Life Changing Thoughts Poetry blog is the creation of Chester Randolph, Sr., TJ Randolph. We will share poems, short true stories that can motivate us to seek opportunities each day to do good to others, security/safety tips, recipes that allow you to cook famous resturant foods at home and, save money from eating out. Let's us know what you think of the recipes, poems, stories. Feel free to email us at crandpoet@gmail.com. WE WILL NOT POST YOUR ADDRESS OR NAME.
ONE DAY AT A PIZZA PLACE ON UNIVERSITY DRIVE, DURING THE DAY, A LADY LEFT THE STORE WITH PIZZA'S IN HER HAND ONLY TO BE ASKED FOR MONEY BY A MAN WHO WAS WAITING FOR ANYONE TO COME OUT SO HE CAN ASK FOR MONEY.
AT A GROCERY STORE ON UNIVERSITY DRIVE A MAN IS ALWAYS STANDING OUTSIDE ASKING FOR MONEY.
AT A DRUG STORE ON UNIVERSITY DRIVE, SEVERAL PEOPLE HANG OUT AT THIS PLACE AND ASK FOR MONEY.
AT A STORE THAT SELLS OFFICE SUPPLIES ON UNIVERSITY THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO WILL ASK YOU FOR MONEY.
I KNOW ABOUT THESE PLACES BECAUSE AT ALL OF THEM MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE NOT CLEANLY PRESENTABLE WILL APPROACH AND ASK YOU FOR MONEY.
PEOPLE ARE WORKING STORES TO GET YOUR MONEY. PUT YOUR MONEY, CREDIT CARDS AWAY BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE STORE AND HAVE FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND WORKMATES YOU KNOW WELL TRAVEL WITH YOU. AS YOU EXIT YOUR CAR TO ENTER STORES, SEE WHO IS STANDING AROUND BY THE ENTRANCES WHEN YOU GO IN AND GO OUT.
TIPS THAT WE SHARED FOR LABOR DAY AND THEIR REMINDERS LISTED BELOW.
Share your travel plans only on a need-to-know basis. Even though you may be excited about your vacation, it's best to keep this information (mostly) to yourself.
Don't change your voicemail messages to indicate you're out of town. Don't post your trip plans on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Broadcasting your absence to hundreds or more is never a good idea. Giving a few trusted neighbors a discreet heads-up, though, can work in your favor, as they can keep an eye out on your property while you're away. Remember to make your house look lived in and ADT or similiar service would not hurt. Make sure the kids have not posted your vacation, not even to their trusted friends. Some teenagers can run their mouth without thinking and not realizing it gives away valuable information. We live in a time when some persons cannot know your business, not even YOUR FRIENDS. 1) SENSOR CAMERAS HELP WHEN AWAY FROM HOME. 2) A GOOD DOG - NEIGHBOR NEEDS TO CARE FOR DOG. 3) LET THE POLICE KNOW YOU WILL BE GONE. 4) A SERVICE LIKE ADT IS GOOD. 5) A NEIGHBOR YOU CAN TRUST. 6) FAMILY COMING TO CHECK THE HOUSE OR LIVE IN THE HOUSE WHILE YOU ARE GONE. 7) DO NOT LEAVE KEYS WHERE THIEVES CAN FIND. 8) MAKE SURE THE HOUSE LOOKS LIVED IN. NO NEWSPAPERS, GRASS TALL, ETC. 9) LEAVE AT A TIME WHEN THE LEAST NUMBER OF PEOPLE SEE YOU. 10) IF LOCKS ARE OLD, REPLACE WITH WHAT IS NEEDED TODAY. IT MAY NOT STOP A THIEF BUT IT WILL SLOW DOWN A THIEF.
In a past SECURITY TIP post, I presented a tip for women to watch out for person(s) working together stealing women's purses at the gas pumps. This security tip along with many others warned people to beware that persons are watching you, your home, at your work, in the streets.
It is in the news these days that a people known as SLIDERS are working the gas pumps, sliding in your car while you are pumping gas. Most women keep their purse on the front passenger seat of their car. When you pull up to the pumps and cut your car off and unlock your door, all the other doors unlock too (on newer cars).
You do all these things without really thinking about it because, you do this so often. While you are pumping your gas and paying attention to the pumps, crooks are paying attention to you and watching you not pay attention to them. they steal your bag and any other valuables, like cell phone from your front seat.
One things you can do ahead of time is activate your GPS and keep the cell phone in your bag. This affords police the ability to track down your bag before the crooks can know that they are being tracked. The more important thing you can do is pay more attention, take your keys with you and re-lock your doors when you get out of your car, even if it's for less than one minute. Crooks are very fast and they know how to get your attention away from the bad guy.
To explain just how fast they work, one lady was rob in this way. While she was waiting for the police at the location she was robbed, she observed another lady pulling up to the same pumps and almost rob herself. The lady who was robbed assisted the lady who was about to be robbed and the lady was able to keep her bag from being stolen too.
PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ THESE SECURITY TIPS, THEY ARE HEAR BECAUSE CROOKS ENGAGE IN THESE TYPES OF ACTIVITY TO STEAL WHATEVER IS VALUABLE TO THEM....EVEN YOUR IDENTITY.
We
live in a fast pace society, our minds are thinking on so many things at once.
However, there are times when we may not really think at all. We may react to
things, while we are thinking on many other things.
This
blog was created because many of us need to be aware of things in life that thieves
are certainly paying attention. You need to be aware of these things too.
Here
are some safety tips for while you are in your car, stores, home, work. We will
continue to add tips each week. If you want to share some security safety tip
you have found helpful please email them to me at crandpoet@gmail.com
We
will review them and post them for others to enjoy and implement.
When we meet someone of the opposite sex and we feel a strong physical attraction,
We say to ourselves, “this is the one who will make my life complete, with much satisfaction.”
We can’t eat, we can’t sleep, our body is responding in ways we have not known,
But all we know is that we must see them, or talk to them in person or by the telephone.
Nothing else is important to you but to make such a person your husband or wife soon,
During your courtship, you have such a glow, it is easy for all to see and know.
You are the happiest person on earth, you feel, but others are wondering if your love is real,
You see the love of your life everyday and night, with never a fight, this must be right.
They look good, smell good, say all the right words to you, you are glad you have them, you heard,
But do you really know the person who has captured your heart? Maybe your heart is blind from the start.
When your mother and or father ask you “Are you sure baby this person is the one?” Pay attention to wisdom, if he/She is not the one, this relationship will not be fun.
A used car can test drive so fine, but to not learn all you can first, you will be so sorry in time.
During your courtship, your lover tells you, I will be all that you want in our marital relationship.
You are finally married, husband and wife, how sad it is that on your honeymoon, you see that all is not right.
You look to your woman to cook a home cooked meal for you, she said, “ I don’t cook, I thought you knew.”
She looks to her man to go to work to bring home the money; he laughs and says, “Oh that’s funny.”
Your man or woman can be colorful, suave, luscious and fine, but at the end of the day you realize that you may have been blind,
You have many physical, emotional wounds that you cannot hide, as you look in the mirror, the happy person you were, now you cry.
So for those of you looking for that special person, take your time,
Rushing, thinking you have found Mr./Mrs. right, you could be committing a crime. (to yourself).
Making marriage work is an achievement. Achievement implies accomplishing something despite difficulties. This joint effort with a mutual goal ties you together; it binds you close; it makes the two of you one. In time this creates a bond of love surpassing anything felt in anticipation of marriage, and in such unifying happiness it becomes a pleasure to adjust to each other’s differences.
As you enjoy this story by Shawn Segal and this video of KENNY ROGERS singing “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You” you will see that marriage takes a lot of work, especially when it involves difficulties along the way. WE WANT TO GO INTO MARRIAGE DOING ALL WE CAN TO EASE ANY TROUBLE THAT LIFE MAY THROW YOUR WAY.
THE STORY IS LONG BUT YOU WILL NOT REGRET READING IT.
I never considered myself unique, but people are constantly telling me, "I am a miracle." To me, I was just an ordinary "guy" with realistic goals and big dreams. I was a 19-year-old student at the University of Texas and well on my way toward fulfilling my "big dream" of one day becoming an orthopedic surgeon.
On the night of February 17, 1981 I was studying for an Organic Chemistry test at the library with Sharon, my girlfriend of three years. Sharon had asked me to drive her back to her dormitory as it was getting quite late. We got into my car, not realizing that just getting into a car would never quite be the same for me again. I quickly noticed that my gas gauge was registered on empty so I pulled into a nearby convenience store to buy $2.00 worth of gas. "I'll be back in two minutes," I yelled at Sharon as I closed the door. But instead, those two minutes changed my life forever.
Entering the convenience store was like entering the twilight zone. On the outside I was a healthy, athletic, pre-med student, but on the inside I was just another statistic of a violent crime. I thought I was entering an empty store, but suddenly I realized it was not empty at all. Three robbers were in the process of committing a robbery and my entrance into the store caught them by surprise. One of the criminals immediately shoved a .38 caliber handgun to my head, ordered me to the cooler, pushed me down on the floor, and pumped a bullet into the back of my head - execution style. He obviously thought I was dead because he did not shoot me again. The trio of thieves finished robbing the store and left calmly.
Meanwhile, Sharon wondered why I had not returned. After seeing the three men leave the store she really began to worry as I was the last person she saw entering the store. She quickly went inside to look for me, but saw no one -- only an almost empty cash register containing one check and several pennies. Quickly she ran down each aisle shouting, "Mike, Mike!"
Just then the attendant appeared from the back of the store shouting, "Lady, get down on the floor. I've just been robbed and shot at!"
Sharon quickly dropped to the floor screaming, "Have you seen my boyfriend ... auburn hair?" The man did not reply but went back to the cooler where he found me choking on my vomit. The attendant quickly cleaned my mouth and then called for the police and an ambulance.
Sharon was in shock. She was beginning to understand that I was hurt, but she could not begin to comprehend or imagine the severity of my injury.
When the police arrived they immediately called the homicide division as they did not think I would survive and the paramedic reported that she had never seen a person so severely wounded survive. At 1:30 a.m. my parents who lived in Houston, were awakened by a telephone call from Brackenridge Hospital advising them to come to Austin as soon as possible for they feared I would not make it through the night.
But I did make it through the night and early in the morning the neurosurgeon decided to operate. However, he quickly informed my family and Sharon that my chances of surviving the surgery were only 40/60. If this were not bad enough, the neurosurgeon further shocked my family by telling them what life would be like for me if I beat the odds and survived. He said I probably would never walk, talk, or be able to understand even simple commands.
My family was hoping and praying to hear even the slightest bit of encouragement from that doctor. Instead, his pessimistic words gave my family no reason to believe that I would ever again be a productive member of society. But once again I beat the odds and survived the three and a half hours of surgery.
Even though my family breathed a huge sigh of relief that I was still alive the doctor cautioned that it would still be several days before I would be out of danger. However, with each passing day I became stronger and stronger and two weeks later I was well enough to be moved from the ICU to a private room.
Granted, I still could not talk, my entire right side was paralyzed and many people thought I could not understand, but at least I was stable. After one week in a private room the doctors felt I had improved enough to be transferred by jet ambulance to Del Oro Rehabilitation Hospital in Houston.
My hallucinations, coupled with my physical problems, made my prognosis still very bleak. However, as time passed my mind began to clear and approximately six weeks later my right leg began to move ever so slightly. Within seven weeks my right arm slowly began to move and at eight weeks I uttered my first few words.
My speech was extremely difficult and slow in the beginning, but at least it was a beginning. I was starting to look forward to each new day to see how far I would progress. But just as I thought my life was finally looking brighter I was tested by the hospital europsychologist. She explained to me that judging from my test results she believed that I should not focus on returning to college but that it would be better to set more "realistic goals."
Upon hearing her evaluation I became furious for I thought, "Who is she to tell me what I can or cannot do. She does not even know me. I am a very determined and stubborn person!" I believe it was at that very moment that I decided I would somehow, someday return to college.
It took me a long time and a lot of hard work but I finally returned to the University of Texas in the fall of 1983 - a year and a half after almost dying. The next few years in Austin were very difficult for me, but I truly believe that in order to see beauty in life you have to experience some unpleasantness. Maybe I have experienced too much unpleasantness, but I believe in living each day to the fullest, and doing the very best I can.
And each new day was very busy and very full, for besides attending classes at the University I underwent therapy three to five days each week at Brackenridge Hospital. If this were not enough I flew to Houston every other weekend to work with Tom Williams, a trainer and executive who had worked for many colleges and professional teams and also had helped many injured athletes, such as Earl Campbell and Eric Dickerson. Through Tom I learned: "Nothing is impossible and never, never give up or quit."
He echoed the same words and sentiments of a prominent neurosurgeon from Houston, Dr. Alexander Gol, who was a close personal friend of my parents and who drove to Austin with my family in the middle of the night that traumatic February morning. Over the many months I received many opinions from different therapists and doctors but it was Dr. Gol who told my family to take one day at a time, for no matter how bad the situation looked, no one knew for certain what the brain could do.
Early, during my therapy, my father kept repeating to me one of his favorite sayings. It could have been written by both Tom and Dr. Gol and I have repeated it almost every day since being hurt: "Mile by mile it's a trial; yard by yard it's hard; but inch by inch it's a cinch."
I thought of those words, and I thought of Dr. Gol, Tom, my family and Sharon who believed so strongly in me as I climbed the steps to receive my diploma from the Dean of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas on that bright sunny afternoon in June of 1986. Excitement and pride filled my heart as I heard the dean announce that I had graduated with "highest honors" (grade point average of 3.885), been elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and been chosen as one of 12 Dean's Distinguished Graduates out of 1600 in the College of Liberal Arts.
The overwhelming emotions and feelings that I experienced at that very moment, when most of the audience gave me a standing ovation, I felt would never again be matched in my life -- not even when I graduated with a masters degree in social work and not even when I became employed full time at the Texas Pain and Stress Center. But I was wrong!
On May 24, 1987, I realized that nothing could ever match the joy I felt as Sharon and I were married. Sharon, my high school sweetheart of nine years, had always stood by me, through good and bad times. To me, Sharon is my miracle, my diamond in a world filled with problems, hurt, and pain. It was Sharon who dropped out of school when I was hurt so that she could constantly be at my side. She never wavered or gave up on me.
It was her faith and love that pulled me through so many dark days. While other nineteen year old girls were going to parties and enjoying life, Sharon devoted her life to my recovery. That, to me, is the true definition of love.
After our beautiful wedding I continued working part time at the Pain Center and completed my work for a masters degree while Sharon worked as a speech pathologist at a local hospital. We were extremely happy, but even happier when we learned Sharon was pregnant.
On July 11, 1990 at 12:15 a.m. Sharon woke me with the news: "We need to go to the hospital .... my water just broke." I couldn't help but think how ironic it was that my life almost ended in a convenience store and now on the date "7-11" we were about to bring a new life into this world. This time it was my turn to help Sharon as she had helped me over those past years. Sharon was having contractions about every two minutes, and each time she needed to have her lower back massaged.
Since she was in labor for 15 hours that meant 450 massages!! It was well worth every bit of pain in my fingers because at 3:10 p.m. Sharon and I experienced the birth of our beautiful daughter, Shawn Elyse Segal!
Tears of joy and happiness came to my eyes as our healthy, alert, wonderful daughter entered this world. We anxiously counted her 10 fingers and her 10 toes and watched her wide eyes take in the world about her. It was truly a beautiful picture that was etched in my mind forever as she lie in her mother's waiting arms, just minutes after her birth. At that moment I thanked God for blessing us with the greatest miracle of all -- Shawn Elyse Segal.
I wrote this poem because there are many women in the WORLD who are married and they are going above and beyond to please their mate. YOU ARE TO BE COMMENDED, because it is not easy to be a mother, wife, doctor, counselor, financer, worker outside the home, etc. You have to wear so many hats.
However, God fearing women apply principles in their lives that make them so desirable to their man, they give respect, love, they are kind to their man, they do the things asked of them by him, they are humble, loyal, submissive, mild, self-controlled, they know what it means to stick to their man despite difficulties in life.
They always keep themselves beautiful, sexy, giddy, and happy. They dress to impress their mate, they flirt with him, they open their heart to him, and they enjoy walking arm and arm with him.
Women are not perfect but, it's nice to see women who try to so hard to please their man. It is equally nice to see men who recognize the efforts of such a woman, THANK YOU LADIES.
We realize too that many single women do have these qualities too so, our COMMENDATION IS EQUALLY FOR YOU AS WELL.
This next video by Baby Face is for married God fearing women.
