by Michael Mackey
Our failures in life come from not realizing our closeness to success when we give up, so keep setting goals. Because very often we become angry, anxious, or fearful when the things we want do not work to our favor. I know we sometimes box ourselves into time limits; limits are fine when we have everything we need “within arms reach”. Know that no matter where we are and what we want, we must always surrender the element of time to the divine timekeeper.
We judge whether they have worked hard enough to own that. We criticize them in support of our own determination, that they don’t deserve to get, or “have” what they have. We doubt ourselves and our abilities. We blame other people and conditions, believing that they stand in our way, but the only thing that’s standing in our way is our own doubts, our own fears, criticism and judgment of ourselves. The moment we start wasting time and not taking our education seriously, that’s when you throw your hands up in frustration, and walk away, a moment before your breakthrough. So if we keep believing that someone, or something, other than ourselves can deny, or should I say, delay, our growth, then we are not ready to have it.
The all-giving, all-knowing, creator is the main vein of all life, and He wants us all to be better. When you are strong in heart, and “mind”… when you honestly want for others the good that you seek for yourself, you will be well equipped to have those things that you desire. What Martin Luther King wanted for us all is freedom, and education, along with desegregation, because education is your passport to the future, because tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it. Education, freedom, and desegregation is not just limited to a classroom, it takes place in a kitchen, on a street corner, in penitentiaries, and county jails, riding or walking to any destination — just flat out anywhere. I know this well because, as some of you may know, I’ve almost done this a couple of times, but on some really real stuff though, all of my ideas and all of my goals are children of our minds. I nurture them like a dad/mom, with my thoughts and with my mysterious actions, like that fetus in a pregnant woman’s belly, it develops in just the right way “at just the right time” and eventually…”Labor will start”. It’s a little painful at first, and sometimes long, but your idea-child is born.
I have so many scattered ambitions. I used to think I’m one of those people who has a lot of potential but never takes off, “But darn it, man,” I was so wrong. You reading this, can you do me a favor… think back and picture the day you first met your best friend. Are you still that same person from back then? Because what you see is what you get. Your education should spring forth from reading books, through listening to music, through children, through elders, through men and women. It rises from victory, from tragedy, from joy, and suffering, education does not take place when you learn something you didn’t know a minute ago; education is your ability to use what you have learned. The ultimate goal of your education is to give you a greater insight into yourself.
Sister Souljah once said “We are living in a world where your color matters more than your character.” People want you to believe that color doesn’t matter? It shouldn’t. But it does. When I’m in a dark room I quickly realize it is easier to see with the lights on. If you have ever been imprisoned and oppressed, or in bondage to anyone or anything, then you truly understand the yearning and desire for freedom.
We learn to appreciate good health when we are sick. We respect wealth because we come from poverty. It’s normal to label our condition by what appears to be its opposite: (Education and Dysfunction) (Freedom and Oppression) (Joy and Sorrow) (Peace and Confusion) (Faith and Fear) (Strength and Weakness). These are not opposing powers, just results of how our situations in life are used. So please y’all, stay focused on your goals and get your education because there are no opposites, only education and light coming out of darkness to better you, and this is something I know very very well.
I too am light coming out of the darkness, and I’m still shining with the light of a hundred thousand suns.