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Editorials/Columns
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It’s Our Own Damn Fault
or most people, life is
just a series of random events that are controlled solely by fate. Those who subscribe to this way of thinking typically use ex- pressions like, “what shall be shall be” and “everything happens for a reason” as ways of reconciling with any disappointing outcome that they chalk up to inevitability.
The truth of the matter, though, is that the negative things that befall us aren’t the result of the Creator pre- determining the point in which misery enters our lives for His own amusement. No, the trials and tribulations we face periodically manifest themselves through some- thing a lot more mundane ... Our decision-making.
We tend to forget that the free will we were given al- lows us to manufacture our own destinies. That means, even though God may inter-
vene on our behalf at differ- ent intervals throughout our lives when we may need dire assistance, 99% of the things that happen to us, good or bad, are by-products of our individual choices and the energy we set into motion when we make them.
We may want to believe that we’re traveling down a path already designed for our journey. But, in reality, the trajectory of the road we’re on changes every time we decide to go left instead of right.
The obstacles that hinder our progress, bad relation- ships, financial hardship, in- carceration, poor health etc.., only come into play when we allow our choices to be influ- enced by things such as van- ity, greed, wrath, gluttony, envy, sloth (laziness) and pride. All of these are consid- ered deadly sins because of their ability to destroy us
mentally, spiritually and physically.
While it may be hard to ac- cept the fact that there’s no one outside of ourselves to blame for the things that happen to us, the fact is, most of us who aren’t where we want to be in life are vic- tims of our own vain desires. Our misfortunes weren’t brought on by a curse, an evil root or plain ole’ bad luck. Simply put, as architects of our environments, we de- serve the largest portion of credit for the mess in which we find ourselves.
The good news is that it’s never over until they start filling our holes full of dirt. That means, by using our thought process more wisely, we have the ability to re- shape our circumstances.
We may never get to the point where we could have been had we not made so many critical errors in judg- ment. But, like in the game of chess, we can definitely im- prove on our current situa- tions if we learn to move a lot more carefully.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Com- pany. You can contact Mr. Barr at: barr6502@gmail.com.
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A Mouse Gnaws At Democracy
ast week, President Donald Trump accused De-
mocrats who did not applaud his State of the Union address of being un-American and ‘traitors’.
Literally hours after what could have been an hor- rendous rail accident, where a train packed with Re- publican congress folks struck a garbage truck, the 45thPresident seemed to see no harm in saying about the largely Democratic Party’s response to his speech, “Can we call that treason?”
Our answer is “Only if you’re the Mad Hatter and this is Alice in Wonderland.
Yes, we’re concerned.
Members of the Republican Party narrowly escaped a major catastrophe that could have crippled the Leg- islative branch of America; the FBI is in more disarray than it has ever been since the death of J. Edgar Hoover and our bad example of a President, is acting like a mouse voraciously gnawing at the cheese which happens to be the American Constitution.
Meanwhile, he bomb-rushes the countryside gath- ering support from like-minded mice to guard the col- lective piece of cheese.
Indeed, the ghost of another mouse (Adolf Hitler) is smiling at how well this Trump-mouse is setting up the downfall for the greatest democracy in the history of the world.
Today, it’s the Democrats. Tomorrow who knows!
A Better Version Of You
“Becoming a better version of you, doesn’t just involve change, it involves growth.”
Selphenia Nichols
mpowered Greet-
ings. There is always a better version of you that is waiting to be discovered by you and revealed to the world. That’s not to say that the person you are right now isn’t good or even great.
However, there is always a more in-depth translation of the person you were cre- ated to be, longing to be de- veloped. Internally speaking, the better version of you is something you must desire for yourself before it shows up externally. There is con- siderable power in having a strong urge to do more, be more or experience more out of life. That craving will give
you a yearning for ways to improve you, causing you to pull yourself up from obscu- rity to notoriety and to be ex- tremely successful in life.
Here’s the kicker, you must choose to create a life of esteem that others will look upon with respect. Make up in your mind and decide that you are the MVP. You are the most valuable person in your own life.
You can be happy in your present because you are crazy, head over heels in love with yourself. You value you and all that you have to offer. Yet, you’re excited about the better version of you, know- ing that increased happiness awaits you in your future.
When you have a positive view of you, that transfers over, to the way you project who you are to others. People will think highly of you as
well and pay homage to this better version of you.
Investing time daily, learning, studying and devel- oping yourself to stay rele- vant and in tune with the times, will be critical to es- tablishing the better version of you. You might know a lot, but you don’t know it all. Therefore, it is imperative that you are always evolving through increased knowl- edge.
Exposure to unfamiliar things expands your think- ing. When your mind is sharpened to develop cutting edge ideas and thought processes, your life is ad- vanced to a better version of you.
I want you to consider what the better version of you will look like. Now strive to be that person in 2018 and beyond.
I want to coach you to successfully be the best ver- sion of you possible. Let’s stay connected through so- cial media. Follow me: Face- book Business Fan Page: Selphenia Nichols Suc- cess Coach To Women; Instagram: @Selphenia; or Twitter: @queenofsuc- cess1.
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PAGE 6-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2018