The Porcelain BowlVolume 4 Issue 4

The Porcelain BowlVolume 4 Issue 4
Begin with the End in Mind
Introduction:
Many of you already know that the weekend of Thanksgiving, the Vice-President of Student Affairs passed away. He was the greatest man I ever knew. He was my mentor for the past 6 years. I know that many of you may have no idea how awesome a champion Bill Hall was to this school. But no one will ever replace him and in all the nation, there is no dean or VP that was as dedicated or diligent. I hope that all of you really come to an understand how blessed you all were to be at Ohio State during his tenure. He was my greatest advocate, and you may not know this, but he was your greatest advocate at the university as well.

Quips and Quotes:
What does not kill you makes you stronger.
Number 2.: "There was talk among the young men, angry, growing talk. And later when they were fully men and married and the dismay of increasing numbers filled their hearts, the scattered anger of their youth became settled into a fierce despair and into a revolt too deep for mere words because all their lives they labored more severely than beasts, and for nothing except a handful of refuse to fill their bellies."-P. S. Buck
thanks to WB carey Clinton who sent that to me from Bulgaria.

Catch 22
What have you done today to make you feel proud?
Challenge yourself to do something nice for someone else everyday. From something small whether it be a smile or gestured gift to something even more significant. When you do something good for someone else, it makes you feel good. Who needs therapy when you can help yourself! However, the quote what does not kill you makes you stronger can only work if you seek the truth behind the tragedy. The blessing that is in every storm. What is that blessing? That regardless of the severity, the storm will end, and you will need to move on. When you live your life just for yourself there is no checks and balances. You go through life under a veil of uncertainty because you aren't established in anything that has meaning. What is your ontological map? How do you make meaning? Maybe in this new year, you can begin to give. Give of your gifts, time, and talents to edify someone or many people. Begin with the end in mind. Seek first to understand then to be understood. Oprah began her season by asking her audience, and well, the world, the question of “what have you done today to feel proud?” This is a question I am going to ask myself each day. My challenge for all of you is to pose that sentiment to yourselves. Journal about it. I promise what goes around comes around. When you begin doing a good work that helps someone else, close to follow are the means that you needed when you did not even know you were lacking at all. What have I done today to feel proud? I began with the notion of passing this one to all of you, so that you could bless someone else.Even in your own pain you can be a giver, that is when it is most important. All of you know by now that the great Bill Hall passed away last week. It hit me pretty hard. But in my own brokenness came the truth I needed to give the most important speech I have ever delivered. The joy of everyone else who heard the stories of me and bill, was worth more than my grief. I learned this by revelation that I received attending a program for a group of kids that a bunch of us students adopted for the holidays from a program Gal Pal Naomi put together. Although I did not even feel like getting out of bed that Thursday, I went to the program and served these kids because they deserved it. Life is not just about me. And in the moments that I ate, played and fellowshipped with those kids I was comforted by their presence and that was more significant then feeling sorry for myself in my room. It is the JOY of other people that was worth more than my GRIEF. And the evidence was in the eyes of little kids. And I am so grateful for the timeliness of that experience. For those who wondered, that experience is where I drew the strength to have it together at the memorial service. Last Word:ManEatersOoohh there she goesWatch out boy she’ll chew you up…she’s a man eater…As much as I get on my female friends to watch out for wack dudes, I would be doing an injustice if I were not real to you all about women and how they can be serpents in the grass. I was having a conversation with one of my mentors about women who give good women a bad wrap, and she told me something very valuable, most men are messed up because a woman (or bad relationship with a woman, and this could be his mother as well) went wrong or wronged him. So, those reading may be in great relationships, but you all got friends who date the crazies. HELP your friend out. Of course there is only so much you can do. A person has got to want to help themselves.

But think of it this way, man eaters are like serpents. These women bury their fangs deep and don’t release their prey until their dead, the venom has ran out, or the prey fights back. If the prey fights back, that is the only time that the snake gives up and takes flight to leave. If you don’t fight back, you will come under the influence of the venom and it can poison you in many ways. The fact is at the end of the day, we all have the choice. Sometimes choices are hard to make, but when we finally discover the truth and pursue it, that when we find at the summit of fear, where real courage lies. And the antidote may be really painful in the beginning, but it is what is best for not dying or killing parts of yourself. “Pain nourishes courage. You can't be brave if you've only had wonderfulthings happen to you.” --Mary Tyler Moore