Posts filed under 'The Challenge'
Yesterday’s homecoming celebration of Mr. Tim Russert, television journalist and moderator of “Meet The Press,” has inspired this post. To Tim’s wife, Maureen, may God’s love comfort you and your family during these difficult days. To Tim’s son, Luke, may your father’s precious soul rest in God’s peaceful presence always and forever.
Never again will my Sunday mornings be the same without the privilege of watching the one man whose effective example of “personal leadership” has inspired millions of ordinary, everyday people to “Go Get Em!!” May today’s post challenge all who read these words to live without limits, love without conditions, and lead like Jesus Christ did — by example.
If tomorrow never comes, how much more valuable would your yesterday become to you today? If you knew beforehand when your last tomorrow was going to come, what would you choose to do differently with the rest of your todays?
“For the first time,” would you choose to finally face your biggest and deepest fears? Would you challenge the people you love to dig deep enough inside the heart of their gifted souls to unearth the courage needed to learn how to love loving one another?
If tomorrow never comes, how would you choose to live the rest of your life today? Think about it. But please don’t take too long because it’s later than you think.
Copyright 2008 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.
Popularity: 16% [?]
June 19th, 2008
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“You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”
1 John 4:4
Quick question. Who or what is still keeping you from steppin’ out of the darkness of the hopeless that Despair creates and crossing the troubled, white-water rapids of Jordan’s River? Think about it.
“Greater is He” who dwells within me than ______________.
End this sentence by “filling in the blank” with the name of your biggest antagonist, your biggest obstacle, your greatest weakness, your worst bad habit, your biggest fear, or whatsoever is exacerbating your efforts to beat the odds with God’s help. As you already know, “impossible ain’t nothing but a word” to Greater Is He.
May completing the aforementioned sentence inspire you to face your biggest and deepest fears so you can begin to honestly believe that you can achieve great things and do what you’ve never done before. Overcoming your crisis of faith will challenge you to believe that you can achieve what you previously thought was an impossibility.”
But be forewarned! Steppin’ outside the imaginary box of your comfort zone will severely test your faith in God and challenge your ability to trust God when the invisible fist of Adversity strikes. I double-dog dare you to see if you posses the inner core strength to stand in the menacing face of whatsoever can make you faint each time you try to take the first step across Jordan’s River.
As many of you who’ve been reading this blog already know, “personal leadership” is an “act of faith.” Leadership is a personal choice that will always be yours alone to make until a defining moment in your life occurs and challenges you to “live, love, and lead like Jesus Christ did — by example.”
As evidenced by the Prologue to my book, Steppin’ Out Of The Darkness, “When Good People Become Great,” always expect the unexpected to happen when least expected.
Copyright 2008 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.
Popularity: 96% [?]
March 19th, 2008
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I’ve posted Senator Barack Obama’s speech, “A More Perfect Union,” for those of you who still need a compelling reason to believe that this 2008 Presidential Candidate is a brilliant person who just happens to be a Black man whose time and season has come.
There’s absolutely nothing that Senator Obama’s critics can do to change the inevitable. Sit back in the safety and security of your own skin as you listen to Barack’s wise words prayerfully and carefully.
Popularity: 100% [?]
March 18th, 2008
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The failed attempts by the Clintons to “marginalize” Senator Barack Obama and “minimize” the accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. validated my honest belief that voting for Barack on “Super Tuesday” is the right thing to do. Obama is a courageous candidate, who just happens to be Black, that will give all Americans hope. Matters not what ethnicity, what gender, what political affiliation, what generation, or what income bracket you claim.
Unlike Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Obama spoke truth to power in love when the majority of our political leaders believed the infamous lie President Bush told to justify a war that has bankrupted our children’s future. Obama got it right when he refused to go-along just to get-along with the status quo who got it wrong once again. Americans are not the only great nation of great people who desperately need Change that we can all believe in. The whole world is watching and waiting to see what will happen during what will become America’s defining moment in 2008.
The words, ” I see your true colors shining through,” came to mind while watching the Clintons execute their failed character assassination of the only 2008 Presidential Candidate whose time and season I believe has finally come. Their publicly televised, fear-based actions reminded me of what frequently happens privately to Black men who boldly stand in the way of powerful people precariously perched in positions of influence. The end does not justify the means. Never did. Never will.
Together, we, as Bloggers For Barack Obama, can make a difference by casting our votes for Senator Obama on Super Tuesday. As one of the many bloggers, who are not ashamed to publicly stand with Senator Barack Obama, I honestly believe that we can impact the ultimate outcome of the 2008 Presidential election process.
Together, we can beat the odds and achieve what Obama’s opponents refused to believe was possible before now if we choose to walk together in peace and work together as one for the greater good of humanity’s global village. Do you believe? I hope so. We can’t afford to get it wrong again.
“Yes We Can!” Divide and Conquer No More!
Copyright (c) 2008 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.
Popularity: 40% [?]
February 4th, 2008
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By opening this book, your hands will unleash the catalyst that produces the paradigm shift responsible for setting a force in motion that can move mountains. Upon first glance, what may appear to be nothing but “creative chaos” will give you a reason to hope. Reading the text will challenge you to raise your level of thinking. Your heightened awareness will unearth the “forgotten dreams” buried beneath the “abandoned visions” still cluttering the “valley of sun-dried bones.” Your new perspective will bless your gifted soul with meaningful access to what can enable you to decode the source of your deepest fears – the truth.
“No greater love know I” will inspire you to keep risin’ to your feet until your eyes meet the “greatness of God’s faithfulness.” Before taking the next step, wait until ground zero stops shaking beneath humanity’s ever evolving “merry-go-round of make-believe.” Once the dust settles, step through the cracks your spiritual awakening created between diametrically opposed ideologies. Only then will the wrinkles in the big screen of your eidetic imagination unfold. The mental word pictures you see will bridge the gaps between “what was,” “what is,” and “what will be” just the beginning of something new. Change is inevitable.
By choice, the protagonists became well acquainted with the inherent risks forever embedded deep within the uncertainties of the “what ifs” stalking Change. Their cruel antagonists hated honesty and seldom tolerated honest mistakes. Adversaries abounded. The damage done by every bad choice myopic grown folk made haunted resilient generations of lonely, latchkey kids. Fatalities became realities whenever lapses in judgment clashed with the severity of adverse consequences that left no room in the margins of their scripted lives for error. Hungry, streetwise kids negotiated done deals to secure hot meals as they navigated the narrow paths between possibilities where no safe passages previously existed. But somebody’s watchin’ who loves them.
Copyright © 2007-2008 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.
Popularity: 37% [?]
January 18th, 2008
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Last year, my wife, KWiz, and I watched the movie “Freedom Writers.” This year, we watched “The Great Debaters.” Both are unforgettable films. If you’re an aspiring writer who needs a reason to finish writing your book, please don’t wait to see either of these films. Both are amazing examples of the art of story-telling.
It’s true! Everybody has a story to tell. Some of you are extremely talented, gifted writers who can effortlessly employ the power of the written word to tell your stories. For me, writing is a struggle, which is why I started blogging last year. Have you ever wondered if there’s some secret formula or writing technique that will make one book sell better than another?
Can “talent alone” ensure the success of the books that authors allegedly choose to write? Who or what enables prolific writers to repeat the meticulous process behind the creative chaos that made your book a success? Does the timing of a book’s release play a significant part in its author’s ability to emotionally connect with one generation and not another? Do you believe that book sales, or the lack thereof, are an accurate indication of the perceived success or the failure of a book?
According to prolific author Paulo Coelho’s profile, “Slow initial sales [of The Alchemist] convinced his first publisher to drop the novel, but it went on to become one of the best selling Brazilian books of all time.
Have any of you ever pondered the possibility that the part you played did little to determine the success of your book? Did God’s sovereign will and perfect plan have anything to do with the success of your book? If yes, does it really matter whether or not an author chooses to employ “urban street teams” or “main stream” marketeers to promote a book that’s destined to become a national best seller? As writers, what part do we play in the books we author?
Do books choose their writers or do writers choose the books they pen? I had no desire to write a book before I began to pen Steppin’ Out Of The Darkness. I believe the book that I birthed chose me. I can still recall waking up in the middle of the night to write the first page of my big dream. Once I began writing it, I couldn’t stop. Whenever I felt inspired to write, I didn’t sleep much. I didn’t eat. I didn’t talk. Since I didn’t have anything to distract me, I just wrote. I constantly canceled or rescheduled appointments until the words stopped flowing from somewhere deep within the heart of my soul.
Am I crazy or has this ever happened to any of you? What did you do initially? Did you look around the room to see if you were all alone? Did you ignore the words you heard or did you heed the still, small voice that inspired you to believe that you could achieve something bigger than yourself? Did people laugh at you, ridicule you, and reject you when they heard about the genesis of your big dream? My mother and my wife stood by me at a time when I needed their love and support the most.
Writing Steppin’ Out Of The Darkness was an act of faith for me. I wrote on anything and everything I could get my hands on as evidenced by all the cardboard boxes still stuffed with the hastily scribbled notes that I stockpiled over the years. During those difficult days when I had no place to lay my head, I didn’t have time to feel sorry for myself. For reasons that still escape me, I refused to give up after the fall I survived.
Nevertheless, trusting God when nothing made sense wasn’t easy. To challenge myself to keep getting up and showing up for my street fight with Adversity, I started writing poetic essays. Writing literally saved my life after my business failed and I was forced to file bankruptcy. Because of the vision that God gifted to me, I had a plan that I could believe in. God’s unchanging love gave me hope during my darkest days. It’s true! Without a vision, people with no reason to hope will perish.
For reasons now known, “But by grace still go I” is not just some empty Christian phrase that I casually toss around to sound spiritual. If you’re a published writer, did your book choose you or did you choose your book? I hope this post has encouraged somebody to rise to your feet and inspired you to honestly believe that you can beat impossible odds with God’s help. If so, please let me know.
Copyright (c) 2008 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.
Popularity: 33% [?]
January 14th, 2008
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Steppin’ Out Of The Darkness, “When Good People Become Great” started shipping May 6, 2008. My gratitude to all whom have already invested in their “autographed copies” is beyond words. Click on “Always Expect The Unexpected” to read the Prologue to this introspective, inspirational story about personal leadership.
Click Here To View Back Cover
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