DEAR MEN, Sometimes it’s not just about opening the door to let her in first, any guy can do that when he knows that there’s people watching – just for the sake of the credit. Rather make sure her seat belt is on before you start driving. Sometimes it’s not about walking her down that isle where there’s a lot of people just because you want everyone to notice her and she’s looking fancy in her heels. You feel proud to be with her, yes but you also need to appreciate her effort. Walk her down a route that is comfortable with her, that’s less painful and less risk of her actually getting injured. If you aren’t prepared to carry her heels when she’s tired, then you shouldn’t be next to her when she’s in the spotlight. The strength of your bond should never be determined by the number of likes that your pictures with her actually receive on social media. You should never let the opinion of a friend determine whether you spend your life with her or not. We don’t often choose who we fall in love with, it just happens. You then realize loyalty is no longer an option. You begin to plan things in your head with her. All those love songs that you’ve always hated start to make sense to you. No matter how much of a tough guy you claim to be, she has tamed your soul without you actually noticing it. You begin to talk about her unknowingly to your friends, you think about her as soon as you wake up, during the day and before you sleep. When she starts to tear, you shouldn’t offer her something to wipe it off rather remain with her and let her know she’s not alone, hold and let her know that she has someone to fall back on. It’s not about only being with her on special occasions just to make her feel special in front of the world. It’s about being with her even when no one is watching. At the end of it all, it’s not about how much time she spends with you, it’s about the feeling you get every single time you see her name popping as a notification on your phone… Yes, it’s that same person you’re thinking about right now!

Source: Get-inspired by Ti-Sha 

The ship’s owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure out how to fix the engine.

Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a youngster. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.

Two of the ship’s owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed!

A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.

“What?!” the owners exclaimed. “He hardly did anything!”

So they wrote the old man a note saying, “Please send us an itemized bill.” The man sent a bill that read:

Tapping with a hammer $ 2.00

Knowing where to tap $ 9998.00

Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort makes all the difference!

Source: Dr. Ben Carson Facebook page, 

“When I was 16, a boy in high school evinced interest in me, so I had sex with him — just once. And after I came out of that room, I thought, Is that all there is to it? My goodness, I’ll never do that again! Then, when I found out I was pregnant, I went to the boy and asked him for help, but he said it wasn’t his baby and he didn’t want any part of it.

I was scared to pieces. Back then, if you had money, there were some girls who got abortions, but I couldn’t deal with that idea. Oh, no. No. I knew there was somebody inside me. So I decided to keep the baby.

My older brother, Bailey, my confidant, told me not to tell my mother or she’d take me out of school. So I hid it the whole time with big blouses! Finally, three weeks before I was due, I left a note on my stepfather’s pillow telling him I was pregnant. He told my mother, and when she came home, she calmly asked me to run her bath.

I’ll never forget what she said: “Now tell me this — do you love the boy?” I said no. “Does he love you?” I said no. “Then there’s no point in ruining three lives. We are going to have our baby!”

What a knockout she was as a mother of teens. Very loving. Very accepting. Not one minute of recrimination. And I never felt any shame.

I’m telling you that the best decision I ever made was keeping that baby! Yes, absolutely. Guy was a delight from the start — so good, so bright, and I can’t imagine my life without him.

At 17 I got a job as a cook and later as a nightclub waitress. I found a room with cooking privileges, because I was a woman with a baby and needed my own place. My mother, who had a 14-room house, looked at me as if I was crazy! She said, “Remember this: You can always come home.” She kept that door open. And every time life kicked me in the belly, I would go home for a few weeks.

I struggled, sure. We lived hand-to-mouth, but it was really heart-to-hand. Guy had love and laughter and a lot of good reading and poetry as a child. Having my son brought out the best in me and enlarged my life. Whatever he missed, he himself is a great father today. He was once asked what it was like growing up in Maya Angelou’s shadow, and he said, “I always thought I was in her light.”

Years later, when I was married, I wanted to have more children, but I couldn’t conceive. Isn’t it wonderful that I had a child at 16? Praise God!” Maya Angelou from the essay “The Decision That Changed My Life: Keeping My Baby” in 2001 found in the Family Circle Magazine.

Today you have the best opportunity to make the best out of the life you have right now. Don’t wait for things to get better, make them better. The Angelou Johnson Family.