Introduction to At-Risk Youth Book

I wanted to share the introduction to my next work which is loosely titled, "At-Risk Youth; Awareness, Prevention, Change".  Please let me know your thoughts, comments, and feedback!  Thank you as always!

"A funny thing happened as I began seeking representation for my first completed manuscript.  My path took a hard right turn and instead of desperately trying to get my work published, I began working with at-risk youth, as it is a major theme from within my book.  We began working with a couple of shelters and after seeing how enormous & truly tragic this problem is, we were moved to delve deeper into this very serious issue that needs to be addressed.  On a personal level I am compelled to ensure that kids can avoid the struggles that affected my ability to grow successfully and just how difficult it truly made my life. Seeing the sheer number of kids that are in danger was enough for me to decide I could not turn a blind eye. At-Risk Youth is a term that is probably one of the most misinterpreted ones I can think of.  Outside of being an At-Risk Youth survivor, as we like to call them, and literally being surrounded by them in my personal, business, and family life, we spent countless hours researching statistics, interviewing professionals in this field, and gathering as much information as possible. Our goal is simple; Create more awareness, provide prevention, and encourage change!"

Latest Article is Live

I just wanted to take a qucik second and let you all know that my latest article titled "Turning My Life Around", is live at the following link!

http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1716339/jewish/Turning-My-Life-Around.htm

Please have a read, leave comments, and pass it along as you deem fit.

Thank you for all the continued support.

On to the next One!!

As another year comes to an end and we prepare for 2012, I first wanted to take a quick moment and wish each and everyone out there a Happy and Healthy New Year!!  If I had one wish it would be for people to take an extra moment and realize what is truly important to them, and to try and focus on being satisfied.  I say satisfied, instead of happy, because one thing I truly believe is that if we all stopped trying to achieve something that is unattainable, or possibly even fictitious, maybe we'd actually stand a chance at achieving our goals for the new year.

For my family and I we faced several challenges this past year but at the end of the day we are all still standing, and my guess is that we are all stronger for having weathered our own individual storms.  Personally I am very excited about 2012 and all the new lessons and adventures I will experience.  I am putting the final touches on my At-Risk Youth book, I have decided to hold off on the publishing of "A Mother's Love", my memoir, in exchange for a couple of fictional pieces I want to put out first.  The amazing part is that regardless what the final outcome is for "A Mother's Love", just the simple fact that I wrote it had tremendous positive effects on many aspects of my life.  I was freed from several personal "skeletons" that were holding me back, I improved relationships that were important to me, and I removed myself from relationships that hindered me.  All in all it there were some major changes and metamorphosis this past year, almost like I have emerged from my cocoon as a totally new life form. 

This last event I want to share may have a few of you scratching your heads as you try to understand why I included it in this specific blog, but I assure you the connection is there.  As I may have mentioned in past blogs my son, who is now a few months shy of 4 and a 1/2, is an incredible individual.  He talks and behaves like a 10 year old and his vocabulary stuns us all.  He has shared many stories with us about god, his past life in Africa, and how he and we arrived on this earth.  The other day he was talking to my wife and I, and he once again stunned us.  He turned to his mother and told her that his grandfather had killed a man and took over his land and property many years ago.  The strange part is that my father in law did inherit a piece of land and property from an older man who had died over 10 years ago, and we had never spoken of this story to our son.  When my wife told her mom about what happened, her mother was shocked.  She told us the real story was that this man was suffering from terminal cancer and he refused all treatments and hospital visits.  As a result he asked my wife's father if he would "put an old man out of his misery".  He refused, and within a few months the cancer took the elderly man.  My main thoughts are how was my son cognisant of this event, how was he able to articulate it so well, and what does it all mean?  I'll tell you what it means, absolutely nothing!!  It's a cool story, and it sends a shiver up my back, but anything other than chalking it up as a really awesome experience, anything else would be a waste of time and energy! 

Continue striving for greatness, and continue your quest for excellence!  It is within us all to do these amazing things and to always believe we are capable!  The next time you are unsure of how unbelievable we all are, just open your eyes to the amazing marvels of the world and how many of them we created!! 

Have a wonderfully productive 2012!!!!