Building Our Community

When I use the topic heading “Building our Community” I know the first thing that comes to the minds of many is putting infrastructures in place such as roads, proper sewage waste plants, pipes laid to provide clean water.

However, when I speak about Building our Community I am not referring to the physical structure of that community but more the togetherness that we each need to share as a community. We need to be our brother’s keeper and helping others when such a need arises.

At the same time a community is not limited to the group of people you may call your neighbours, or a group of people that lives within the same geographical location. A true community is any group of people that shares the same interests, aspirations, ambitions or hardships. Therefore, a community can be a group of social entrepreneurs, or a group that are car enthusiasts or poets. Even a group of prison inmates is a community, because they all have to deal with the same things day in and day out, and it affects them all in the same way.

In a sense a community exists in the heart, and is not bound to the stoned boundaries laid up by man or a river that divides two towns.

Jamaica is our community. It may be a big community when used in comparison to the typical sense of the word or context, but a community nonetheless. We all share in its joys in moments of our athletes performing beyond excellence. If a hurricane should come tomorrow and destroy half the country the devastation will affect us all. When Haiti was hit by an earthquake even though the entire island was not physically affected, emotionally the entire nation suffered and the world shared in their pain. In that moment we were no longer nations divided by seas and oceans, but we became Haiti’s community and shared in their pain, we became Haitians.

This is the sort of mindset we must now adopt, whether as Jamaicans, or as a member of any nation. Furthermore, your nationality is not limited to those who were born here and those who were not, for as long as you are here you are a part of our community Out of Many One People. As part of a community that looks out for each other, so we must now do for each and everyone within our community.

The factors affecting Jamaica or even the world are not political, due to recession, crime or an improper, inefficient educational system like so many believe. What really affects us is our mindset, and always thinking about self, without realizing thinking about self does more detriment to not just everyone’s situation but to yours as well.

Let’s take the steps today necessary to rebuild our community. Let’s not limit ourselves to mere bricks and physical boundaries and limitations, let’s unite together to see the Jamaica and world we want to see.

I leave you with a philosophy I live by and will like others to as well “If you rise alone then you will be alone at the top, but if we rise together then we can all share in the fruits of the world together”

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All the Best.

The 6th Sense

There are actually 6 senses: sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing, and the one that most people are unfamiliar with which is sense of self. Ironically, this is the one that is most important to our survival and intellectual and personal sustenance, yet is completely ignored by many.

Why do I say it is the most important? Consider this: if you lose your sight you can still function, you can still use your now enhanced hearing capabilities as a substitute for your eyes, in a sense. If you lose all taste in your mouth there still exists speech, likewise if your hearing is lost your eyes can still direct you. Evidently, two things are obvious, (1). We are aware of the any of the five senses we lose because they have a direct impact on our daily functions, and (2). If we lose one then the others can now be brought into greater proportion to substitute for the one that is lost. Theoretically, any of the five are obsolete and replaceable.

However, our sense of self is the most delicate of the five, partly because it is the one that can never be substitute, but more importantly because it is the one we are most unaware of, which is the most dangerous.

In a book I’m currently working on I speak about how the sub-conscious level of our minds are the most dangerous and hazardous to us, not because it can strike you down at any minute but because we don’t even know it exists. Put it this way, if you’re blind you are aware that you are blind and learn to read Braille or carry a blind stick or seeing-eye dog. If you’re dumb you learn sign language as an alternate means of communication. However, if you’re unaware that your 6^th sense which is sense of self is also broken then how can you fix it? If you don’t believe it is broken then why would you make an attempt to fix it in the first place; this is the reason why it is the most hazardous. It is like cancer on the inside, if you have lung cancer but are unaware that you do, how will you know to go to the doctor to get treatment? So what happens is the cancer destroys your body from the inside, and by the time you realize you have cancer it would be too late.

Unawareness of self affects the same way; it affects the cognitive or mental aspect of your consciousness, mind or brain, whichever term suits you best. You don’t know that you are unhealthy mentally from lack of self awareness so you don’t go to get it fix. This in turn causes indirect depression and feelings of low self esteem and self worth. When you have finally realized, you have already spent 3 quarters of your life in a place that you don’t want to be that makes you unhappy. Figuratively you’re already dead as your personal worth and non-fulfillment now becomes evident.

Bringing the sub-conscious or unawareness into awareness or consciousness allows us to fully heal and fully realize our potential. Becoming fully realized brings peace and happiness. We are rigorously brainwashed by a society that believes and depicts that educational achievement, wealth, or status brings peace and happiness, sadly many of us aren’t even aware of it.

I could be broke with absolutely no university or college background and no one knows or cares who I am and I will forever be happy if I can sit all day and write poems, which is a favourite hobby of mine. Why? Because it brings fulfillment. It will seem weird to most but only those who are aware of self and know who they are, what they stand for, and what they want out of life which isn’t defined or determined by the majority can understand such a concept, and what a brilliant concept it is indeed.

Consequently, I will continue to preach the importance of self realization, aka sense of self, aka the 6^th sense, aka knowing your greatness, aka your value within, aka knowing yourself and your worth until everyone gets it. They all ultimately lead to the same thing, inner prosperity and fulfillment which is where true happiness and peace of mind lies.

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All the Best.

Your True Value Within

"My mother and father taught me that we were all the same, nobody was better than anyone else and everybody was to be equally valued," says Donna Duncan-Scott, Group Executive Director, Culture & Leadership Development at Jamaica Money Market Brokers Ltd.

When I first saw her interview it was unbelievably long and my first thought was, “There’s no way I’m reading this to the end”. I became captivated by the interview and hung to her every word that it soon became, “Wow I can’t believe it’s over already”. See the interview here: http://www.landmarkeducationnews.info/2009/01/23/duncan-scott-shares-dream-for-jamaica/

With that being said, let me say what I came here to say, and that ultimate is you are only as valuable as you think you are on the inside.

In a world that is conditioned to think that financial wealth and status determines your worth, I am here to tell you this is merely a fallacy. It is because of this fallacy many people think striving for financial or higher socio-economic status and recognition will allow others to see their true worth. Your worth isn’t determined by how much money you have or make, your qualification or achievements or who knows you. You were the same person before that you are now before all the unrealized wealth and status, you just haven’t discovered it yet.

Furthermore, your true worth cannot be determined by others, this is a perception, and perceptions will forever differ. A perception simply means this is how they see you not necessarily who you truly are. Your true worth can only be determined and exemplified by you. If you begin to believe that you are worth more than what others say and even more than what you believe then eventually it will begin to manifest itself and now your perceived value will no longer be determined or differentiated by others, but defined by you and they must now respect that truly this is who you are and this is what you are worth.

It starts with a thought, consciously believing that you are worth more than you are. With that conscious belief you will begin to personify or show this belief in everything that you do. From that this is where the manifestation begins and eventually others will begin to see your true worth as you have defined it.

Ladies and gents trust me, believing that your worth can only come about through wealth, status, or being with another or by others is like a hollow tree. On the outside it seems firmly rooted and flourishing, but one swing of an axe and it will shatter before everyone in all its supposed glory before it even has the chance to hit the ground. In other words, believing that your worth is determined by tangible or intangible possession and gain will quickly see you falter when it truly comes to the test.

In order to establish your true worth it has to come from within, and that means building a substantial inner strength and depth and wholeheartedly knowing that this is who you are, understanding what you are truly worth and excelling at it in everything you seek to do and accomplish.

God made us all equal, I know it sounds corny but I’m teaching you truth…God made us all equal so there is no reason to believe someone else’s worth and value is more than your own.

Whatever you think you are so you shall be. In the words of René Descartes “I Think, There I Am”.

All the Best.

The Gift of Self Realization

The greatest and most rewarding gift one can give to his/herself is self realization.

For it is not something that can be bought or taught; it does not exist in a book nor can the wisest of men impart knowledge of how to become self realized. For men will wonder through life, aimlessly and without purpose, not knowing what tomorrow truly holds for them, or why they are here.

The will be like a leaf in the wind, broken away from the tree and carried to the north and to the south, then to the east and then the west, never knowing their finally destination.

They will live the life of a simple-minded fool who thinks he is in control of his own destiny, yet is completely dictated by the oppressive hands of society, and led to their own destruction by the company of fools. They will have no identity, nor individuality; they will only be what they are told to be not what they are meant to be.

They will believe what they are told to believe, and act how they are told to act. They will move to the left into a fiery death, and step to the right into the depths of a watery grave.

They will stand for nothing and fall for everything. They will live for nothing and die for anything, for they have no identity of their own, so they do not know which to be, and lack the wealth of the world gained through wisdom.

They will be led away in ships of slavery without even know they are enslaved; for they walk the streets with a crowd of fools and do not know if they are moving to the left or to the right, only that they are moving. They do not sit on the mountain tops looking down to seek the most fruitful path.

For a wise man remembers the past, is aware of the present and prepares for the future. For in the past mistakes are made and great wisdom comes from foolish mistakes when the lesson is learnt; he knows his present so that he is knowledgeable of the works of evil men and strays from the taint of their unrighteousness, nor will he be apart of a company of fools and be misled by them; still, he is mindful of the future for he knows as the past was once present and now a distant imagery of what was, so will present times be known by men and women of tomorrow’s generation. For a fool is not aware of these things, the fool easily forgets the past, and blots it from his mind, hence he will make the same mistakes and will continually fall to his own destruction without realizing it; he will not think of the future for he believes there is enough time in the present to worry about the ‘what if’ of tomorrow; so he lives for the moment, for the present, uselessly wondering, not knowing if he should go to the left nor to the right, nor to the north or south, nor to the east nor west, but he spins in a circle with no direction, without realizing it.

To be self realized is to be free, it is to own yourself and your life, it is to have an identity and to walk in the path and purpose that was meant for you. It is to realize the trueness of your greatness within, knowing that you can command the world and bend the universe to your every wish as it pleases God. For no one can dictate to you who you are, for you will proclaim to them who you are and who you can make them become if it pleases God, for it is your world and you command it as a general in an army. Confidence becomes second nature and boldness is your company. For now you step in the ways of great kings before you. You know no folly and you scorn the sight of mediocrity, many will say “truly he is a great figure amongst average men”, standing out in all your glory that is given to you by God. That even when they tell you “no you cannot, nor can you be”, you will say to them “I think, therefore I am”.

All the Best.