Who are your heroes?

 I often think about my friends, the people I grew up with and people who have left this earth in my short lifetime realize that I am merely a passerby in this life. Fifty years from now, a lot of the people I know may be dead including my parents, my grandparents, a wide number of my friends and people that i have known my entire life. I too may not be here. We leave this world, gone like the pollen in the wind. 

I remember how I felt about death as a child, I thought it happened to other people and when my schoolmate at twelve years old had his head severed by a bus in the park. It opened my eyes that children too could die. I didn't think much of it because I like most people only think that other children would die and not me.

People I went to primary school with died before finishing high school.Many people from my high school years are dead now and will never reach their thirties. 

I remember people I love like Checky who never lived to see the end of this year. Some people will remain in my heart forever. His death has reminded me  of how fragile our lives are. I used to worry a lot about the fifty pound I gained during my pregnancy. I don't anymore. Checky lived in a gym and several bullets sent the body he worked on everyday into decomposition. That was an eye opener for me. 

We think that we are not heroes but we are. We overcome our own struggles everyday. God knows that the human race has been its biggest enemy and it ain't easy living in this world. It is not even easy being human. Everyday we wake up, we know it is a miracle. Everyday we are alive in this tumultuous world, we are heroes of our modern societies. 

There are still people fighting, dying and paving the way for our redemption. Fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves. They are our unsung heroes.

Teachers who teach our children, the nurses who look at our illnesses despite our belligerent behavior, the politician who is working hard to change the statusquo of modern day politics and rallying for the upliftment of the people, the pastor who understands that he is not a gateway to heaven, merely a messenger for eternal life. We forget to salute these people because they don't look the way we want to. They are not gratifying enough. They don't live in the right communities, have the right friends or have any wealth or worthy resource. 

We have many heroes in our communities. The people who take time out to guide our children. The one taxi driver that we can call on any time of the night. The neighbor that shares. The child that helps other children. We are all heroes in our own right. Happy Heroes Day. 

Your friends when they were strangers

On a Bus ride from Kingston to Westmoreland I pondered on my life and the people I met in the last few years. 

Sometimes I wished my friends remained strangers. I like them better when they did not know my flaws and when the dreams I sold them was rapt with optimism and not fraught with challenges that my Angel investors now question the validity of the investment of time, effort and resources in me. 

I was talking to a bunch of people I knew nothing about last night and I watch as my enthusiasm for my ideas and my dreams of transforming this society played upon their faces. I took them to the place of perfection in my imagination. They were with me and saw the world through my eyes. I felt mosaic. Like Jesus bringing the messianic message to an eager gathering. 

People said I could sell poison if I wanted to. A man I Dated referred to what I had as " charm". I am very good at what I do because I applied what I learnt in school. I research my idea thoroughly before I present it to my CrowdFunding groups. I admit to the obvious shortcomings but I never leave out the fact that for every adversity, there are solutions. 

People get caught up in what I say because I don't befuddle people with bullshit. I use facts and preconceived knowledge. I do not guess,I use referendum and statistics. People tell me what they want and I try to make it happen. I might not always get it right but I try my best to give people a push start.

After talking to a group of people who knew nothing about me. i reminisce on how completely rapt with attention they were as I used my laptop to not only illustrate but expand on my theories. 

I got numbers and email addresses. People ready to take the challenge with me but I wonder how many of them will stay with me for the long ride. Some will no doubt fall off the wagon because most people have a cash pot mentality to investment. They have not grasp the concepts that an investment is for long term, not short term results. 

The world does not need more professionals. The Buddha says the world need more healers, peacemakers, lovers of nature and validators of mankind. We already have too much people who are committed to maintaining this semblance of a world we live in. We need more people to tell stories, make us laugh and make our life experiences completely fulfilled. We only have one life to live and we only know this life so lets make the best of it.

There are some people who are not made to be collaborators. They are not apart of your success Journey. When you discover that there are people within your group who are no longer suited to your mission then it is time to cut your losses, pay them off and move on. Some might see this as ungrateful but some people were never meant to complete this journey with you. People who choose to be partners must understand that they have a responsibility to the process and if they for some reason become obsolete or a hindrance to the process then they will be eliminated. Success has sacrifices and in many cases in order to grow and bloom a tree has to prune its branches and start afresh. 

Mark Zuckerberg knows that because many of whom started this journey with him are not at the helm of Facebook Today. He has faced challenges with early investors and people who are only interested in their money and not so much in your passions. They do not see your projects the way you do and that is reason why most companies that are sold often end up redundant because only the first owner understood the mission statement of the enterprise. 

People who are concerned with their returns than seeing you maximize their investments and building a solid company will only distract you with their reservations about their money. People who are insecure themselves are not ready to be partners because their misgivings will eventually spill over into your business. Look for people with the same business values. Not everyone with money should be allowed to come onboard. 

Is your life Meaningless?

I think about the people in my family that I know nothing of. I hear my mother talking about her grandparents and auntie rupee and all those people that I know nothing about, who for the most part probably never existed to my generations. 

I think that's probably what will happen sixty years, my child might be telling her grand children about me and I will be a phantasm to them. 

As human beings we live as if we will never die and when we die, it is as of we never lived. We have nothing here. We are only caretakers of our possessions. Soon they will be passed on to other people. Many times the monuments that we build are not kept in our family lines but are sold out or occupied by even the children of our enemies. 

We are only a passerby in this life and soon we will depart to the next great adventure. This world is not ours and years from now, even our specie might go extinct. 

Someone said to me that what if we are aliens and we killed out the dinosaurs to inhabit the earthy. What if this is not our home? 

CrowdFunding in Jamaica

I recently logged on to JAmaica's CrowdFundinh website Isupportjamaica.com to see how it would benefit the average Entreprenuer out there. Truth be told at Face Value I was largely disappointed. What I saw mostly were apparently chosen businesses and start up projects for funding. Apparently the average man could not just go online and share his project with hopes of getting funding. 

So another idea apparently corporatized to keep some people out and others in. I was very disappointed with what I saw in the first place. 

It gave me an idea to start a site where people could ask others to fund their projects. It would be my way of giving back to the world. 

I created the BigIdeasFundingNetwork.info with hopes of helping people in the Caribbean and its mainlands to get funding for their projects. And as they say in Jamaica. Every Mickle Make a Muckle....

Private School versus Public School

My daughter is almost of school going age and I am worried about her going to school. 

She's my only child therefore I have this " spoil" connection and overprotection of her. 

Private schools are expensive but worth it. Imagine having to be spending money equivalent to an associate degree education at the community college for a three year old might seem exorbitant to some. 

But the high incidents of violence in public schools, children " licking out other kids eye" , overcrowded and low performance of some schools makes me very afraid to have my daughter around certain peers coming from homes with particular values. 

I am not being a bigot or prejudicial, I am just thinking about the well being of my child. 

I saw a little boy over the weekend who lost his sight because another child three stones at him. His father insisted that the boys family was originally interested and contributed a small funding but have since been out of contact and relocated to another area when they discovered that the child is blind for life. 

Careful is fool to accident but some children just play too much. Imagine someone makes my child become a liability to me for the rest of my life. I can't even conceive whether or not I would be very civil about that. After all i did not bring a disabled child into this world. 

But those are the risks of the playground. Teachers cannot alway supervise and children learn a lot from play time. I think teachers should discourage kids from using objects during playtime as they can cause accidents and irreparable damage.