A Sense of Community

My drive to work always takes me past the Jewish Community Center in Dunwoody. Most of my Atlanta peeps know where that is. For the rest of my folks not in Atlanta or the United States, imagine Ikoyi Club or any recreation facility in your zone in this world and picture it in Atlanta. Now that we have that out of the way, this community center is huge and it runs for about five or more blocks.

I have never been on the inside (maybe because I ain't a Jew) but I could guess they have just about everything that a recreation center should have and more. I'm talking about basketball courts, tennis courts, a pool, a volley ball area, a playground and I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say they also have a soccer field. Heck, the space they have is big enough for such! And that is just what is on the exterior of this huge community center. I can bet you they probably have a bunch of halls, a tech area and maybe even a work out area in the various buildings that this huge center contains.

Even though I have seen nothing of the sort from other Nationalities in this country, I do notice that most of the businesses in some areas cater to a certain group of people usually of the same ethnic background. But most of the time when I drive past this community center, I wonder to myself why the like can not happen among Nigerians or even Africans in general. And I always have the same answers in my head.

"Maybe I am not looking hard enough"

"Maybe nobody has time to do such"

"Maybe nobody wants to commit to such a project"

These and many other thoughts bounce back and forth in my big head every single time I drive by the center and even sometimes when I have some thinking time to myself at whatever location I might be at. But one of these thoughts always stands out above the others and as I usually say, it just my opinion

"Maybe there isn't a strong sense of community among the Africans in the state."

This is the one that always lingers in my head and it might not be totally true and there definitely is a sense of community among some and I commend them whoever they are. In my opinion though, i feel it is not strong enough and by strong, I mean the size of such communities are not large. Take the Jewish folk for example. I have never seen a community with so many people sticking together and helping each other out. They literally do almost everything as a community and they hardly fail at it. I am pretty sure that such a community can produce individuals who come out and run for office in the state and later come back and give to their community after winning whatever election they ran for. Also, such a community center could not have been built if they just had different communities. It was built by one big community that believed in each other.

I am confident that among us African youth, we have leaders among us but sometimes, such potential can not be discovered if there isn't a strong community to grow in. I am never the one to bring up negative events but in the case that one of ours finds themselves in a bind beyond their power and control, a present community should be able to come through for such a person in any way to brighten up spirits and give encouragement.

A community is not easy to build and such things take time but every great thing has to start somewhere. I believe that the African youth in this state or wherever you are for that matter can work together. Its no secret that there is always some kinda beef going around or some typa drama happening every now and then but I believe that if stuff needs to get done, all differences can be set aside to achieve greatness. It is possible but it has to start with you, me, all of us.

I see this country as a place that lots of Africans will continue to come to for various reasons (Education being the most important) and with an instrument like a strong community, they do not only stand a chance at surviving in the country but also excelling in whatever they set their minds to.

I am sure each and everyone of us has been helped in some way and there is no better way to show appreciation than to help someone else. Not saying that there isn't a community anyway but there has to be a community for all the right reasons. It could even be fun in the process.

I talk too much...

Here's hoping that sometime soon in the future, the African Community in Atlanta will be recognized for the good acts that they perform.

BigTyme Out!!

"Crippled"

Over here just chilling on the Marta train, thinking about when the hell I'm gonna get my car back... Its going on 2 months since my cousin showed up from DC, worked his magic on my car and left for DC under 72 hrs leaving me with my feet to get around... (And to think I was just about to sell it and get another... Just my luck)

It sucks not having a car considering where I live... (A little town called Loganville). I really dont have a problem taking public transport anyway, I was a pro at it back in Nigeria where u had to perform a Spartakus act to get on the buses. (I'm sure a lot of u remember . I even parked my car on somedays just so I could explore public transportation in this city of Atlanta when I still had a job downtown.

Problem now is this city I live in has NO PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. It is one of the cities in Georgia where the saying "you are crippled if you dont have a car" holds true. Apparently, Gwinnett in addition to some other counties refused to join in the Marta program years ago. Yup! They decided together to screw up an immigrant that loved public transportation, who would come to their country lots of years later to live in Gwinnett and one day not have his car. Yup, they screwed me up.

Their excuse was bringing transport to our counties will increase the crime rate. I wonder how thats working for them these days... The same counties now have their own transport systems today that have found one way or the other to "connect" with Marta so people can get around...

Unfortunately, their transport systems do not cover everywhere and my doorstep is one of the uncovered places so for almost two months, I have been crippled.

But I really have had excellent crutches to get me around and I'm lucky I have mord than thd max two crutches that every person who has injuries that hinder them from walking usually have. By crutches, I mean friends. Friends who have been there for me in the past two months. Their kindness in form of rides, letting me use their cars or even letting me chill at their abodes, impeding their own comforts and all other acts mean so much to me. I cant start to name all of you but you all know yourselves and I thank you all and I pray that BIG GUY upstairs will bless you all and grant you all your pure hearts desires and continue to meet you all at your points of need.

Amen.

I'm sitting on a train right now cuz one of you guys dropped me here, I have almost exhausted my data plan,for the month, otherwise I would be on twitter rambling away.... I could actually text to tweet from my phone but what's the fun in that? I dont even get to tweet watch!!! That will change though, when I get to my wireless destination. One would think Marta buses and trains would be hotspots by now.... But oh well.

You gotta love Marta though. U never know what u r gonna get. Somedays, its comedy and on some others, its drama, sometimes its stories and on some others, its just the sexy view that might be standing right across from you on the train... (I aint no stalker though.. Haha). Today, it just happened to be knowledge from an older lady who I can bet has been riding Marta since before my fetal self had dreams of Coming to America. I'll probably tweet about her later.... Maybe. They even still got a Rozay Reebok commercial still running on their miniscreens...

Did I mention that we have fine weather outside???

Repairs have finally begun on my car and I should be fully healed this weekend. Its been a trying couple months but still, I stay THANKFUL .... I think my "turn up meter" also got a refill so u might just catch me out there somewhere this weekend...

Well, about to get off this train to get on this bus to get to work and do it all over again when I get off unless I can persuade one of my "crutches" to come through for me again....

This has been a random rant by MrBigTyme

I'm out!!!

Driving Force....

Nobody wants to be a failure. Not that I know of at least. Yup! Every damn person wants to be successful. Truth about that is we all run into various obstacles along the way and none of y'all can lie that one of the most repetitive phrases that goes through the head is "Is it really worth it?'

Is it worth it to go on and keep getting disappointed, keep getting betrayed, keep getting laughed at and in some cases, keep getting walked over because of something you believe in?

Well, your answer is right there in your question... Something You Believe In (Unless of course its a lie).
The simple fact that you believe in something, whether physical or abstract should be enough reason to keep you driving forward.

Now personally, I have had my share of set backs and failures and I know that as Life goes on, more disappointments are bound to pop up and surprise me any friggin' time that they feel like.. (Yeah, I am always surprised when it happens, you would think  I should expect the worst sometimes). These things happen and draw me down at the worst for a couple days thanks to my "Happy Levels" (Please see my  "Staying Happy" Post) but do I give up because of such failures? Hell No I don't!!! And NOBODY should give up. Giving up should not even be an option because of the BELIEF that we have in achieving what it is we are striving for. There are many factors that motivate us to continue pushing forward but most important is that you BELIEVE even in those factors which are in no particular order ...

The BELIEF that people before you have done it,

The BELIEF that you can do it;

The BELIEF in the suffering that you have witnessed and in some cases, experienced;

The BELIEF that you never want to suffer such again;

The BELIEF that you want to have a great future;

The BELIEF that you will have that great future;

The BELIEF that you do not want your future generation to suffer;

The BELIEF that your Folks didn't raise no loser;

The BELIEF in that sexy car that you want to purchase and push to the limit;

The BELIEF in that nice house you want to throw posh parties in;

The BELIEF in the vacations that you want to take your family on;

The BELIEF in one day meeting important people because of your success and the impact of your success (Hey! It just means you are important too!);

The BELIEF in the BELIEF of the people that strive for you;

The BELIEF in the people that inspire you;

The BELIEF in the people you inspire;

The BELIEF in your failure in the sense that it is real and can happen;

The BELIEF that you do not want such a failure to happen again;

The BELIEF in the world someday being a better place because of an impact that you made;

The BELIEF that "Any weapon manufactured specifically for you shall malfunction";

And most importantly,

The BELIEF that BIG GUY upstairs has a plan for every single one of us and that his plans shall come to pass...

I'm just gonna go ahead and confess that these are factors specifically tailored to me and I know you know that we all know there are various factors that  inspire different people but that BELIEF in these factors should always be your Driving Force ...

BELIEVE THAT!!!

BigTyme Out!!!

Staying Happy....

I never got the opportunity to do this so before I jump into what's really on my mind, I just want to let my readers know that I appreciate all the different forms, sources, sizes and even shapes of inspiration I got after I started this blog. I ain't no professional blogger but I will try my best to keep this blog alive, whether my thoughts are inspiring, random, sad, happy, provocative, funny or even boring!!! That's right! Sometimes, I could be interestingly boring!!! 

How would you describe your happy self? Accomplished? Satisfied? Wealthy? Healthy? Or any other term that puts a smile on your face? Cool! I honestly do not see anything wrong with these terms but my question really is that do these things make you happy and then you stay happy or do you experience what I like to call "One Time Happiness"??? Sometimes, what actually makes you happy at a certain point in time can not continue to keep you happy unfortunately.

Don't get me wrong now, I believe one can stay happy after attaining a certain level of success but its a crazy world we live in and there are always factors lurking around the corner to try and steal your happiness from you. Now, I won't go all out and say I am the happiest person on earth, I definitely am not accomplished yet and I also won't say I don't get stressed out but I can say I have my ways of getting around negative factors to maintain my current level of happy.

I like being happy!!! Being happy is a wonderful feeling and you should never let anyone take that from you. I feel like I wanna make others happy especially when I am experiencing high levels of happiness. (Yes, I am of the opinion that happiness has its levels and quantities although there is that happiness that can't be quantified and I strive to reach that one day but for now, I keep striving)

I feel good today. I was feeling good this morning but I am feeling even better this afternoon and I credit that to a post sent to me by a good friend of mine ... scratch that.... a best friend of mine. And I must say that it is what inspired my post today and since I am feeling real good, I would like to share some tips on how I personally handle the armies of negativity when they come attacking at my doorstep. I would try to be as general as possible cuz I'm pretty sure what works for me might be different for others. Here goes ....

Notice how I tend to stay away from using the word "sad" to describe feelings cuz I feel like even the saddest people, have a tiny ounce of happiness in them and once that is discovered and tapped into, they can become glowing sources of happiness. 

Water: Ah Yes! Liquid of Life. Had to give this one priority. It never fails to calm me down when I feel overwhelmed by an event. Especially when its a chilled glass too... Trust me, it works wonders... Although some friends of mine would disagree with me and say another form of liquid solves all problems. I would agree with them maybe on a Friday or Saturday night ... 

Stay Thankful: Whatever it is that happens in your life that tries to hinder your happiness, always remember that it could always have been worse so always accept the situation IF it can't be changed and be thankful. I like to think being thankful is a step in the right direction at actually tackling whatever entity it is that is trying to draw you down. One could also say it encourages you to not want to get to that "worse" stage that it could have been.

Get Busy!!!: Yup! And you can take this in any context that you want to!!! Haha! Okay seriously though, engage yourself in some activity that takes your mind off things... Take a walk, watch a movie, sing, play an instrument (i love my piano), play a game, read a book, workout ... just engage your senses and you'd be surprised that even though you might still be bothered by a situation, you aren't bothered as much and as usual, it can also help in making you think clearly in your quest to battle the challenge.

Do NOT pass the  buck: Never blame your situation on the actions of someone else. Never. Trust me! It will only go downward from there....  Trying to justify the source of whatever challenge you are facing is a step in the wrong direction and in such situations, your level of happiness starts to diminish. Try tackling a challenge head on especially when interacting with others. You will arrive at solutions faster and that way, everyone remains happy. The same also goes for everyone tackling individual challenges, don't go back looking for the cause but go forward looking for a solution. I am going to go ahead and add here that you should not also dwell on a challenge too much. It is an ultimate solution to keeping your happy levels low. Don't dwell on the situation.

Talk to Someone: Don't bottle it all up inside. Let someone know what's going on. Let off some steam... Yell if you have to. Just Vent. It takes a little pressure off you...

and Last but definitely very Vital

Pray: I don't think I need to elaborate any further on prayer and its power.

As usual, I will always throw it out there that these are the things that work for me. With a little tweaking here and there, I believe it could also work for someone else. Life is always gonna throw stuff at us, and not on purpose either.... Or maybe it is on purpose because it is a means to test us all and see how we stand in the face of trials and tribulations with the sole goal of making us stronger. Do well on the test and you get stronger and ready to face another test and if you don't do well .... Well, keep trying cuz there are always gonna be obstacles and stumbling blocks and there really is no turning back...

I hope we all achieve our desired levels of happy and continue to rise from there ...

BigTyme Out...