing well and keeping out of trouble. My main priority was to make sure that he did well in school. So every morning, to start my day, I would drive 20 minutes, out of the city to where Mike lived to wake him up and make sure he got up to school. Each morning I would drive him and his siblings to school so they could start the day off right.
Michael took a great liking to me from the very first day we met. He was a young boy from upstate, NY and he thought it was cool I was from Brooklyn.
Michael and I got along very well and he enjoyed spending time with me each day. He started doing better in school, his temper calmed, he saw his son on a regular basis. I would involve Mike in activities that were based around sports and exercise. This helped him to release his pent up energy.
Michael’s family grew to love me and were thankful for my involvement in their child’s Life. Even during the summer semester, I stayed upstate working, as oppossed to my spending the summer in Brooklyn.
It was a top priority for me to make sure Michael had continued structure and support that was consistent. It was important for him to know he could trust me and that I wanted him to achieve success.
Mike grew to respect me and he and I had a very good rapport.
Mike was on summer vacation from school and he had a friend who invited him to go to Great Adventure.
Mike’s father didn’t grant him permission to go because none of his siblings were invited. This made Mike very angry. Mike’s father often had angry outbursts and he and Mike would fight very hard. Mike hated when his father screamed at him and since Mike was angry, he yelled back and their fight escalated quickly.
It was 2:00AM when Mike called me to tell me he was running away because his father was fighting with him and was acting too crazy.
Telling Mike to wait for me to get there, I drove 20 minutes outside the city to his house. When he heard my car, he climbed out of the window of the 2nd floor and lowered himself down the side of the house to drop into the front lawn. His father was in a rage and was giving Mike a hard time.
Mike’s father tried to get him inside but Michael refused to go anywhere near his Dad. This made his father even more mad and he ran out of the house and continued screaming.
He cursed at me and was angry I was there during a time when he was raging mad. He shouted more curses and went back inside and slammed the door.
Not knowing what to do, I pulled up 2 camping chairs and I let Mike cry and talk. It took some time but close to 5AM he calmed down. I was afraid to leave him alone. He fell asleep and when the sun rose, I woke Mike, convinced him to go inside and told him I was going to speak with my bosses and call him later.
I reminded him to take it easy and to not start any fights with his family.
Later that day I told my boss what happened. She looked sad and regretful and she explained to me that Mike’s father had called her and terminated our services.
How he put it was, if he wasn’t able to control his son and his bad temper, he was going to take away the one thing that meant to most to him: His advocate friend from Brooklyn, his Ann Marie.
He said I was never allowed to go by their house again and that their family wouldn’t require our services any longer. We used to pay their bills, buy them food, drive their children to school and provide them with emotional and structural support.
Because this man couldn’t control his son the way he thought was fit, he took away the one person Mike really cared about, looked up to and respected.
He hit his son where he would be hurt the hardest.
I was crushed. I had done so much for their family and had been a strong, positive influence. Mike had come such a long way and for him, things had been looking up.
It really stunned me that a parent could be so selfish and would do something so sad and cruel to their child. Michael loved me and in his eyes, I was his best friend, a glimmer of hope for good things in the future. He liked that I had expectations and goals for him, he was motivated that someone believed he could succeed.
It was very sad for me to leave him and never get to say goodbye. It was strange for the family to be yanked from my Life. Despite various meetings with my boss, his father wouldn’t change his mind and terminated our services.
That was 10 years ago. Since then, Mike and his family have moved and despite many attempts to locate them, I was never successful. It was as if they disappeared.
Today I was thinking about Mike. Googling his name to see if any info had surfaced, I saw an article about a man named Michael who was arrested two days ago for stealing 21 goats from a farm and selling them on Craig’s list.
After doing some investigating, for sure, this is the same Michael who I remember as a 15 year old boy. He is 26 now and from what I have read, he has been in and out of jail for the last few years.
I can’t help but feel regret for him and sadness that he wasn’t able to pull things together to live a good, happy Life. I can’t help but think how close he was to being ok before his father turned his back on his son by cutting off his favorite positive people in his Life.
Parents are suppossed to be a strong support. They are supposed to guide and nurture.
I never got to talk to Michael again after that night. But perhaps, since now I know where he is, I can pay him a visit.
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Life is full of many surprises.
Keeping in control of emotions is hard.
These days, I have let my emotions overpower my logic.
There are times I am more upset than I care to be and then I start feeling nervous. Immediately, I push nervous feelings out of my mind and pray to God to keep me strong and show me peace.
Things are so unsteady in Life that sometimes I wake up already feeling tense. Real Life haunts my dreams.
Today I woke up with a pit of anxiety in my stomach. This is not the way to start a day. So I prayed, I am writing and keeping my mind focused on positive things that make me feel better.
Placing too much trust in people has got me in a challenging and sad situation.
Because I can’t control my situation, I have become irrational and have a hard time handling my very strong emotions.
Losing composure leaves me feeling weak but the only sight I have my eyes focused on is picking up to live my best Life.
There are good people. There are bad people. People who will never leave your side and people who will turn their backs. People will disappoint you and will act in ways that are challenging.
Keep your head up, keep smiling, pray for peace and Live each day doing positive things. Treat others the way you would like to be treated.
Spread Love and Not Hate. We have one Life to get everything right.
Today, for lunch, I was going to have Seafood Soup from a Jamaican restaurant.
However, one of the Residents in the Nursing Facility where I work, hit the mid day lotto numbers, won $500 dollars and insisted that he buy my staff and I lunch to show appreciation for the work we do every day.
That is such a nice thing to do and it genuinely makes me feel good that he wants to acknowledge the hard work of my staff.
It makes me proud that we are running a Recreation department that the Residents are happy with and that they think we are doing a good job.
My staff is comprised of very hard workers and each day I am grateful to have them in my Life. Every day I learn something new from them and we help each other grow to become better people.
So, for today, the sea food soup in on hold.
Describe Your Life in Two Words : Seafood Soup!
