My Door

I shall lock my door.
That way I won't hear the voice's noiseless plot anymore.
I should lock my door.
Throw away the key.
That way outside elements, seeds of doubt, depression and embarrassment-standing on the outside- won't bother me.
My door should always be locked.
When I decide to go, They always make me stop.
But They couldn't speak to me if my door was locked.
I'd lock my door and hide under the covers.
I would ignore Their voices by falling into a deep, complete slumber.
Seems to me like They earn salaries by pounding me with reality.
But all I want to do is dream.
I should lock my door.
So someday I will understand.
I dream to live and dream to plan.
My dreams and focus goes unnoticed when voices dance ignorantly-without listening to me.
And since They are the so-called voices of reason, then my reason cannot be reasoned with the unreasonable.
So we find a common ground-and we find it right now.
I will lock my door and continue to dream.
You will stay on the outside-and refuse to cease your torturous screams.
But trust and believe, on today I will lock my door.
This is my world.
I am free.
It is not Yours anymore.

--EOB.

A Celebration Of Life

1955-Present

"Getting up in the morning is not for the faint of heart. Being a man is not easy. But it never has been, I would guess. The demands on us are many; the hours in the day are still capped at 24. We get tugged, second-guessed, pulled in different directions, and at the end of the day we are left wondering what happened. And sometimes it seems like those are the good days."---Tony Dungy

To Know Is...

Mo Battle taught me chess by explaining it's philosophical parallels to life. "You can understand the game of chess if you understand the game of life and vice versa,'" he said. "In life the person who plots his course and thinks ahead before he acts, wins. It's the same way in chess."

One day, I made a move to capture a pawn of his and gave Mo Battle an opening to take a valuable piece. He smiled and said, "You can tell a lot about a person by the way he plays chess. People who think small in life tend to devote a lot of energy to capturing pawns, the least valuable pieces on the board. They think they're playing to win, but they're not. But people who think big tend to go straight for the king or queen, which wins you the game".......The most important thing that Mo Battle taught me was that chess was a game of consequences. He said that, just as in life, there are consequences for every move you make in chess. "Don't make a move without first weighing the potential consequences," he said. "Because if you don't, you have no control over the outcome."

---Excerpts from Nathan McCall's "Makes Me Wanna Holler"

Be quick, but don't hurry. Move fast, yet remain in control. Believe, yet remain humble. Be motivated, but not overwhelmed. Be great, not good. Be brilliant, not smart. Think big, yet make wise choices. Life's already made its move in this game. It's just waiting to see what you're going to do next.

-----EOB.