Living on 3%

A new thing, a new fling A new day, what can I say He walks by, I said hi And in his eyes, there were no lies See, when he turned and saw what I see every morning in the mirror, He knew there was no room for error I made the first move He handed me my groove I may not be Stella But I kinda lost that You know, that "bold go after what the hell u want" vibe Yea, that vibe -I lost it You see the guys around here, They want to be here and there For him, it was clear right from the start He was here and ready to play the part He was ready to take off He didn't waste no time They say every king deserve a Queen I say every Queen deserve her own Some rap song says y To that I say babe, you're all year round He took one look at me and saw more He didn't hesitate to share his intentions He didn't hold back and spoke fluent vulnerability And no he was not different, he was just new And I mean new as in never been around here He looked beyond my hair, my skin or body type He saw my eyes and my smile and forgot hype He knew how to carry himself and did so very well When he spoke, my head swell He told me "people break your heart 97% of the time, but u gotta learn to live on the 3%" Here is to living with the 3% and leaving the 97 behind.

Queens in Waiting...

During my stay in Harper, I took on the role of "Auntay" for so many beautiful little girls. For some, this simply meant buying candy every now and then, while others wanted a little tickle or play fight. What more can little kids want? A little girl named Fanta -commonly called Dabbah told me she wanted something else; She wanted to dress up just like me and "be me". We take for granted our impact on children. These little ones soaked up everything they see at home and in their communities.  Providing candy and play fighting did not cut it for Dabbah. She said "I just want to look like you". This was a funny, yet a teachable moment for me. I love spending time with children, but this little girl asked for more than that. I enjoy wearing headwraps as it represents a crown for me. Children follow what they see. To Fanta, I was walking around with a crown and she wanted to partake. Little girls love crowns! I asked her mom to bring her along with a few kids for a Saturday afternoon. The rest is below...   *Auntay- is Aunt in Liberia. Every older woman is referred to as Auntay as a sign of respect.

Pics of Dabbah & Friends

BE THE ROLE MODEL YOU NEEDED WHEN YOU WERE YOUNGER.

Not that Bad

The happiest people don't have everything they just make the best of what they have. I must have seen this somewhere on a social media site and the more I read this the more this picture starts to make sense to me. I took this picture during a trip to the rural part of Liberia while undertaking an After-school activities center. I do not remember the name of the child in the picture, but I remembered how happy he was that day.  The entire last day I spent in the village, this child was dragging this "toy car" around everywhere he went. To think that it is not even a real toy car makes for an even more fun scene. His older brother manged to put together what looks to him like a car from pieces of sticks and that was all he needed to be happy that day. When it was time to eat and all the kids were running home, this guy just stood alone on the field as I took this photo. He had no intention of leaving or putting an end to his play time. I just admired his happy spirits and attitude towards his toy. I started to think about my childhood and how privilege I was without even knowing it. Sometimes it takes other people problems to see your blessings. It is not always a good thing to compare your hard times with other people because you never know their actual story, but you have to be grateful- ALWAYS. 

 We get too caught up in a world of overnight success. We are fixated on disappearing stories that we forget our own real stories.  I just had a really long work day and started going through my photos when I came across this photo. I had been frustrated about dealing with incompetent people who continuously accept mediocrity as a norm. I began to reflect on my own life story. I thought I'd share how happy this child was and he didn't even half of what I had today despite my complaints. At some point, I even began to wish I could share in his happiness, but then I remember my own story; God has been good to me. I went from unemployment to being an employer. I am grateful. It took this single photo to remind me that my story could be a testimony to someone. I will be writing that soon....

Until then, I hope this photo reminds us all to appreciate the little we have and count each day as a blessing. It is never as bad as it seems....