Thanks to all of you who have recently sent emails and private messages to check on me. Rest assured, all is well. “Quality is more important to me than quantity.” So, where am I and what am I doing? I’m busy birthing my big dream. But that’s not all.

I’ve also been busy reading “your” blog posts. I’ve been digging through “your” archives in hopes of strengthening our emerging relationship. As always, I’m extremely impressed by what many of you have to say. I’ve learned so much from what you’ve written, from the comments received, from the hindsight of your insight.

“Seek first to understand before seeking first to be understood” is a paraphrase of one of the 7 habits of “highly effective people” as outlined in the book, The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey. How many of you have read any of his books?

How do you read another blogger’s blog? Do you ever take time to peruse the archives? This blog was birthed January 1, 2007 when I had no idea what I was doing. But I kept risin’ after every public fall. Doing so was truly an act of faith for a person like me who struggles to overcome my “perfectionistic” tendencies. The benefits and rewards of blogging and meeting all of you have been such a blessing to me.

As you know, this site is not “monetized.” My income will come from the big dream that’s being birthed as you read this post. Over the past few months, I shared snippets from Steppin’ Out Of The Darkness. The unforeseen setbacks, the revisions, the changes, and the obstacles have been numerous. As you know, “failure always follows the path of least persistence.”

What do you do when your big dream doesn’t cooperate, when life happens, when Adversity strikes? The weapons formed but did not prosper. But by the grace of God, Steppin’ Out Of The Darkness is finally finished. I will announce the “scheduled release” of the first in a series of books soon. As my grandmothers often said, “Thank you Jesus!!”

Delayed, But Not Denied.

Copyright (c) 2007 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.

To the humble, courageous, “great” ones among us who exemplify how leadership is a choice, not a position.

– Stephen R. Covey

“We’ve Come This Far By Faith,” was one of the Gospel song selections the church choir sang during my uncle’s homecoming celebration last Friday. The soul-stirring words of this song bolstered my honest belief that getting up and showing up daily to engage all who actively participate in the spiritual chess game of life is an act of faith.

Only God truly knows what tomorrow will bring. Do you? Only God knows when Adversity will strike. Do you? Only God knows what the future will hold. Do you? I don’t. For me, trusting God is not an option. After failing and falling flat on my face, trusting God is an act of faith. Must one be “humbled” before one can be “humble?”

Although God has humbled me, am I humble? Some have accused me of being arrogant to believe that I could pen a book and be successful doing so. Am I arrogant because I choose to believe ordinary, everyday people can achieve great things with God’s help? Am I arrogant for believing in myself when nobody else does?

Do humble people dream big dreams? Do humble people believe they can make big dreams come true and achieve greatness with God’s help? When one dares to dream dreams as big as the ones I’ve dreamed, my mentors helped my humbled soul to realize that it’s not wise to lean upon my own limited understanding. Who, or what, has humbled you?

Watching the leadership of the great men in my life over the years has taught me that leadership is a choice one makes by faith. One can assume a “position” of leadership but if nobody is following you, are you qualified to be referred to as a leader?

“We’ve come this far by faith” is the message that kept resonating deep within my soul while driving back to Atlanta this weekend. These inspiring words also confirmed the following quote from my pending release of my book, Steppin’ Out Of The Darkness.  The Prologue, “Always Expect The Unexpected Parts 1 – 4,”  to this introspective story about personal leadership has been posted

“It is by choice that great people like you with great weaknesses like ours believe, by faith, that we can beat impossible odds and achieve great things with God’s help.”

–Roderick O. Solomon

Yes, it’s true. For those of who noticed, I’ve changed the title of my book from When Least Expected. Doing so was both an act of faith and an act of obedience. I’m trusting God with the consequences of my obedience.

Watching the leadership of my Uncle Bay over the years has taught me that strong men are humble men who understand that meekness is not a sign of weakness. Humility is not a sign of weakness. Strong men cry when we see the people we love hurting. Meekness is “power under control.”

“The joy of the Lord is my strength. When I’m weak, He is strong.”

I don’t know about you but the Scriptures remind me of the reasons why I need Jesus Christ to do what only He can — the impossible. When one dares to beat impossible odds, you realize just how much you need God’s help. It is the example of Christ’s leadership that I choose to follow by faith.

Writing a book is definitely an act of faith. Only God knows what will happen next. Nevertheless, I trust God to do what’s best for me and my family. Do you?

“We’ve come this far by faith…”

Copyright 2007 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.

Procrastination is the result of a “fear-based” decision while one’s ability to “discern” and humbly submit to God’s will is the result of a “faith-based” decision.

Procrastination is a thief, a time stealer, a killer of big dreams. This no-good-for-nothing nemesis has taken down generations of great men, women, and children who failed to achieve great things because they chose to believe the same lie.

“Don’t worry about doing that today. You can always do it tomorrow.”

As many writers already know, tomorrow seldom if ever comes when it’s supposed to arrive. Tomorrow may not come until next week, next month, next year. Since Procrastination is a poor time manager, why listen to this treacherous thief.

The following is a comment I submitted to the post, Fighting Procrastination, that I read at The Scribes Forum, “A Place for Christian Writers to Encourage and Support One Another.” This is just one way to conquer Procrastination. How do you overcome this killer of big dream?

• I started a blog as a way of challenging myself to do “quick writes” on a daily basis. The goal is to “write,” not produce polished, ready for publication pieces. There’s no law in the “blogosphere” that prohibits “revising” and “editing” previous posts.

• I prefer writing at night when it’s quiet enough to hear God’s small, still voice. Nobody is going to call me at 3a.m. unless it’s an emergency. Nobody just drops by to say hello. It works for me.

• Getting up an hour earlier than normal if you have a 9 to5, speaking into a tape recorder gets your thoughts documented so you can listen to the playbacks when it’s convenient to do so. Nobody said you had to “write” your words on pieces of paper.

• The key is to remain flexible, open-minded, and remember how it felt when you ate “oatmeal or no meal” for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Pain is always a great motivator to inspire writers to slay Procrastination.

I hope this helps somebody.

For emerging, aspiring writer who need wise counsel, insightful guidance, and some timely answers, visiting The ZDocs Blog will be a wise investment of your time. I can’t thank them enough for their invaluable resources and willingness to share what has kept me from making some costly mistakes.

“Paradigm is a word too often used by those who would like to have a new idea but cannot think of one.”

Mervyn Allister King, then-Deputy Governor, Bank of England

When you want to make a difference, where do you get your ideas? When you aspire to inspire an entire generation of great people like us with great weaknesses like ours, where do you get your ideas? When you want to exchange “bad habits” for some “good habits,” where do you get your ideas? When your heart-felt desire is to inspire all God’s children to face their deepest fears and embrace Change, where do you get your ideas? Thanks to Cyberspace, no longer does one person need to do come up with all the brilliant ideas alone. Now that we’re much older and wiser than before, why try?

Personally, I get many of my ideas during my quiet talks with God while in my secret place on bended knee. I also get inspired by “the power of a wise woman’s words.” Wisdom is just one of the voices I listen to when experiencing writer’s block. Ladies, it may surprise you to discover that all the God-fearing men you meet when you show up here honestly believe that “a woman is a man’s most valuable resource.”

The great men you meet when you visit will treat great women like you with the honor and respect each of you deserves. God willing, you will learn to trust and respect us. Only then will you feel safe and secure enough to give and receive a love worth sharing. Besides, great women like you are supposed to feel loved, respected, and protected in the presence of great men. Ladies, please share your ideas. and teach us how to be better men, wiser men, better husbands, better lovers, better friends, better listeners, better daddies, better uncles, better brothers, better cousins, better leaders, better teachers, better role models, better mentors. Did I miss anything?

The world is desperately crying out for new leadership with fresh ideas to replace the recycled ones that have long outlived their effectiveness. The world desperately needs critical thinkers who aren’t afraid to take a stand and speak truth to power in the spirit of God’s love, never hate. I’m not so macho that I refuse to admit that I love each of you and need all of you to survive. I made a personal promise not to harm any of you with words from my mouth. Why? Because I’m not the only one who loves you and needs you to survive. So we, as flawed human beings, need each other more than we’re ready and willing to admit. Why?

Learning to love our neighbors as ourselves makes us all accountable to each other, but not in a co-dependent manner. Co-dependency will only hinder our God-given ability to make big dreams come true as we “challenge” one another to achieve great things in 2007. If you smoke, we’ll challenge you to quit while you can. If you’re hopelessly hooked to one of Pleasure’s addictive treasure, we’ll see to it that you receive the help you need.

Developing healthy, intimate relationships will challenge you to “begin within so you won’t have to do without.” You’re less likely to become hopelessly chained to the slave mentality of co-dependent behavior if you honestly believe that God Rules Everything Around Me. Interdependence, not co-dependence, is one of the essential leaderships qualities we hope to attain before this unpredictable “year of firsts” succumbs to 2008.

Where do you go to get your ideas when you need to inspire yourself to become bold and courageous enough to live your life for an audience of One? No longer will you need your peers’ attention, approval, acceptance, and affection before you know deep down inside the heart of your gifted soul the answer to the question, “Am I Good Enough?” If you don’t mind me asking, where did you get the idea that you weren’t good enough? Who told you that you weren’t good enough? Since you didn’t get that idea from God, consider the source and act accordingly.

Hopefully, you will begin to honestly believe that your gifted soul is divinely destined to achieve Greatness with God’s help. Did you imagine any brilliant ideas during our discussion today that you’d like to pursue? I hope so. If time permits, please share a few of your new ideas with the rest of our team.

Before we close, I need to tie up a few loose ends. I initiated an informal study group that centers around the insightful, profound, and provocative content of the book, The 8th Habit, “From Effectiveness To Greatness,” by Mr. Stephen Covey. This site is not monetized. I don’t desire to do so. In order to support my efforts, you can purchase The 8th Habit, or The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People, or any of the many books featured on this site via my “Book Store” link located in the Side Bar of my Home page.

Successfully completing all the tasks required to publish my first reality based novel is priority number one for right now. I hope you understand. Delayed but not denied. So, please don’t abandon ship because you think I’ve discontinued our ever-evolving 8th Habit study group. Hopefully, you’ll keep reading and pondering the contents of Mr. Covey’s book until we can finish what we started together.

For the person who “tagged me” to share the 5 reasons why I blog, I haven’t forgotten. If any of our newest members would like to catch up, clicking “day 1″ will return you to day 1 of January’s calendar. Doing so will help you understand why this particular blog exists and what we’re attempting to accomplish by December 31, 2007.

Until we meet again, may the peace of God be with you and yours.

©Copyright 2007 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.

“You can only learn to be a better writer by actually writing. I don’t know much about creative writing programs. But they’re not telling the truth if they don’t teach, one, that writing is hard work, and, two, that you have to give up a great deal of your life, your personal life, to be a writer.”

Doris Lessing

“To overcome writer’s block, get something–anything–down on paper. Don’t wait for perfection to issue forth. Since the key to good lawyerly writing is re-writng, give yourself something to edit.”

Pedagogy is a word I discovered in the 1990′s while preparing to address a group of students with undeclared majors at California State University at Los Angeles. For all who failed to bring your dictionaries, Pedagogy is a word I use to refer to the science, or art, of “teaching teachers how to teach.” Excellence in the profession of Pedagogy has gifted generations of great people with the keys that unlocked the doors the invisible fist of Ignorance previously closed for all the wrong reasons.

The insightful teachers I’ve observed practicing their excellence verified the veracity of the popular belief that one can’t teach what one doesn’t know. Try it. Teaching anything for the first time is a humbling and frightening experience. Nevertheless, the only way to know how to teach “something” is to do the “something” you’re trying to teach. I honestly believe that one too many of America’s teachers are frequently “overworked,” “underpaid,” and “taken for granted.” God willing, this, too, shall pass before our “unsung heroes and sheroes” become endangered absentees that no global economy can afford to absorb.

For me, sitting down and writing these daily messages that are worth reading from scratch is one example of why it takes courage to teach something new. Dig deep into my archives and look at the previous posts that began on January 1, 2007. Go ahead. Laugh. I did. Besides, it’s healthy to laugh at ourselves. Our pessimistic peers, cynical critics, and the politically motivated pundits may laugh at us and hate us today for daring to think critically. But keep pushing past the pain anyway. More times than not, children will teach teachers more than we ever thought we taught them. “Forrest Gump” did.

” No Struggle. No Strength.”

Hopefully, those of you who keep getting up and showing up daily will see the outpouring of love that inspires each message before you notice the mistakes. Our families, friends, and the people we love and respect may criticize us as we practice our excellence and despise our humble beginnings today. Keep digging deeper and climbing higher anyway. Despite all the ridicule, rejection, and laughter, I’m glad I did. Are you? I hope so. Since I choose to live the rest of my life for an audience of One, I refuse to give less than my best. Besides, “I can’t accept not trying.” Can you?

“If you do your best, God will do the rest.”

Switching to Firefox 2.0 has enabled me to eliminate most of the careless spelling errors “on the fly” while struggling to write a message I hope is worth reading. Once those of us us who dare to teach in non-traditional ways know better, we’ll do better. God willing, our galvanized group still has “300 days” before we meet for the last time during this “unpredictable year of firsts. Only God knows what day 365 of 2007 will bring our way before we ring out the old and enter into the uncharted waters of 2008. In the meantime, what are you teaching others about yourself? Think about it.

Quick question. Are you faithful over little things? December 31, 2007 is still about “7200 hours” or “432,00 minutes” or “25,920,000″ seconds ” away from where we are today. Time will tell if your actions shall speak louder than your words. It’s never too late to begin and always too soon to quit. Matters not what our peers, critics, and talking heads may say about your humble beginnings today. “So, they told you, ‘No!’ Keep on steppin’.” One of the bookmarks from THE LEADERSHIP BY EXAMPLE COLLECTION™ that I created and produced to inspire elementary, middle, and high school students says,

“To win, one must begin. If not now, when?”

As a former enlisted member of the U.S. Air Force, the excellent training I received reinforced my honest belief that mediocrity is simply unacceptable. Since I can do better, I still have a long way to go before I can think on my feet fast enough to write these dailies with excellence. Nevertheless, pushing past the pain has improved my ability to teach, absent any written notes, what Adversity taught me during my season of “sunny-side-down days.” Hence, I’m a lot closer to making my big dream come true and achieving great things today than 65 days ago when this ever-evolving site got birthed from scratch.

Absent the assistance of an insightful teacher, how many of us would have the specialized skill sets we need to excel and succeed today? Minus these insightful mentors, how many of us would be able to rise above the rim of mediocrity on the elevator of excellence? In an ever-evolving global marketplace, excellence in the profession of Pedagogy is rapidly becoming the “minimum mandatory prerequisite.” Minus effective, meaningful access to excellent teachers locally, our children will fail to gain equal access to the emerging global economies that are rapidly reshaping the landscape of the business world.

I’m still amazed by the amount of time and effort it takes for insightful teachers to conduct the additional research that’s required for a teacher to teach anything with excellence. Acquiring the wisdom and understanding to achieve excellence in any specialized, professional field of endeavor is never an easy task. Try it. Arduous? Yes! Impossible? No. In a global marketplace, both knowledge and information are rapidly becoming more valuable than ever before. A teacher’s ability to achieve excellence while teaching our children is both mandatory and necessary. I have nothing but love and respect for Ms. Marva Collins. Click on the name of this living legend if you aren’t familiar with this master teacher’s awe inspiring story.

Because of a teacher who mastered the art, or science, of teaching, how many of us honestly believe that we can beat impossible odds and achieve greatness with God’s help? As a sign of respect, I tip my hat to any person who has the courage to teach other teachers how to teach. Matters not the colour of that teacher’s beautiful skin. Our teachers deserve all the love and respect we can give them. Besides, it’s time to reward excellent teachers who have mastered the art of teaching others how to teach.

Copyright 2007 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.

“An author ought to write for the youth of his generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmasters of ever afterwards.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Ms. Joyce Carol Oates has written a book, THE FAITH OF A WRITER, that is worth reading. Ms. Oates is the author of WE WERE THE MULVANEYS and BLACK GIRL/ WHITE GIRL. Yet another treasure chest to add to our growing portfolio of investments that will pay unimagined dividends to every invested reader who loves reading and learning. In the chapter, “To A Young Writer,” Ms. Oates says,

“Write you heart out. Never be ashamed of your subject, and of your passion for your subject. Your forbidden passions are likely to be the fuel for your writing.“

Without passion, I’d had no reason to discipline myself to get up and show up daily even when I initially didn’t feel like doing so. Feelings and emotions can be deceiving. So, I pray and ask God for wisdom and understanding before beginning each day. No longer do I wonder why the wise kept telling all who’d listen that half the battle is won the moment we show up. Unless you love what you do, why do it? Writing is challenging, exciting, exhilarating, liberating, therapeutic. But most of all, writing challenges you to be honest which explains why so many writers began their writing careers by journaling.

How many writers are in our culturally diverse group? If you’re serious about writing, then you love to read and read as much as possible. The more one reads, the more one learns. The more one learns, the more one realizes just how much one doesn’t know. I read to learn because I love to empower other people and share what little I know as my mind continues to grow intellectually and as my soul continues to prosper spiritually. Why do you read? If time permits, please share what you’ve read and learned with the rest of our blended, extended family members. God willing, we help each other find our voices.

As with anything creative, it takes time, focused attention, and discipline to soar into waiting arms of excellence. Excellence will reward all who find her with unimagined possibilities for paying the price up front and in full required to master your labor of love. Creativity is messy which is probably why so many children love the arts that are rapidly disappearing from one too many of our children’s classrooms. Ms. Oates encourages young writers to,

“Read widely and without apology. Read what you want, not what someone else tells you to read.”

How long has it been since you went “treasure hunting” in your local library, or book store, and picked up a book you would not normally read just to see what’s hidden inside? How many of you have heard the phrase “If you want to hide something valuable, put it inside a book. It’s the last place alliterate people look.” No. I didn’t misspell illiterate. So, go grab your dictionaries, blow the dust off, and study to show yourself approved. Yes, biblical principles do apply outside the walls of the church.

Reading Ms. Oates insightful words reassured me that the inspiration for “my tendencies towards perfectionism” and “my striving to achieve excellence” came from different sources. Here’s just one of the many golden nuggets of knowledge I found hidden inside her treasure chest that encouraged and inspired me during one of my sunny-side-down days.

“My method is one of continuous revision; while writing a long novel, every day I loop back to earlier sections, to rewrite, in order to maintain a consistent, fluid voice; when I write the final two or three chapters of a novel, I write them simultaneously with the rewriting of the opening of the novel, so that, ideally at least, the novel is like a river uniformly flowing, each passage concurrent with all the others.”

May you be encourage during the meticulous editing process all writers must endure whether your write professionally or as an amateur. May you also be inspired to finally finish writing the vision you chose to abandon and dumped next to all those forgotten dreams you saw still littering the cluttered valley of sun dried bones. As always, the choice to do so is yours alone to make. Peace.

© Copyright 2007 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.

“Working Together For Good” is the title of Chapter One of my first reality-based novel bearing the same title as this site. Clicking on the highlighted words, Chapter One, will take you to page 1 of Chapter 1. Choosing that particular title was done to set the tone for the rest of the story. Here are two lines from, “The Belly Of An Ant,” that were written during my extended season of sunny-side-down days before I honestly believed that all things will work together for good if I didn’t give up too soon and quit.

Have you ever felt so low that you could “reach up” and tickle the belly of an ant? I have. How do you respond when all your ears hear are words like “no,” “never,” “impossible,” and “can’t”?

After meeting the greatness of God’s faithfulness, I revised that poem and changed the name from “The Belly Of An Ant” to “It’s Time To Fly.” One of the many reasons I write is to empower, encourage, and inspire unity between those of us — who publicly profess to love God and claim that we are called according to His eternal purpose — to respond by faith when Adversity strikes. Since God is not a respecter of people, Time and Chance happens to us all. Have you ever noticed that Trouble always moves faster than bad news in a hurry to happen during tough times?

Remember what happened to Humpty Dumpty after his great fall. Nobody could put that egghead back together again. As a kid, I recall wondering if Humpty asked God to do what nobody else could. How many of you have ever experienced a great fall? I have. After my great fall, my spiritually-blinded eyes couldn’t see the light coming from the truth that still makes people free. So I believed the same lie that still persuading one too many of God’s children to comtemplate give up, quit, or commit suicide. Been There. Done That. Suicide is not an option. Here’s why?

By killing the pain that’s afflicting you, you will also end up killing yourself. So, don’t you go there and try to die like that before you cry out for help by asking God to save you from yourself. I did. But by grace still go I. After my great fall, Ridicule and Rejection stalked me daily until I lost confidence in myself. Without confidence, I lost respect for myself. I also became insecure and stopped believing that I still had the God-given ability to achieve Greatness. But God still loved me enough to find a way to re-assure me and remind me that Jesus the Christ, the Anointed One, will win in the end after all’s been read, said, and done.

How many times have we quoted Romans 8:28 but fail to do so in the context of the verses preceding and following verse 28 of Chapter 8. Imagine how many great things our generation can achieve once all God’s children begin to honestly believe we can work together for the greater good. Imagine the eternal implications that this verse will have on our generation’s God-given ability to achieve greatness? I was also one of those Bible thumpin’ church folk who made the same mistake many times before I knew better. But when we know better, we do better. If nobody else does so, love yourself enough to begin meditating on Romans 8:28-39.

After my great fall, the lie I heard made me forget the reasons why all things were divinely destined to work together for good. How many times have you heard the lie that nobody loves a loser? We’ve probably have heard this true lie frequently enough to honestly believe it’s the truth. But it’s not. Grab your Bible and look at Chapter 8 of Romans again. But this time, pay particularly close attention to the thought-provoking, paradigm shifting question found in verse 35,

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”

Surprised? But wait before you run and tell your friends what you saw for the first time this year. Exam the weapons of mass distraction our antagonistic spiritual enemies will try to employ to destroy the eternal gift God placed deep inside the cluttered seat of your soul. Since I honestly believe all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose, then why do

“religions divide what only our relationships with God can unite?”

If you’re an emerging etymologist, you probably already know that the word, “destroy,” means to be “rendered utterly useless.” If you forgot to bring your dictionary today, feel free to click on the highlighted word destroy” to review the source employed to verify the veracity of my definition. As always, study to show yourself “approved” so that you let no man, or woman, easily deceive you during such a divisive season as this. Maybe then, you’ll also learn to respect the power of God’s love like I did.

Matters not what happens next, please don’t give up, quit, or try to commit suicide. God isn’t the only one who loves you and needs you to survive. Besides, what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger the longer you live. Believe that!

© Copyright 2007 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.