Something to think about....What if you were a single parent with a child . You work full time for $14.00 hr. You bring home roughly $800 .00 per paycheck (bi-weekly).Your bills:$1, 000 . 00 / rent$150 .00 / electrical$250 .00 / car payment$150 .00 / car insurance So let’s do the math :You bring home about$1,600 .00 a month & your bills average about $1,550.00 (give or take).You’re making it, but barely.This doesn't even include groceries, internet, cable, cell phone, etc .(nor does it include child tax credit, or child support)Now, it’s a really cold December and you get a power bill for $600 .00 so How do you pay that? To put it simply , you don’t. Because you can’t. So your power gets shut off. But you know what your lease says? It says you get evicted if your utilities are terminated. So now you’re in court crying to a judge who doesn’t care, & you have 10 days to get out. Well you’re in luck, because you found somewhere with 3 days to spare & it’s only $650.00 a month! But to get in, you must pass a background & credit check. Which you can’t because you just got evicted. You’ve never been a criminal, but even if you could pass it, you’re looking at $1300 to move in, after paying the deposit & first month’s rent. Time’s up ....Landlord shows up at 7am with the police & changed your locks. So, now you’re living in your car with your 7 year old son & everything you need to get by. You tried to get a storage unit, but you don’t have a billing address so they won’t sell one to you. So you could only take what would fit in your backseat.You pay to shower at local truck stops & eat whatever can be cooked in a gas station microwave.Someone sees you & your son living like this & calls C.P.S; guess what happens next ? ? ? They remove your child from your care. As if this isn’t devastating enough, you lose your job too. (Because “an employee losing their child reflects poorly on this company . So now, you apply for an apartment with the region where the waiting list is 3-7 years. Then you go into Wal-Mart to put in an application. When you get back to your car you see that your back window has been smashed & someone helped themselves to your belongings. Remember that it is December & really cold. Now you have damage to your only shelter.You call your car insurance, who says your deductible is $1,000.00~ AND ~ they’re going to increase your monthly rate since you’re now“ high risk .”You call the homeless shelter as a last resort & all their beds are full. I’ll stop here .....Because I think you get the point The people we work with everyday are these people . WE ARE THESE PEOPLE .We are all so close to homelessness & don’t even realize it .All it takes is :* one unexpected bill
~* one fender bender
~* one lay-off
~* one house fire
, etc.Instead of talking trash about people who are poor , homeless , or need assistance , why don’t you try being grateful that you’re not in their shoes ...... YET ! This is about staying humble & being kind .BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU HAVE because We Are All Struggling In Different Ways.. I am fortunate enough to have never been in this situation, but God only knows with todays times it could happen to any of us no matter how financially stable we think we are, This is a scenario that people we pass by every single day in our daily lives, I dunno bout you but if I see someone's car piled full my first thought is that is that persons shelter at that time, It's sad and it's happening more and more every single day, Our country lets in Immigrants and treats them better than our own people, that is messed up and so so wrong on so many levels and it all begins with voting in a President that can help fix the destruction Biden has caused , if that's even possible the man is a lunatic and as long as he or someone like him is in office these people struggling to stay afloat are going to sink faster than a hundred pound weight.. next time your out and about Take in your surrounding a lil deeper and I'm sure your eyes and mine will be opened to things like this and worse, Be kind stay humble and most of all never say that won't happen to me, cuz you know what I bet half those in this situation at one point said the very same thing, It won't happen to me well it did it and it can..

Here’s the truth: You can be a really good friend, and still not really be liked. You can hold someone dear and still not be valued. You can say all the right things, and still have someone twist your words, brush off your words, or worse—use your words against you. You can give it your absolute best, and still have it not work out. You can be straight-up sunshine in the flesh, and still walk into a shit storm . You can play your heart out, and still lose the game. You can place the highest bid, and still walk away empty-handed. You can be pure as humanly possible, and still be painted as the bad guy. After years of work, these are some things I’ve learned: You can’t control other people. Not even in the slightest, and it is a complete waste to ever assume you can. It will make you mad as hell , and exhausted, and chasing something you don’t have a chance to catch, so switch gears and control you. Control your mouth. Control how you treat people. Control your attitude. Guard your heart, and keep it genuine. Keep showing up, and let that be enough.. Other people aren’t you. They don’t think like you, or feel like you. Their experiences belong to them alone. They approach situations differently, and their outlook is nothing like yours. Don’t expect them to handle things exactly like you do. They aren’t you. They’re them. Do your best to love them for it. Some people are never going to like you, and there isn’t necessarily and a rhyme or reason. Your life will improve significantly as soon as you learn this and trust me its not the end of the world... Sometimes you’re actually the bad guy. Sometimes you’re the one acting foolish. Sometimes you’re the one with the toxic trait or two. Check your own heart. Clean out the junk, and grow from it. Apologize, and now that you’ve learned—take that wisdom, do better next time, stay humble, and give others an awful lot of grace along the way. There is a purpose to it all. There is beauty everywhere. That failed friendship will teach you how to do the next one better. That heartache will remind you to be gentle with other people. That loneliness will help you appreciate connection when you do find it—and you will find it, probably when your least looking but it's out there somewhere... Not every season lasts forever, but every season does produce something precious eventually, even if it’s just a fresh perspective. So sleep well, . Life is a long series of letting some things go and holding others close—a catch and release sort of cycle. Let go of needing approval. Let go of bitterness, and resentment, and any of that junk. Let go of insecurity. Let go of guilt. It will keep you shackled like nothing else. Hold close to your family and the people in your life who have stuck around. Hold close to your morals and your integrity. Hold close to your hopes and dreams because really nothing you set your mind to is impossible..Believe in tomorrow. Hold closest to those you love. At the end of the day, it’s all that really matters, and as long as you have that— then I say you have more than enough.

9 years ago My sweet sweet Nana wrote me a note and left it on my dresser one morning and her words have helped me thru my journey and I know without a doubt they will help me meaneuver life without her by my side, she was my rock my anchor the one person I could turn to for anything, from adopting me into her family at 9 years old to teaching me about life and all it had to offer good and bad, I know without a doubt without her in my life I wouldn't be the person I am today, she taught me things I never knew I had learned until after she was gone,I miss her bigger than the stars and I know she's in heaven guiding me thru life till I get to see her again one day,,
This was Nanas note that day..
I really hope you’re starting to give yourself the credit you deserve. Life can throw some tough stuff your way, but remember, you’ve been strong enough to get through it all. That’s something to be proud of! Whenever you face challenges, I want you to know that you’ve got the inner strength to keep going. No matter how hard things seem, you’ve got the guts to keep moving forward, growing, and healing. Look in the mirror, and say to yourself, “I’m proud of you.” And mean it! You’ve accomplished so much, and it’s important to acknowledge that. Most importantly, I hope you realize how amazing you are as a person. You deserve your own love and care, just like anyone else. So, be kind to yourself, appreciate your strengths, and keep being the wonderful human you that you are, know I love you as my own child and long after I'm gone I hope you will always know this, even on your worst days Love yourself as much as I love you my sweet Hope..

You know its words to some but for me it's a life line a lot of days one without it I would have gotten so lost way before now, I framed her note and I keep it hanging in my bathroom by the mirror, it been there since a ew days after she wrote it..I've shared these same words to so many I thought needed to hear it same as me and I hope it gets them thru the hard times like it has me,,, and if your reading this and goin thru a hard time in life now or in the past and still struggling I hope they help you as well..

Every soul, who feels that there's a bunch of dreams left unrealised, remember that as long as the life remains, the possibility to dream remains, that sometimes some dreams that we paint in our hearts are not meant to grow us in our journey of life and then while we walk along the path, even the detours and broken dreams pave way to a whole lot of waking dreams that only the heart of gratitude can see and feel. I've seen and felt and experienced same as some of you , that sometimes some souls have to go through a lot of trials and tribulations, lessons and sufferings, and even then they never fail to wear kindness and grace simply because they know that what happens around them should not intrude upon what is inside their heart. To know that we are here for a purpose and to not live idly, to know that the purpose is as simple as to stay kind and open to every possibility is as beautiful as the sky who knows no matter how dark the night is the stars will always shine.. In a world where everything comes at a price, if you're choosing to stay kind, if you're choosing to value your dignity and your integrity, if your choosing to understand and embrace the smile of solitude, if you're choosing to employ your faculties to understand the real questions of life, then you're alive, much more alive than your human dreams could have made you feel. Because no matter what, when sunset hits the night, and the day comes to a close you know you've done your part, you know you have embraced one more day with gratitude and grace, with a formidable zeal for Life and an invincible spirit of human understanding that stands firm pillared with hope and faith. And then no matter how many voices shrill your mind, the echo of your soul would pierce through your heart and enlighten every inch of your mind, body and soul, and you would know how proud the universe must be to see the faithfulness, the strength and resilience in your soul, the very mould that was shaped in the fire of the stardust that shines upon the sky, sometimes becoming a beacon to others while sometimes lying beautifully hidden but always there, always alive. And so each time, I look at the sky with a bunch of stars, I know I am alive, burning with all that life is made up of. And someday when the day closes for another dawn altogether, I know somehow that I;ve done my part as well as I can maybe its not perfect but I tried and that should be all that matters,

Life is tough and sometimes we meet people who wake up every single morning to face a new day, a new struggle, they have to dig deep just to find strength to get up and face the day that Gods given them, and then you have people who try and destroy everything a person has worked so hard to try and rebuild and heal from and this wish is for you..
I hope you find the courage to overcome every obstacle life puts in your way becuz nothing is impossible and the only thing between success and failure is how hard your willing to fight to win your battles..
I hope you have the courage to do the work. I hope you have the courage to sit down with your demons, to befriend them; to look them in the face and to not feel fear. I hope you have the courage to stop picking or numbing or avoiding the wounds within, and I hope you choose to heal them instead. I hope you have the courage to understand yourself, fundamentally — to open up the deepest, darkest parts of your mind, to unhinge your rib cage revealing the gritty parts of your soul, the parts no one else claps for, and I hope you have the courage to clean them out. To forgive yourself for what you had to do to kill your sadness. To forgive yourself for the ways in which you didn’t fight for the person you were becoming. I hope you have the courage to nurture your pain, to not disregard it or to sweep it under the rug of distraction or convenience. I hope you have the courage to heal yourself, even when it hurts.