Leaking Vessels

We are all leaking vessels. Imagine yourself as a container. Whatever is poured in you is what you are at the moment. But, now, imagine that container had a hole at the bottom. So no matter how much you keep pouring in, it keeps leaking out.

The question is what is being poured into you. This goes into the totality of the person. What are you putting in your body (e.g., healthy food, toxins)? What are you allowing to enter into your mind (e.g., books, media, people)? Are you feeding the spiritual man or carnal man? Remember, garbage in and garbage out.

Have you ever wondered why today was a good day and yesterday was a bad day? or last week a good week and this week a bad week? or last year a good year and this year a bad year? Think about what was/is being poured into you. This is part of the reason why we go on roller coaster rides. Why we can be so firm in our thoughts one day and then the next on another page? The Leaking Vessel theory.

I do not care how stong minded you are; how much of a leader you are, we can all be mentally convinced or manipulated. Remember that song you hated on the radio, but after hearing day after day you cant get it out of your head? Why does the superbowl charge millions for a 30 second commercial? Because marketing people know the mind of man can be changed if you can get into their heads or your vessel.

What are you allowing to be poured into your person to fill your vessel?

The leaking vessel theory is a two-edged sword. If things are not good, we are leaking so in time we can fill ourselves up again with positivity. That means bad times dont have to last forever and we can do something to change our present condition. However, just because things are good now does not mean that it will stay that way. We are required daily to refresh our vessels because we are all leaking. We have to work hard for it to continue to be good!

Bottom Line: Be careful what you allow in your vessel. Ask yourself from a physical, mental, and spiritual aspect, is this good for me? Do I want this in my vessel? I pray this has been something positive for your vessel.

Blessings and Prayers
The BLAQUESMITH

Silence

Move away from noise
Sit. Listen. Breathe. Relax. Smile.
Enjoy the silence.

In a world of rush rush rush, we wonder where will we find a minute to relax. If we get that minute will we even be able to relax. Make the time, if you cant make the time, then take the time. What if your car said it was too busy to get gas. Would it not stop? Getting gas can be expensive and inconvenient. But we have to do it. What if your car refused to go get the oil exchanged or insisted on wearing the same tires forever. I say treat yourself as good as your car, at the very least.

PS A car gets to rest in plenty of silence everynight in the garage before it is driven again. What if the only time your car got a break was at a stop sign or a stop light. How long would it run? If you were a car, how long would you run?

Bottom Line: Take time to recharge or you will run out before your time.

The BLAQUESMITH

In Touch

In tune with your every move
the frequency never out of range
In concert we walk step by step

I need not touch you
to be in touch with you

I felt your pain before your heart broke
I heard the tears fall before they left your face
I saw your hurt without looking in your eyes
Your sorrow is just as my own
Your joy is my joy in stereo together
we sing our loving song

In Touch with you
Oh, how I love you
In Touch with you
I am you.

An original poem by DonJuan DeGhetto. Courtesy of Total Package Productions.

Like the Gas Prices were not High Enough

My little cousin forwarded this to me in an email. Read it, it may save you money at the pump… or at least from getting cheated even more at the pump.

THIS IS SO WORTH READING.

This is a true story, so read it carefully.

On April 24, 2008, I stopped at a Kangaroo BP gas station, located at 1325 Main Street, Cartersville, GA. My truck’s gas gauge was on 1/4 of a tank. I use the mid-grade, which was priced at $3.71 per gallon. When my tank is at this point, it takes somewhere around 14 gallon’s to fill it up.  When the pump showed 14 gallons had been pumped I began to slow it down, then to my surprise it went to 15, then 16. I even looked under my truck to see if it was being spilled. It was not. Then it showed 17 gallons had been pumped.  It stopped at almost 18 gallons.

This was very strange to me, since my truck has only an 18 gallon tank.  I went on my way a little confused, then on the evening news I heard a report that 1 out of 4 gas stations had calibrated their pumps to show more gas had been pumped than a person actually got.

Here is how to check a pump to see if you are getting the right amount:

Whichever grade you are using, put EXACTLY 10 GALLONS in your tank, then look at the dollar amount, if the dollar amount is not EXACTLY 10 times the price of the fuel you have chosen, then the pumps are rigged. In my case as I said the mid-grade was $3.71 9/10 per gallon, my dollar amount for 10 gallons should have been $37.19. If I had only check the pump. It doesn’t matter where you pump gas, please check the 10 gallon price. If you do find a station that is cheating, contact the Georgia Agriculture Department, and direct your comments to Tommy Irvin, Commissioner. In
other states contact proper authorities.

We need to put a stop to this outrageous cheating of customers. The gas companies are making enough profits at honest rates.

If you find it worthy, please spread the word.

The BLAQUESMITH

 

Eye No

First, I wood like two thank everyone four supporting the blog. From your comments eye am inspired two keep righting these blogs two inspire and make you think.

Second, eye no that soemtmie I misspell a word or too. Eye sometime will say there for their or now for know. Eye right thises blogs and eye try two proof read butt tyme does not always allow me two do it with the meticulous precision eye wood a more scholary peace. I do apperciate the concren and offers for proof readers and personal notes two help me idetnify words mispelled.

Bottom Line: Focus on the message more so than the grammar. But, eye will work on the typos, run-ons, and overall format of the blogs in the future.

Real Bottom Line: Do not take yourself that serious. We are all leaking vessels… (sounds like a good blog)

Why does it take that?

Newton’s first law of motion is often stated as:

An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
THIS IS ALSO KNOWN AS THE LAW OF INERTIA.

As it is with objects, so it is with man. Why does it take something to get us off our lazy a$$. In general we are content with situations that are less than ideal, until, we are pushed too far. Why does it take a Jena 6 or Sean Bell injustice for Black people to rally about the injustices that take place on a regular day? Why does it take a natural disaster to bring about a sense of an international brotherhood? Why does it take for a person to get fired from their job to go off and finally start their own business (something they knew they should have done years before). Why does it take for us to almost lose something to appreciate it? Why does it take for a doctor to tell us to stop doing something we knew was harmful, before we listen (okay, half listen)?

My petition to you is to do things to the fullest, but on your own terms. Don’t wait for inertia, be proactive. Do something before you are forced to move by a more powerful force. Today, make a vow to love yourself harder, breathe life back into your dreams (i.e., start your own business, go back to school, make that demo, write that book, go on that trip, ask her out for that date, try that new sexual position) and live today with a calculated reckless abandon.

Bottom Line: My favorite group Mint Condition has a song entitled, this day, this hour, this minute.… Make it happen right now! Do not wait any longer to live the life you live within your dreams. Prayerfully, it will not take more than this blog to get things in motion for you. I believe in you (YES, YOU!!). Go make it do what it do, baby!

Blessings and Prayers
The BLAQUESMITH

It’s over, let it go

My wrestling coach would often tell us “don’t cry over spilled milk.” Usually this was after a defeat. What he was telling us, was that match is over, if we continue to dwell on it, it will affect our next match negatively. My football coach told me the same thing, but in a different way. As a defensive back he said “you need to have a short memory.” Usually he said this after I missed a tackle or was beaten by the wide receiver. His point, if you cant get what just happened out of your mind, it is bound to happen again.

Once a thing has happened. It has happened. Do not waste energy dwelling on how to change the past. Now, we can analyze and review what has happend to make sure it does not happen again; but that is quantitatively different then dwelling on an issue. Okay, you made a mistake. Instead of dwelling on your error, flip the script. Use that frustration and pain to fuel to your next idea, your next step. If we do this, the potential for success increaes significantly.

Bottom Line: We all make mistakes. Recognize you cant change the past. But, it is up to you whether or not this mistake keeps you down or is the setback that sets you up for future success.

Blessings and Prayers
The BLAQUESMITH

Do the Right Thing

In Stephen Covey’s Book “Seven Habits of Highly Effective people,” he stated the first habit successful people had was to keep first things first. You know the old saying is “the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

There is a preacher by the name of Myles Monroe that added a funky twist to this for me. He stated that sometimes we are focused on doing the right thing and though we can steer away from those things that are clearly wrong and counterproductive to our goal; we get in trouble because of GOOD things. How can a good thing be bad, I thought?

His thesis was that sometime we lose track of our main goal and get side tracked by doing good things. When we are focused, we are determined and exercise good discipline. But, when we are not as focused, we let other “good” things take us away from our original plan. We sometimes sacrifice doing the right thing for a good thing. The good thing in essence has become a bad thing because it takes us away from our goal.

http://bibleresources.bible.com/passagesearchresults.php?passage1=1%20Corinthians+10:23&version=9 In this bible passage, the writer states that all things are lawful, but not all things are expedient or beneficial. Ask yourself, Yes, I can do it, but how does this add to my master plan?

Bottom Line: You first have to have a plan. Once you have it, stay focused. Recognize the things and people that take you toward your plan and those that take you away from it. You know if you are serious about your plan by how you dedicate yourself to it. Do the Right things to get to the finish line. I will meet you there!

Blessings and Prayers

The BLAQUESMITH

Monday Morning Coffee: While driving to work…

This morning we have a special blog from a special person. The BLAQUESMITH is proud to present his first guest blog. This is something definitely something to sip on. Enjoy!

One of the most important junctures in my day is the time spent in my car while driving to work. I am what many consider a “morning” person in that no matter what time I retire to bed, I’m usually up before the crack of dawn. I operate under what I call a “military” mindset in that I try to get more done before nine in the morning than most people get done all day. I have a fairly strict routine of getting up (without the aid of an alarm clock), saying my morning prayer, and then proceeding to do all of the other things normal people do in the morning prior to going to work (brushing teeth, breakfast, etc.) I work out before work every morning at six so I am normally out of the house by five-thirty. I always turn on the Steve Harvey Show but very rarely do I turn the volume up. I guess I just like the fact of knowing that it is on even though I rarely listen to it.

My time spent in my car while driving to work is devoted toward thinking. I find that this is the only time during the day where I am alone with only my thoughts. There is an element of peacefulness that comes along with that short drive that is difficult for me to explain. It keeps me sane while allowing me to roam outside of the boundaries of what may be considered logical or realistic. There is no right or wrong thought while I’m inside my car. In my own little world, everything makes sense. I have laughed, cried, argued, been disappointed, inspired, loved, hated, snitched, prayed, interviewed, serenaded, and even experienced death inside my vehicle. I have solved the majority of the world’s problems inside my car and I am sure I have created a few more problems along the way. I have apologized to ex-girlfriends and cussed out ex-employers. I have been a better husband and father. I have been convinced that either I am the only one that understands life or I am the only one that doesn’t. Nothing is kept sacred during these thirty minutes.

I sometimes wonder how people would react if they could “sit” in on some of these thoughts. What I REALLY mean is I wonder how I would react if I knew I wasn’t alone. I am going take this time to find out the answer to some of these questions. I have decided to let you in on some of the thoughts I have while driving to work……Have a safe trip!!!

America hates that Roger Clemons is forcing them (not us) to see what type of person he really is while it seemed to me that there was some type of enjoyment in vilifying Barry Bonds even though he hasn’t been convicted of anything.
Michael Vick is really in jail for killing dogs but Sean Bell’s killers were acquitted
Damn! Gas prices are STILL rising!!!!!!!!
Barack has a legitimate chance but if he was as well-spoken and insightful as he is, but looked like me, he wouldn’t have a chance.

Why aren’t people still talking about Gerald and Sean LeVert but we are still talking about Barbaro.
Let me get this straight…Karl Malone has three kids out of wedlock….a set of twins and a son…he didn’t enter the twins lives until they were 17….he refuses to acknowledge the boy whose mother was 13 when she had him and Karl was 20…he is currently married to a woman who he had 4 additional kids with…the Mailman has issues!
You know an album isn’t a classic when it’s called one two months after it has been out.
Blacks have killed way more blacks than the Ku Klux Klan ever did.
Mama I miss you!
Mama I made it!
Mama, I got so far to go.
What do I have to do to get my 15 minutes?
You are not grinding hard enough….stay focused.
If I die today how long will it take for them to forget about me? Am I living my life so that they won’t?
My kids need trust funds.
My wife needs ME!
Damn! How did I get to work so fast? I don’t even remember driving…………….

-DirteeSoul

If I perish, I perish!

Have you ever wondered why you were so blessed? I am humbled by the many blessings that are continously rained down upon me from above. As I began to think, this is not by accident. It is a reason I have been given so much. In fact, it is even a reason I have gone through so much pain and still kept my faith and sanity. Now, what do I do with these blessings? Do I keep them for myself or do I share them. The answer lies within the song we all learned a long time ago… “This little light of mine”

Let your light shine. W.E.B. DuBois once thought it would be the “Talented Tenth” that would save the Black race. The Talented Tenth was the top tenth of all professionals in the Black community. The top ten percent of the doctors, lawyers, preachers, carpenters, and so on so on. However, what he realized it that this Talented Tenth got to comfortable in their material world and was afraid to challenge the system and lose the little acceptance and goods they had acquired from mainstream America. DuBois finally realized it would be the people who had nothing to lose that would be willing to sacrifice all.

What if the Talented Tenth with all of their resources and brain power would unite and take on the establishment? What if these young children and adults with so much hope and youthful enthusiasm had some leaders who could help lead and channel this energy and power in a constructive fashion? Those of us in a position to help must not allow the pleasures of life to take us away from our roles as servants to mankind.

Bottom Line: I have learned that who ever wants the least is the richest. Are you afraid to sacrifice your goods to help your community? Are you like Esther and want to put off the responsibility on someone else. I say be like Esther after the epiphany. She was resolved to help her people. So am I. I am going to help or die trying. And, if I persih, I perish!

Blessings and Prayers
The BLAQUESMITH