The Mind of KLH

Well…I said before Obama can’t save you, and I am convinced that is true.  In fact there is no government official that will do for you what you won’t do for yourself.  Nobody can save you…but here’s the good news…Nobody else has to, because you can save yourself.  The gift that President Obama gives to us is the gift of seeing ourselves.  What do I mean by that?  As eloquent and inspiring as Mr. Obama has been it has become clear that even he, cannot change the quality of our lives in any subsequent way except perhaps in a bad way. 

Mr. Obama and Mrs. Obama have said many times on the campaign trail that “We are the change we have been waiting for.”  That is the magic bullet!  I have heard the president say that “It’s not about me…or the congress…it’s about you.”  This is where you and I have to sit up, take notice, and then take action.  All the horrible financial conditions that we find ourselves suffering through is a result of choices we all collectively have made.  We gave our power away to elected officials who don’t care about us, or can’t care for us.  We spent money we didn’t have, and let our government do the same.  We didn’t save for a rainy day…we thought the sun would shine eternally, only to find out that…it doesn’t.  Sometimes it rains and right now a whole lot of us are getting soaked.

So in his State Of The Union address president Obama I’m sure will give a great speech.  He will say it is still important for  all Americans to have health insurance, and it is.  He will say that republicans and democrats should work in a bi-partisan way (I’ve grown to hate that term) and they should.  The president will say that the economy has gotten better but we still have a long way to go, and we do.  There are terrorists out there that demand our vigilant defense and sometimes offense…check.  The president will say lots of things both inspiring and bothersome.  But what the president won’t say, is the thing he most needs to say, and it’s this – “I can’t save you, neither can the congress.”

He won’t say it perhaps because he believes he can, or maybe he honestly doesn’t want to.  Either way the truth is still the same…The government can build the road but we the people have to drive the car to where we want to be.  I was a big supporter of Mr. Obama, I still think there is a lot of potential he has yet to realize.  So far I am sad to say I am not impressed.  He over promised and under delivered.  But…that’s what politicians do.

Right now the State Of The Union is horrible…but you and I can turn it around.  That is my prayer and determination for our country.  So I really hope that Mr. Obama will get about the business of building us some roads…because I think a whole lot of people are about to burn rubber on the way to the America we’re supposed to be.

Stay Fly and Fly High!
KLH

This is a question that a lot of people have pondered, and a lot of discussion has been conducted around this topic.  But because Dr. King was such a giant of a man, I think it interesting to consider it in the political and social climate of the day…”What would he do now?”  Well…I think he would be an enthusiastic advocate for universal health care.  He would see the horrible inequity and injustice piled onto people who can least afford it.  I think Dr. King would show how absurd and immoral it is for a health care system to price life saving medical treatment out of the reach of most Americans.  Our police and fire departments are “socialized” so why not medical care?  I think that would be a question he would powerfully demand an answer for.

I think Dr. King would be proud that we have an African American as our president.  But King would not just rubber stamp everything Obama does.  I believe that King would keep the pressure on Mr. Obama to deliver on his promises.  I for one would love to see that.  Dr. KIng would point out the futility in conducting a “War On Terror”.  It is impossible to kill enough people to make them not hate us.  Dr. King showed us the magnificent power of a righteous cause, peacefully being demonstrated for all to see.  He’d remind us that when you don’t take up arms against your enemies the world is forced to see the rightness of your cause.  Yet…as Mr. Obama has said ‘a head of state can hardly be a pacifist’…I think King would agree.  But somehow Dr. King would find a way to counsel our president in the ways of gentle power.  War has it’s place, but so does love, peace, and common good.

I think Dr. King would have been sad that Michael Jackson died so young.  I think he would have told parents the importance of loving their children and supporting them and making them feel like they really matter. I think he would have told us that celebrities have as much right to privacy and intimacy and quiet as we do.

I think Dr. King would be a really powerful force helping to guide us all to our better selves.  Happy Birthday Dr. King….we sure could use you now.

Stay Fly and Fly High!
KLH

What a world we live in.  Terrorism has been around for a very long time, but it’s really popular now.  A war on terror may on it’s face seem like the thing to do.  After all terror is …terrible.  All good people want to live in a world free from the horrors that terrorism rains upon innocent people.  We all were mortified by the nightmare of 9-11, the bombing of the Federal building in Oklahoma, car bombs in the Middle East.  All of us hate terrorism and it’s affects…at least all of us decent people.  However a “war on terrorism” is a dumb idea.

Before you get upset with me, let me explain.  (I hope I don’t go too far over my head)  Terrorism is a tactic.  Basically it involves violence against innocent people with a desire to bring about some some political, religious, or philosophical net result.  Terrorists are by definition unbalanced.  They are most certainly not impressed with our war on terror…especially the ones who blow themselves up with their victims.  Terrorists are filled with hate, and hate is a very powerful and infectious force.  I am inclined to believe that we cannot kill enough of ‘them‘ to make them stop hating us.

Once again…we cannot kill enough terrorists to make them stop hating us.  Think about gang violence…the ‘Crips’ kill some ‘Bloods’ and the ‘Bloods’ are gonna get even.  You kill one of ours we kill two of yours.  So now the ‘Crips’ have to “re-get even” and the cycle NEVER STOPS!!!!!!!  Every single time we kill a terrorist we reaffirm their reason for hating us.  More young men sign up for the cause because the bomb we dropped killed somebody’s mama…so now they REALLY have to get even.  As long as we’re in the cycle the cycle will never ever end.

Now…before you call me a crazy pacifist wimp, I do not believe that we can just sit back and allow ourselves to be brutalized.  However for this horrible merry-go-round to stop someone has to get off, and put on the brakes.  This is what I believe…the terrorists aren’t evil just for it’s own sake.  I really don’t think that they care that much about Americans wearing Nikes and eating at McDonald’s.  I think they perpetrate the evil of terrorism because they don’t know what else to do.  They want something and they don’t know how to go about getting it.  In and of itself these terrorists get no thrill from killing us and themselves…at least I don’t think so.  They want something…and you know what?  I think that what they really really really want is real close to what I want and what you want.

You want to end terrorism Mr. President?  Find out what they really want.  Step outside preconceptions and justifiable rage at their violence and find out what they want.  If we can find a way to help them to see how they can get it (God knows terrorism hasn’t worked) maybe we can spend some of that Iraq and Afghanistan money on a proper economic recovery plan…ya know what I’m sayin??

Stay Fly and Fly High!
KLH

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Yes…it’s so easy to be positive, it’s so easy to have a great outlook on life, it’s so easy to believe in the ‘Law Of Attraction’, the goodness of God, and all that…when things are going well for you.  Now…how do you think I know that?  Yep, that was me.  There I was in all my glory talking to people who where having a hard time in life, telling them “Yeah, you have to keep fighting!  You have to be positive.”  Even though I didn’t actually believe I was better than ‘them’, looking back on it, I know I had a certain level of arrogance.  I felt like I had figured it all out, and that if only these poor people would follow my sage advice they too could be positive like me.

Well…the recession kicked in, and it’s been kicking ever since.  I’m lucky if I make half what I made a year ago.  Sometimes I literally wonder if I might have to ask a friend for food…and that has a way of humbling a positive thinker.  It’s as if God is saying to me “So…you really believe all that positive thinking stuff?  I’m going to test you to see how much you really believe.” 

As it turns out I really do believe that stuff.  I really do believe that our thoughts materialize.  What we focus on becomes our reality.  We really can attract things into our life.  But, I learned something else.  I learned that it’s a whole lot harder to be positive when you can’t pay your rent.  So, I can empathize a whole lot more with people who are having a hard time.  However I will not simply accept that there is nothing we can do.  I won’t let my friends off the hook when they say they have no power.  I cannot support that. 

I believe that we are all powerful.  Each of us can make a choice.  The quality of that choice is what will determine the quality of the reality we find ourselves living in.  Every time we make a choice we moves ourselves along on a path.  Weak victimized choices lead to a predictably weak reality.  Another person given the same scenario might make a powerful choice and their reality will reflect that powerful choice.  There are people right now in the same recession you and I are in, making tons of money.  If the recession is what’s keeping us down, how would it be possible for anyone to make money?  I talked to a realtor a couple of weeks ago that said he had a good year…imagine that!!! 

The recession ain’t the problem.  The problem is what we do about the recession.  A coming New Year is always a great time to reflect and to project.  What I wish for you and for me is the recognition that at any time, no matter what the challenge, we can make a choices that empower us.  The more we stack up these powerful choices…the more we can look forward with boundless optimism to 2010.  Happy New Year!

Stay Fly and Fly High!
KLH

Yes…I’m back, and I’m annoyed.  The other day I went to the movies to see Avatar.  It was a great film with a surprising spiritual undertone.  It was a pretty long film, close to three hours.  Anyways…I’m there enjoying the movie or at least trying to but the nit wits behind me kept kicking and bumping my chair.  As for me personally I always try to stay in my space.  I don’t want to impose on anyone else.  Unfortunately a lot of other people don’t have that kind of courtesy or self awareness.

When I’m at the movies I keep my damn feet to myself, I am not a ‘kicker’.  If I’m talking to you I won’t tap you constantly…I call these creatures ‘tappers’.  Also when I’m talking to you I won’t get within 18″ of your face.  I call people who don’t respect this don’t cross zone “space invaders”.  Even as I’m moving away ’space invaders’ keep coming, and they’ll continue to keep coming until someone says “STOP!!!  This is my space and you can’t have it.”  It’s the same with seat kickers and tappers…they don’t have proper boundaries.

I think that as an American….actually as a human being we all have the inalienable right to EXCLUSIVE use and occupation of the three foot invisible circle around us.  That invisible circle is our Personal Space.  Unless you’re having sex or engaging in some other activity that actually requires physical contact Stay Out Of Personal Space that isn’t yours.  Perhaps it’s the invisible nature of personal space that confuses seat kickers, tappers, and space invaders.  Someone should invent ‘Personal Space Goggles’.  These goggles would detect when you are entering someone else’s personal space.  When you do an alarm would go off and indicate that you should back off…If the alarm doesn’t work perhaps a little electrical zap!

Well…maybe that’s not practical…maybe parents should just teach their kids proper manners…Ahhh…remember manners?  What about a ’Space Invader’ watch list?  Whatever the solution…something needs to be done!

Stay Fly and Fly High!
KLH

When I opened my iGoogle page under the Heading of ‘Hot Trends’ a few of the entries had to do with hanging photos of the late actor David Carradine.  I am ashamed to say that I clicked on one of the links.  Fortunately I closed the page before I saw any pictures…my conscience got to me.  My better judgement kicked in and gave me a reality check.  I was reminded how despicable people can be. 

Because a person is, or was a celebrity there is an inclination to think they don’t have basic human rights to privacy.  So many people  assume that they have a right to know details about a celebrity’s personal life.  Let me state it clearly….WE DON’T!!!  What happened to David Carradine is tragic.  Even though he apparently did it to himself…even though there may have been some kinkiness involved, it was tragic.  Life is precious, and life lost is serious and solemn. 

For a minute I got caught up in the curiosity, and I wanted  to see what I really didn’t have a right to see.  The family of David Carradine has a right to dignity, even if David killed himself in a most undignified way.  They deserve the right to mourn his death in private.  They don’t owe us in the public anything.  Similarly when celebrities get divorced, go into rehab, get arrested, or have plastic surgery…it ain’t our business.

What we really need to do is live our own lives.  Everyone will be better off.  How willing are you to let people know about your private affairs?  I’d bet that you don’t want anybody in your business.  I bet that you want the respect for your privacy that is guaranteed to us as Americans.  Celebrities deserve the same respect.

So for whatever it’s worth…I apologize for almost looking at those pictures.  I will do better in the future…and I hope you do as well.

Stay Fly and Fly High!
KLH

Hello out there bloggies!!  I am back after a long hibernation.  I had gotten a comment on one of my posts, and I went back and read the post.  I must say I was impressed (pardon me while I kiss myself).  Anyways…I wanted to write today as a way of getting back on the horse.  It is so easy to justify not trying because we have been away for a while.  This is foolishness.  It is never too late to pick up where you left off, when it comes to your dreams, and most other things in life.  

So you stopped going to the gym, you stopped dieting, you stopped putting money in the bank, you stopped telling your wife you love her…today is the day that you can start anew.  The rest of your life is still in play.  You still are at the wheel.  You can decide to let your life, your dreams, your family relationships remain stagnant.  Or, you can decide to take one small action today that will improve things.  It will lift your spirit, and inspire even more effort.

Creation is an ongoing living breathing process.  It ebbs and flows, it comes and it goes, it stops and starts…do you get it?  Inactivity is only a small part of the picture…that is if you want it to be.  I say all this because I often times struggle with consistency…but I am who I am.  Sometimes I walk away, but I am back…won’t you join me?  What have you put down?  Right now or certainly before the end of the day take a small action that moves your life closer to where you want it to be.  As you do that also be sure to be grateful for the process.

Stay Fly and Fly High
KLH

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I believe that intention is one of the most important differences between a very successful person and an average person.  I have on a number of occasions asked successful people “What’s the secret to your success?”  Inevitable they will reply “Hard work”.  While I’m sure they do indeed work hard, I know plenty of other people who work hard, but don’t have a ’summer home’ on the beach in Rhode Island.  Clearly there is more involved than hard work.  I think it’s intention, that is the intention behind the hard work.  Successful people intend certain results when they work hard.  When Oprah works hard she intends to have more at the end of the week than $25 and hour plus overtime.  When Steve Jobs or Bill Gates work hard they intend to make a lot of money, and they usually do.

It is so easy to get caught up in our every day routine, and we often don’t think about what our intention is or the repercussions of those intentions.  A lot of people say they would like to be successful, but they fail to think about what really is necessary to achieve that success.  The work needed to bring home $750 a week is not the same kind of work needed to bring home $7500 per week.  You may work the same number of hours, you may even work harder than someone making ten times more than you, but if it’s not the ‘right kind’ of work you’ll never make a lot of money.  So what do you do to make money?

First you must set your intentions on what you want.  Wishful thinking is not the same as intention.  There is certainty behind intention.  There is faith behind intention, there is conviction as well.  So if you want to make $$7500 a week, you must fully intend to make it.  This intention will lead you to ask yourself some questions.  The first question will probably be “What can I do to make $7500 a week?”  ”How can I get the necessary training?” Or, “How can I meet the right people?”  When you ask enough of the right questions, and then get the right answers, you will have a road map to the fulfillment of your goal.  All you have to do now is break your goal down into small steps that you can accomplish in one day.  Commit to yourself that you will take at least one of these steps everyday and in time you will find yourself looking right in the face all you every wanted.  

It is critical that you always know what it is you’re trying to do with each and every step.  When you know clearly what the intention is behind your efforts, you can evaluate whether those efforts are effective or not.  If they are not, then make an adjustment, and keep on adjusting until you see the desired results.  I know this sounds very simplistic, but that is why many people don’t act.  They believe the key to success has to be difficult or complicated, or even mystical.  Success is simple…yes you have to work hard, but you must have the appropriate intention to guide your efforts.  Then tweak until you hit the target.  It’s not easy…but it is simple.  I believe you have it in you, to accomplish whatever you REALLY want to…so go get it!!!

Stay Fly and Fly High!
KLH

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I heard it in a song the other day.  I’ve heard many others say the same thing…most of those saying it were men.  It hit me that it is this kind of insanity that causes so much misunderstanding, grief and pain in the world, especially between men and women.  For some inexplicable reason it has been conditioned into young boys that they shouldn’t show emotions…at least not “soft emotions”…and you certainly shouldn’t cry.  The problem with that sort of stupidity, is that it ignores the FACT the men are human.

Humans have emotions…all kinds of emotions.  The fact that a person may not show those emotions outwardly, doesn’t mitigate the fact that those emotions exist.  Men are every bit as capable as women to feel sadness, depression, and grief…men absolutely do get their feelings hurt.  But men have been conditioned to not let their hurt show.  The problem with this is that the hurt will not be denied.  If the hurt is not expressed directly it will show up some other way.  Men usually resort to anger when they feel hurt.  Somehow we’ve been trained to believe that anger is more ‘manly’.  

So…if a man’s feelings are hurt, rather than saying that, he may scream at his woman.  He may go out and cheat on her.  He may resort to violence against her, or maybe even misplace that violence, and direct it towards some one else.  But please be clear, those hurt feelings will make themselves known. If men were more able to express their hurt feelings, that alone would greatly reduce violence against women.  In fact, it would probably reduce violence in general.  The old paradigm just doesn’t work.  Men are people too.  The sooner we all embrace that, the better of we all will be.  

We as a people need to revisit and then revise what it means to be a man.  Sure strength is a part of being a man…but gentility is too.  We as men need to reclaim our humanity…all of it.  If our feelings have been hurt, we need to be able to say that in words, soft words, not with our fists.  I am not suggesting that men are just like women, because we are not, nor will we ever be.  But to say that a grown man ain’t supposed to cry is flat out wrong.  Sometimes being a man is being able to show softness, but not being defined by that softness.  Sometimes being a man is being able to cry even when our conditioning says we shouldn’t.  

As a man you might not want to cry at a public theater watching Sex In The City,…but if you lost a loved one, or if you’re expressing love to that special one, if you feel like no one understands you…I say that you as a man have a ‘human-right’ to cry.  

Stay Fly and Fly High!
KLH

…then no one else will.  Regarding success in anything, I think this statement is a fundamental truth.  I believe that success is compliant, it is malleable, it is plastic.  Success will take the form of whatever we truly believe.  If you believe you are a person who can only earn $15.00 an hour, and maybe if you work really hard and go to school (I always love that one) then the universe will submit to that vision.  People very rarely make more than they believe they can make.  If you believe that $150.00 an hour is what you should make then the universe in the same way will comply.  Most of us have a very strong tendency to be defined by where we are right now.  It is a very exceptional person that can see beyond their present circumstances, what ever they are.  Successful people typically only see themselves as being successful.  Conversely low wage earners usually cannot really see themselves making a lot of money.  They may fantasize about it, but they don’t really see themselves in a much better place than they are currently.

It is a staple of the Positive Thinking world that ‘If you can conceive it and believe it then you can achieve it’.  It’s very simplistic I know, but it’s also very true.  It’s so simple in fact, that most people dismiss it as silly.  Let me break it down.  Obviously for you to achieve anything first you must conceive it in your mind, that’s easy.  Belief is much harder.  Belief is not simply saying ‘Oh yeah, I believe I can make a million dollars’.  Belief is a thought held in your mind that compels you into action or inaction.  If you believe that car speeding toward you is not going to stop, you will be compelled to get the hell out of the way.  Similarly if you truly believe you are going to make a million dollars you’re going to formulate a plan and execute that plan.  You are going to get the necessary education you need.  You are going to get up early and work late when your friends are out having fun.  You are going to sacrifice things that other people have now, in order to have what others people will not be able to have later. True belief is a motivator.

If you really believe you will be successful in your marriage, business, or child rearing you will make choices that support that belief.  You may ask ‘How do I get that belief?’  I think it starts with a simple truth, that you are capable, and you are worthy.  You may not currently possess the skills necessary to make a lot of money or be a great parent, or piano player, and that’s OK.  You must know however, that you are capable of acquiring those skills.  Great skill is very rarely present instantly.  Most of the times skill is developed over time, and often a great deal of time.  Developing skill is a matter of a series of choices.  Turn off the TV, sign up for a class, read a book, do a push up, walk around the block, make a phone call, practice your instrument.  These are choices anybody can make.  Successful people make the right choices often, and unsuccessful people make the wrong choices often.  If you want more for yourself, it all starts with making an effective choice.  Anybody can do that.

As far as being worthy…it’s really rather basic…you are worthy because you are here.  You as you are, represent a spectacular crowning achievement of creative intelligence.  The raw materials of which you are made, are no different than that of Bill Gates, Micheal Jordan, Micheal Jackson, Mother Teresa, or Oprah.  We are all a blank canvas, and we are all given a wonderful selection of paints and brushes.  It is up to you and me what we do with them.  There is nothing wrong with living an average life, and if that’s what you want then you can paint that picture for yourself.  It’s really up to you.  However I believe that most people who live average lives do so out of fear or lack of imagination.

I think most of us are afraid of looking silly, being told no, not fitting in, feeling inadequate.  So we find a comfort zone we dig in and plant ourselves there.  Then we teach our children to do the same, because we don’t want them to be hurt.  It’s hard to feel inadequate when all you do are things that are easy for you.  Most people will do just about anything to avoid discomfort.  Fear of the unknown will make people stay in jobs they hate, and relationships that sometimes put them in grave physical danger.  The need for familiarity can literally be a killer.

I am here to tell you this…you are capable, and you are worthy.  Suspend your disbelief and act as if this were true.  Small choices you can make right now, over time can eventually make your life truly remarkable.    I am not saying that great wealth is the path for everyone, because it isn’t.  I know everyone doesn’t want to be a rock star, nor should everyone.  But I am convinced that each and everyone of you can live a wonderful, abundant, happy, and fulfilling life.  You will be on that path when you believe you can.

Stay Fly and Fly High!
KLH

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