The Revitalization of my Life-Day 120-Change 49

Now it's back to the real world. My vacation is over and work here I come! I must say that a week off from work is always good. Even though while I was off, I was still working. But it's a little different when you're working for yourself and you really enjoy what you are doing. I love being creative and designing websites and when I am doing it, it doesn't feel like work at all. Even though sometimes I get frustrated and things don't go according to plan, I still enjoy it! Also, last week was Classic week. I didn't plan on participating in any of the events because I had a few websites to get done and I wanted to utilize my time off. Well, with my hard work and strick schedule, I finished everything by Friday night and I got a chance to let my hair down. I alomost felt a little guilty, but I had to tell myself that everyone needs to take a break every now and then.

While I was out tailgating on Saturday, I got a chance to just reflect on life. I was sitting around thousands of people just having a good time and enjoying good company. I got a chance to see people I hadn't seen in a few years and it just felt good. I took my pen and notepad out there with me to jot down some notes for my novel and articles, but I never wrote one word. I was so taken by the comradery between everyone, until I just wanted to enjoy the memory in my head and not on paper. I figured I could write it down after I experience it. This experience made me realize that we, as a people, can come together and just have a good time without any of the extra (fussing, fighting, hatred, etc.). It's all about mind set. If you place within your mind that you are going to just have a good time and not focus on any of the negative things in life and around you, it can happen. While we were out tailgating, I noticed that was everyones motive. Even when situations occured, it was defused very quickly or ignored.

Even though this event comes only once a year, that doesn't mean that this is the only time we can have this type of comradery with each other. Events don't define our happiness and good moments. We do. We control how we act and who we are. If you participated in the Classic events or any event that caused joy to you, I want you to take this vow today. Take the vow to have the same tenacity and happiness that you had for the event and channel it into your everyday life and do something equivalent just one day a week. If you think this is too much because of your schedule, I will let you off the hook and say once a month for you. If you went out and had a good time with old friends, go out again and have fun with either new friends or existing friends. If you went out and bought and outfit and made sure that you were looking good, don't go out and buy an outfit every week. But you can spruce yourself up and look good for either your spouse, significant other or yourself.

You can't let events or moments define your happiness. Happiness is defined by you. You determine how you feel. Once you get control of this, you will see that life is worth more than you value it at. Take the vow and watch how your life changes in just a few weeks. If you don't believe me, prove me wrong and try it. If it doesn't work, I will buy you a cup of coffee from Starbucks for a week! Sorry, I'm not Oprah...I can't offer an ipad....not YET!!!

-K.J Swint

The Revitalization of my Life-Day 119-Change 48

WOW! Yesterday was a very fast pace day. I had a few meetings with my website clients and then I had to work on my own website and articles. I was drained. After all of my meetings I wanted to start working on my novel and my articles, but I got overwhelmed with the websites I am working on that I couldn't think striaght. It was like I couldn't get my mind to slow down. I wanted to focus on just one thing and do as much as I could on that one thing and then go to the next thing that was on my list. I just couldn't do it. Around 8pm, I just got in the bed. I felt like i had bitten off more than I could chew. While i was laying there I started thinking about making it and how others made it. I started thinking about those that had none of what I have and made it happen. I'm talking about the Tyler Perry's, Oprah Winfrey's, Harriet Tubman's. All of these people faced the dame issues I'm facing and the only way they made it was by not letting anything stop them.

I immediately got up after all this thinking and jumped in the shower. I just stood there for about 30 minutes and cleared my mind. When my mind was clear, I got out and got on the computer. I starting working on a website and got a good portion of it done. After that, I begin to write and I wrote until I started falling asleep. Now to tell you the truth, when I got in the bed, I couldn't sleep and I just tossed and turned pretty much all night. But I didn't let that stop me this morning either. I knew that I needed to relax so I took myself to breakfast and Egg & I. I sat there and ate peacefully. After that I went to Barnes and Nobles and I am now posting to this blog.

Sometimes things pile up and you feel as if you can't take it, but you have to remember to relax, gather your thoughts and let God take care of what you can't. You have to just do what you can. If you keep pushing, you will find yourself being pushed, not by you, but by God. Just like right now! I am being pushed by God, because if it were up to me, I would still be in the bed telling myself I need to rest because I didn't get any sleep last night. I have every excuse to be at home in the bed right now. I am on vacation. I haven't had any sleep. I have been working very hard on these websites...NO! I refuse to be defeated. I refuse to stand still and let life pass me by. Instead, I am going to get on the same ride as life and ride it out until I can't ride anymore. What are you going to do? Are you going to get on the ride with life, or just let it pass you by?

-K.J Swint

The Revitalization of my life-Day 118-Change 47

Well, I am very glad to inform you all that I finished a website yesterday but I didn't get to work on my novel very much. And there is a good reason why I didn't. A few weeks ago I received an email from an old high school friend that informed me that her mother was dieing from cancer and the doctor told her that she only had 30 days to live. She asked me if I would write two poems for her. One to put in the obituary and one for her to read at the funeral. After reading the email, I was taken back a little. It really hit home because I lost my mother at a very early age and my great grandmother when I was a teenager and I know how it is. Well, on yesterday she texted me and told me that she had passed away. It really did something to me. I immediately start thinking about what it felt like when my mother and great grandmother passed away. After a few seconds, I jumped on it! I started working on the poems last night because I refused to write them while she was alive.

I played songs that made me think of my mother and great grandmother. I went through about five or six drafts before I finished. She sent me a quick synopsis of what she thought about her mother and some of the things they did. She told me that before they got off the phone with each other they had a saying, "best mother, best daughter." After I had started on the poem, she asked me if I would include this at the end of the poem. But what she didn't know was that I had already done it. I sent her the poems to get her approval and she approved them. Here is one of the poems that I wrote for her...

Best Mother, Best Daughter

Upon faith is where she found her strength
As her love she gave that had no length

Within her soul, there lies the key
To the meaning of giving that’s tranquility
She gladly gave it to set me free
As God did for her and our family

Tears that fall from my eye are not from sorrow
But from the enchantment that she placed upon my tomorrow

Filling my heart with nothing but joy and glee
Giving me the ability to look beyond sight to see

See the beauty of faith that she blessed with love
Not depending on the hands of man but the hands from above

As they touched the soul of a woman that’s oh, so nice
Defeating the battle of the undefeated not once, but twice

Elegance was her scent as she was serenaded with hope
Placing the aroma of strength within the air to help all cope

Deliverance was her song and the tune is carried by grace
Creating a melody within my heart that keeps a smile upon my face

Today, I thank you Lord for all that you did for her
Until next time mom, “Best Mother, Best daughter”

-K.J Swint

The Revitalization of my Life-Day 117-Change 46

Finally, I am on vacation! Yes, I am off for an entire week. Well, I'm off but I still have a lot of work to do. I am at Starbucks right now and I plan on being here until around 3pm. And after I leave here, I plan on going to Barnes and Noble until 10pm. It's rough, but it has to be done. If I plan on making it, and I do, I have to put in the work and this is the only time where I have unlimited time and no constraints. I have 3 websites to complete and hopefully I can get a goood portion of my book done. If I do, I might let you all get a sneak preview of it. But that's only if I can get a good bit done.

Usually I have a story and then advice to follow but today is a little different. I am going to ask you all a question. And I want your honest opinion. I am in the process of trying to write articles for magazines. I have written a few interesting things and posted them on facebook. I've gotten some good responses but my question to you all is if I start writing for a magazine or website would you all read it? I am having a little doubt in my ability to write. I am trying to see if I'm interesting enough to read. I don't know if I will be posting articles everyday or every week or just once a month. I'm just trying to get my foot in the door. I would love it if you all would give me some feedback on this, if not I understand that you might be busy. This is what I will be working on all this week. Sorry for the short post, but I have to get back at it. I have to take advantage of all the time I have. But I will leave you with this thought.

Take advantage of all the time you have and prepare for what you want. A good friend of mine gave me the best advice I can think of, he said, "Success happens when opportunity meets preparation." And that's what I am doing...I am preparing for my opportunity.

-K.J Swint

The Revitalization of my Life-Day 116- Change 45

Once again, a GREAT morning it is followed by an interesting night last night. While I was at work I texted my wife to tell her not to worry about fixing me dinner because I was going to stop by BArnes and Noble to work on a website thats due by Saturday. Somewhere within the text, she thought I was doing this because she left her computer at work the night before and I needed it. You see, my computer won't log onto the internet with our wifi device and her's will. It will work with any other wifi device or service except mine. So I have to go to a place that offers free wifi to get any work done. So, I sent my wife a text back explaining my reasoning for going to Barnes and Noble, but I didn't feel as if she really got it. So me being the man that I am, I wanted everything to go over smooth and I didn't want any conflict (I hate unneccessary conflict).

While I was driving home, I was thinking that I should just go home and that way everything will be just fine and she wouldn't think I was trying to be anal about her not bringing her computer home. Well, I was about 5 minutes away from my exit and my mind was made up to go home. I was even in the far left lane. The closer I got to the BArnes and Noble exit, the calmer my spirit got. I started feeling energetic and relaxed all at once. I immediately swerved the car to the right and got off the exit. Granted, I only had two hours to work and sometimes two hours is not a lot of time when your doing web design. I just sat there and told myself that I needed to utilize all the time I had. When I got started, it was unreal. I was working on two websites at once and getting it DONE! I updated one of myu clients site and got a lot of the new site done. I was very impressed with myself. It gets better. When I got home I was a little drained being that I had rreally been working over 12 hours. I didn't even eat anything, I just jumped rigth in the bed because I knew I only had a few hours of rest ahead of me. Right before I closed my eyes, a thought ran through my head and I immediately pickep up my blackberry and started typing. I wrote an article titled The Next Day (if you click on The Next Day it will take you to--it's on my facebook page under my notes just in case your at work)

When you are working hard and trying to do the right thing, sometimes you have to sit back, relax and veer off course and get some things done that need to be done. Put aside the emotional part of the situation and get to the meaning of it. Yes, I could have gone home to make sure everything was ok, but I had a more important task at hand. I had to make a decision and I went with the decision of working on a website. Did I neglect my wife? No, not at all. What I did was "man upped" made a decision that was beneficial to both of us. I am learning that this is a major part of being a man. You have to be able to make sound decisions for your family and your family have to trust that you will make those sound decisions. So, ladies, do you let your man be a man and make those sound decisions that he needs to make or do you try to make them for him

-K.J Swint

The Revitalization of my Life-Day 115-Change 44

It's Monday and off to a good week. Didn't want to get out of bed because today is my off day. But I got up anyway and now I am at Starbucks trying to make it happen, excuse me for saying that...MAKING it happen. I was taught that you have to speak it into existence. Anyway. So this weekend, I really got out and did some things that I have been trying to do for a while ( a while meaning 3-4 months). I had a meeting with a potential client who wants me to design a website for his church. The meeting was at 10:30am Saturday. After the meeting, which he offered me the bid to do the website, I was feeling good and decided that I needed to visit my family. First I stopped by my grandfather's house to check on him. He just recently had surgery and is now doing much better. After I chit chatted with him for a while, I stopped by my uncle's house (this is the uncle that help raise me). When I got to his house, he was painting and my aunt was fussing telling him he needed to hurry and finish and get her house back in order. Watching them go back and forward fussing is so funny!

While I was there, I had a few drinks (lets just say that these drinks weren't soft drinks!) and we talked for a long time. I also helped him paint...let me stop, no I didn't. If he knew I said that he would laugh his head off because I can't do any laboring work like that around the house. While I was there talking to my uncle about everything from computers to life lessons I started thinking. I was thinking about how every time I go over his house he never ask me to bring anything and no matter how much I eat or drink he never says anything about replenishing what I ate or drank. Then it hit me, that's what family is all about. My uncle doesn't care about food or drinks or money, but what he does care about is his nephew being ok. Wow, I think I got a little emotional there for a minute. This is the reason I am the way that I am. Because I am more in tune with friendship, family and not material things. Material things can come and go and they tend to get old and out dated and a new version usually comes out a few minutes after you purchase them. But memories are one thing that never get old. Moments are part of the memory family and they never get old either. They are just a family that never age.

Take the time to cherish moments and memories because they are worth more than we value them at. I had a GREAT Saturday this weekend and it didn't cost me a dime. The only thing I spent was my time. How are you spending your time?

-K.J Swint

The Revitalization of my Life-Day 114-Change 43

Once again, another good day and this good day started last night. After I got off work last night, I went home and did my usual thing. I spoke to the wife, got into some comfortable clothes and took Maui (the dog) out. As soon as we got outside, he begin to do his business with no hesitation. I was really proud of him and told him I was. Yes, I talk to my dog as if he is human (don't knock until you have had a house dog...I use to think the same way). After we came back inside, my wife feed him because his stomach was growling. Yes, for a split second I was a bad owner because I didn't feed him and I didn't hear his stomach growling. Thank God for wives! Because he is confined to his cage do to his illness, we put his food in the cage with him right in the front. He usually eats and when he is finish he will just sit there and stare at you as if he was saying, ok I'm done, get this out of my cage. Well, last night he had other things on his mind. I was eating as well not really paying him any attention but I could see him out the corner of my eye. Once he finished his food, he leaped over his food bowl nad ran over beside the couch where I was sitting and sat right beside me.

You might be saying to yourself, 'what's so great about that?' Well, the great thing about it is that a few weeks ago, he could barely mve his back legs because of the disease that he has. That leap of faith he took shows that he is improving. And it also shows that he is tired of being in his cage all the time. It happened so quick until I couldn't beleive it. I yelled for my wife and she couldn't hear me because she had the shower running so I ran into the room and told her to come look. When she got in the living room she was like, what am I looking at. I told her to just look at how everything is and see if you can tell what happened. She just looked like I don't get it. So I told her that he leaped over his food bowl and came and sat beside me. I was like a little kid in a candy store with a hundred dollars. I was so excited that he was improving. I never in a millio years thought that I would be this way about a dog. I let him sit there with me for a while because he had done exceptionally well at improving.

All of this happened because of two things, hard work and prayer. When he first got sick, I was so taken I didn't know what to do. Especially when the doctors told us that the surgery would cost $2500-$3000. When I sat down and thought about what to do, that voice came to me again and said, "just do what you always do and give it to me." But this time I did something I had never done before. I sat beside Maui's cage and placed my hand on him and I begin to pray for him. I must admit, I felt weird doing it, but I knew that it was something that I had to do.

This is how we have to do in our everyday life. We have to work hard at what we are trying to accomplish. God loves to see us putting in effort and time into things that we want to achieve. I think he really likes it when he steps back when something goes wrong and takes his hands away and we fight through it and make it happen. I think that makes him proud of us. Don't give up when things get rough, just use what you have and keep trucking. Work hard at it and pray hard as well and eventually, things will turn around. Just be ready when they do.

-K.J Swint

The Revitalization of my Life-Day 113-Change 42

Yes, I have not posted to my blog in a while and yes there is a reason for it. I have been a little busy trying to get things in order. By things things i mean life issues. The first issue that arose was my dog. He was diagnosed with this common disease within his breed (Datsun). The one true way to get rid of it is surgery. The cost of surgery is $2500-3000. Truth be told, couldn't afford it, so we had to do the next best thing, let nature take it's course and see if he gets better. In the meanwhile we had to continue with his daily routine which is taking him out by hand and sitting with him while he uses the bathroom and help him stand up while he is doing it. This is what has been taking my time away from blogging because he had to get use to using the bathroom a different way. Now, he won't use the bathroom if my wife takes him out...only when I take him out. So now that he has his routine back and his eating schedule is back on pace, I am able to leave home early enough to blog before I go to work.

The other issues that have occured are work related. They've asked us to start coming in earlier and that's not good for me because I get all of my writing done in the mornings and I can't get them done at night because my computer doesn't cooperate with my Sprint wifi device. I need to purchase another computer to make my life a little easier, but I have to wait. I have to take care of home before I take care of myself.

And that's what it's all about...taking care of home before you take care of yourself. My dog and my wife are my family and I have to make sure they are taken care of before anything is done for Kelvin. I have to make sure he has his medicine and goes to the bathroom before I leave for work. I know that he is on a schedule so if the guys want to meet up after work, I have to decline and go home and take care of him. It's only temporary and that's the least I can do for the little guy since he has been so devoted to me. Greeting me every day I get off work and never complaining about anything I do. He never asked me for more than what I was giving him. And if he did, he would only ask for more attention and play time. Make sure that home is taken care of before you take care of yourself and you will see that self will get taken care of just because you put self last and family first. This is how God wants it to be. When you take this action, he notices and will make sure that you are well taken care of. If you don'y believe me, try it. I am back to blogging because I took care of home first. What will you do? Will you take care home before you take care of self?

"Luck can make it happen, hard work is what maintains it"
-K.J Swint