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Below is a very spiritual and thought provoking writing from a good friend of mine.

The soul survives upon one’s death. So tell me, do you fear the death of your body or the death of your soul? When you die, your body feels no pain.

So tell me do you fear the death of your body or the death of your soul? If you fear the death of your soul, why bring about its destruction with self-corruption? Indeed, when you have done wrong, you are harming yourself as well. That is what you should fear…

~Zaja Kamara

Check out her facebook group at Food For Thought

This morning I woke up and had some things on my mind regarding people, life, etc. I was thinking about how a lot of folks don’t grow up living a nice cozy, sweet life. My childhood wasn’t exactly peaches and cream either, but their are some people who’ve had extreme, dire circumstances in their earlier lives (long periods of depression/anxiety, no parent(s), parent(s) on drugs or abusive, sexual/physical abuse, etc.). Most of the people I know or have come across that have had extreme, negative circumstances in their earlier lives feel that their is no hope for themselves and that they can’t truly relate to anyone. Then I also thought about relationships and something a lady told me in church a while back about always trying to have things go perfectly. I realized that some people imagine scenarios to turn out exactly how they picture it, but usually that is never the case. Let’s face it we’re not perfect and life isn’t going to turn out perfect. And the point I’m trying to make is that if you’ve faced unmentionable things in your past, don’t let it take away your hope for a brighter future and don’t let it hinder your relationships with people. It’s true that some people may not have experienced even half the things you have, but when others are trying to encourage or help you don’t say “oh these people don’t really understand me”. That part may be true because they haven’t walked in your shoes, but take all encouragement and help regardless of who or where it comes from and try to always be positive even though its hard. If your waiting to only take advice from someone whose been through similar struggles as you, you may not always find that savior and will be out of luck ,left constantly feeling lonely in the world. Change has to start somewhere, so even despite the things in your past, look at it this way, life still goes on and no matter how bad you were hurt, let go of it. In fact give your problems to God and let him take care of it.

And with that said, I’d also like to say thank God everyday and know that life still continues and you serve a purpose in this world or else you wouldn’t be here. If you’ve gone through some things growing up, use your past to help others with similar problems overcome their own circumstances. A lot of kids could use the help of someone whose been through their very own struggles.

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This an old song from an old R&B duo called “Christion”. They are a lesser known (as well as underrated) duo with nice smooth vocals. The song talks about how society molds some to make the wrong decisions in order to gain benefit.

Nice song by Lyfe, a song every female should listen to. Don’t become a statistic and learn to respect yourself always.

So I was sitting down, randomly thinking as I sometimes do, and I happened to be thinking about relationships and people. And in my head I asked myself, “its amazing how some people can put someone that their not married to or not even sure they love above their friends, family, and even God almighty himself!” My fellow people…. please STOP! Just because you finally found yourself a girlfriend or boyfriend doesn’t mean you have to cut everyone off socially and stop speaking/responding to people. Be the same person you were before, and of course spend time with your new boo, but don’t cut off important people in your life. Find the time and perfect balance to spend time with both. You don’t want to lose people that are close to you and then find out the new person in your life doesn’t even really like you as much as you thought or things just fall apart between you two and you lose out twice! Yet disaster’s like these happen more than enough. People lose themselves because their so greatly attached to someone (lust) and become blind men or women to everything else. So my advice…. just don’t be that person who makes their boyfriend/girlfriend their “god”. Learn to love and not lust and if you don’t know the difference do some research. To make it simple though lust is with the eyes and body but love is from the heart.

Several hundred, even thousands ,and millions of years ago there were no such things as Jimmy Choo pumps, Gucci shades, Louis Vuitton scarves, VVS cufflinks, Bentleys, Hummers, Lambo’s etc. In MOST civilizations and eras people didn’t even live materialistic lifestyles because they were simply trying to live and not live it up in those time periods. Ancient peoples didn’t have these things and evidently must have came a long quite well without them, since we’re here today.

Now before I go on there is nothing wrong with the above things I mentioned, but when you let it rule both your life and personality, then there’s a big problem. As people we should not be over-saturating our minds with materialism or allowing the media and society to let this happen. Some people need to learn to break free and stop being confined by expensive objects and vain or useless ideas/imaginations. These things only kill your spirit and cloud your mind with lies. Life is not about money, sex, cars, and clothes. As great as those things sound they are only temporary pleasures and joys, which don’t last. I advise you pick up the bible or something if you want to learn the true meaning of life, but those four things and anything pertaining to materialism is not what life is about. Entertainers can tell you different, but I can assure you these things won’t give you happiness no matter how much your in denial.

In the past we didn’t live like the way we do now, so why are we so heavily enticed by materialistic goods and embrace such an over-consumptive culture? If we didn’t so strongly embrace materialism and over-consumption back then, why are we so set on that track now? It seems materialism is at an all time high! Today, we are always forever highly desirous peoples that cannot get enough even though we have more than we actually need. We just are never satisfied, which is a problem not just socially but also economically and environmentally. Our lives are basically ran by what gives us the most pleasure and about “me me me me me”. If we all always want something and look out almost or solely for our own personal materialistic gains, just imagine how the world will soon be in the future? It would be like a mix of ancient Babylon, Hollywood, and all the MTV reality shows put together, not a great look for mankind.

Now with all that said what is life to you and why?

Looking at this video shows some somewhat scary implications of the future to come. Cameras that follow you in public and display ads that cater to you? Sounds like a disaster for society that may potentially lead to more materialism and people thinking less for themselves, but I don’t know just some of my thoughts. What do you think?

Love is of course intangible, but it is also (or at least should be) everlasting and enduring through any and all circumstances. So, why do some people have marital/relationship problems? Does one person love wither away? Were they truly in love to begin with? What is their relationship based on? Material and things of self-interest? A lot of times the latter may be the cause, but not for everyone. Some people simply have irreconcilable differences, but then again why is this? Usually because a person doesn’t want to love past simple differences and circumstances. If we let small problems persist or let things other than (“The Man Upstairs” lol) get in the way of our relationships, there is a good chance it won’t last. Simply your love for something else, or your obstinately bitter behavior nulls the relationship. So how can you make a relationship last? Well I simply believe people should humble themselves and give unconditional love to your signifcant other (and God of course lol) fighting through any and all circumstances. The only time a man or woman should leave is if one has committed adultery, but that shouldn’t even happen to begin with, but enough of my rant, what do you think love is and your take on relationships? Leave brief comments please.

Beautiful and truthful song by Lauryn Hill