TIRED OF THE LEFT-OVERS

Dear Reader,

As you read this book I know that gas prices are at record highs. I also know that your utility bill is outrageous. There are problems in your finances as well as your relationships. You may even be drug addicted or have a family member who is. Your heart may be broken. Depression may be taking a toll on your life. Do not feel ashamed or alone. Trust me; you are not the lone ranger. There are millions of people with circumstances just like yours.

It is up to you to make a positive change. I have seen tragedies turned into triumphs in my own life and in the lives of others. It is possible to turn your situation around. However, it will take hard work and dedication. You will have to pursue your dreams with relentless fervor!

Not only do you need motivation, you also need a plan and operating procedures. I know how hard it is to struggle and how it feels to struggle. I know how it feels to be lead astray and sold dreams. It is up to us to change the tide. We can not wait on the lottery or anyone else to help us, we have to help ourselves.

As you read this book you may get the impression that I am angry. If you get that impression, let me assure you that you are absolutely correct! I am angry! I am angry about the conditions of my brothers and sisters. I am angry that our parents and grandparents have to work themselves to death just to survive. I am angry because a majority of churches are not living up to their responsibilities. Yes, it angers me to hear “happy go lucky” sermons, when things are getting progressively worse. I am angry about family members who are in a position to help other family members, but refuse to do so. I am angry about family members who try to degrade and humiliate other family members who are trying to better themselves through hard work and education. I am angry at a government that has billions of dollars for wars and restoration of other countries, but our own lands lie in ruin. We can feed  and support people abroad, but our own ghettos harvest poverty stricken, uneducated, sick and struggling individuals. Yes, I am angry!

To my brothers and sisters I say hold on; together we can make it. You can not do the same things and expect different results. If you want better, then you have to do better.

The new road will be difficult, but trust me it is worth it. You know what’s back down the road. You have been there and done that. I challenge you to move ahead. I challenge you to stretch your limits and move out of your comfort zone.

I am not asking you to do anything that I have not done or that I am unwilling to do myself. I have had to pull myself up by the bootstraps. I have cried and struggled. I have felt hopeless, and on many occasions I have wanted to throw in the towel and call it quits, literally!

Things have been so hard for me in the past, that I contemplated suicide many times. I am so grateful to God that He had a different plan for my life. We are human and we are going to make mistakes. Lord knows that I have made enough mistakes for all of us. We can overcome all of our obstacles. God has allowed me to overcome arrests, bankruptcies, failed relationships, financial pitfalls and countless negative situations. I was hurt, neglected and even abandoned by the church! I won’t lie to you; those negative experiences were instrumental in helping me make decisions to hurt, neglect, and even abandon others.

All of those negative things did not destroy me, they only made me stronger. Please believe me when I tell you, when I was going through, it felt like I was going to die. Even though the experiences made me stronger I had no idea when I was in the midst that anything good could come out of the pain.

I don’t want to give the impression that I have it all together now. I still struggle in certain areas. I don’t believe we ever reach a state in this life where we have it all together. I do believe we reach a state of faith and trust where the obstacles don’t hinder us, but in the end actually promote us! If you will just make up in your mind and heart, that no matter what, you will learn all you can and use it to make a better life for you, your family, and  your community, success will be inevitable.

I know that some of you may have thought about suicide (just as I did) and some of you may have tried it, but failed. I don’t believe it was a failed suicide attempt; I believe it was a successful plan of keeping you alive. I believe God has a purpose for your life. I believe God has preserved and protected you. Many of you reading this book should probably be dead right now. You have been in car wrecks, fights, shootings, drug abuse, alcoholism, along with uncontrolled and unprotected sexual activities, yet God has spared you! He has spared you for a purpose and now is the time to discover that purpose and live it out!