That Microscopic Seed!

Too many times we forget to correlate who we are with where we came from, biologically… what is our make-up? It is our whole being.

In this day and age, there is a lot of focus on ‘baby daddies and baby mamas’. Unfortunately the connotation that goes along with it is usually negative. But, disregarding the hype, we’re talking about what constitutes the making of a child … boy or girl.

Scientifically speaking, Chromosomes;

In humans each cell normally contains 23 pairs of chromosomes (23 from each gamete) totaling 46. Twenty-two of these pairs, called autosomes, look the same in both males and females. The 23^rd pair, the sex chromosome, differs between males and females.

DNA- Deoxyribonucleic Acid is a self -replicating material present in nearly all living organisms as the main constituent of chromosomes. It is the carrier of genetic information. It is also the fundamental and distinctive UNCHANGEABLE characteristics of something or someone.

So, no matter what people think…

You’re not about, what other folks say. What you are about is your DNA! Just who you are and what you do is 'relatively' diagnosed; it’s what’s IN you.

Other folks can’t dictate your being! Other folks see your ‘matter’ without seeing it.  Because the DNA is deeply embedded creating our surfaces that are predestined already. Yes the blood runs deep-flowing genes inside, so that man can’t deny it, run from it and hide.

And when some say “You look ‘jus like yo Daddy,” or “You got yo Mamma’s ways.” no need to get mad at it! Because it’s all in you, the DNA, that is.

That microscopic seed. “And ‘tis what ‘tis!”

The Light Bulb

As a professional, whether an athlete, speaker, photographer, doctor, writer, dancer and so on… has there ever been a time in your career when you have totally drawn a blank in the midst of what to do when you do it? In MOST cases, there is no room for mistakes. But we're human! Imagine an athlete, let’s just say a football player, who unexpectedly intercepts the ball in a big game. For whatever reason, he’s discombobulated and of course, all eyes are on him. Fans are yelling and screaming and he takes off running... in the wrong direction. Well we know the rest of that story…

Or a speaker- you’re expected to speak to hundreds of individuals and your colleagues are counting on you to ‘bring it’ and in the midst, you become clueless! 

A designer- you're having to show a layout or a physical project, however you have a deadline… you have no idea at that moment what you're going to present, so your back is against the wall!

Believe me when I say, we have all had this type of experience at one time or another. We chalk it up to nerves, procrastination, too much on our plates or in some instances just plain dumbfounded… drawing a BLANK.

Then all of a sudden, there it is! You’ve got it! Things are coming back into focus, the fog is dissipating, clouds are moving around; the sky is visible and YES! A light bulb turns on in your head and it’s all bright and as clear as day. Whew! You say “thank you Jesus”, because you know it was nobody but HIM.

Well, as a writer, I have had far too many of these moments in my busy life and this is my take on it.

You see, just when I think there’s nothing left to write, my brainwaves kick in and my fingers began to type. Then all those thoughts come back to remembrance; my expressions may be unorthodox and sometimes relentless. I thought I didn’t have much else to say, and then passion and emotions came in to play. I'm expounding and exuding my kinetic energy. Freelanced brainwaves, empowered poetic literacy; even jabbering and gibbering sometimes making no sense, but expressing my inner soul at my mind’s expense.

So just when I think there’s not much more to say, I’ll let my fingers do the thinking. They’ll make a way. I'll sit and tell my tales 'til my heart is content, or 'til the light-bulb goes out. Then I’ll know…

“Message sent”.

No Deposit, No Return

Some of you may remember as a child, you couldn’t wait until your parent or an adult finished drinking a coke to grab their EMPTY bottle. Well, those bottles were like a precious commodity back in the day! I can remember some of the neighborhood kids walking up and down the streets looking for empty bottles and when they found one, you would think they’d hit the jackpot! Oh What Joy!! Lol.

Those glass bottles back then were worth pennies, if you returned them to the ‘corner store’. But if you redeemed enough of them, you could jingle, jingle your pockets, all the way home… unless you spent it all up at the store (which was usually the case).

A Little History:

Back before disposable bottles, you’d pay a deposit on the bottle when you bought a soft drink. You’d take it home and then take the empty bottle back with you the next time you went to the grocery store. They’d give you back your deposit. The grocery store would return the bottle to the bottler, where they’d clean it, wash it, refill it, cap it, and send it back out to the stores.

Coca-cola experimented with them in the ’60s, and then quit using them until they brought them back in a few areas in the ’70s. The reason why returnable bottles persisted until the 1990s is because some of the established smaller bottlers didn’t want to change their equipment, which was very costly to make the transition. So they continued using returnable bottles until about the 1990s, when they were finally forced to go to no-deposit bottles.

My point:

Life has plenty of hard knocks to go around! But after you’ve been around the block a few times, you have quite a few lessons learned and mastered. If you don’t put the blood, sweat and tears into the visions and dreams you have, you have nothing to show for it.

I’ve heard many clichés about ‘old money’ and ‘new money’. Old money usually pertains to riches or money that is inherited or passed down from generation to generation. The recipient has it made; probably was GIVEN everything and didn’t really work a day in his or her life.

New money is monies that are gained through hard work and sacrifice… from early morning rising, calloused hands, aching backs, headaches… need I go on? 

Who do you think can appreciate the value of their dollar the most? In each case, there were deposits made, so to speak, but what was the GAIN? Much the same as what you instill in a child in their tender and conforming years. “Confirming what is said and confirming what is due. That which is deposited, usually comes back to YOU”.

Taste or See

Comparisons-
In life, there comes a time when an individual has to just STAND out and stand alone! Life has given man so many 'lemons' and not everyone knows how or has the strength to make Lemonade, as the common adage goes. 
Instead, there are comparisons made, like 'Apples to Oranges'. We are a comparative generation! But when I think about it, we have been compared throughout our lives even from birth... "Oh, she is sooo cute," to "Ummm, isn't he a little short for his age..?"  Judgement and comparison goes on throughout our adulthood.

Why can't people just let well enough alone and let someone just 'BE'? Well, my answer to that is, man has not been able, from the beginning of time, to naturally be proactive. As humans, we need an extra push, motivation, fuel injection, because a lot of us are not self-starters. We are basically on automatic pilot, so we need a  GPS from time to time. That's what comparisons, like apples to oranges is all about, so it is not ALL bad.
"Think about it." Pick one and see. Look for the difference or likeness; firm or soft, tart or sweet, small or large, green, red, yellow or golden... not measured by seed but weight and texture, indeed... Apples to Oranges, comparatively; Apples and Oranges's diversities.

No matter how much someone is told they are like some one else, they must choose to embrace individuality comfortably. What 'apple to oranges' - (comparison of two people or things that are irreconcilably or fundamentally different) does for one is it makes him/her STAND out...
No bad apples!

Be Blessed.

LEAP OF FAITH

Accessibility to what you want is at hand... just make a move!

In my daily walk, I struggle with so many doubts as to whether I can or cannot do certain things. When I really look at the BIG picture, I remember what my Momma use to say- "you'll never know if you never try," so trial and error is all worth it.

My 'go to' scripture whenever I have doubt is Luke 7:6  And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

Definition of faith: The act of believing in or attempting something whose outcome has not been proven or is unknown; thus 'taking a chance...' 

Faith should play a major role in your daily life. Faith is belief that you can, not that you just might. Faith gives you hope, when all hope is gone. Faith gives you strength to keep pressing on. Faith is that little voice that says, “don’t give up.” Faith is the drink which overflows a cup.

Faith, is the substance of hope and belief of things unseen. Faith allows you to step out on a limb, without the fear of falling. Faith takes you places your mind cannot fathom. Faith opens doors you could never imagine. Faith gives you access to do all things! Faith is the password- The key, in Jesus’ name!

In whatever you decide to do, it only takes a first step- "Take your Leap of Faith".

Why Does One Cry?

Why does one cry?
What a broad and open-end question!
There are so many reasons why one allows the flow of moisture to fall from his/her eyes. To take it a step further, sometimes there is no 'allowing' necessary... tears just flow uncontrollably! It can be reasons you'd never think you'd be teary-eyed about; a movie, a memory, a statement someone makes, a story you hear or even witnessing a sorrowful situation... and on the other end of this, a moment of joy, a celebration of sort. That has been my experience recently! A moment...

One day I was watching and admiring my grandson as he was doing an 'end of the year' project. It was a large percentage of his final grade and was not just ANY project, but one in which the whole family had to take part. He chose to capture, in its habitat, the Orca Whale. The project was entitled 'All About Orcas' (Killer Whales). "Just like a boy, right"??
Well, we were all engrossed in helping him on the computer learn about the Orca whale; where it lives, it's life span, and why it is considered the 'killer whale'. As I watched him reading, jotting down notes, talking with so much enthusiasm about his subject, pasting pictures..., I caught a glimpse of another picture... a side view, a different silhouette! Not conscious of what he's doing, my grandson has a habit of sticking his tongue out on one side of his mouth when he is concentrating. Instantly, I saw his Grandpa, who did the very same thing! The tears began to flow... so uncontrollably, I had to dismiss myself.
You see, my late husband passed a few years prior to our grandson's birth. Uncannily, he was born on his Grandpa's birthday!! TEARS, TEARS and more TEARS. These were tears of joy....

God's affirmation that Grandpa or PawPaw, as he would have been dubbed, was a Part of our 'family project'.

The Tear

Don’t even know why I bother

Don’t even know why I try

Don’t even know the significance of

Why one is allowed to cry

“I am a strong individual!”

I can handle life’s infirmities

and all the pain they transcend

But the one thing

I haven’t been able to defy

is the tear… 
Its beginning

or when it ends

-Pj Payne

To Begin Again

Beginning again. Now, something I love; beginning again with God’s grace from above!

You see He gives us chances over and over again; to right wrongs, to say I’m sorry, to say I love you, to help somebody else, even something that we take for granted… seeing a new day. But, how many of us really set out to start over, to refresh, to renew the old?

I’ve heard a lot of people say “in the beginning, I was or we were….” but what happened to the now?  What progress was made? What happened to the now? Can you actually see accomplishments? Do you know what mistakes were made along the way? What happened to the now? Did you learn from your mistakes? Now What?

Starting over doesn’t mean that you have to disintegrate the past (because you can’t), just CHOSE a fresh new start. You can’t do anything about that past because there will always be someone who ‘remembers’, but you can move forward, not become complacent, feel  unresolved  or wallow in self-pity. 

I am so guilty of these things; But

I have resolved to first of all, express my innermost feeling in some form or fashion; whether in words or in actions. Just get the negativity out of me!

I have resolved to not be unproductive, discouraged or disheartened, for those are only the enemy’s thoroughfares to stagnation.

I have begun to utilize talents I have kept buried deep inside, for fear of nonacceptance or ridicule.

I have begun to go back… (yes, you have to go back sometimes) and reevaluate and revitalize old passions that I thought weren’t ‘good enough', but found them to be a blessing to somebody else.

And I have begun to cultivate and bring to fruition seeds that were planted in me by someone who NEVER has to begin again… “He doesn’t make mistakes!”

The tiniest inkling can be a new beginning.

… even if you have to begin again over and over again!