“And some from among you shall build the old waste places; raising up the foundations of many generations; and be called The repairers of the breach, The restorers of paths to dwell in.”
Isaiah 58:12
“far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you.”
1 Samuel 12
There’s always going to be plenty of excuses… If you’re looking for them you’ll find an endless supply of them… There’s takers in life People who wait for some hero to come along … Or you can be someone that is a problem solver… Someone who gives back … Builds up those around them … Someone who takes initiative … Dreams dreams even… It’s ok to understand reality… Yes, it will take longer than you think… Be harder than you want … But the reward is so much greater than you dreamed… You can’t live in a harvest time all the time …but you can sow seed… You can prepare… you can see a need and meet it … You can build back what’s been forgotten… Walk firmly and gently in what you can control … You can give …
Short term debt cycles Long term debt cycles Our habits and our emotions drive us … Consuming for what we want right now Credit and credit cards Increased power to purchase without increased income Betting that our future self will pay it off… Inflation Recession 10 years 40 years The middle class gets squeezed Stops spending money Starts paying off their debts Driving inflation up And recession The poor just try to survive The wealthy have assets So they are still able to get loans etc When the banks foreclose or call on debts They are able to pick up the pieces Capitalism is the consumer…. There is no evil entity 70 percent of our economy is small business and consumer habits… Be intentional Know where you are going and why Control your future Or your habits will control you … —— If you’re calm Constant Consistent Know where you’re going The long nights The early mornings They all will be worth it —— Watch the morning The fall come in Watch the seasons change You’re making your future You’re arriving You built this Together With changing habits —— I’ve been fortunate I haven’t always been the best I could be I was dishonest I lied I drank I wasn’t my best I’ve been forgiven of much I didn’t go to college I worked since I was 14 And with my father before that … But I’ve been given second chances I have a family I have a home I’m building And I’m thankful ….
Strange things have happened It’s all happened here before It’s just the ghost of old shipwrecks Passing by your doors —- Sleep in peace tonight There’s nothing new under the sun Take your hand from your gun This too shall pass Sleep in peace tonight The wolves are howling The nightmare is crawling Over your back pages It’s gonna leave its mark And these passages soon will be read The world is not falling It’s only turning the ghost of the past That old hangman That old dust bowl That famine And recession The flies that nag The dog that bites The tempers flared Like shots at the moon The stars are falling Falling over Alabama tonight It’s all been done before Look out kid They’re digging up the interstate again… This too shall pass Keep you hand off your gun Do right be right Don’t take short cuts You will short yourself in the end … Do right be right kid … You’re just in the foyer The world is just beginning … Strange things have happened Where’s all our Dylan’s Standing by the road … Do right be right kid The words will come and they will go… The Phoenix destroyed your kitchen stove Cut down a tree with its fist Its words you dismissed Don’t short yourself There’s no easy way out There’s only to endure and be true And let the words come And when they come Thank them And let the words go …
It takes vision —— Only you can see it… So you have to carry it And cast it everyday ——- Why’s it so hard? Why’s it everyday? Why’s it changing me? Why’s it breaking me and rebuilding me? Why does it ask so much of me? —— Because it’s not about today … —— Well, You’re not getting … ——- It’s not about today… ——- But you should be … —— It’s not about today… —— You deserve …. —— It’s not about today …. ——- It’s about the back end… It’s about the future… You’re fighting against yourself Your future self Your humanity —— It’s going to take everything you’ve got and then some… Fresh fire Fresh faith Fresh discipline Fresh vision daily To get you there … This is about the future Your future —— Are you building leaders? Are you adding value Or are you watering down your values Your principles Your vision ? —— Stay the course ! This is your future Your vision No one else has it No one else sees it Because it’s you… Your family Your children Your future —— It’s not about today… It’s about the future … The legacy you’re leaving behind You’re building that daily… Start building … —— What else is there? ——
President Kennedy was living daily with so much pain, from his Addison’s disease and colitis, along with back pain from a deteriorating spine and back surgery, that it took over 12 medications and seven injections a day along with a back brace, just to keep him going …
He couldn’t even bend over to put his shoes on…
The fact that he even got out of bed was a miracle …
I often find my self thinking about how he projected youth and vitality and strength and change…
This ability to challenge people to be better…
He refused to wear an overcoat on his Inauguration Day
Needing to project youth and strength…
He understood probably better than any of us the power of images and what they do
And the power of
Media ….
This was before an assassination
And before America lost touch with itself
And lost faith in itself
We know how the story ends
We know all the things that he started
However he is forever fixed in our minds as he worked so hard to be fixed …
Young and filled with hope.
Change is something uncomfortable
Courage, Virtue and faith is something vital to our existence …
As Joan Didion said the center is not holding…
It seems we’ve lost ourselves
And our faith
We don’t trust even our own instinct
From my side of the mountain
After struggling with Crohn’s
Divorce
Moving and changing careers
Getting sober…
I can only say
I’m writing this on the side of new beginnings
And the shadows we fight against
Just within ourselves
The urge to run
To just forget about the cost
To just forget about the thing
To cop out…
The ability to rebuild yourself
To trust yourself
To reach for change
To stay true to your convictions
Is courageous in and of itself
But it is a future worth fighting for
Worth staying for
Worth getting up in the morning for …
So keep your hope
And build
Brick by brick
And line by line
Create a future
And a home
You would like your children to come home to…
Because it’s worth the fight
Even if you hide your shadows and your struggles
Your pain…
You can still build …
It is the courage to continue in the face of everything ….that counts…
When the stars come out tonight No one is gonna deny the moon her right to shine … No one is gonna love her in private She’s gonna sit up there in the heavens Chandelier in the night Burning with all her might —— Rather be a warrior in a garden Than a garden in a war High patience to the throttle You’ve got the cards but you’ve got to play them just right —— You want to get it fast I’d rather make it last That kind of love takes seasons That kind of love takes time —— We drink a little bit of the mountain Give it back with our blood in the soil We all had to struggle But someday We have to take inventory of how we spend our days —— I know you’re used to Good ole boys Kicking down your door With high velocity love Drinking by 9 Punching holes in your heart around midnight Numbing their minds on smoke and whiskey And blaming your car alarm heart For the way they choose to live their lives —- and I know we all could have been the dead beats and the losers Standing on the side lines But —— When the stars come out tonight No one is gonna deny the moon her right to shine … No one is gonna love her in private She’s gonna sit up there in the heavens Chandelier in the night Burning with all her might
I don’t think any of us knows where it comes from, not really. You can set yourself up to be ready for it but you can’t always make it happen. Nora Ephron said writers are cannibals. We eat our own. I’ve always said we were vampires. Dottie Rambo believed in keeping notebooks near her and being ready always. It just comes to you, the writing, and you turn it over and see how many lines you can get from a single ray of light. You try to make it as clear as possible, So the reader sees what you see, hears what you hear, feels what you feel. You try to understand it. What it is to be alive… To be living…
When you’re young You believe you can be everything to everyone But it’s hard enough to be something to just one … It takes all of us We all need each other —— In terms of art Drink the shot of bourbon Leave your mark Drive the open roads in the place you grew up in Let the soil take root And give you your soul back —— In terms of the heart I can offer you my hand These arms to hold you To walk with you And I can Do my best to love you —— She counted my whiskey bottles 15 empty and 3 full “Are you an alcoholic?” “Nah, functioning, functioning” “I have alcoholic friends I don’t need another one …” I thought about it for a few days She never said another word But I poured it all down the drain I had a good job My money was finally right Everything has to have balance Moderation It’s easy to lose your lane Get a chip on your shoulder Think you know —— I prayed while looking over my bluff Hoping I somehow make this place softer for someone If even just myself The leaves are changing again Like our hearts Like our minds Like our bodies Softer Softer Softer
I’ve lived just long enough To know There is so much I don’t know, I’m my own worst critic. —— There was a community excited For a new grocery store Because now they can get new apartments And new businesses won’t have to walk as far Or drive as far So they have, suddenly, on the horizon More time and better opportunities in five years than someone minutes or hours away… This is perspective… Competition isn’t a bad thing … Think of your customers, your employees as people, families you’ve personally impacted in some way…. I’ve been humbled and honored by understanding By living and losing and winning. —— I know we can hurt deeply, we can change in an instant, For better or worse – We are not saints Or even fallen angels We are creations We are weather and seasons We can become what we dream of or what we hate … I’ve returned to this southern soil And I’ve prayed For it to do what it must To root the soul In this heart of flesh… To ease these bones that shake … How we treat those around us, How we grow… We are restless, Inside these minds like magnets Inside cages…
—-
I knew a girl, She refused to let Love die, she boxed her lover with gloves and a mouth piece And demanded the truth Always the truth… anything less Anything trivial was left in the dust …. ——- I’ve lived just long enough … To know… They will tell you You have endless opportunity For lovers and careers and cities and dreams … Well, You do, But there is a thing called time And it is always running It is always clearing the house while you sleep … And they will tell you it is an illusion But when it’s gone it’s gone … I used to beg for things and people to see me or let me love them… I don’t do that anymore If they can’t be here I thank them I just let things go I have to keep moving forward… If you find one who sees you, pushes you and makes you better, If they care for you and demand the truth from you… If you can nurture eachother And shelter eachother If you can love deeply And know how much is on the line… Really…really on the line …. To love deeply To hurt deeply To pay attention …. —— I want to love in a way that you understand To listen To build To protect To shelter To not see just potential or an idea But to really see you Really be here with you I want to love you better ——- I want to live better I want to Not take this lightly We are here We are here And this is our responsibility To ourselves We are here And we are living And we have lived just long enough To know we can change in an instant, For better or worse But I will love you Better I will protect you Better I will shelter And I will keep And I will Hold deeply And love in a way you can understand So you know….
Maybe our Hearts are like caves With burdens of their own Unique Beneath the earths crust And tho Sometimes they give in Like Samson pushing the pillars down they still hold, where it matters most… And Our hearts like caves Still have rooms To discover Still have new ways Waiting to be mapped You are still you You are still new You are still undiscovered Even after all this time -E Regardingsamuel.com
Regarding Samuel 