Corrección

Okay! So here I am with another soliloquy carrying a “I haven’t posted a blog in a long time” vibe. Notice I said “posted”. This is not to say that I don’t write or constantly put my thoughts down on paper. It’s just to say that I don’t post. After the 3^rd or 4^th text message/email asking where the blogs are, I think, “okay here we go again”. Sooooooooooo…here we go agaaaaaaaaaaaain!

I just celebrated my 23^rd birthday a few days ago and of course with another year, reflection comes. We like to see where we’ve grown and/or where we’ve fallen off. One of the BIGGEST places I’ve grown has been my ability to accept correction. I think a lot of times when a person thinks, “I’m a good person”, it seems the “correcting” comes few and far between. For me, someone who used to HATE being corrected, I now RUN to it. Watch me jog---------àAnd I’m gone. =)

Correcting bad habits cannot be done by forbidding or punishment. ~Robert Baden-Powell

Here’s the tricky part—finding folk in your life that will correct you when you’re wrong, without judging you at the same time. I used to be one of the number that would throw correction while judging at the same time. AKA correcting someone out of ANYTHING other than LOVE. Correction + Love = Positive Result. It’s difficult to find someone that will correct you out of GENUINE love, but when you do, make sure you keep your arms around them.

A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them. ~John C. Maxwell

Bottom line, don’t run from correction—EMBRACE IT! Especially if it’s making you better.

Okay so that wasn’t the bottom line. =O Don’t call 911. When people correct you, try your BEST not to exude the “well YOU need to work on this” syndrome. Take it for what it is. AND GET BETTER!

Marcus Anthony Akins

         ~M.A.^2~

Are You Successful At Having Success?

Bloggers/Readers! It’s been awhile since I’ve posted, but that doesn’t mean the thoughts have stopped floating. When too many thoughts flow, they’re like floating toys in an overflowing bathtub, and have the chance of falling out. The chance of these particular thoughts falling out is here. J

If you’re still reading past that abstract introduction, let me ask you a question—what does success mean to you? Don’t answer out loud, but actually take some time to think about it. Of course for the GENERAL American, success can nearly be equated to one of three things—Money, Fame, or Notoriety. Is that where you fit? Meaning if someone doesn’t have an abundance of one of those three, do you consider them to be unsuccessful? The general success formula nowadays is go to school, go to college, get a good job, and make a lot of money.  Is that really what success is all about? Me personally? I don’t think so.

Like many other concepts in this world, the definition/perception of success is totally subjective. One definition in Oxford’s dictionary alludes to success as it relates to a purpose, and the very next one relates to profit. So even these definitions are subjective. Opinion-based at best. Just like how I might like Papa Johns pizza, but you like Dominoes. But maybe we can agree with this—that there have been some successful people that have walked this earth that haven’t had money, fame or notoriety. Success HAS to go deeper than that. I know this sounds a little crazy, but if I’m making a positive impact doing what I’m purposed to do while loving it, I’m successful. I know that’s insane, but you know. J

Consider this—“Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally.”  ~David Frost

Also, consider this—“Success is more permanent when you achieve it without destroying your principles.”  ~Walter Cronkite

Lastly, consider this—“Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.”  ~William Feather

SUCCESS IS MORE THAN YOU THINK IT IS! Is your definition of success rooted in something that will eventually pass away? If so, reconsider. This is part 1 of a 3-part success series.

Follow me on Twitter! @Marcus_AA

†††My Success is UP THERE^^^†††

              ~~~~M.A.²~~~~

             

Learn to doubt NOT!

“It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not. “ ~Unknown Author

Doubt |dout|

Noun

-A feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction

Doubt is something that can be conscious or subconscious, but either way carry a lot of power in the way you live your life. Over the past 11 days, I’ve been on a tour with my good friends Awaken Wells (www.facebook.com/awakenwells) through D.C., Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. It was an amazing experience that I’ll never forget. What does doubt have to do with this? I’ll let you know.

On this particular tour, I was playing keys. Anybody who knows me knows that I don’t REALLY consider myself to be a piano/keyboard “player” at all. Really just in a sense of composition/production is the only time I consider myself to be a player, even when I’ve played for other people. Going into this tour, I was just flabbergasted as to how I even got this opportunity because of the way I felt about my own playing. People constantly assure me that I’m better than I think I am, but I still differ. It wasn’t till about halfway through the tour that I had to remind myself that God can use ANYONE in ANYWAY He wants. My character is what opened the door for the relationship with Awaken Wells and God did a work through me to allow Him to move through my playing the way He saw fit. Even though skill is important, Character > Skill. By no means am I saying I should/will not continue to work on my skill—because I have. I’m just more cognizant of what will last—Relationship, integrity and character. Building those things consistently has done SO much for me and I’ve seen the fruits of it.

“God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called”. That statement means more to me now than ever. Even if you feel that you can’t defy the “odds”, if you serve God, you serve someone that can. Have more confidence—not in yourself per say, but the God inside of you. He can do WHATEVER He wants.

#NOMOREDOUBT

†††Full-Time Follower†††

~~~M.A.²~~~

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

HAPPY NEW YEAR FRIENDS!

It’s amazing that we made it to another year. I think this was supposedly another year the world was supposed to “end” or something. I’m not sure. Nevertheless, we’re here by the grace. I just realized that as long as I’ve been blogging, I never really did an “introduction” piece or anything. I just thought the “bio” portion was enough, but in this being a new year and you all being a part of my world, I thought I’d give a little more.

“We’re all rubies in the dust, waiting to be seen, waiting to be clean, longing to be free”

I’m 22 years old, and I long for freedom EVERYDAY. The longer I live, the more I realize how God can turn ANYTHING into something absolutely beautiful. In my life, I’ve had to pick up my head A LOT. When I was younger, I had huge self-esteem issues mainly because I cared too much about what people thought—God turned that into something beautiful. Pretty much because I see how beautiful His love is. That cancelled the self-esteem problems out. While I was a teen, I had to get past the “never being good enough” syndrome. God turned that into something beautiful. Pretty much because I see how beautiful His purpose for me is. As an adult, I’ve had to get passed the “putting the whole world on my shoulders” syndrome. I’m sure some of you know how my head was left hanging down after that. God turned that into something beautiful. Pretty much because I see how beautiful He is in that the world is in His hand.

^^^^That paragraph defines a lot of who I am. You maybe thinking “he didn’t say what his favorite color was, where he grew up, or what school he went to.” Maybe we’ll get to that later in 2012. =) I promise that God can turn something TERRIBLE into something absolutely beautiful. Look for the beautiful turnaround. And don’t think you’re too far too be turned to something gorgeous.

“We’re all rubies in the dust, waiting to be seen, waiting to be clean, longing to be free."

I’M FREE!

†††HAPPY NEW YEAR†††

~~M.A.²~~

Is Convenience Better for YOU?

I know we’ve all heard the phrase “the early bird gets the worm”. Maybe I’ve never been up early enough to witness this, but because of the popularity of this phrase, I’d have to think that it has some validity to it. In my opinion, this phrase insinuates that there are early birds and there are not so early birds. The one that gets up first is the one that eats. I’m not sure how birds rest, but I would imagine that they like their sleep too. I don’t know. The early birds want to eat well, so they get up early, which transcends convenience. The lazy bird will probably end up being the “angry bird”. I had to throw that in there. =)

What was that whole preface about? Laziness plagues A LOT of people (not just birds). Some say it plagues this entire generation. Hearing statements like that get me on my GAME, simply because the guy typing this blog has had and STILL has his fights with laziness. Something SO very easy to fall into is the same thing that can halt SO much forward progress. Putting things off till the next day when it could very well be done right then is DANGEROUS. Acclaimed saxophonist Jimmy Lyons once said: “Tomorrow is the only day in the year that appeals to a lazy man.” Nothing else matters to a lazy individual except the next thing that can be put off. Don’t think so much about convenience, but about what’s BEST. “What is right is often forgotten by what is convenient.” ~Bodie Thoene

Of course there’s a thin line between having rest and being lazy. If you “rest” more than you work, you may want to have something checked out. Famous French author Jules Renard made one of my favorite quotes—“Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.” Though I believe laziness is more than that, the point he made was very profound. Don’t overdose on work, but make sure you ARE working--Especially on those things that you LOVE. If laziness takes you away from what you LOVE to do, laziness has become a part of your being. We don’t want that do we?

Last thought—don’t make excuses for your laziness, just DON’T BE LAZY.

††FIGHTING HARD TO BE A BETTER MAN††

~~M.A.²~~

THE FAMOUS 23....

When I think of the number 23, several thoughts immediately come to mind--The fact that I will be turning 23 in 2012, my favorite athlete of all time Michael Jordan, and probably most often the 23^rd Psalm in the bible. This is one of the most “famous” passages in all of the bible for those who believe it and even those who don’t. In case you’re wondering, that’s the passage that says: “the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want”.

This isn’t a post to dissect the meaning of this passage, but rather to think about why this passage has been made so commercialized and what does it mean to you to “want”. (I guess thinking about that would allude to the meaning) LOL. As humans, it’s only right that we “want” things right? We (generally) “want” what’s best for us and for our family right? If we’re hungry, we want good food right? I “want” to live long. Do you? I don’t personally think that the terms of this “want” means we won’t desire anything, but that we won’t be left lacking. I don’t know what your belief system is, but this is one that has so much HOPE. When thinking about that 23, think about how if the Lord is your Shepherd, that you won’t lack. How AMAZING!

-1 More note about “want”…..

“Don't love the world's ways. Don't love the world's goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.” ~1 John 2:15-17

Selah

††~~M.A.²~~††

Discipline? Love? Both?

Discipline |ˈdisəplin|-the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience.

I wanted to give the denotative meaning of “love” as well, but I was so against it I couldn’t. Even when talking about a personified figured, it talked about Cupid. I have nothing against Cupid, but CMON MAN! It spoke nothing about conditional/unconditional love or any of that as I was expecting, and connected it more with sex. Well, I guess I could have expected that nowadays.

The word “discipline” has a rather negative connotation. Many people I’ve spoken with connect this word to anger. Is this always the case? Can discipline and love be used interchangeably at times? You be the judge. The denotative meaning alludes directly to “using punishment”. If love is the motivation, is it still yet considered a “punishment”? I believe punishment is more commercially correlated with discipline than love. Do you disagree? Disciplining out of almost ANYTHING else is dangerous—especially anger.

Even in the sense of disciplining a child, there’s a conventional and unconventional way of looking at “discipline. I asked a rather broad question of if people “beat” their kids in disciplining them? A friend of mine gave an amazing notion when she said: “I think very few parents know how to use spanking effectively. Many use it when angry and as punishment instead of discipline. Fear becomes the tool instead of love.” She went on to say “As a mom of 4, I have found that fear makes them respect you when you are watching. Discipline out love makes them want to do the right thing even when away from you.” I agree with this notion.

Even in disciplining yourself, it should be done out of LOVE. LOVE is the key. You will see a distinct difference if this becomes your motivation. Try it, see, realize, try again.

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. “
~Frederick Douglass………….Which does love do?

†††††Keep The LOVE Alive†††††

~~M.A.²~~