I do believe however that Nostradamus, the ancient Mayans and the like do have something going for them in their predictions.  I firmly believe that this year of 2012 will bring about amazing and unpredictable outcomes for all the people in all places; that this year of 2012 will be in fact as they say “The End”, but not the end of life but the end or our obstacles.  I am living within the certainty of a finer future coming into being, I need only continue walking the path that is the beautiful struggle and stay alive to meet that day when it comes.  This is all I must do and as such, this is all that you must do.  This is all anyone must do if they are mired within their own beautiful struggle, fighting the good fight.

I cannot explain it to you only state the facts as I see them, that this is the year of your breakthrough.  This is the year of your miracle.  This is the year of your explosive blessing.  This is the year of moving from the back of the line to the reserved seats. This is the year of your overcoming.  This is the year you’ve been waiting for.  This is the year of you!

Astronomically speaking the December 21st, 2012 A.D. (13.0.0.0.0 in the Long Count), represents an extremely close conjunction of the Winter Solstice Sun with the crossing point of the Galactic Equator (Equator of the Milky Way), nothing more.  It’s the year when like other long past ages the galaxy gets a makeover as NASA puts it.  Some have interpreted this to mean the end is near, that humanity has only days left to enjoy it while it yet lasts.  I know this to be false and interpret this as the end of impediments, the end of the madness, the end of the writer’s block, the end of complacency, the end of apathy, the end of not having enough, the end of the old way of living our lives.

2012 is not the end of the world but the end of an era in which too many of us have failed to recognize that we have and surrendered our intellectual fortitude for the convenience of obliviousness.  Ignorance is not bliss.  If you are ignorant of your ability to conquer that which seeks to defeat you and the obstacles that lie before you than you are probably not living very blissfully at the moment.  2012 is the year that we refuse to pass away quietly into the night but instead see, feel and taste orgasmic victory though our winning the good fight.

Being great is not a matter of social status, background, or income bracket. It’s a destiny decision. It’s deciding that beyond all odds, there is still something great in you and about you. It’s about deciding that your destiny is too valuable to waste.  Greatness comes from the hard work we do AFTER we finish the hard work we’ve already done.  Everything you want in life has a cost that is non-refundable, I teach people how to pay the price!

Join me at the P.R.O.G.R.E.S.S. to P.O.W.E.R. workshop series!  Support The Omaha Ambassador Trek! Subscribe to OmahasFinest.com

Joseph G. Smith, II

Founder

New World Vision, LLC

In the brief time that has taken place in this year of 2012, here in Omaha, Nebraska, at the time of this writing 1/14/12, we’ve had 17 shootings in 14 murders in days.  The lives devastated by the violence and tragic loss of life are both young and old, black and white and beyond, men and women and for any meaningful solution to occur will require the cooperative and creative efforts of all.  Only with the amalgamation of our whole society will we be able to cease the destructive disruption of destroyed lives and their accompanied dreams which will never know fruition.  Only a dedication of ourselves to become our very best selves will we be able to collectively save ourselves from mutually assured destruction. For these reasons we must act.

Each day is a new opportunity for us all to right the wrongs of the past and to forge a greater destiny than others believe possible for our individual selves and the world at large.  This year like all other years is a time for New Year’s Resolutions, as it is also a time for those who make these resolutions to break those resolutions as is custom among the masses.  January 1^st marks the day when thousands take the first step toward fitness and increased health and February 1^st marks the day when many of that group will have given up on those resolutions.  This type of attitude and approach to the new opportunities in this new year will not suffice if we are to acquire that which we seek, finish what we start and become more than we are.  We need more than a change but a whole paradigm shift in our thinking and actions to make the difference that we so badly need.  During this time of 2012 we must commit to make real our New Year’s REVOLUTIONS!

We need a New Year’s Revolution more than any resolution.  Revolution means change.  A revolution IS change and this change does not automatically denote violence or the need or call for it.  A revolution means and is change, no matter how that change comes about.  A change in thinking, a change in perception, a change in attitude, a change in effort, a change in strategy, a change in our empathy, a change in our mentality, a change in our spiritually, a change in our whole being.

Change is what we need and change is what we want here in Omaha, Nebraska.  Too many of our brothers have died.  Too many of our mothers have cried.  Too many sisters have signed at the seemingly hopelessness of it all.  The mindless travesty that are the violent tragedies of this community need not be exacerbated nor be made permanent and that is why we must act.  We must act with righteousness in our revolutionary actions to change our fortunes and change our futures.

There exists only 2 ways in which a person may be fooled.  The 1^st is to believe what isn’t true and the 2^nd is to refuse to believe what is true.  We must be vigilant in the guarding of our perspectives which fuel our actions.  We must not allow the negative naysayers to write the script of our lives as this script is ordained by God to be written for us by us but if we’re not careful we will give others power and authority over us.

As Martin Luther King Jr. had his dream so too I have my own.  And my dream is to not only allow freedom to ring but to join together collectively in concert with you to make the madness come to an end.  The greatness of our combined effort can make this real. The achievements of these actions are not impossible but instead inevitable.  We need only the courage to act and if we are committed to our New Year’s Revolutions, we will and soon thereafter our communities and our world will never be the same.  Life is too brief to live on with regrets.  We must love those who treat us right and forgive those who don’t just because we can.  I for one pledge today to become a better man, believing everything happens for Gods reasons.  If we get a second chance then let us grab it with both hands.  If it has the potential to change our lives, let it.  Take a few minutes and come to know now the wonder that is your own life and marvel at the start of this new year which is your second chance to grab hold tight and work to make right all that you’re able to with all your might.

Crossing the finish line.  In the end that’s what it’s all about.  I know first hand what its like to work toward something and you literally pour your heart and soul into, a project or effort and to do so anxiously awaiting the day you can voice two wonderful words, “I’m done”.  Writing my first solo book The Crossover: Making Your Biggest Dreams Your Greatest Reality and I can attest to the wonderful feeling and experience it is to say “I’m done”.  There are many historic individuals who know the joy of having completed something wonderful and there are many more who only know the beginnings of the journeys of dream fulfillment but have never traversed through the rigorous obstacle course that is the dream fulfillment and enlightenment process.

Just about everyone has started something.  You begin a new diet and exercise regimen because you want to lose 40lbs before your 10 year high school reunion.  You finally start to actually do something about the business idea that you’ve got in your head so you actually begin putting your business plan together or you’ve decided that this is the year that you enroll in school and go for the career that you know you deserve.  So you make the conscious determination that these things, whatever they may be are valuable and important for you but so as life is for us all, things come up, our time becomes more pressed and eventually that special goal, that unique and beloved vision falls by the wayside and is set on the shelf dying the slow death of wonderful things that never was and great moments that never were.  This happens to all of us but it is up to only us to develop and maintain the power to last.

The power to last is our inner ability to persevere and carry on, to overcome, beat and to best our greatest opponents in the industries and areas that we have planted our flag and made our marks by our actions.  The power to last is your rock solid tested ability to start, wade through and complete fully the tasks that must be done to complete the dream fulfillment process, the great crossing over.

The power to last just means having the strength to finish what you start.  Some people are great at this.  Others are not so good.  Either way we all have the ability to summon up this magnificent power but you have to know what tools and resources you have at your disposal that can aide in the growth and cultivation of the power.  Above all it is faith that is your greatest resources that you can bring to bear in your fight for your desired destiny.  Faith in God, faith in yourself, faith in your idea, and your ability to run the gauntlet and live to tell the tale.  The journey of dream fulfillment is a most lovely journey yet at times our faith will be all that we have.  All things physical pass away and you’ve got to rely on a force, on a power and ability that exists within the unseen but is with us always.  Tapping into this inner strength is the key to having and maintaining the power to last.  The courage and ability to undergo the experiences of long suffering and arduous labor so that we may complete the great crossing over of the abyss separating us in the now from the grand place of dream fulfillment is a key ingredient to completion; to making it to the end and actually having what you originally set out to possess.

Eminem said he’s been “chewed up and spit out  and booed off stage but I kept rhyming and stepwritin the next cypher, believe somebody’s payin the pied piper…, I’ve got to formulate a plan before I end up in jail or shot, success is my only mothafuckin option failures not.  Mom, I love you, but this trailer’s got to go, I cannot grow old in Salem’s lot.  So here I go this is my shot.  Feet fail me not cause maybe this maybe the only opportunity that I got”  

What he says here is important because what it demonstrates here is the power to last.  There surely must be an internal power available if one is able to summon the will and courage to get on stage and perform anything let alone to go through the experience and then get booed off stage and yet go back again and again and again.  Eminem, no matter if you enjoy his music or not, hate him or not, tapped into his power to last and not long ago rolling stone magazine declared him king of hip-hop.  How can one become king of any industry if you do not first have the stick-to-it-tive will to fight through the hard and difficult times as they are en route to the good?  One cannot!

Completing the great crossover is going to mean you having to experience and undergo the fight of your life.  I’m talking about the fight for your life.  To fulfill your dreams is indeed a fight for your life because without a dream to bring about or fight, live and die for, life is not life.  Though we want things to be easier we cannot have what we seek or yearn for without hardship.  We so often want to fight the fight we can win when truly we must fight the fights that need fighting and those fights are the ultimate battle royal for your future however glorious or dim we allow them to become.  You can’t be what you’re not.  But with hard work, dedication and education you can be what you want.

Without struggle there is no progress.  You must be as confident as Eminem.  When failure is no longer an option, then what burns deep within you will not be denied and you will overcome.  You shall crossover. You will boisterously utter the wonderful words, “I’m Done”!

To your Health, Wealth & Happiness,

Joseph G. Smith, II

The struggle is a struggle and it involves all of what that word means, to exert great pressure, energy and resources so that ones efforts bear fruit or problems become solved.  No crop can be harvested without first sowing seeds and tending the fields and likewise no goal can be reached without first giving birth to an original idea and nurturing it through righteous action and adhering to your plans in spite of setbacks, deterrents, and especially all the comments from the negative naysayers, some of whom will be your friends and even members of your own family.  In many respects, that is indeed the most difficult challenge; to overcome the odds on your at times perilous journey receiving from those who should be first to offer encouragement but offer instead scorn, criticisms and condemnation of your dreams.  What amounts to dreams and/or fantasies of possible realities to others have become your entire life.  How do you overcome the rejection of those you love most, who would benefit the most from your achievements but offer vitriolic rhetoric instead?  The answer to this lies within our own hearts and it is there we will find the strength, desire and will to succeed.

The struggle for your dreams begins and ends with you.  No matter your desires and no matter the number of type of obstacles success ultimately rests upon you.  All struggles, great and small do come to an end but it is we alone who decide the circumstances of our fates.  Victory or loss, success or failure ultimately depends upon us.  What is the worth of your dreams to you?  What are you willing to tolerate? What burdens will you bear to bring about the great conclusion to your struggle?  The struggle for our dreams can be a beautiful experience if and only if the intensity of that which opposes us is met by the greater ferocity for victory within our own hearts and our character through which we will ultimately persevere.  Perseverance is possible but certainly not easy.  To persevere means to endure.  It means to walk upon the proverbial fork in the road and blaze a new trail through the middle as the great pioneers of our past have done.  For what we choose to accomplish is a first, if not for humanity most assuredly for ourselves. 

The end of that which we seek to accomplish will come into being when we realize that our purpose is stronger than the obstacles that attempt to thwart us, that our God given gifts, which are our unique talents that we possess and wield, are more potent than any weapon that can be drawn against us.  Which is the reason those weapons will not prosper.  While we are in it, our struggles do not seem beautiful at all.  That is because our perspective on life and our status within it is skewed by the circumstances of the moment.  We become so bogged down with our own tribulations that we fail to realize that we’re being molded into better people by the pressures of the day.  Your car breaks down and you must walk to your destinations for a time.  It’s tiring and you’re hot and fatigued but until this moment you never knew how strong you were.  Until that moment you never appreciated your vehicle the way you do now that it’s gone.  Until that moment you never knew empathy for those walking on the side of the road who you only thought of in anger as you perceived them to be in your way as you drove around in a needless hurry.  The struggle, as difficult as it may have been and as long lasting as it may seem, only the struggle we’re mired in is capable of making us into who we’re destined to become. 

The struggle is beautiful because it is existence within the struggle that we learn and come to know that we are more than soft bodies and minds easily susceptible to suggestions, it is only though the struggle we prove to others and ourselves that we are made of sterner stuff.  We are capable of more than we know and we are powerful beyond measure.  While we may not know how the struggle ends we do know that we have survived other struggles in our past and we will survive this one.  We have succeeded in other areas and we will succeed in this one. 

Throughout history it has occurred time and again that those who achieved greatness did so only while and after they were surrounded by what appeared to be total imminent defeat.  As it was for histories heroes so it is for we trailblazers in our time carving a greater existence from remnants of eras gone by for the favored futures of sons and daughters who are themselves the mothers and fathers of our collective fortunes.  

Galileo may have been convicted of heresy by the Catholic Church in 1633 but he did go on to invent the telescope, becoming an integral part of human space exploration.  Thomas Edison failed many times to achieve the results he sought but said “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”  He continues on to create one of humanities greatest modern marvels, commercially available electric light and with the phonograph…recorded sound!  Having been turned down by over 1000 agents, becoming totally broke, divorced by his wife, even after going without heat in the harsh New York  winter and turning down large sums of money offered and not as a reward for talents possessed or services rendered Sylvester Stallone stood by his beliefs until he was offered what he sought all along, the leading role in the American movie classic “Rocky” and $35,000 cash.  It wasn’t the money he was after but the role in the film that he knew he was meant to play.  During this struggle that we now can recognize a beautiful transition into historic American heroes as Rocky Balboa, John Rambo, and any given named mercenary for hire in the latest action flick coming to a movie theatre near you.

Your dreams are dreams until you and only you make them come true.  Until you complete the great crossover, the completion of the journey of your dreams from the realm of thought and imagination to our reality to be experienced by all.  This great crossover is not just possible it is inevitable so long as we never put to rest our desires for grand achievements offering our lives special meaning and likewise the world special gifts. 

The dawning of a new world starts first with the dawning of a new self.  That brilliantly radiant dawn is on its way, indeed it is on the horizon no matter how dim present surroundings may appear.  Through faith, a terrific tenacious stick-to-it-tive effort, the blessings meant for you will arrive and with your ascending to greatness so too will you go on to bless others through righteous actions born out of brotherly love.  Surely service is the rent that we pay to occupy our place in this time on this planet. 

The struggle always continues as we always are evolving.  History proves that if we remain steadfast and confident we will be victorious if we are forever forward moving.  We cannot conquer what we do not confront so it is with hearts, souls and minds lit aflame wit blessed enthusiasm for finer futures we charge, engage, and fight the good fight because we know we shall overcome!

To your Health, Wealth & Happiness,

 Joseph G. Smith, II

The pressure and hostile conditions that form these diamonds will likewise mold and mend us into what we inevitably become.  Though we have little control of the events and circumstances that befall us we have absolute and total control over our responses to the pressure and hostile circumstances that happen to all of us every single day.  What we each control most are our attitudes and how we go about the rigors of life in spite of not due to.  If it is our attitude that determines our altitude, as suggested by a wise person once, then the choice to either sink or swim or to levitate and rise above the drama and succeed at all cost is ours alone.  I’ve no intent to be cliché but we cannot control the hands that we’re dealt.  We can merely learn to play the cards we do have better and enhance our graciousness whatever the outcome, win or lose and if we do lose, to know that it’s okay.  Though we do not choose to lose we do choose to lose like winners. 

To lose like a winner actually means to do nothing but win no matter what.  Winning can be defined as coming out the victor in an athletic competition or a battle of wits as well as what most fail to see and recognize as the ability to face the pressure yet not succumb to it, to fail yet feel the fear of trying and failing again yet doing it anyway.  Indeed storms will come, they will come, dissipate and come again but it is how we ride out those storms that will become the measurement of our character and indication of our untapped resilience. 

It’s hard but worthwhile to practice these things.  It goes beyond merely thinking positive or just being generally optimistic.  It’s about having your worst night occur while living and maintaining Gods grace.  Though we weather the storm we marvel at the miracle of our survival of it.  Yea though we walk though the valley of the shadow of death we field the blessing of being able to walk, to walk right out of deaths valley and hike to the peaks of victory. 

To get to where we want to go we’ve got to believe even when it’s unbelievable.  When things go wrong it’s easy to be depressed.  Its easier still to wallow in self pity, walking around defeated and condemned thinking that the best life has to offer is a swift kick in the butt.  Just because some things in our lives are negative doesn’t mean that we should live our lives within the negative.  You might be down on your luck and you may have been down for a long time as I had been once myself I came to realize that existing within the negative is too costly and taxing to your body and your spirit.  At some point you get to laughing at what used to make you cry.  Sure you’ve got to deal with the challenges of the present but in this beautiful struggle you begin to do what good church folk always advise us to do, not let the devil steal our joy. 

I believe Rocky Balboa says it best when speaking to his son in part 6 of the series after his son has a career setback.  “The world aint all sunshine and rainbows.  It’s a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it.  Not me, you or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life.  But it aint about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward”. 

Our time on earth much like the choices we make is precious, should not be wasted and are capable of both good and bad.  Existing in the eye of the hurricane is neither desirable nor easy but within the epic calamity that can be our lives in moments of duress we reaffirm our capacity for stoicism and embrace the beautiful struggle that is life and dream pursuit.  Success comes from failure.  Surly no man succeeds at greatness without falling short enough times to make more proficient the talents and skills necessary to ascend to the highest levels of dream fulfillment.  Practice never makes perfect.  Practice only makes progress and as our long departed brother Mr. Frederick Douglass so once eloquently said, “Without Struggle There Is No Progress”!

To your Health, Wealth & Happiness,

Joseph G. Smith, II

Belief is power but belief is hard.  Belief is tough.  It’s very tough to maintain because you’re one day going to be confronted with questions posed to yourself about your own life. “Is this REALLY going to work”? “Am I wasting my time”? “What am I doing wrong?” “Why is this happening to me”? and “What can I do about it”?  It is during these stressful times of massive doubt, when you’re facing what seems to be insurmountable odds and its just problem after problem and even more things seem to come out of the woodwork, it is what you do in these moments that will determine your outcome and will affect the likely hood of success.  Important to note that I’m writing this as someone who is on his way to and believes in but has not physically seen the mountaintop.  I am working to achieve the 1^st ever Omaha Ambassador Trek, living each day working toward what I know to be inevitable.  This is my dream and my effort to leave a legacy in my community.  With your dreams you must perform each day with a level of certainty steadily increasing over time no matter what setbacks you’ve had or times you’ve failed which will be more than you think.  I believe it to be this generation who will reach into the historical record and find strength, motivation and tools to galvanize their compatriots and upon the authority of their own do good for goodness sake.  

Yet to make that great impact, to create a legacy worthy of remembrance in times far off you must believe when things are bad; really bad.  You have to believe you can win even when everything says you can’t and that you won’t; the tough turbulent times when you become almost convinced of your certain failure.  That time is marked by moments when we say “I’ll never accomplish….”  It’s like being trapped in the desert dying, panting, needing and praying for water.  And in chasing a mirage would you rather die seeking water with a possibility of having never found it or to exist and still die in the current position believing it doesn’t exist?  And dying doesn’t necessarily denote physical death but the slow agonizing death of a once promised future that needed the nurturing goodness of positive action.  I’m yet a young man but I can imagine the deep sorrow and regret of those who’ve lived life having never truly lived it.  Surly the wealthiest place on earth is the cemetery.  There you will find those who took with them to their crypts songs left unsung, pictures never drawn placed on the wall to be hung, books that were never written and people who had yet been forgiven, dreams lost forever to fear; False Evidence Appearing Real. You must act.  A choice must be made and you must decide how bad do you want it.  

The veil of impossibility must focus on what’s possible and not what might go wrong.  Sometimes we feel it is better to never try than to try and fail.  These are complex emotions.  But we must still confront our own self doubt and recognize that our destinies are in our hand.  Real change happens when ordinary people get sick and tired of being sick and tired and finally DO SOMETHING!   

At times the most difficult and important decisions will be made under extreme adversity, immense struggle during times when absolute and certain death are all but inevitable.  It is when this beyond tumultuous time that you must decide to keep going forward into the great unknown or go back to the bland world of conventionalism, exerting all of your energies and talents for the business and ideas of people other than yourself.  Anyone can have an idea.  Anyone can dream up something but it takes a truly extraordinary individual to pursue that idea and fight like hell to bring that dream into reality, kicking and screaming if need be.  You’ve got to be prepared and willing to give all you’re got and them some; to shed blood sweat and tears if need be to get what you want  You’ve got to sacrifice to get what you want and sacrifice doesn’t happen unless you give something up.  What are you willing to give up to get the things that you want? And until you truthfully answer that question you aren’t ready for what you want. 

While going after your dreams it is certain you will meet discouragement, rejection, failure disappointing, grief and pain as you go forth happily to deal and dance with our most hated intangible enemies to advance progress toward the glorious future we envision.  A price must be paid for you to make the great crossover, to bring forth the vision that has held the attention of your minds eye for so long.  And if you dare not just to dream but to dream larger than your imagination has done before and willingly pay any price and bear any burden, having courageously done so will cross that great divide, the abyss separating mediocrity and greatness, dreams and reality.  Certainly with your tenacious effort, the grace of God will take you farther than you ever thought possible and with his holy help it shall be so.

There is much our Omaha Dream Team needs in terms of support.  I don’t have all the answers.  All I’ve got is an unwavering love of God and faith that the people I need to partner with, the businesses whose advertising and sponsorship I’m seeking will cross my path at the appropriate time.  Goal attainment does not occur by having faith and sitting on the couch waiting for Gods manifestation to appear and endow us with we need.  We have to work to exercise our faith.  Faith without works is dead.  Martin Luther King Jr. was the fiercest advocate for the poor in all of American history and for those who choose to study and know history you will learn that he worked his faith through more than speeches and marches. And for us in our time we must be the fiercest advocate there is for whatever cause we choose to take up. We must fight for what we want because no one else will.  No one will believe until you believe in yourself.  

All the conditions on Earth are the cumulative result of our collective action or inaction.  Each thing we do impacts and shape the world in the most profound ways that in many respects are beyond our comprehension.  A simple kind word of support can be the encouraging blessing that someone needs to make it through the trials they are going through.  We must make a commitment to being the best and most respectful selves that we can be.  As a Christian I believe in both heaven and hell. I work, hope and pray that when my time comes I will live out eternity with my lord and savior Jesus Christ but as a human being and citizen of the global community I’m well aware that the conditions we create, live, struggle and excel under, no matter if you are a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or atheist, the choices that we make can create both heavenly and hellish conditions for us all.  In the here and now the decisions we make are shaping what will be our grandchildren’s future.  In all of our daily actions we’ve got to think about the future and our descendents who’ve yet to arrive.  When they look back and ponder upon what we their ancestors have done, will they be thankful and benefit from our work and exerted energies and appreciate our struggle to propel the next generation forward or will they be cleaning up the mess we left behind fighting the same battles. What we do today will answer that question. 

In our march toward destiny the enemy, whomever you believe them to be, the devil, or back stabbing friends or the ever expanding number of miscellaneous haters will make every attempt to not just stop you from achieving your dreams but to make you thwart your own plans, making you doubt your own abilities and what you’re capable of resulting in your eventual defeat. 

We cannot afford to remain on the sidelines of history while others write it for us.  Ascending to our proper placement in life is no easy task.  To create the heavenly like conditions we seek is more than hard.  Living life under circumstances not of our own choosing is even harder.  

 We can at times become over wrought with second guessing and doubt not knowing if our efforts are futile, constantly asking ourselves “will this ever work”? Only if we keep up the pursuit will it ever work.  The truth is we do have the power to usher into existence our dreams and bring about a new reality for ourselves, those we love and indeed the world.  Once we begin to see our dreams realized piece by piece the wonders of God become more real, personal and our faith will be increased and in our minds what was once possible has now become inevitable.  What you are working toward becomes certain to a degree not thought of before.  Our faith, our certainty, our unwavering belief in the possible impossibilities are the building blocks of our staircase to heaven.  A staircase leading to the possible and productive futures we seek for ourselves and will ultimately remake our world for the betterment of all.    

Get busy living or get busy dying.  Strong and true words spoken by Tim Robbins character in the film The Shawshank Redemption that statement is relevant to what we do with our time here on earth and weather or not we strive to make a genuine difference in the world.  In my view we are either constantly engaged in the beautiful struggle for progress or allowing life to just happen as it is rather than shape it into what we know it must become.  The later is dying the former is living.  If you don’t have a dream and are not working toward something larger than yourself or something you’ve never had, you’re dead.  Sure you are physically alive, you are breathing and taking up space and it can be called life technically, but is it really?  What man is a man who does not make the world better?  What life is a life not dedicated to personal and intellectual growth and fulfillment?

If at this moment the reasons for your life have yet to be revealed, if you feel incomplete, inadequate or otherwise unsatisfied because of some goal or desire continues to elude you, can you really remain on the sideline of history doing nothing and just accept the continual dissatisfaction?  There is only one logical choice and that choice is to act.  And choosing to act means dedicating  yourself to making yourself and the place you dwell, better.  

In our time and on this world Gods hands truly are our own and the manifestation of his goodness and the bestowing of his blessings will correspondingly come through us.  Someone somewhere is in need of and awaiting a blessing that we have been charged to deliver. Blessing those around us by doing good deeds blesses us in turn.  We’ve got to exercise our faith by helping others get what they need so that we may attain the things that we want.  The best time to do this is now.  God Bless you! 

Joseph G. Smith, II

January 1^st marked the start of a New Year but also the beginning of a new decade.  This decade must be claimed by each of us individually and collectively as a nation.  The circumstances of 2010 the year and the entire decade of which it was part differ for all of us but one can conclude that the first ten years of this New Millennium has been beyond challenging for our country.  Indeed for far too many this previous decade has been down right deadly as we saw the wicked success of evil with the attacks on 9/11, we witnessed the start of two wars, one waged in response to attack and in remembrance of lives lost and yet another which divided our nation over circumstances that are hotly contested to this day.  And while economic forecasts are predicting positive outcomes for our country in the foreseeable future, ranking at the top of our bad luck will be the Great Recession of 2008 that destroyed more than the retirement plans of our citizens but also ate away at the historical confidence of America that’s been in place since the conception of the United States.  That confidence, that overriding optimism, the intangible faith we have as Americans that we can do, suffer through and overcome whatever we must to get to where we want to be, to where we know we were born to be is what carried us through those troubled times and is what will propel us further into our glorious futures.

Our American identity and history is a testimony to all that we’re capable of.  We can and will bear any burden for our faith, families and freedom.  Trek thousands of miles through the uncharted frontier in the dead of winter; no problem, willfully put your life on the line for the cause of liberty and freedom; sure thing, face down calls for your assassination and proceed with what you know must be done and actually do for the cause if it’s a worthy one; you bet.  That’s just who we are a as a people.  That’s the spirit of this great country in action.  That’s what it means to be an American.

Power cedes nothing without being demanded to do so and to get the change that we want, to take our lives into a different direction and have ownership over our destinies we must demand a greater performance level from ourselves.  We have to begin to do all the things we know we should have done last year but didn’t.  Yes, it its time to claim ownership over our lives and fortunes and destinies by being new people in this new decade; but we’ve got to do something that’s new to many of us and that is to stick with it.  We’ve got to have stick-to-itiveness.  It’s not enough to start.  It’s not even enough to finish.  We’ve got to start, get going and keep going and going and going further still. We’ve got to have the longevity to outlast even the energizer bunny.  Indeed we’ve got to become our own energizer bunnies with our own internal power sources dedicated to fueling our fortunate futures.

Each new day presents new opportunities as well as new challenges. Each New Year and new decade as is the case now also offers the opportunity to prove and present to the world some new truths.  These truths center around one major truth which is that we all, every single one of us, are endowed with an inner ability, a power to change our lives, change the world and depending upon the technology that someone younger will create, change the universe.

Over the course of our shared history one theme has been prevalent more than any other and that is that everything ever thought impossible by humans has been turned on its face by others through the stubborn persistence of those who knew it could be done, who looked at what’s been called impossible and saw was instead possible.  Think the Earth is the center of the universe?  Don’t tell that to Galileo.    Anyone who believed self propelled machines would never replace the power and carrying capacity of horse and buggy systems, Henry Ford has some words for you.  Didn’t think America would ever have a Black president?  Martin Luther Kin, Jr. did and predicted we’d have one in 40 years during an interview with the BBC in 1964.  You can see and hear his prophetic words here  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/7838851.stm.

When our current thought processes and actions, efforts and strategies, plans and projects are not or no longer yielding the results we need or are aiming for, it is time for the development and adoptions of new systems and ideologies for the better advancement and safeguarding of our desired futures.  We cannot begin this New Year and new decade with old actions and even older thoughts and life perspectives.  This will not suffice for bringing about the new realities we seek.

If in this New Year your desire is to be a new you, you’ve got to develop, adopt and sustain a new view.  And as we do this individually we must do this collectively as a nation seeking to hold onto and expand upon its greatness.  It is not enough to merely tell others and chant amongst ourselves that we are #1.  We must go through the beyond difficult process of actually becoming #1 and you do this through rigorous study, debate, research, development, prayer and consistency.

Our best days lie before us.  We need only to change, to adapt to ever varying circumstances of life and work to look at our challenges through new eyes.  Our country and we, each have the ability to both destroy and save one another.  There are those who see and approach global challenges believing that the only effective solutions will come through conflict; that only through the terrible rhythm of war can we once again know peace.  I’ve a different view based upon a not so hidden truth that no matter its origins war produces victims, whom cling to hatred, who commit terrorism, which produces victims, whom cling to hatred, and wage war, which produces victims, whom cling to hatred, who commit terrorism, which produces victims, whom cling to hatred, and wage war.  All of this serves only the devils aim of our mutually assured destruction.  Now is our time to make and live the change we want to see in the world and we must begin this task immediately.

While the opportunity to carry over the baggage from last year and the last decade exists so to does our chance to right the wrongs of yester year and usher in a new and blessed era of peaceful coexistence.  I’ve got this new view and I pray that my countrymen, my brothers and sisters in Christ and fellow citizens of the world do too.

To your Health, Wealth & Happiness,

Joseph G. Smith, II

Founder

OmahasFinest.com

We know thanksgiving by its many characteristics: The falling brown leaves, turkeys in abundance, and of course the countless sales commercials and deep discounted offers on everything from toys to the latest electronic widget are all indicative of the holiday being upon us.  Probably the most important indicator of all is not the turnkey but the Salvation Army bell ringers.  They are the men and women who don winter gear, brave the cold night and day and day and night wielding Christmas bells as a nonverbal suggestion to give. 

Giving.  When you get past our flurry of travel and dinner plans giving lies at that heart of our great American tradition.  We give thanks for our blessings, we give money to the bell ringers and many others give their time volunteering for worthy causes.  No matter if a person gives spare change to a bell ringer or construction materials to the habitat for humanity or give canned goods to a food drive we do so for over arching reasons and those reasons are that we want, we need, to bless others and improve the quality of others’ lives as much as we can for as long as we can.  And even though our hearts are more inclined to give during the holiday season we know that not only is giving the right thing to do, but also that as we become a blessing in the lives of others we correspondingly bless ourselves.  We know that in this life while our personal interests are always present screaming for attention so too is our desire to be a credit to mankind during our time.  Man cannot live on bread alone and we cannot live our life alone.  Life is not about “me” it’s about “we”.

So it is on this Thanksgiving Day that I give my thanks for all the blessings bestowed to me that have contributed to my being who I am.  My family, friends, supporters and believers in me for all of my ideas and efforts, I give thanks and offer my prayers of Gods blessings for them in return.  But I also must recognize, give credence to and express thanks for all our collective blessings that go unmarked but are of equal import.  Just days ago the world stood shocked and still rests upon a nervous edge in the aftermath of North Korean artillery strikes on civilians in South Korea bringing to a boiling point emotions and historical grievances that make possible the reigniting of war on the Korean peninsula.  And while the desire for retaliation is raging and the unwitting war mongers are clamoring for conflict on television, I for one am thankful that for now at least, cooler heads have prevailed and all out war has been averted.  Certainly there are better methods of solving problems than destroying one another.

No matter if you believe this violent provocation is a crisis or not, one thing is certain and that is there are always going to be arguments and disagreements that boil over and bring us to the brink, but the development of young minds that will grow and become the cooler heads these volatile scenarios demand for a peaceful resolution, require constant nurturing and opportunities to be made aware of the people and the broader issues of the world at large.  Our youth need opportunities to understand the importance of diplomacy and that they can become the diplomats; that they can diffuse our global powder keg of possible conflicts and usher into existence what all people from all lands from all times have wanted….peace. 

I’m talking about the type of peace that makes life worth living.  W are all Gods children.  We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future.  And we are all mortal. 

So it is now as Christmas looms ever near and is followed by the celebratory start of a New Year that we, the Omaha Dream Team, individually and collectively give thanks for all we have and our ability to exert our energies, talents and resources toward the betterment of others.  We are thankful for the support we’ve been given and more thankful for the support yet to come and readily look forward to giving thanks next year for having the chance to build a school in Mali that at the time of this writing is yet just a vision, a vision we are certain will create a glorious new reality.

To Your Health, Wealth & Happiness,

Joseph G. Smith, II

Founder

OmahasFinest.com

Surely there is something we all want, something that we desire on a deeper level that we feel that if this thing is acquired or task achieved it would bring about great levels of joy and give our lives some special meaning.  This thing that we want at times we feel like we can’t seek out until certain conditions have first been met.  Sometimes we can get so wrapped up in preparing for fear of failing or avoiding embarrassment that we can delay ourselves to the point of total stagnation.  Preparation and proper planning are not just good things they are also required things if we want the success that we so desire.  But there comes a point when we go from planning to fearing; fearing rejection or the negative opinion of the many haters out there.

Fear is not all bad.  A healthy dose of fear can keep you alert and alive but we should never allow it to cause goal oriented paralysis.  We must not allow the untold unknowns keep us from telling others what is known and that is that we are all endowed with the ability to create great things and reach our own levels of greatness. My elder, my new friend whom blessed me with majestic inspiration asked me as I ran down a list of things I yet need, “what are you waiting for”?

Witnessing the passionate fire in her eyes while hearing those words “what are you waiting for”? was the catalyst for change I needed at that moment.  Sometimes in the midst of our optimism seeds of doubt can take hold and should that happen we must feel the fear and do it anyway.  We’ve got to take that chance and pursue the opportunity as if our lives depend upon it because they do.  We hear people say it and we know that we should do it, but stepping out on faith is hard because of its natural intangibility.  Believing without proof, stepping forward with no knowledge of solid ground ahead is difficult but essential for us to get to where we’ve never been but know within our hearts we must be.

One of my favorite hip-hip artists is New York based rapper common.  His 2007 single “The people” is really good music and inspiring like most of his work but it is this song that offers a pointed message of how to proceed on our path.  In the song he raps “Nobody believes, until I believe me.  Now I’m on the rise doing business with my guys. Visions realized, music affecting lives, a gift from the skies to be recognized.  I’m keeping my eyes on the people that’s the prize.”

Who are the people?  The people is all of us but specifically they are those who have been marginalized, forgotten about, abused, oppressed, those who suffer silently, those who suffer loudly but whose cry we’ve turned a deaf ear to.   There are always obstacles and challenges and the battle between optimism and pessimism forever rages but we live now at a time when one might think pessimism could become the victor of the two forces.  We hear all the time about a new poll suggesting that America is not headed in the right direction or that the state of global affairs is one of tremendous bleakness but for the people of that belief I say to you that the best way for us to predict the future is to create it ourselves.  If you don’t like the world that you were born into, if you don’t like the world that your children will one day inherit then the decision must be made to change it, to correct it, to right the wrongs that have been left idle for so long.  Things are not the way they are but rather the way we allow them to be.  Our collective human condition has been longing for the genuine careful love of individuals devoted toward the positive advancement of us all.

Let us decide today to do what should have been done but wasn’t.  Let us decide today to live the way we must and care in ways we are capable for the mutual blessing of all of our families of every race in every land.  Let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking his blessing and his help, but knowing that here on Earth God’s work must truly be made our own.

Joseph G. Smith, II

Founder

OmahasFinest.com