Ready or not, it’s here. Our kids are all back in school and many have had to scramble around, up and down to acquire the required materials to facilitate their learning process. And, many have also had to get them the necessary physicals and shots to make sure their immune systems are high so as to prevent them from catching different diseases.

To that end, I invite you to consider that equipping them and giving them the necessary tools to build up a sufficient immunity to the criticisms, peer-pressures and challenges that await them at school is also equally as important.

Yes that’s right my friends, empowering our kids and increasing their intrinsic value, self-worth, beliefs and convictions is paramount if we truly expect them to weather the storms that await them around the corner in our educational school institutions. Yep, it starts with us.

So then the million dollar question of today then becomes, are you doing your part? No need to answer this question here, just make sure you’re crystal clear.

Let’s continue doing our part so they can have a fighting chance to stand firm on their beliefs and convictions and Make it GREAT!

www.CedricCrawford.com
www.MrBreadCrumb.com

Living in the past is pathetic and living in the future is foolish but living in the present can be powerful.

Allowing the infinite possibilities of the future to dictate your feelings in the present can cause a ton of undue stress and strain which can ultimately prevent your gain. Yes that’s right my friends, allowing yourself to worry in advance about fearful future possibilities can lead you to unnecessary heartache.

To that end, I encourage you to forget about the “past-then” and the “future-when” and live in the “now” again, because ONLY what you do right NOW in this infinite moment in time really matters. And, I say we choose to leverage this time to Make it GREAT!

Simply put. Don’t worry about tomorrow, make today Great. 🙂

www.MrBreadCrumb.com
www.CedricCrawford.com

I was just thinking that wouldn’t it be Great if we all had our expiration dates marked behind our left ear like a milk carton so we would know how much time we had left before we expire.

Or wouldn’t it be even Greater if we could easily tell if a person was real or fake by just holding them up to the light like a hundred dollar bill.

Or even better, wouldn’t it be the absolute Greatest if our beloved cellphones had a special App that could easily tell us what our true area of passion was so we wouldn’t just settle into a mediocre, passionless existence. Hmmm…

I think it’s fair to say that none of the above things are likely to happen, but finding ones true area of passion doesn’t require an App. It requires attention and intention and can lead to prevention. Yep that’s right my friends, paying attention to what makes you come alive and intentionally following a path to making that thing Great is the key to being all you can be in this “life” thing and preventing you from just settling for average and mediocre. It can also make for an even better world we live in.

So, let’s NOT just settle for being ok to just “get by” in this “life” thing. Let’s find and follow that thing that makes us strive, thrive and come alive with passion and Make it GREAT!

www.MrBreadCrumb.com
www.CedricCrawford.com
www.MakeItGreatNOW.com

I’m not necessary.
My actions are irrelevant in the lives of others.
No one would miss me if I was gone.
Life really has no meaning and my being in it is inconsequential.
Nobody understands me.
Nobody understands my pain.
Nobody really cares about what I’m going through.
I don’t know why I’m always feeling this way.
I just want to close my eyes and make it all go away.
I just want to stop “feeling”.
I have no purpose here.
I’m tired of not being happy.
I’m tired of not being appreciated.
I don’t feel loved.
If I’m gone so too will be the hurt and pain.

Well, can you see the common thread with all of these statements? They all include the word “I”, “Me” or “My” in them. These are just a few of the many internal conversations that people suffering from what I call the “SP-Syndrome” have with themselves on a regular basis. And, if left unchecked and untreated, this SP-Syndrome can eventually develop into a full blown case of the Dreaded “D” which could then ultimately lead to the murder of someone by their own hands.

So what is this “SP” & Dreaded “D”? Well, it’s quite simply “Self-pity” and “Depression”. The first real sign that the SP-Syndrome is setting in is when our internal conversation starts to include the words I, Me or My. Then over time a dark “tunnel-vision” may start to occur that leads us down a self-centered path to depression and quite possibly even total self-annihilation. If you don’t think this is possible, then just read the latest news headlines.

From the bottom to the very top of our society many people are becoming professional “Pain Hiders” and “Lost Survivors”. Yes that’s right my friends, depression is a serious, show-stopping disease that is quietly harbored by so many. But take heart my friends, for there is hope and it starts with taking the focus off of “self” and the “I-Me-My’s” and focusing more on “others” and the “He-She-We’s”. Staying in a “service-to-others” mode of thinking and doing may not be the total answer but it sure is an awesome place to start.

So if/when you suddenly feel that sneaky SP-Syndrome starting to creep up on you, Snap Out of It! and jump into service mode and get out there and start helping others to Make it GREAT!

www.MrBreadCrumb.com
www.CedricCrawford.com

So, have you seen it yet?

In the wake of the recent tragic shooting of the young teenager, Mike Brown, that took place on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri not long ago, I feel compelled to share a few words of encouragement.

I can’t turn on my TV or computer without seeing a leading headline or caption about the aftermath of the shooting incident.

As a black male growing up in the 1970’s and 80’s in the mean-streets of Dallas, Texas, I must admit that I’ve had my fair share of encounters with the men and women in uniform who have sworn to protect and serve our community. And, as an adult I still manage to get pulled over every now-and-then for excessive speed, but all-in-all, to date my interactions with the men and women in uniform has never resulted in an altercation. Why? Well, I can only speculate, but it just might be because I have always had a healthy respect for myself and for those around me including those in the position of authority. And, I was taught at an early age that “We get back what we put out, good or not-so-good”.

I’m not much of a gambling man, but if I was, I would definitely NOT consider betting on winning an argument or altercation with a person with a gun, a fast car and a badge of authority behind them with a team of well-organized ride-to-die comrades. I would just rather Be Nice, get through the moment and go on my merry way to live another day.

The real truth appears to be that our youth are hurting inside and have a huge void of those who would act as an appropriate role model for how they should conduct themselves in the community, and as a result, many are filling in the gaps with negative stuff that they see or hear on the TV, the YouTube and the damaged Adults and Teens in their neighborhoods.

The sad, unfortunate reality is that things will NEVER change until we change. Yes my friends, real change starts with “US”, that person staring back at us in the mirror. Yep, this goes for me too. NOT the marches, NOT the looting, NOT the violence and flagrantly-reckless and profane behaviors perpetrated by the young and not-so-young on the streets.

One of life’s most ironclad guarantees is that nothing will change until we change. So one of our biggest mistake is when we look outward for change when it actually should originate from within. I think Ghandi said it best when he said, “We have to be the change that we want to see in this world.”

For years I’ve continued my quest to place myself in the path of our youth and said “Watch me”, in hopes that they will not just hear what I say, but also do what I do. So a good question today is, are you doing your part? Are your words and actions in front of our youth worthy of positive plagiarism? Are you displaying a positive picture of how to deal with explosive moments of life’s adversity? Are you modeling a behavior of giving respect even in the most tense of situations? Hmmm…

Our uniformed officers may be guilty of a lot of things, but the biggest thing that they’re guilty of is being “Human”. And, as such, humans can be volatile, unpredictable and out-of-control in the fiery moments of altercations and confrontations and as with the general public, so too is some behaviors of law enforcement absolutely inexcusable. But if you haven’t noticed already, we actually have a much larger problem with people harming and killing each other all over America on the streets and a lot of it has to do with respect and disrespect that escalates and gets out-of-control. So, again I say it starts with “ME”!

So I propose that we call a truce and start over. The 1967 hit song “All You Need is Love” by the Beatles was a song that is evergreen and timeless for the ages. So, from the top down, let’s all agree to model that behavior that gives love, respect and dignity to all no matter the color, shape, size and flavor. Let’s put away any resentment or malice or notions of perceived threat and start anew. Let’s start to question that which we were taught by our dysfunctional gaps in our environment and re-think the process of what it takes to have peaceful interactions. Let’s press the “Delete” button on the violence and “Enter” the love and peace and willingness to understand before seeking to be understood. And, even more importantly, let’s encourage and model the same for our youth. They need us now more than ever before to step up and show them how to be GREAT!

From the politicians to the police to the people on the streets, whoever you be, look in the mirror and realize that “IT STARTS WITH ME!!!!!!”

Or maybe I’m just dreaming this is possible..……. Hmmm…

www.MrBreadCrumb.com
www.CedricCrawford.com