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!!!!

Let's play Santa Claus

Hey everyone,

After a recent visit to Choices Youth Shelter in Orangeville, Ontario(www.youthchoices.org), it became clear what I had to do! They have 20 kids living with them this holiday season, 14 boys and 6 girls, and I want to ensure that they get to enjoy The holidays however possible. I was presented with a wish list and after only 12 hours the support has been amazing. I believe we are going to get every item on the list, and then some! Here is the list, and anything anyone can do to help would be amazing! Even just forwarding this blog is helpful, trust me on that.

The list is as follows:

Food Gift Cards- e.g, Tim Hortons Cards, McDonalds, Montana's, etc

XL Hoodies

Peanut Butter

Video Games (Original Wii or XBox)

Long Distance Phone Cards

Store Gift Cards- Walmart, Zellers, Sears, The Source, etc.

Colouring Pages

Art Supplies

Music Gift Cards- HMV, Walmart, Zellers

Movies-DVD's

Movie Passes- Cineplex, AMC, Famous Players

Writing Journals

Handheld Electronics

Winter boots size 10-12 mens

Thank you in advance for anything you can do! I can be reached directly at joshua@joshuastern.ca

Why do we hurt the people we love?

I have been going through a whirlwind of emotions lately as my professional life and my personal life are so closely intertwined that I feel I'm on a collision course of catastrophic magnitude.  I strive for greatness, I want to provide a good life for my family, I want to help others, and most of all I just want to smile a little more.  Throughout the last 10 months as this latest chapter of my life began I don't think I ever fully prepared for what the outcome would or could be. 

When I began writing my life story it was first therapeutic, and secondly in hopes that I could get the work published, and with the proceeds and the underlying theme's, help many others that struggle as I do.  What has actually happened has kind of got me reeling.  While the professional side of my work seems to be moving along rather well, the personal side is not.  I have work with 2 different youth shelters starting in January, I am becoming the spokesperson for a third organization, and I am working on an At-Risk Youth Handbook if you will, as well as establishing some After school programs for these kids.  It's been an awesome personal high, but almost like Rudyard Kipling says in his poem "If", when one side is high, the other will be low, and if we can stare these two imposter's right in the face and treat them exactly the same, then you may "get it".

My family has not taken very kindly to the initial story, even though none of them have read it, or even inquired what it is about, and it has taken a major toll on myself, my wife, my father, and my brother, just to mention a few.  Why is it that it's so difficult for us as individuals to accept that if we say and do things guided by best intentions and positivity, that the person we are talking too doesn't have the same intentions!?  I believe fear and lack of communication leave us with too many questions to answer for ourselves, and when that begins to occur, you as an individual are in trouble.  I mean for you personally it may work out, but if you are trying to live a life where you are close with several others, you may have to learn that sometimes your own thoughts, are not the only ones to be considered, and some times being right is wrong.  For if two people can see the same scenario totally different, how could they ever have resolution.  I believe that it no longer becomes about the particular scenario and it becomes more about those two individuals and which is more important, to be "right", or to be able to call that person a close friend.  Sometimes we must put aside our own thoughts and wishes IF we believe that the individual is worth it.  It seems somewhat crazy to me, but it's true.  In order to have friends and confidants, we must find ways to ignore the way we think as individuals, and try harder to understand what it's like to think as the majority would.

At the end of the day it is a very difficult thing to weave your way through this interesting thing we call life, and I guess it all comes down to who you are and what you want, but remember this one thing.  To me, if you really want to have personal success, you must learn to find your inner voice, and let this be your one true guide.  Yes you will have many people that tell you you're selfish or blind, or what have you, but on the other side of that coin you will find many who respect you, honor you, and do everything in their power to assist you even though your visions are not theirs.

I  would love to hear your comments and thoughts on the subject so please leave them here or you can email me directly at joshua@joshuastern.ca.

A Moment of Destiny??

Today I had one of the more peculiar and incredible experiences of my life.  On a journey that had begun over a month ago, I was trying to find out more about the Ba hai faith, a religion that my brother in law is a believer in.  For the holidays I wanted to make a donation in his name but I was surprised to learn that they only accept donations from Ba hai members.  I had also been given a list of books he wanted for Christmas , so I inquired.  I was directed to a distribution center in Scarborough, Ontario where I met a delightfully pleasant woman by the name of Soosan.  After briefly explaining what I was doing there she quickly helped me find what I was looking for.  As she was preparing my invoice we started chatting and before I knew it she stood up, removed her glasses, and stared me dead in the eyes.  With the softest smile and voice she said, "I have a lot of intuition, and may I just tell you that you are someone special?"  Obviously I was a little stunned and taken back, but I thanked her and asked her what she meant.  "You have special purpose here and you are going to achieve everything!"  I must have been pale as a ghost at this point because I couldn't help but think how random and crazy this was, yet at the same time it felt so normal and right.  She told me I had been touched by god and before I went to leave, with a tear in her eye, she asked me if she could hug me.  Flattered, I told her "of course you can, if more people hugged randomly like this we'd all be in a better place!"  With that she thanked me for coming in, smiled and we said goodbye.  I walked out feeling like I was on top of the world and for whatever its worth, Soosan, if you read this, thank you very much for your kind words, if nothing else they have provided me with even more motivation to complete my quest!

Thinking out loud!

I wanted to take a moment to reflect on a one of the current events in my life. I am very excited to say that the work on the At-Risk Youth Guide we are doing is truly fufuling. I have uncovered so many of my own locked away secrets just by putting pen to paper in an attempt to help others who struggle as I did and still do at times. It is amazing to me that with all the news about bullying, teen suicide, and teen drug and alcohol use, that more is not being done to offset this phenomenon! As opposed to focusing on all three as separate entities, I suggest that if we merely focus on what leads to all these kids being at risk, then we can figure out how they are becoming at-risk, and then what we can do to change it! I'm quite sure that we can all agree that a bully or victim of bullying, a drug using teen, and any kid that considers or chooses suicide, are all at-risk. I know it's terrible what's happening with all these bullies and their victims, but is nobody truly interested in why that youngster is a bully in the first lace? Maybe their life outside of school is a terrible one? As opposed to reacting to these kids like they are monsters, or like they are aware of why they do these things, why don't we try to asses what's going on for that child and try rescuing them as well as their victims.

Throughout my work with at-risk youth, and being a survivor myself, I have witnessed an enormous amount of misplaced anger and emotions. If these kids don't have the ability to process and deal with these emotions, how can we hold them fully accountable for their actions which are based on those emotions!?

I encourage you to comment and share your thoughts!