At Last ....

Yesterday was one of the best days of my life.

LaDonna and I had a small wedding ceremony at Newman A.M.E. Church in Pontiac, MI at 7:00pm. It was a really intimate ceremony with some of our closest church family and relatives.

LaDonna and I had promised each other that years ago when we first started to study wealth creation and how to develop the lifestyle that we wanted, that we would first build businesses that would pay for our wedding, pay for our dream home, pay for our children's education and then get married.

We have been working extremely hard to develop our two businesses: Timbuktu Internet Cafe and Pure Joy Pediatrics.

More than that, we also built a couple of other businesses along the way, Third Eye Legacy, Third Eye Property, Third Eye Technology, Timbuktu University and even Green Life Services. We've been volunteering throughout the community, in the churches, at health fairs, and mentoring children and adults of all ages. We lived our lives with the utmost values and tried to set the best example for everyone we've come into contact with.

Over the past three years, we began to study self-development. In that study we learned how to set goals (principally from Brian Tracy and Zig Zigler), we learn how to create a vision of our best selves (principally from Tony Robbins), we've learned how to build businesses and Master Mind alliances that would make us wealth (principally from Robert Kiyosaki and Michael Gerber) and we've even learned how persevere in the face of adversity and obstacles (principally from Jim Rohn and Wayne Dyer).

We've gradually become life-long learners, 21st century learners, professional investors, informal mentors, parental figures, community leaders and much more.

But, what we've found more than anything else in this growth process is a deeper love and appreciation of each other for who we truly are.

LaDonna recently had to take a job with Children's Hospital because it was an excellent opportunity pay off some of her debts and invest that earned income to create more passive income.

Recently all kinds of opportunities have been developing for Timbuktu Internet Cafe as well. Some of the friendships and strategic partnerships that we have built over the past three years are almost amazing to me. We've developed our inner circle and expanded our outer circle. We've also learned a new appreciation for our environment, our community, our family and our own health. We've changed our diets, our exercise, our expressions, our topics of conversation and in some cases our circles of influence.

I'm soooo excited about the bright and wonderful future that lies ahead for us because of all of the incredible seeds that we have deliberately planted and some of the unconscious seeds that we also planted along the way.

I love this woman more than anything and I know that we will continue to grow, learn, expand our realities of what's possible and expand our lifestyles to live the most wonderful life together imaginable! I'm ecstatic and deeply in love. And the harmony of true love resonates deeply in me.

Avoid the Casualties of Communication

Avoid the Casualties of Communication

Prenuptial Agreements

This morning, we went to Sunday school for the first time in my adult life. The subject was the Ten Commandments.

One of the young men was asking about the Ten Commandments and how they represented an agreement with God. As a lawyer, I started to explain the nature of agreements and what is needed for an agreement to be binding under the law. You need at least 2 parties, consideration and a description of the terms.

Later in our lesson, our lesson book began a conversation about Prenuptial Agreements which I found very interesting. There was a paragraph in the book that said that if people do not enter prenuptial agreements that when one of the couple dies, that their assets may be divided up by the state.

This paragraph gave the impression that a Prenuptial Agreement is the only was to legally declare the disposition of your assets, but that is not true. Long before prenuptial agreements and even today, we have wills. A properly written and executed will can properly manage your estate and affairs after death.

That said, I found a new appreciation for prenuptual agreements. One of the other students asked the question, when do you enter this agreement? And the rest of the class answered, "Before you get married ... hence ... PRE ... nuptial." Then, we enterred into an emotion-filled discussion about whether people who are truly in love should enter into these types of legally binding agreements.

I thought about that for a while and finally stated with a new conviction, "I think that ALL couples should have a prenuptial agreement." My new understanding of the term is that this is an agreement that states the understanding of both parties as to what to expect in the relationship.

For almost three years now, LaDonna and I have had conversations about our expectations about our relationship, our friendship, our spirituality, our home life, our faithfulness, our finances and our plans for children and child-rearing. We both believe that it is important to be in agreement about these different issues in your current and future relationship before you go much further.

We think that the mistake that most people make is that they rush into relationships out of lust, love or romance and do not take the valuable time to discuss these important issues.

So, my new philosophy is that communication is key and that the prenuptial agreement - whether written or verbal - is a key component of any long-lasting marital relationship.

Thank God that we continue to learn and grow and expand our philosophies, attitudes and disciplines.

4 Levels of Salsa Dancing

I have found over the years that there are 4 different levels of Salsa dancing:

Level 1: Dancing with both partners' eyes open holding hands

This is the basic level. This is where we all start. There is a certain security in looking your partner directly in the eye and holding their hands to lead them through turns and other moves.

Level 2: Dancing with both partners' eyes closed holding hands

This is the next level of dancing to me. If you can close your eyes and still have enough of a connection with your partner so much so that you can lead them through turns and other variations without stepping on their toes or poking an eye out, you've made it to this level.

Level 3: Dancing with both partners' eyes open not holding hands

This is an interesting level. It requires that you first master the art of connecting with your partner before you can lead them with your intention and eye contact alone. This is highest level I've been able to master.

Level 4: Dancing with both partners' eyes closed not holding hands (Ultimate Level of Intuition and Connection)

This is the ultimate level of human connection. I continue to practice and practice my salsa dancing, conversation, and every other form of human communication trying to reach this level. There is no higher level that I know of than this.

NOTE: This is a blog about salsa dancing but this equally applies to martial arts, communication, and every other aspect of human interaction. I've learned that dancing, communication and other forms of human interaction have many characteristics in common. Moreover, if you can master one, you can master another.

Beautiful Michigan!!! ;-)

I just had to write this post.

For a few weeks now, I've been reading people's Facebook statuses and having conversations with several friends and customers at Timbuktu Cafe regarding living in Michigan. So many people are totally disgusted with living in the state of Michigan.

A common mantra is, "There's nothing to do here. Michigan is sooo boring." Well, that's really not a true statement. I think that the better statement is something like, "I'm so boring or uncreative, that I can't find anything to do in Michigan."

Let me share some wisdom with you. I've lived in 4 countries and 4 U.S. states and travelled to 26 countries and over 40 U.S. states. I've never lived in or been to a place as rich, fascinating and warm as Michigan is. BUT ... you can't appreciate it unless you are (1) open-minded, (2) creative and (3) humble.

I wasn't always able to appreciate the beauty and wealth of experiences that Michigan had to offer either until I lived in and travelled to other places.

Yesterday morning, LaDonna and I were invited up to Torch Lake to visit a friend's farm that he bought 10 years ago that he has been building into a sustainable living environment. We jumped in our car and rushed up there as fast as we could to get the experience.

I thank God for LaDonna because she has the same spirit that I do which embodies: (1) open-mindedness, (2) creativity and (3) humility.

We arrived at his 80 acre property with the most incredible views of Torch Lake. For years, when people talked about Michigan's lakes and other bodies of water in Michigan, I would start to brag about how beautiful the water was in the caribbean (e.g. St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, Cuba, etc.). But, yesterday, I was humbled by how beautiful the water color was up at Torch Lake.

We expanded our context yesterday and we learned so many new things.

My friend has all kinds of natural springs and burpers, weepers, etc. on his property. LaDonna and I got to stick our hands down in the water and feel the water pressure of a natural spring source pushing up from the ground. It was amazing.

Later, our friend took us to a friend of his' house that has a greenhouse and farm on the property. His friend is a holistic healer and many other things that are just incredible. He showed us one of the most incredible greenhouses that we've ever seen. He also grows his crops using vibrations based on rods and lays. A lot of it was way over my head, but it was just incredible listening him speak about it and after a couple of trips, I think I would understand it more.

He also took us in his home and taught us some amazing things about holistic healing and probiotics. All of which was new to me.

Riding around up at Torch Lake we saw chickens, turkeys, deer (that would just stop and stare at you standing still), horses, cows, and all kinds of fish. It's an amazing place and I highly recommend it.

For lunch, my friend's girlfriend made us homemade Arnold Palmers and scrambled eggs with fresh red peppers, fresh onions and fresh mushrooms. It was the most delicious egg dish I've ever eaten.

The entire experience was totally exhilirating and I'm on a new natural high from it.

If you want more out of Michigan, BE more. Michigan may be "boring" to you because of who "you are". In order to change that feeling, you might want to change yourself.

I love Michigan. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else!

It's the Little Things

LaDonna and I are out on our 2nd road trip of 2009. The first one was to visit my godson, Savion, and his mother (one of my best friends), Sierra in Miami, and my little Spelman sister, Erin, and her daughter, Brianna.

This trip LaDonna had to display a medial research poster at a Pediatriacs Conference in Baltimore, MD, so we decided to leave the conference early and go to visit her goddaughter, Mikayla, and her mother (LaDonna's bestfriend), Nadine in Portsmouth, VA. We all left from there yesterday and are now in Jacksonville, NC near the naval base where Nadine works.

I've totally fallen in love with Mikayla - she's such a bright, shining star! And ... I just genuinely love children.

Anyways, this morning, Nadine went to work and Mikayla spent the day with us. I took her bike riding in the parking lot of their condo first, and then we went on a quick roadtrip. We were looking for a park, but found a really nice and quaint, zoo - Lynnwood Park Zoo. When we got there, it didn't look like much, but when the guy at the ticket booth started to explain everything that was in the park, he had such a passion that he excited our curiousity.

The rest of trip around the park was interesting and fun. Mikayla is 3 years old and she'll be 4 at the end of July. She really enjoyed all of the animals and was so engaged in the entire experience.

We got half way around the park and met the zookeeper and he brought out some animals for her to hold, touch, pet and feed. It was a great learning experience for her and opportunity for us to teach her.

We went around feeding animals and talking about them. Mikayla left the zoo more comfortable and familiar with the animals which was exciting for us and her.

On our way back home, we saw a sign that said, "Southern Strawberries". We decided to just turn around and go and check out the strawberry farm. So, we did. We made a U-turn and headed down the street where it said to go.

We got to the farm which wasn't very obviously labeled. Inside, we could see the strawberry fields and we could also see that they raised bees and made honey. So, we took Mikayla in fields and taught her how to pick strawberries. We picked a whole basket full and then went back to the main tent and purchased them.

I gave Mikayla $2.00 to pay the farmer and he gave me the change. While paying for the strawberries, I saw a signed photo of Dakota Fanning sitting on the counter with a few news article clippings that had Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning and others in them.

Apparently, Queen Latifah and the rest of the crew came to this strawberry field to train on how to raise bees and make honey for the movie: Secret Lives of Bees. Can you believe that?!

It's just these little moments like this in a child's life when you decide to expose them to new things that make all of the difference.

Tortoise and the Hare

While working at the store during the days, I have been rereading some of the books that I have read in the past. The book that I am currently reading is "Retire Young, Retire Rich" by Robert T. Kiyosaki.

He retells a fairytale that his rich dad used to repeatedly tell him about the tortoise and the hare. If you don't know this fairytale, the tortoise and the hare decided to run a foot race. Of course the hare started out with a jump start and was off and running. The tortoise started out slow and deliberate. (Here's the link: http://www.storyarts.org/library/aesops/stories/tortoise.html).

As the hare raced along the trail, the tortoise paced himself and just continued deliberately down it. Eventually, the hare winded himself and decided to stop and rest. Soon after he fell asleep, the tortoise came and passed him by. Finally, the tortoise finished the race before the hare and the hare couldn't believe it.

He said that Rich Dad said that many of his friends had passed him by very quickly and laughed at him at his deliberate pace. Later in life, he surpassed all of their accomplishments and accolades. He said that he was proud to be a tortoise.

I read this last week and really didn't think much of this story because as a child, I used to sit and thank of ways that I could have been the hare and still won! But, there's a deep lesson to be learned from the fairytale.

LaDonna and I left out of town and are now in Portsmouth, VA visiting her best friend, Nadine. We went to church with them at the Grove Baptist Church and they had an amazing service.

When the preacher began his sermon, he had us read scripture, 2 Samuel 23: 8-10. His message was "Stand your ground". The scripture lesson is about King David and his three soldiers and the final chapter is about one soldier that was fighting the Philippians. The Israelites gave up and ran away from the battle, but this one soldier stayed and fought and fought.

When the fight was over, his hand had cramped around his sword to the extent that he couldn't let it go. In other words, even after the fight was done, he wasn't able to hold onto anything else the way he did the tool that saved his life.

His points were:

1. Stand believing in God. Don't give up because the race is not given to
the swift or strong, but he who endures until the end.

2. Stand believing in your purpose and divine ability. If God is for you,
who can be against you. (Ephesians 6: 16-17)

3. Stand committed to reaching your goal.

Now, I couldn't ignore this message repeated to me from a totally unique source.

People used to ask me, "Why did you come back to Michigan? Why did you come back to Pontiac? Why did you start Timbuktu Cafe, now, in the middle of a recession?" The best I can tell them is that God directed me to return. He told me to continue my purpose in this life, "To teach and to spread love". What better place to do that then back in my hometown?

Also, about the tortoise and the hare. A close friend of mine asked me back in 2001 when I returned from California and was living at my mother's house and waiting for my condo to be constructed, "Sean, don't you feel sometimes like, 'I should have my BMW by now?'"

That question kinda shocked me coming from that person. I realized, "you don't know me anymore", but I didn't say. I went away and came back a different person. I went out into the world as a "hare" and they think of things like, "Getting rich quick ... getting BMW's ... etc". But, I returned from going to Morehouse College, living in Japan for 2 years, going to law school, and living in London ... a tortoise.

Also, in the year 2000, I took 18 trips! You think I couldn't have bought a BMW?!

But, what I was doing by travelling, learning foreign languages, learning to dance salsa, going away to college, living abroad, travelling to Africa and many other places was to "expand my context" and "fill it with content". Most people do not take the time to do that. I spent years experimenting, exploring, learning, and expanding until I was able to return home again - renewed.

T.S. Elliot said, "We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."

Now, I have a strong sense of purpose of divine ability. So, I know that I'm doing what I am supposed to be doing. Moreover, just keep an eye on me if you want to see what a tortoise can accomplish if he maintains his course at his own pace - I will endure until the end.