Our Tradition?

When a bird becomes ready for flight, the bird does not ask how other birds fly, but simply flaps its wings until it is airborne.
The same applies to mammal babies who begin to crawl then when they feel their legs are strong enough, they begin to walk.

As we grow older and begin to interact with our community we start to accept its tradition as ours. Tradition is a defense mechanism shared by a community to protect it from external and internal dangers. However, Tradition, over the years has become more detrimental to the global community. Human Beings are the smartest of all animals, and for many years continued to discover new things and live life based of their present. With the "Present" being the feelings YOU feel now.

What we see now is a community where people cannot make decisions without referring to what people in the past have done when faced with the same situation. You have probably realized by now that then you would have been living YOUR life the way someone else would live THEIR life!!! And not the way YOU would live yours!

This is the one reason relationships continue to fail and conflicts prevail.
Below you will find a list of thoughts people have that cause tradition to be a factor in 'relationships' and 'conflicts.'

RELATONSHIPS
1. Women rarely approach Men because they BELIEVE they will look "easy to get." Hey Ladies, you could be missing out on something good. Your gut says yes? Then go for it!

2. Men always feel they have to be Macho and stick to the famous phrase "Bros over Hoes." Well guys, how much longer you think she is going to wait?

3. I'll wait for Him/Her to text/call first. I shouldn't text Him/Her this, I'll look desperate. No kissing on the first date, fine on the second date. Is He/She a TEN(dime)? "Guys, live out your feelings, if that person meshes with them, you'll be good.

NOTE: Most people continue to ask these questions, how many times have you tried this and come to the same conclusion? Which is back to square 1 with someone else asking the same questions?

CONFLICTS
1. He is Christian/Muslim/Jew, He/She can never understand what we are talking about or He/She is nothing like us so avoid them. "FYI, that person may know more."

2. He/She is Gay, they are going to Hell. "Bear in mind that God judges based on His standards."

3. I will go to Heaven for killing Non-Believers. "You are just carrying out the belief of someone who believes that. Why does the person who sends and pays other people to blow themselves UP!! Not want to go to HEAVEN too? He is still alive right?"

NOTE: Even though the Bible/Koran/Torah was written from inspiration from God, it was interpreted by Man!
Why is it a rule for women in some religions to not show their hair and body in public? Because some MEN felt it worried their faith? Well maybe they weren't as strong as they needed to be, but because of them, women in some parts of the world get stoned for trying to live their lives.

"The Lord works through us, He does this by evoking emotions within us. Who are we to let others dictate how we listen to the Spirit?"

What 'WE' Are Not Used To

Religion and Faith
Believed to be the only way by believers
Nonsense by the wise
Important tool for control by leaders

Faith is the blind walk on a dangerous road, with the hope that the end shall be met.
Conformity to the rules and regulations is need to claim the faith of any religion.

Dictionary.com defines Conformity as:
*An action in accord with prevailing social standards, attitudes, practices,etc.
*Compliance or Acquiescence; Obedience.

Religion was sent to man through the understanding of great prophets.
Great men who had an understanding for life.
This day and time sees men who would rather be fed than feed.
The fastpaced life designed to simplify everything.
Leaves no time for discovery of ones purpose or self.

God forbid the man who decides to step out of this model of life.
To achieve a greater self, and to be labeled a man of understanding.
He becomes an outcast because his life is not in accordance with the accepted belief.
Cannot conform, therefore, is Insane/Derranged.

Derranged defined by Dictionary.com
*A person disordered/ dissarranged.

The moment he falls out of the worker bee line, he is labeled and forgotten.

Until that moment when He becomes Great.

In My MIND TODAY! 05/12/09

GOD first, then my family!!! For them I shall sweat and with my bare fingers shall I cultivate the soil the Lord has blessed me with. Harvest my blessing for everyone in the world to enjoy. Blessed to bless. A vision ahead, with a path revealed with every step!! I STAND ABOVE!! LORD THANK YOU!!!

Contentment

Contentment is not having what we want, but rather, being happy and satisfied with what we already have.
My whole life was based around material wealth. I was under the impression that to be of value I needed to possess the latest and most expensive items. I was defined by the clothes and shoes I wore, the gadgets I owned, and the number of high profile women I could get. It became an obsession and a battle to maintain this status; "THE GUY WHO HAD IT ALL, MR ALL THAT."
It was all I THOUGHT about/ all I SPOKE about/ all I DID/ all I LIVED for/ Who I WAS/ AND UNLESS I DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT, WHO I WAS TO BECOME.
Everything that other people classified as worthy, I needed to have or to be! It took a very detailed observation of my life to actually see what I was becoming. The following is what I noticed, look in your life and if you notice these things too, its time to work on it.
1. I needed to have all the nice, expensive, and popular designer shoes.
2. I had to have different colored clothes to match every single one of my shoes.
3. I had to always be on my cell phone talking to someone esp a girl.
4. If there was a new version of my cell phone, laptop, game console, sneakers, or clothes, I needed to have it ASAP!!
5. I always had to live up to the hype.
6. Had to do what the BIG BOYS were doing.
7. A majority of all my clothes still had tags on them, made me feel like my worth was increasing.
8. All my friends had to be the POPULAR people.

Being content now meant,
1. Talking to people I wanted to talk to.
2. Wearing only clothes I felt comfortable in and buying only the amount I needed.
3. Balancing my life(will talk about that in a later post).
4. Losing contact with people I was just trying to impress, making time for the people who actually mattered.
5. Learning to be humble, in every setting.
6. Using my stuff till I exhausted all potential use.
7. Occupying my time with things that would help people and not just myself.
8. Defining myself from within.

What holds you prisoner in this world?!

Greatness

Sometimes it is necessary to overlook direct commands and the rules and regulations of society to achieve GREATNESS.

The human image matters a great deal to many, but life must be lived from an image from within. Whatever the internal image is, is what the external image replicates.
Our THOUGHTS become our WORDS/ Our WORDS become our ACTIONS/ Our ACTIONS become our HABITS/ Our HABITS become our CHARACTER/ Our CHARACTER becomes our DESTINY.

DO WE CONTROL OUR DESTINY OR IS IT REALLY ALREADY WRITTEN?!
And if it is already written why do we try to do anything to change it?!

Thinking thoughts of constant judgment, cause people to judge others based on areas of their lives that they are not satisfied with. eg
WOMEN-appearance of other women(clothes, shoes, make-up, fingers, jewelry, looks, body, AND MANY MORE)
MEN- Strength, body size, ability to talk and get girls, athleticism, MONEY.

When such thoughts go uncontrolled, they follow a cycle called DRAMA!!!
This cycle starts of with finding things about a yourself you are not satisfied with, then moves on to constant judgment and comparison of this believed defect to others, if there are enough people to validate the true existence of this defect, any comment that is made in relation to this defect leads to anger and resentment, even if it was in good faith because all comments are perceived as negative in this stage of the cycle. The last phase is when the person tries to get people to reverse their belief of this defect by persistently asking questions like "who is prettier?/do you like me?/what are we now?/I'm I good enough?" any answer is not good enough. BUT "NO" MAKES YOU AN ENEMY and a TARGET.. to be cont.

My people cry tears and tears.. I cry with them, I understand their struggle. I live their struggle. Opportunity came, now a light is to shine. From high above, came the star. Down to grant liberty.. I am that I AM TO BE!! I STAND ABOVE!!!

Wingless Angels**

Angel-"a person who performs a mission of God or acts as if sent by God: an angel of man.
Church taught me that Angels were winged-giants who fought against demons and carried out the work of God. It is also believed that they are assigned to every individual to guard and protect. However it has become clear to me that an WE ARE ALL ANGELS.
God, made us with the capability to become angels when we have to be. The only difference between us and the angels we know of is our heart. The heart is what gives us the wings we need to lift our neighbors up and away from harm.
Everything that happens in this world is being controlled by GOD, we find ourselves in situations and place due to GOD's planning. We come across people to learn from them be it theory, practice, or experiences, and in most cases we use what we learn later in our lives.
The best way to see the ANGELS in your life is to change the way you look at life. THIS IS HOW!! THE MOMENT SOMETHING GOES WRONG IN YOUR LIFE TRY
1. See it as a stepping stone and not a stumbling block in your life.
2. Look out for the advice and help you get from people.
3. When things become better, analyze and pin point how you managed overcome whatever it was.
4. Who or what helped you?
5. How did you meet that person?

It will go to show you that, even though you might meet someone who might not show any potential in helping you in your life, there is a POSSIBILITY that the impact they will make in your life will come later in your life. Treat everyone as your angel.

We were born angels, our heart holds our wings, when do you intend to unleash your potential?! TREAT EVERYONE THE WAY YOU WOULD WANT TO BE TREATED!!! THEIR WINGS MIGHT ONE DAY SHIELD YOU FROM HARM!!

KOBOLO in CALIFORNIA

Somebody answer this question!! Why is being patriotic in my homeland GHANA frowned upon?! If you went out in public wearing Chalewote(flip-flops) you were a BUSHMAN(uncivilized) who civilized US? If you ever spoke any local language in the presence of strangers, you were ignored, if you ate local food; especially with your hands, you were an Nkrasini(BUSHMAN again)!!! All the things that really made US Ghanaians who we were, was being frowned upon by our own PEOPLE!! WTH?!
Instead, a proper person was to dress in western clothes, eat western food, and speak only English(and French if you could). Proper standards set by proper people?? Now lets do some history... When the colonial rulers came to the Gold Coast, we were so fascinated by the things they brought with them (eg. spirits, clothes, guns, books,ect.) that we were willing to give up our own people in EXCHANGE for these petty goods. We took up their language as our countries primary language. To the extent that teachers tell their students not to speak local languages in school to avoid punishment!!
How has modern day Ghana and infact Africa changed now?! Well we still are not allowed to speak local languages apart from the time when its being taught as a second language in our schools. We only eat western foods(fried rice and chicken-well more eastern, but foreign anyways) burgers, and soda(don't get caught drinking asaana in public) We only wear the latest fashion from the WEST, and mimic our style and accent to fit that of the artist that are made popular by TV(and oh yeah KOBOLO if you don't have DSTV-CABLE)
What prompted me to write this post continues to linger in my mind, even when I sleep! It was Ghana's 52nd independence on Friday March 6th, 2009. A celebration was held at the Masonic center in San Jose, CA to bring Ghanaians and all Africans together to share in our past. Howerver, I approached a friend of mine on my way out to joke around, but when I spoke GA; a local language that was common to both of us, in a group of other people, she responded "wait what did you say? I don't understand you..(western accent)" I repeated myself in GA and continued to walk out.
Later that night, I stopped by a chevron and walked by a group of Puerto Ricans on my way in. It was surprising how loud they spoke in SPANISH, and how they represented their flag colors on their shirts, with tattoes, and even on their cars. Then it hit me; the love and PATRIOTISM Mexicans and Puerto-Ricans show for their country is the reason the second language in the U.S.A is SPANISH!!
Well I am still that KOBOLO in CALI.. Ok33mini?! Just food for thought!!!

"COME STAND ABOVE WITH ME, DO NOT FEAR WHO YOU ARE, IF YOU ACCEPT YOURSELF, WHY WORRY WHO ELSE ACCEPTS YOU?!!!"

Scripture Union! HAHA!!

Exactly what we the cool guys used to do in High School, Laugh at the Scripture Union(SU) guys.. HAHA!!! For some reason it was always the lame and smart kids; who refrained from all the bad deeds the cool kids would indulge in, who were always involved with SU. You grow up to realize that all this time, it was the other way around!!
For some reason, these SU members were always happy and content, never needing approval from anybody about their physicality or intellectuality. A majority of them excelled in school, always had a good number of their members as Prefects, represented the school in academic competition, the LIST GOES ON!
The same people would preach about God's greatness, the kindness He had shown them, and the unconditional Love He had for them. The cool kids thought this message was just part of a script all SU members were to spread in order to win over more people into their little group!!! But actually, they were really experiencing all of this!
I am far from being the holiest, but just recently, GOD started to edge his way into my life. I have now seen His kindness and blessings, which are evident in my grades, opportunities that continue to spring out of NOWHERE,my health, and family prosperity. He has continued to expose me to people and materials that continue to shape my life and strengthen me intellectually and spiritually, although I continue to slip in other parts of my life, I remain confident that I am getting closer day by day, and will continue to ask for the Lord to come into my LIFE!

MESSAGE TO THE SU MEMBERS OF ALL COUNTRIES

YOUR JOB IS AN IMPORTANT ONE
EVEN IF IT TAKES YEARS
AND EVEN IF IT'S ONLY ONE
PERSON YOU MANAGE TO BRING TO GOD
CONTINUE TO STAY STEADFAST AND TRUE
IN YOUR WAYS AND TO THE SU
YOUR BLESSINGS LIE STRAIGHT AHEAD
LOOK AHEAD AND STRIVE TO ACHIEVE.

STAND ABOVE FOR ALL AND FOR GOD!!

Interview with RICK WARREN, author of Purpose Driven Life.

Regardless of how religious you are, the following is inspiring.


Here's a great interview with Rick Warren. He wrote the Purpose Driven Life, a highly recommended book.


You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having 'wealth' from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, 'Purpose Driven Life ' author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California. In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life?

And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe
that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something
bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for..

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems:

If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her- It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people. You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15
million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.. So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit.. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.
Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.

Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.

Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.

Painful moments, TRUST GOD.

Every moment, THANK GOD..

Friend or Foe?

Human beings are social animals, and are born with the natural desire to interact with other human beings. There comes a time in our lives when we place 'friends' on the top of our priorities list. All this occurs during our schooling years. We get to a point in our lives when we become very conscious of how we perceived by the people around us, both physically and intellectually. This is when most people design themselves specifically to suit their society's expectations and society varies depending on the sort of people a person decides to surround him/herself with. Many manage to get into the circle of friends they admire, and become loyal to these friends and in return assume the same loyalty is being directed their way. However, this in most cases never becomes reality. Friends are the building blocks to life, so the selection process should be tailored to suit YOU, so as to draw the kind of people who will stay true to you. It doesn't end here, even the best of friends can end up being the enemy.

"9 ways to spot an enemy in your friend"
1. The friend tries to make you look bad when you're with a group of other friends.
2. The friend wonders why you are so fortunate.
3. The friend will start hanging out with your friends behind your back.
4. Will expect you to do things for them; things they would never do for you.
5. Want you to keep them happy during parties, and when you go off to make the best of the night, they get mad.
6. Always angry when you choose your boy/girlfriend over them, but its always an easy choice for them to make when they choose their boy/girlfriend.
7. They always have something negative to say about any decision you decide to make.
8. Always think a guy or girl who like you is a BAD choice for you, but if that same person was to like them, the person immediately overnight becomes a GOOD choice.
9. Never impressed by anything good that you accomplish in life.

If you spot at least 5 of these characteristics in a person, you must be very careful around them, and watch what you tell them. People do CHANGE, so give them the chance to.

"Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together." -WOODROW WILSON

iStandAbove Campaign Work done 12/08-01/09

iStand Above

Dynasty Basketball Association (DBA) is a non-profit organization that endeavors to develop, promote and raise the image of basketball in Ghana through its developmental programs and activities. DBA currently runs two in-house basketball leagues in Mays Educational Center in Dansoman, and Golden Sunbeam Montessori in Adenta. These leagues are part of the developmental programs orchestrated by DBA to help enhance basketball in Ghana. The leagues were established to provide the children of Ghana quality coaching, tips and drills of basketball, and enhance their teamwork and discipline skills.

On January 8^th, iStand Above donated basketball coaching books and CDs to DBA. The presentation was done during the DBA’s Coaches Clinic at East Legon. In addition to these donations, Pichon Duplan and Peter Yobo, co-founders of iStand Above gave talks on how DBA can further enhance their mission of developing the image of basketball in Ghana. Both Pichon and Peter used their expertise from playing basketball in their high schools and colleges in the United States to share their knowledge with DBA. Pichon Duplan, a member of his high school varsity basketball team and captain of his high school varsity American football team, provided some ways DBA can utilize workouts to enhance the agility, speed and explosiveness of the DBA players. Peter Yobo, who has been exposed to Division one basketball at his college, San Jose State University, shared his knowledge on the game of basketball and gave his insight on tips and drills that DBA’s coaches can focus on during their workouts with the kids.

iStand Above has pledged to support DBA in their mission and hopefully will have more events this upcoming year where we can take this partnership to another level.

iStand Above always endeavors to assist our leaders of tomorrow to stand above their adversities in order to achieve their dreams in life. During a trip to Ghana, West Africa this past December 2008, members of the iStand Above Board (Pichon Duplan, Peter Yobo, Eddy Duplan, and Abdul Halim Musah) went downtown Accra to St. Mary’s Anglican Preparatory School to help children stand above their adversities. St. Mary’s Anglican Preparatory School is a public school that was started by the St. Mary’s Anglican Church in downtown Accra.

During the tour of the school, iStand Above saw potential in students but these students faced adversities that hindered their progress in society. After having a discussion with the Assistant Headmaster of the school and the Parish Priest, Father Tetteh, iStand Above devised a plan to help promising students overcome their adversities.

The St. Mary’s Anglican Preparatory School Administration is to select two students (a boy and a girl) in each class from Class One through to Class 6. These students would be chosen on the basis of their willingness to learn and determination to succeed. iStand Above in turn would then provide these twelve students with school uniforms for the year, exercise and text books for the subject they take, stationery for the year and also, each student’s examination fees would be taken care of. iStand Above felt that it was the financial means that was a major adversity for these children and by relieving them off this obstacle, it is our hope that these 12 children will have the motivation and determination to learn to their utmost potential and make something of themselves so they too can see the importance and essence of giving back to one’s community.

This presentation was announced to the whole church congregation on Sunday 19^th of January at St. Mary’s Anglican Church. iStand Above would like to maintain this relationship with the school and church so as to sponsor these students up until they are ready to go to Secondary School. It is also our hope to expand our scholarship to different schools in different regions of Ghana in order to reach out to as many students as we can and to give them the opportunities they deserve while standing above their adversities in life. All our programs were made possible by our proud sponsors!

The PAST, PRESENT, and FUTURE.

Due to the fear we have of facing bad news, we run away from asking direct QUESTIONS to get direct ANSWERS. We fill the vacuum by answering these questions by ourselves, and we do this by making ASSUMPTIONS to satisfy ourselves.
When our assumptions take over our reasoning, we HEAR and SEE only what we want to, and fail to accept things for what they really are. To defeat the negatives of assumptions, we must learn to ask those direct QUESTIONS to get the direct ANSWERS that reflect the Reality in which we LIVE.
Living life bound by assumptions, tends to hold people back from doing what it is they really desire. Live LIFE by the day and stay clear of predicting the FUTURE. When you look in the future (by assuming the best or worst) you prepare yourself for both scenarios, but however, lose your PRESENT in the process.
Your PRESENT include your family, friends, and the things that matter the most. Don't lose your PRESENT for a FUTURE that is not PROMISED!

DANGER always lurks in the PAST. The PAST is a place for suffering, self pity, and tears. To live in the past is to continuously judge yourself. Recognize PAST mistakes in your PRESENT and live every second of your life the best way you can, to set you in the right direction for a bright FUTURE. Make your PRESENT count! LIVE NOW!

"A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life."
-CHARLES DARWIN

Everyone Admires the 'BOLD' and not the 'timid'

The world is like a huge battlefield. And only the STRONG can survive!!! Being bold is one of the ways a person can climb the ladder of success especially in corporate America!

However, what happens to those in Africa and other developing countries in this world?! Being timid is a REQUISITE for living in such countries. To be bold in society is often deemed as being DISRESPECTFUL. The fear of being caned or beaten makes them grow up living their lives to impress the people around them. Begging to live a life void of anything that goes against the accepted norms!! Norms accepted by other people and not themselves! Living a LIFE of constant JUDGMENT!!

QUESTION! How do you teach BOLDNESS?!

Being bold is a state of mind, one must mirror the accepted norm, to achieve what it is they want. A way to a means. The moment you show fear on the battlefield, you become the target! The western culture and the world defines BOLDNESS in

• A firm hand shake
• Posture
  
• Being well groomed
  
• EYE CONTACT
• Active Listening

Behind closed doors we can live our LIVES the way we want, but on the BATTLEFIELD we must display all these qualities in order to succeed!!! After success comes originality.

To Protect the Sheep
You must kill the WOLF
To Kill the Wolf
You must Know the Wolf
To know the Wolf
You must become the WOLF

Live outside your comfort zone to achieve what you need to!
The sheep can be your family, friends, investments, significant other, JOB, priced possessions, etc.
The WOLF comes in many forms!

I STAND ABOVE
COME STAND WITH ME