Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Avoid The "Dream Killers" As Much As Possible.

Doubters, naysayers, skeptics; all terms used to describe people that have little to no belief in something or someone. We've all encountered people that have expressed doubts in us or our beliefs, and we've also been on the other side of the fence where we've expressed doubts in others. There will always be reasons for expressing doubt about various things in life and for a good portion of those reasons, those doubts will be justifiable. There is also another term used by many these days to describe the naysayers and nonbelievers. Many people nowadays refer to them as being "dream killers". While we can't control what others say or think, we can definitely control how much we're around them, as well as how much we reveal to them. From my perspective, dream killers should be avoided as much as possible.

Hello folks, and welcome to another one of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! If you're giving this post a look at this moment, I want you to know that I really appreciate it. So for the topic this time around, we're talking about the importance of avoiding those people that have been coined as being "dream killers" out there. So what is the exact definition of a dream killer? Well to be quite honest, I'm not sure if there is a true definition for this term. However, what I do know is that a dream killer and a doubter are pretty much one in the same. They're almost like snakes; they come in different shapes, sizes and colors but at the end of the day, they're still the same scaly creatures that most of us dislike. Now with that said, there is also what I would consider to be a slight difference between your average skeptic and a dream killer.

Now in my personal opinion, a dream killer is a bit different from the standard doubter in that a dream killer is likely a person that we're extremely close to. A dream killer can come in the disguise of a friend, but they're often the people that we're the closet to and know us the best; our family. It's somewhat odd when you really think about it right? Sometimes (not always), the very people that we believe should be our biggest supporters, be the main ones that can hinder us from seeing our own dreams. It can indeed be an odd conundrum to process, but it is something that we see happening everyday in our society. So what is the biggest trait that a dream killer exhibits? From my perspective, a dream killer is someone that shoots down a vision that you may have for yourself, mainly because they cannot see it for themselves.

When I think of things that a dream killer may say, I think of something saying; "I don't think you should do that, it'll never work." How many times have we heard someone say something along these lines; "You're too old to accomplish that?" Again, these are the people that don't believe in your vision, because they're not willing to be open minded enough. Now I'm not implying that anyone that is close to us that may be dubbed a dream killer doesn't mean us well. I think we can all agree that most of our family and loved ones want to see us happy. However, in some cases, the people closet to us often put their own happiness ahead of ours. This is a price that comes at our own personal expense, and we're the ones that end up footing a bill called unhappiness.

One example that sticks out to me involves a boxing match that took place over 20 years ago. Back in late 1994, a then 45 year old George Foreman decided to seek a chance at the world heavyweight championship in the sport of boxing. Most of George's advisers, family and friends, along with the media thought he was going through a midlife crisis for wanting to fight a young champion in Michael Moorer. Michael Moorer was 19 years younger than Foreman at the time. As we know from history, Foreman went on to defeat Moorer by knockout, and thus became the oldest athlete to win a major title in any sport. That mark has since been passed, but the main point that I'm trying to get across is that although everyone else couldn't see Foreman's vision, he was able to see it for himself. Just imagine how George would feel now if he hadn't followed his dream, and ended up listening to those that thought he was making a mistake. He probably would be living the rest of his life with a lot of "what ifs?"

Whether you want to refer to them as dream killers, naysayers, skeptics or all of the above, try to limit your time around these people as much as possible. Just because a person doesn't see nor share in your vision, doesn't mean its not the right thing for YOU to do. If you can see it for yourself, then that's all that ultimately matters. Never expect everyone to share your dreams and aspirations, but also be conscience and open minded enough to consider what those closet to you think. Finally, if you're one of these dream killers out here in the world, try not to hinder or limit someone else. Even if you don't agree with their dreams or something they want to do, try to support them and their goals as much as possible. They'll appreciate it in the end, and your support just may be what they need to fulfill their dream.

Alright, I think I've rambled on for enough time, so I'm going to end this edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'. As always, I hope there is some meaning and understanding gained from this. I thank those of you that have stopped by, and I'll see you all in the next one. Peace!

©2015 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.

Monday, June 8, 2015

Personal Growth Should Be A Never Ending Process.

Every now and again throughout this life we're living, we hear about the importance of self-improvement and personal growth. For some people ,these terms primarily apply to the youth and younger generation of the world that have yet to achieve their full potential. While I may personally disagree to some extent with the notion that it only applies to the youth, there is indeed some truth to the importance of why personal growth should focus on the youth. At the same time, I do believe that regardless of how old or wise we may feel we are, there is always room for improvement when it comes to ourselves. From my perspective, personal growth should be a never ending process.

What is good folks? Welcome to another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'. As I seem to mention quite often in previous posts, it has definitely been a hot minute since I touched down with something recent on here. I believe it has been around four months since my last post. FOUR MONTHS! I won't get into making any kind of excuses for the long absence, but I will say that regardless of how I may go in between posts, you can always be assured that I've been brainstorming and soaking up as much knowledge as I can. For those of you that are regular readers, I truly appreciate your patience and loyalty.

Before I get into this topic that I've been thinking about as of late, I want to give some credit to my younger sister for inspiring me to write this. I had a conversation with her recently and during that conversation, she asked me if I was still writing blogs. I told her that it had been awhile since I had written one, and she proceeded to tell me that she personally finds writing to be therapeutic. I'm already aware of the benefits of writing, but my sister's words gave me an added bit of motivation. Although it has been on my mind to write about various topics on here within the past few months, I allowed other priorities to take over the lead. Now with all of that said, I want to thank my sister for the inspiration, and I also want to acknowledge that she is definitely right about writing being a form of therapy.

So for this time around, I'll be talking about why I see personal growth as a never ending process. Now there are many people that equate their level of wisdom solely to their age. These are the people that feel as if they're wiser than maybe someone younger than they are, primarily because the number of years they've been on this Earth may outnumber someone else. I do feel that there is some validity in someone older thinking this way, however, I also feel that the wisdom varies from person to person. Ever heard the saying that some people only get older in age, but not in mind? If you really consider it, wisdom is purely subjective to what a person has learned and experienced in this life, and while age can play a big factor, it's definitely not the sole determinant of how wise a person may be.

Some of you may wonder what this has to do with the topic at hand. Well, I brought up that point to state that there are many people that feel that because they've reached a certain peak within their lives, there isn't much more they can learn. This thinking especially shows for these people when it comes to them learning from others. I can say this without a doubt, because there have been times that I was one of those hard-headed stubborn individuals that carried the same narrow minded mindset. You see, a certain level of humility in a person is required in order to accept that no matter how much we may think we know, there is always something new that can be learned and applied to our lives. The biggest problem with this is that society has conditioned us that displaying a level of humility is a form of weakness, which is far from the truth in my opinion.

From my perspective, a person that displays a certain level of humility is a true staple of what being strong is. An individual that displays enough humility is strong enough to acknowledge that regardless of age and accomplishments, there is always room for personal growth. In the early 90's former professional basketball player Michael Jordan reached what many considered his peak when he helped carry the Chicago Bulls to three straight NBA championships. Do you really think that Michael would've come back and won 3 more titles in his 30's if he didn't feel that he could grow as a player? I highly doubt it. It's not my place to tell anyone else what to do, but if you're a person that feels that you're too big to take advice from others, then you're likely hindering your personal growth. There are various levels that come to mastering certain aspects of life. If you've managed to reach your peak in one area of your life, look for other flaws and areas of your life that can be worked on. Believe me when I say that there is always room for improvement. Personal growth is a process that should be applied every day, and it's not a process that producers results overnight. Always keep in mind that when a person stops looking for ways to grow and improve, that person that has likely stopped truly living. That's just my opinion.

I think I pretty much gotten the gist of what I wanted to get across out there, so I'm going to go ahead and bring this to an end. I hope there is some meaning and understanding to be gained from this post. Like always, I appreciate those of you that take out the time to stop by. This has been another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'. I'll see you all in the next post. Peace!

©2015 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.