Steps to Christ

To my Christian and Not-so-Christian readers... Read with me! So far it is DEEP!

You can find it here: http://www.whiteestate.org/search/search.asp, tell me what you think!

♥ Marquitta J

Wise Words

Don't dwell on negativity. It's not healthy for my mind or your body. You may think that you have a right to sulk and wallow in self-pity, but honestly you dont. You're blessed and when there are so many great things to behold and dwell upon, you should not bring yourself even further down. Think positively! Count your blessings!

♥ Marquitta J

5 Types of Friends Kick to the Curb

1. The Leech
A person who always needs something, but never contributes. You'll know who this friend is when they call, and you look at the caller-id and say "Uhhh! What now?!" It's draining to have someone keep taking but never giving back. If you want to engage in a mutual friendship, this isn't it.

2. The Badders
A friend who always needs bailing out, literally. Its not conducive to your time or money to have to go get this person out of jail, then pick them up from the casino after gambling off their car, and dodge bullets from their baby's daddy's cousin's friend Ray-Ray who saw you flick his gang off at the gay bar. Seriously. Who needs all of that drama and inconvenience? They need to go.

3. The Competitors
Congratulations are in order when you reach that weight loss goal or ace an exam, but this friend does not only blow off your accomplishments, they try to top them off with their own. No matter how confident you are, you do not need to keep people around who try to 1-up you all of the time. Those people obviously have low self-esteem and need to do some self-evaluation and find their value. In the mean time, you don't need to stick around unless you want to be with them when they take that journey.

4. The Fairweathers
For better or for best, through health and only health, for rich or upper-middle-class...you get the picture.

5. The Obviously Bad
This category includes: Liars, Thieves, Con-artists, Manipulators, Blackmailers, Gossipers, Frenemies, etc. These people do not have your best interest at heart. You don't need people stealing from you, lying to you, and undermining you. Having these people around can be detrimental to your career, other relationships, and your character. These people help mold trust issues within yourself, low self-esteem, and their undesirable traits could rub off on you. Kick em to the curb!

NOTE: I am not promoting dropping people and treating them badly. Just because you aren't a friend that does not mean you have to stop being a good person as well. Find the lines between the two based off of your moral values and then determine what you need to do.

♥ Marquitta J

Man from the South

This short story can be found HERE. I was searching for good stories that could have a great life long impact, and I came to Man from the South by Roald Dahl.

Read it and share your thoughts.

My thoughts: From this story, I gathered a couple of lesson, steer clear of crazies, and never be too prideful.

I'll assume you haven't read it and give you the details.

Setting: Poolside of a Hotel in Jamaica

Main Characters: Old Southern Man, Young American Sailor, and Narrator

Plot:
- Sailor offers a light for the Southern's cigar and mentions that "The lighter always lights".
- Southerner proposes a bet with these terms:
-If the lighter lights 10 times in a row, the Southern man will give the boy his Cadillac.
- If it does not light 10 times in a row, the Southern man will cut off and take the Sailor's pinkie finger.

Crazy right?

- They all got up to the Southern man's hotel room, tie the Sailor's hand to the table, and with his other hand he starts to flick the lighter.
- When the counts to the number 8, an angry woman bursts into the room and reprimands the old man and mentions that he has lost several of HER Cadillacs, as well as collected several fingers, and in order to stop him she had to win everything from him so he had nothing left to bet.

Here's the kicker...
---> "She looked up at the boy and she smiled, a slow sad smile, and she came over and put out a hand to take the key [to her car] from the table.

I can see it now, that hand of hers; it had only one finger on it, and a thumb."

My reaction: Wow! That man has to be a lunatic and that woman was bold!! This story should be a lesson to you. Stay away from strangers especially strangers who propose crazy bets. Also, we don't know if the boy would have been able to light the lighter for the 9th and 10th times, so never leave the fate of your limbs to the luck of a lighter even when there is a Cadillac at the other end of the deal.

♥ Marquitta J

Wise Words

...And isn't that the truth? People who are rude, mean, and disrespectful obviously don't receive enough niceness, care, respect, and love. Kindness is not the equivalent to being ran over and taken advantage of; learn those boundaries and execute. Kindness can go a long way, especially for those meanies who need it.

The Lottery

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a classic! Read it and leave a comment on your thoughts. If you don't want to go out and buy a hardcopy, you can find it HERE. Without giving anything away, it is about an annual Lottery that takes place in a small village. Sorry. That's all I can give you without giving it away. Read it and leave a comment so we can discuss!

***SPOILER ALERT BELOW*****

The story is really jacked up. I think Suzanne Collins got many of her ideas for the Hunger Games from this story. So if you did't feel like reading it, I will tell you what it is about. There is a town that has a drawing every year, and whomever draws the black dot gets stoned. That's basically the gist. Throughout the entire story, it gives this imagery of a bright and sunny summer afternoon with wonderful townsmen and neighbors, but in reality the event is horrible, but because of tradition, these people continue the injustice. Even though this was written in 1948, I think it still applies today. In my opinion, Jackson did a great job depicting herd tendencies. Mrs. Hutchinson was the woman who pulled the fatal black dot, and while she was in the process of getting stoned, she cries out "its not fair". I'm left to ask, why didn't she say anything in the years past? Why is it when it happens to her she's speaking her mind? Is that what we do in our society today? Are we bystanders and just watch injustice occur and not until it happens to us do we stand for the cause? What do you think? What other messages do you see in the story?

Wise Words

What does your Timeline say about you?

Almost everyone who has access to a computer has a Twitter page. Unfortunately. There are lists and lists of things that should probably never be Tweeted about, but not everyone realizes that. Take Alyssa Douglas for example: (see picture below) This poor soul had no idea that she's ruined any chances of ever getting a job in the future and may end up with possible jail time. She was just tweeting her thoughts like many of us do.

Aside from the obvious troubles that can come with tweeting all of your personal thoughts, there's also that thing that everyone dreads... Judgment. You may disagree and say "I don't care, people can't judge me because they don't know me", but hear me out. Whether we like it or not, the way people view us can enhance or destroy our current lives and our future, and like it or not, your innermost thoughts show pieces of who you are directly or indirectly. I was having a conversation with a few of my guy friends, and I mentioned a girl that we once knew. One of the guys said "I don't like her. She's a catty B-word". Harsh right?! So I asked "Why would you say that?" and he replied "Because I can just tell. Everything she tweets is..." I can stop right there to support my point. He came to that conclusion about her because of her Timeline. Whether its right or wrong to judge a person based off of that, people do, employers do, admission representatives do, possible significant others do, YOU do! Your reputation matters.

Ask yourself: what does my timeline say about me? If you find that your timeline isn't doing you justice, STOP tweeting every single thought you have. Sometimes those thoughts are best kept in your head, and sometimes not even there! Be smart on social media, and learn the definition of TMI.

♥ Marquitta J