Tag: strength

Delilah’s Responsibility

Samson-and-Delilah

I wonder if it was a spiritual experience
wonder
if blades covered their eyes against the war to which you had grafted them
wonder
if angels had taken the time to whisper to strands of hair of their coming demise
I wonder if they saw laughter dancing in your eyes
and if they had prepared themselves
with breastplates
and helmets,
and knee pads,
if they held their hands up
wonder if the blade hesitated against the strength of the strands
that rubbed against each other
like
lovers
strands of hair that were intimately entwined
hair that made a covenant with the earth
hair
that had promised to protect him since birth
that clung onto one another
like Samson clung onto you
strands of hair that loved
like Samson loved you.
But I wonder if it was spiritual for you
Did you see them as Kings planted inside the throne of private follicles
and fighting battles there
or was it just
hair?
was it spiritual?
for you?
When you touched it,
did you shake hands with angels,
did truth shoot through your body like electricity,
did your fingers grow numb
Did you feel it?
Did your stomach back flip, turn your tears into rivers
Did your mind leave you
Did it purchase attorney’s to plead mercy on behalf of the war you had begun
the moment you looked into his eyes and said “I love you”
Did the spirit find you guilty of conspiracy
to commit the world’s greatest terrorist attack
or did the Philistines just want their money back
I wonder
if you noticed that at that moment your hands were weapons,
heavy and strong
locked and loaded
weapons of war and your heart were choir directors
and yall played
Oh so softly the music of deception,
you sung ballads on his scalp
And immersed his enemies in your lap
I imagine you had bullets beneath your cuticles
You see, I wonder what your life was like
But most of all,
I wonder about the events that lead up to your iniquity
I wonder
Dearest Delilah… about your responsibility.
Wonder if my brother saw righteousness on top freshly painted nails
I wonder if 7 dread locs are added to your scale
And I pray…
I’m not presented with such a responsibility
I wonder if foresight blessed you with the image of Judas
without his consequence
wonder if his betrayal was your inspiration
to get through this
wonder if you are our warning to learn from the past
so that the present’s truly
a gift.

25 Minutes a Day

I’m excited to report that I have begun work on achieving one of my long overdue goals: Exercising. I’m just so excited because I’ve wanted to get back into the swing of things since Billy Blanks and I fell out. This time however, I decided to take it up a level and try my hand at Sean T25. I’m on Week #2, Day 4 and so far so good. But instead of 6 days a week I have limited myself to no more than four. Here’s why I think you should too:

For those of you who really wanna get back into an exercise routine, be realistic about your goals. Implement something you know you can dedicate yourself to and most importantly, incorporate into your everyday life. My mind says to go the full six days, but I know the chance of keeping up with that kind of schedule is slim to none. This time around, I don’t want to just stop after a few weeks, but I would like to make this a daily part of my life. To do this, I have to set goals that are realistic and reachable. Just like in life, an exercise routine can have short term goals and long term goals. For instance: My short term goal is to work out at least 3-4 times a week. My long term goal is to strengthen my heart, endurance, tone up my stomach and maintain a certain body weight; though I’m not so much bent on that part so much as strengthening my breathing. A lot of people think exercise is just for those who are overweight but the truth is that thin people are likely a lot more unhealthy than their big boned brothers and sisters because they think they don’t have to do anything. But it’s not about being skinny vs. being fat, it’s about building strength so that you’re not out of breath after walking a block or up a flight of stairs; this is not characteristic of a healthy heart.

So, here’s my idea for those who would like to get back in the gym, and get back in shape:

25 Minutes a Day

Set aside 25 minutes a day dedicated to exercise. It doesn’t have to be to a workout video or gym even, but you can walk, you can run, or you can move your leg back and forth. Whatever you do, try to give yourself at least 25 minutes a day for a certain number of days. Last week I did 25 minutes for three days, this week I am trying for four. Each week, try to challenge yourself to do a little bit more.

Keep a Success Journal

You’ve seen my re-blog of an idea Timothy Pike had on keeping a success journal. This doesn’t have to be restricted to life, but get one for your workout plan. Every day, record what you did and what you ate. This will push you to achieve those short term goals because you’ll be so excited to write something down. Remember: short term goals are the baby steps to long term goals. So whether you want to lose weight or just tone up, you have to start by taking steps to achieve those short term workout goals.

Substitute

Another idea for those looking to implement more exercise into the day is to substitute some things you normally do so that they become little exercises! For instance:

• instead of sit down at the computer, stand.
• instead of drive to the store, walk (instead of push the stroller, carry the baby a few blocks!)
• instead of use the washing machine, wash on your hands.

150525_0001 150525_0002

Now, for that last bullet point, in addition to the washboard, here’s a fun way to get your arms going: Using a plunger and a bucket, fill it with water, detergent, and some light clothing, like socks, underwear or washcloths (it also helps to drill holes at the bottom of the plunger around the base and to use a bucket that has a top to it for suction. Also make sure the bucket is deep enough). And…plunge! Switch it around, move your arms up and down, swirl it, just plunge. Here, you become the washing machine. You’ll get some workout in and your clothes clean at the same time.

Your Own Pace

Whatever you do, stay focused on your own pace. The key here is not faster; it’s longer. If your using a workout video and you feel like you’re about to pass out it’s OK to slow down, just don’t stop. Keep going through to the end even if you have to walk in place. Just keep moving. That’s what I think we miss when it comes to working out. Everyone wants to focus so much on weight loss and fast results that we forget to pace ourselves. Of course, you’ll eventually have to challenge yourself to that next level as you gain momentum and get stronger. But also remember that the victory does not belong to the fastest or the skinniest, it belongs to those who endure to the end.

• Map out your daily routine for the week (Be realistic, what are you going to really  dedicate yourself to?)
• Do the routine for at least 25 minutes a day
• Chart your progress, feelings, changes, foods, etch in a success journal (or your blog!)
• Substitute daily task so that they work some kind of muscle
• Slow down, keep moving, just don’t stop

To help us to motivate each other, I will start doing more posts like this to update you all on my experiences and you can too. In this way, we can help each other with fun ideas. Teamwork makes the dream work!

Guest Feature – Change

From: http://www.keepinspiring.me/.

Great Advice. Short but fulfilling. I especially love the last sentence. It is in my opinion the most important part of the entire post:

making-change-stick-lessons-learned-from-changing-the-biglaw-pricing-dynamic

“Change can come in many forms in our lives. It might come forcefully like a tidal wave, or creep along incrementally like a glacier. It might come in the form of devastating tragedy, difficult choices, broken relationships, or even new opportunities.

But even though change is often difficult, many times it’s also for the best. Accomplishing anything great in life requires significant change that pushes us beyond our comfort zones. Many times, the only way to improve our lives is to force ourselves to undergo difficult change. That might mean breaking up and leaving a stale – but comfortable – relationship, leaving a mediocre – but stable – job, moving away from a nice – but uninspiring – location, or anything else that’s holding us back from accomplishing our dreams.
Of course, dealing with uninvited change in our lives is often difficult and painful. In many cases, instigating major, but necessary, change in our life can be just as painful. But whatever change you’re dealing with, know that how you cope with that change will have an impact on your future.”

In Minds Reach

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For strength you must first know your weaknesses. And you must know them more than anyone else. Only then can you train your mind to think differently, and to improve on those weaknesses. To train is to continually practice something over a period of time. So this is not a one day affair to which you will be granted the fruits of this one night stand of sorts. You will not burst through with instant gratification of having remained still when the world is moving too fast. When the buildings and the trees and the people all crumble around you, persistence will not lay it’s hand on your chest, does not care for the thrashing hailstones crashing onto the ground. Do not court with strength. It is not something that falls off of trees. Do not leave it lingering on the edges of your breaths like when lips beg to be suckled, and swallowed whole by the thought of love; a drop of oil waiting modestly in the hallowed hallways of her breast. Do not fool yourself, for strength has never happened upon us the way that romanticized love does inside the pages of Hollywood. But to wake up and know that you are beauty made manifest; to know that you’ve got diamonds in-between your toes and underneath your fingernails; that you are princess and prince to a wealth of possibilities all in reach of your mind, this is a daily striving. A striving so beyond the flesh that you can taste it in your dreams and dance with it in your thoughts. It is tangible and intangible, symbolic, and literal, physical, and mental all wrapped up in one great trial of bewildered circumstance; waiting for the moment where it may envelop you with its glory. All neatly wrapped into a beautiful face too precious to ignore, and yet too glowing to stare into. Indeed, strength awaits you.