Why Social Media Validation Shouldn't Play A Major Factor In Our Lives.

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Facebook, Twitter, Instagram; most if not all of us either have accounts on these platforms, or at the very least, know exactly what these sites are. The popularity of these social media sites along with the various others out there has probably risen above proportions that even these sites initial creators could even imagine. For many people in our society, the spending of hours upon hours on social media sites has often replaced the normal interactions that we once had with our family and friends. Some people would rather trade handshakes and conversations with everyday people for likes and comments on social media sites. With the expanding popularity of social media sites, there has developed a need for validation from others via these sites for many. Most of our society has developed into a world that compares and judges a person's value based on social media interaction and popularity among our peers through these sites. I will admit that the relevance of social media has become very important in our society, but seeking validation from others through social media shouldn't be a major goal. Quite frankly, social media validation shouldn't even play a major factor in our lives in my opinion.

What's going on ladies and gentlemen? It's me the everyday average guy Brad H. coming at you, and I'm back at it once again with another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'. I hope everyone has been doing excellent since the last post, and hopefully this reaches everyone in good health, as well as a positive state of mind. As for me personally, I recently celebrated another birthday. So March 11th marked my reaching the age of 35. It's been nearly a week now since then, and even saying that I'm 35 is still somewhat weird for me. Probably the biggest reason for that is that I don't really feel like I'm that age. Then again, age 35 is still brand new for me, so I'm not quite sure how it should feel at this point. All I know is that I physically don't feel much different than I did in my mid 20's as of yet. I suppose age in relevance to how one feels physically is one of those things that will vary with each person. As for my birthday itself, it was pretty uneventful for the most part. The weather prevented me from doing what I initially planned, but on a high note, I was able to receive a few birthday gifts that were pleasant surprises. I also got to catch the movie "10 Cloverfield Lane" during the weekend. That movie was pretty disappointing to me, so I won't talk about it much. Better yet, I won't say anything else about it besides going and seeing it. Overall, while my birthday didn't go as planned, just being able to see another year is the most important thing. Okay I've rambled enough, so lets get into this week's topic of social media validation and why it shouldn't be an important factor in our lives.

Before we delve into this week's topic, I want to be sure and state that a person's individual viewpoint on a topic will always vary. My personal goal with this topic, as well as with all the others isn't to focus on what is considered right or wrong, but rather using this platform as an outlet to express my opinions. For those of you that maybe read this and do not agree with what I have to say, that's totally fine. However, my hope is to leave anyone that reads these topics with something to think about further, and maybe even find yourself evaluating more in depth. So as I mentioned earlier, this week's topic deals with people seeking validation through social media. Since nearly everyone uses social media, and so many people seek validation from others in everyday life, some of you may wonder why I feel this is a relevant topic to expand upon. Well, I personally think it's important because not only is it something that I see so many others participating in, but it's something that I myself struggled with awhile back. There was once a time where I put too much value into how others viewed me via social media sites, and it took awhile for me to realize what I know today. What someone thinks of you in your everyday life shouldn't matter to you, and the same rule applies when it comes to social media.

I can think back to a period a few years back when a big reason for me posting status messages on Facebook was to impress others. It was a way for me to somewhat feed my ego by hoping that others would give attention to what I posted. Now I'm in no way saying that everyone does this, nor am I saying that it's necessarily wrong. If being a person that constantly strives for attention though social media sites is your thing, then go right ahead on if it makes you happy. However, for me personally, tying my worth to what others think via social media isn't something I'm interested in any longer. See, what I've come to realize over the past few years is that social media is somewhat similar to reality television. When we view reality television shows, they try to give off the impression that everything they're showing us is real when in actuality, there are many layers that go towards a reality show. There are producers, directors, sets, and crew members behind the cameras that are pulling all the strings right? Since there are so many layers that go into a reality show itself, it can't be entirely real right? Also, do you really believe that people on these shows are truly being themselves? I personally do not believe that to be the case. I want you all to consider this for a minute. Imagine you're at home and there was someone filming you. Do you think you would act the same way being filmed that you would act if there was nobody there? More than likely you wouldn't, and while that comparison is not exactly the same, there is a similarity when it comes to social media. Social media allows us to have an audience and in general, even subconsciously, most people act differently when they're given an audience.

Just from my perspective, and I'm sure most of you can agree with me on this, anyone can put on a facade via social media. Often times the people that seek the most validation through social media are the people that have the biggest issues and insecurities in their everyday lives. In today's society, the social media platform has become the reality show outlet for not only being able to receive the attention we may not be getting outside of it, but for also masking the lack of happiness that should already come from within ourselves. Why else would a person need to post multiple pictures of themselves daily, or constantly spend hours upon hours glued to what everyone else is doing on their social media? Again, I'm not saying that engaging in social media is wrong, however, the seeking of validation from others through social media is probably not the best place to go for attention. Lets be honest here; in most cases, most social media friends are not your real friends. A real friend may interact with you via social media, but they will also have interactions with you outside of it as well. I also want you to consider the following. If you were to die today, how many of your thousands of friends and followers via your social media would come to your funeral service?

It may seem like I'm bitter and bashing social media in this post, but that isn't the case at all. My goal is to get people to understand that a phone call from someone is more valuable than a Facebook like. Going out to dinner with a friend or family member should mean more to you than the comments you receive on a status or picture. There are some people out there that actually get upset when people don't like a photo or status they post. It really shouldn't be that serious, and that's something that I had to learn for myself. A genuine compliment from someone outside of a social media site should mean more than posting a picture and getting a truckload of likes and comments from people that may not truly care about you as a person. From my perspective, social media should be viewed as a tool for gaining and sharing information. It should be a catalyst for interacting with others and making new connections with other like minded people that could potentially become true friends beyond just social media. Social media should be a small part of your life, and not the end all be all in your world. In my personal opinion, what social media shouldn't be is a platform for seeking attention and validation from other people. This isn't a virtual middle and high school where everyone wants to be popular. There's a lyric from a rapper I like named Locksmith that goes; "Attract sharks when you fishing for compliments." Keep that in mind whenever you're looking for validation via social media.

Alright, alright; I believe or at the very least hope that I was able to get my point across with this topic. I'm going to go ahead and wrap this one up, so thanks again for those of you that took out the time to check out another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! As I always like to state again before I close that the hope here is that some meaning and understanding was gained from this. Even if there was not, I still appreciate those of you that stop by. Well I'm out of this joint, so I hope to see you all in the next one. I go by the name of Brad H., and I wish you all peace and positive thoughts. See you all in the next one!

©2016 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.

The Importance of Controlling Your Emotions.

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We're all aware that our emotions play a huge part in our everyday ability to function. Our emotions are normally the driving factor behind the decisions that we make, as well as how we react to certain things that happen in our lives. While we all have emotional moments and experiences that are a part of our make-up, the degree of variance in how our emotions control us will vary from person to person. Some people will just be more emotional than others, and some people will allow their emotions in certain circumstances to control them more than others. It appears that in this day and age that society looks down upon people that are emotional, and while I'm a firm believer that it's okay for we as people to be emotional at times, allowing our emotions to control us can be a very detrimental thing to our lives. It's okay to have emotions, but it's also important to work on having a firm hold over your emotions as well.

What's up ladies and gentlemen? Good day to you all, and welcome to another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'. As I tend to say repetitively because it's the truth, I hope this reaches you all in good health and spirits, as well as in a positive state of mind. The year 2016 is quickly progressing along, and we've already arrived at the month of March. March is always an exciting month for me as it marks my birthday month. I'll be celebrating my 35th year on this planet on the 11th, so I'm pretty excited about that milestone if you will. Also, I wrote in the last post that I would be participating in a 5K in late February. The race took place this past Saturday, and it was an overall fun and successful event. The event titled the Kinsel Ford 5K was the very first race that I ever partook in, and this year marked my fifth time participating in this annual event. Saying that it has somewhat of a nostalgic place in my life would be an understatement. For the past few years, it has become an event that I look forward to. Although it was a challenging ordeal participating with my dealing of a few injuries leading up to the race, I was still able to complete the race in under 30 minutes; the target goal that I normally set for myself. Its been a few days since the event took place, and I'm still pretty satisfied with the aftermath! So the next big thing happening for me will be my upcoming birthday, and I'll be sure to talk about that some in the next post. Alright, lets go ahead and get into this week's topic of dealing with our emotions better.

Before getting into this topic, I want to state that a person's viewpoint on a topic will always vary. My goal with all of this isn't to focus on what is considered right or wrong, but rather using this platform as an outlet to express my opinions. If you happen to disagree with me that's perfectly fine, however, through the process of expressing my opinions via this platform, the hope is to leave anyone that reads this with something to think about and maybe evaluate more. Now as I stated earlier in this post, emotions play a big part in how we live our lives. I would even go so far as to say that the way we handle our emotions is probably at the core essence of who we are as people. I believe that emotions are the catalyst for not only how we view the world in general, but for also how we view our relationships and interactions with others. When you really take it in and consider it, the happenings in our individual lives, along with how good or bad our relationships with others are play a large factor in determining how high or low our emotions can get. It's basically a process of what is happening in our lives vs. how we react to and handle what is happening.

Now from my perspective on this topic, being an overly emotional person can be a good or bad thing depending on what is happening in our lives. We're all aware that whenever something good happens for us that it normally sparks happy feelings and emotions, while the opposite happens whenever things tend to go south. Since happy and positive emotions are associated with things going well, for the sake of making my point in this post, I want to focus on the importance of having control of our emotions when things may not be going all the best. My reasoning behind this has to due with that the fact that many of us make irrational choices and decisions whenever we're allowing ourselves to be controlled by our emotions. This is exactly why I stated earlier that this is a habit that can be very detrimental to our lives. Whenever you're an emotional wreck when things aren't going all that well, it's important for you to understand you're not really your true self at that particular moment. At that moment, you've more or less become a slave to your emotions, which in turn puts you more at risk of making bad choices.

Some of you may wonder why is any of this even relevant since we all have emotions. I can't speak for anyone else, but it's important to me because I myself have allowed myself to become a slave to negative emotions at times. It's something that we all battle with at times but more importantly, it's something that I see happening in society way more than I'd like to see. Too many individuals are hurting themselves both in the long and short term by allowing their emotions to control them at certain moments. Think about this example for a second. You have a person that maybe loaned a family member or a friend some money right? Weeks go by and they haven't seen nor heard from the individual that the money was loaned to. Now the emotion of anger is probably beginning to kick in, and at this point it would be totally justifiable. Now lets say for the sake or argument that the person finally catches up with and confronts the individual they loaned the money to, and a heated argument takes place among the two. While being angry is understandable, do you believe it would do more harm or good if the person that loaned the money confronted the other individual in a more aggressive manner compared to a more calmer approach?

The point that I'm trying to make here is that allowing your emotions to control you in bad situations can be counter productive. We've all seen and heard of family members and friends falling out over certain things, which is similar to the example that I used. Normally in these type of situations, it begins with anger, which leads to a negative emotional state of mind that sparks these heated confrontations. In the end, these type of conflicts ultimately do more damage than good. As I've mentioned previously, it's perfectly normal for our emotions to play a role in certain situations. The thing we want to focus on is not allowing ourselves to do or say something we end up regretting because we were emotional at a particular moment. None of us are perfect and we're all flawed individuals, so of course gaining a hold on our emotions is a task that will not come easy. However, the thing we want to work on is becoming more conscious of our decisions whenever those negative emotions start to creep in. From my perspective, a more conscious person is a more aware person, and a more aware person makes better decisions regardless of how good or bad a moment is. One of my favorite examples I like to use in regards to controlling your emotions goes like this: Allowing your emotions to control you is like being in a moving car, and your emotions are in the drivers seat while you're sitting on the passengers side; a crash is bound to occur.

Well folks that's it for this entry of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'. I believe and hope that I was able to get across the point that I'm trying to make. Like always, the hope is that some meaning and understanding was gained from this. Even if there wasn't, I still appreciate those of you that stop by. Alright I'm out this peace, so thanks again to those of you that stopped by. Have a great week ahead, and stay positive my people. See you all in the next one. Peace!

©2016 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.

You May Not Be Ready Yet For The Things You Want Most.

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Every single one of us have things that we want in this life. Some of the things that we desire the most can be viewed as being superficial, and they're often confused for being needs rather than wants. Then on the flip side, there are things in this life that we want that are essential to maintaining ourselves. This viewpoint varies from each person, and whatever your outlook may be on what things are considered wants and needs in life, we as people will always have a burning desire to chase after the things we want most. While I'm a firm believer in passionately going after the things that we want most in life, I also believe that the right timing and circumstances play an important factor when it comes to getting the things we want. Even if we obtain or achieve some of the things that we want most, it likely won't last or be as effective if the timing isn't right. All of this brings me to the topic that I want to talk about for a bit today. While there may be things that you're pursuing and desiring in this life, you may not always be ready to have those things just yet.

What's going on my people? Happy Friday to you all, and welcome again to another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'. I hope this reaches everyone in good health and spirits, as well as a positive state of mind. The year 2016 is still young but man, doesn't it feel like the month of February is flying on by? I know we have to keep in mind that February is a short month, however, it doesn't change the fact that this year seems to be speeding forward. At any rate, I hope everyone is doing well. So what's been up since I last wrote? For one, the Super Bowl has come and gone. I know that many people thought it was a boring game, but I myself personally enjoyed it. It was a very defensive game, which didn't make for a lot of excitement. However, I'm one of those people that can appreciate a good smash mouth game where the quarterbacks struggle from time to time. I was off with my pick of the Carolina Panthers winning, but hey that's why they play the game. Any team can rise up on any given Sunday right? I also want to send congrats to the Denver Broncos. Also, if any of you read the last post before this one, I mentioned that I will be doing a 5K race next Saturday (Feb. 27). The race is the Kinsel Ford 5K, which is actually the first race that I ever ran in. This will be my fifth time participating, and I'm definitely pumped! This paragraph is getting a bit too long, so I'll definitely be talking more about the post race in the next upcoming post. Alright then peeps, lets get into this topic of why you may not be ready for the things you want the most.

So we're back again for the fourth blog entry for 2016. Like I always mention in my posts, a person's individual viewpoint on a topic will always vary. My goal here isn't to focus on what is right or wrong, but rather using this platform as an outlet to express my opinions. Through that process of expressing my opinions, the hope is to leave anyone that reads these entries with something to think about and consider more. Now as I stated earlier, we all have things that we want in our lives, and we often confuse wants for being needs. Since I believe that needs and wants are two different things, I'm going to focus more on the wants compared to the needs in this post. Again, the things that those of you reading this may view as needs and wants may be different from my perspective on it. For me personally when I think of wants, I think of things like winning the lotto, getting that attractive girl (or guy if you're a female) that you desire, or owning a nice house, etc. In my opinion, these are examples of things that we may want, but they're not things that we always necessarily need. What else do these things have in common you may wonder? Besides potentially being costly to have, they all require having a great deal of maturity to properly maintain.

For most of us, especially when we're young adults, we often desire to more or less keep up with the Jones's. In some of those cases, we often look at others such as our peers and what they have or are achieving, and then we use that as a standard for our own lives. Going back to the wants and needs sub topic, I honestly feel that viewing our peers successes and achievements for our own lives is one of the reasons why many of us confuse wants and needs. If you're one of these people, and we all are at times, you're pretty much living vicariously through others. Just because maybe your classmate, family member or friend has achieved certain things, it doesn't always mean that you're mentally ready for those things as well. See, most people desire things that are almost counterproductive to their own lives. When you look at other people obtaining certain things that you may desire and see that these people are apparently enjoying having these things, it can give you the illusion you that need these things as well. Again, a person's level of readiness and maturity varies, so while it may appear to you that you're ready to take on certain things in life, that may not be the case if you're basing your preparedness off of someone else's life. This isn't always the wise way of thinking in my opinion.

Here's something to consider, and this is probably one of the best examples that I can think of at the moment. We all see these people on television winning these gigantic lottery prizes right? I mean lets face it, most people desire to obtain that kind of money right? We're all familiar with someone, or have certain family members that constantly say they want to win the lottery right? You may kinda laugh to yourself when you hear certain people say this because you know deep down that although they may want to have that kind of money, winning that type of money would probably be more damaging to their lives than good. As a matter of fact, I watched a video not to long ago that highlighted several people that had won the lotto and ultimately ended up losing all the money they won. In the worst case scenarios in the video, some of these people ended up losing their lives. It's like I mentioned earlier, it's easy to be on the outside looking in on a situation and believe that should be you right now. The question to consider is would having all the things that you want at this moment end up bringing you more happiness, or more misery if you aren't mentally and emotionally mature enough to deal with it? Something to think about right?

From my perspective, there's nothing wrong with wanting or desiring things, but we have to be aware of what we're truly getting ourselves into. As I stated previously, it all comes down to timing in my opinion. I believe that through effort, patience, persistence and consistency, we can achieve almost anything that we want. Now the key word that I want you to pay attention to is patience. See, I believe that when we're truly ready for all the things we desire the most, they will come to us naturally through the process of life. Think of it like a flowing river of water that goes naturally with its current, or a puzzle that you've been working on where the pieces naturally fall into place. If you're not mentally ready for the things that you desire, it's similar to someone throwing a stone into the river and interrupting its flow. Life can already be challenging enough as it is, so putting added stress and pressure on ourselves is like going into a battle without a strategy. I'm in no way trying to discourage or demotivate anyone from achieving the things you desire most. However, what I am trying to do here is remind you all that timing is important. There's a reason why most of us look back at certain past scenarios in our lives and say; "I wish I knew back then what I know now." Taking on too much when you're not mentally ready can ultimately lead to bad decisions that can affect your life for years to come.

Well I believe I got the point I was attempting to make across, so I'm going to wrap this up. Thank you all once again for checking out another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! Like always, the hope is that some meaning and understanding is gained from this. Even if there isn't, I still appreciate those of you that stop by. I hope you all have a great and enjoyable weekend ahead. Stay tempered and stay positive my people. See you all in the next one. Peace!

©2016 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.

Our Friends and Family Have Lives Too!

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I believe it's fairly safe to say that we all have to rely on other people every now and then. While I'm sure that some may disagree with this, I feel the need of needing someones help every so often doesn't make you any less of an independent person. Regardless if its family, friends or even a complete stranger, we all are going to require the help of another person during various points of life. Though I do firmly believe in and promote this idea of requiring others for support, I'm also aware that there will be times where those we rely on will not always be able to be there. For some, one of the more detrimental human habits that we fall into is ALWAYS counting on those that we rely on to be at our every beck and call. As I've gotten older, I've come to realize how truly habit forming and crippling this way of thinking can be. There's absolutely nothing wrong with having to rely on others, but its also important to understand that our friends and family have their own lives as well.

Yo, what up ladies and gents? Happy February to you all, and welcome to another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective' for 2016. I hope everyone's week is going well thus far, and that the still young year of 2016 is treating you all well. As for myself, I'm pretty excited for not only this upcoming weekend, but the entire month of February in general. I'm sure that most of you know that this weekend is Super Bowl weekend for the NFL. The teams that I wanted to see in the Super Bowl didn't make it but of course being the sports fan that I am, I'm going to be tuned into the game like nearly everyone else. As for a prediction on the game, I'd personally wouldn't mind seeing Peyton Manning end his career on a high note with a Super Bowl win. That said, I don't think it's going to happen this year. Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers are a great team all around, and I really believe this is their year to take it all. I don't know what the score will be, but I expect a Panthers victory this weekend. I'll also be participating in a 5K race later this month, so I'm pretty excited about that as well. I'll likely be talking more about that in the coming weeks. Alright, that's my sports plug for the week, so lets go ahead and get into this week's topic.

This is the third blog entry for 2016, and as I always like to mention in my posts, a person's individual viewpoint on a topic will always vary from person to person. My aim here isn't to focus on what is right or wrong, but rather using this platform as an outlet to express my opinions. Through that process of expressing myself, the hope is to leave anyone that reads these entries with something to think further about. During our time of growing up as children, most of us are taught the importance of friendship, family and camaraderie. Its kinda funny to me sometimes how so many things that we're taught as children hold relevance for our the duration of our lives. I'll admit that for whatever reasons that may apply, the importance of family and friends has somewhat taken a backseat for many in our society. However, for the most part, our society in general wouldn't be able to maintain without strong friendship and family ties. The question that I want to delve deeper into today is; How much can be too much when it comes to needing our friends and family?

Like I mentioned earlier, we're taught that we should turn to those we can count on when we need them. While I do believe that calling on others for help in times of need is the right way of doing things if it calls for it, I feel that too many people in our society abuse this "lifeline" (Who Wants to Be A Millionaire reference) so to speak. We've developed into a people that often take our family and friends for granted. We often view our family and friends similar to the way that we view a lifeguard on watch at a beach or swimming pool. Whether its a big or small issue that we're facing, we're always expecting for someone to throw us that rescue tube to save us. What's even worse is the idea that many of us feel that we're entitled to the help of others. Yes, believe it or not, some people still feel that they're owed the privilege of having the help of their family and friends. Well, from my personal perspective, just like you have your own life, your friends and family have their own lives too.

From my perspective on this topic, there's absolutely nothing wrong with seeking help from our friends and family. However, too many people are quick to bad mouth and write off people because they're not always there whenever it's convenient for them. Think about this for a second, and I'm going to use this as an example for getting my point across. Imagine that you were going through a breakup, or some other issue that may have left you feeling disappointed. Now imagine that your parents, or one of your close friends that you always rely on for support were enjoying themselves doing something that they seldom get to do. Would you really want to ruin their experience because of something that you were facing that wasn't necessarily a life crisis? A person that cares about others and not only themselves, wouldn't want to burden or take away joy from others because of their own personal issues. Again, regardless of how close you are to someone, no one is entitled to always be there for you. They have lives and responsibilities of their own.

The main point that I'm attempting to make in this entry is that we have become a society that relies too much on others for problems that we often create ourselves, but then we become angry and disillusioned whenever people aren't always able to be there for us. Yes, its important to have friends and family that we can rely on, but we must also allow them to enjoy their lives as well. You don't want to be that person that is always calling on people whenever you're having problems. Everyone, even those that you're close to have their own problems to deal with, and no one wants to constantly deal with other peoples issues while dealing with their own. I think that one of the biggest ways for a person to address this issue is to work on becoming better at solving problems on our own. We have to learn how to solve the small issues on our own, and then rely on others for the bigger issues we face. I know that everyone has problems, but some of us make our issues a lot more bigger than what they really are. Finally, and this is probably the biggest takeaway from this post. If you're one of those people that continuously burden others with your problems, you're literally contributing to your own downfall. Again, the people that you're close to will always love and care about you, but that doesn't mean that they won't get tired of being around you if you're constantly being a burden to them.

Well I think I got my point across, so I'm going to close this out for this week. Like always, thanks to everyone who stopped by for another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'. I hope that there was some meaning and understanding gained from this and even if there wasn't, I still appreciate those of you that took out the time to read this. I hope you all have a great rest of the week ahead, and enjoy the Super Bowl this weekend. See you all in the next one. Peace and love!

©2016 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.

The Journey Towards Becoming Better Will Not Be A Perfect One.

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I have a belief that there comes many periods in nearly every person's life where some kind of awakening happens. You know the kind of awakening that happens when a person feels something deep within their spirit that sends vibes that there is time for a change? It's almost like an epiphany. While some may ignore these messages and not take any action, many of us choose to embrace these awakenings with a deep passion. Those that choose to listen to themselves and take the steps towards become a better individual, often develop a passion for self-improvement that almost becomes obsessive. That type of obsessive passion can often lead to an added pressure of wanting to be perfect while on the journey of self-improvement. While striving for perfection can be a motivating force, we all know that achieving perfection is virtually impossible. This not only applies to life in general, but also the journey one takes towards wanting to become a better person as well.

What's going on ladies and gentlemen? Welcome to the second entry of 'Brad H.'s Perspective' for 2016. Like always, I hope that everyone has been doing great, and hopefully the year thus far has been both peaceful and positive for you all. As for me personally, the new year has been going pretty good so far. For those of you that read the last entry, you may already know that my grandmother celebrated her 82nd birthday recently. Well now there is another upcoming birthday for another person that is special to me, and that would be my younger sister. Although my sister and still young and will only be turning 24 years old on her next birthday, I'm still grateful for both her and my grandmother being able to celebrate turning a year older. Alright, now that I've gotten all of that out of the way, lets go ahead and talk about how the journey towards becoming will not be a perfect one.

Like I mention in my blog entries, a person's individual viewpoint on any topic will vary from person to person. The goal here isn't to focus on what may be right or wrong, but rather using this platform as an outlet to express my opinions on topics that I think about. Through that process of thinking and expressing, the hope is to leave anyone that may read these posts with something to think about. Back in the year 2012, I wrote an entry titled 'Focus On Becoming Better, Not Perfect'. If you want to check that particular blog entry out, you can read it here. Today's entry will somewhat piggyback of that post, however, since its been nearly 4 years since I had written that post, I'm going to attempt provide a more clearer and fresher perspective on today's topic. Also, with what I've learned from experiences in the past couple of years, along with just becoming a few more years older than what I had written back then, I feel that I have a greater understanding of this topic now. Besides, the awakening that I mentioned people having earlier in this post is something that I can attest to experiencing myself.

There are many different kinds of awakenings that a person can have. Whenever a person has the kind of awakening that motivates them to strive towards acquiring more knowledge or becoming a better person, there will be all kind of emotions and thoughts involved. Now when we say becoming a better a better person, what exactly does that mean? It varies from person to person but from my perspective, choosing to become a better individual is something that starts with something that is often simple. For example, lets say that a person that drinks alcohol or smokes cigarettes has an awakening that calls for them cut out those vices right? It often begins with slowly cutting back on participating in those acts until the individual gets to the point where they no longer crave those things. We all know that any kind of positive change doesn't happen overnight, and you'll be hard pressed to find anyone that can put down any bad habits cold turkey. I'm not saying that it cannot be done, but its not likely. The main point is that whatever awakening that a person has towards becoming better will be a journey full of ups and downs.

I feel that one of the biggest drawbacks that we have towards the journey of self-improvement is pressure. I'm not talking about the pressure that others may put upon us whenever we're on a journey; that's already going to be a given. I'm talking about the pressure that we put upon ourselves. While the proper amount of pressure can be a good thing towards helping in keeping us honest with our goals, the pressure that we put on ourselves to be perfect in our journeys is one of our biggest hindrances from my perspective. We often put so much pressure on ourselves to do well, that whenever we do slip up and make a mistake, we end up on a downward spiral that often puts us right back at square one. Now what happens after that? Normally, all the progress that we've made; whether its been big or small, has likely been undone. Whenever we make the choice to stop a habit we deem as bad, we must understand and accept that the journey will not be a perfect one.

We're not perfect people, so whatever journey that we're on towards improving ourselves will not be perfect as well. Whatever vices or habits that you're trying to break from your life, think of them as stages. Lets say that you go a certain amount of days without participating in a habit you're trying to rid out of your life right? View the days that you succeeded as one stage, and then set goals towards reaching the new next stages and so on. Eventually, you'll build up enough resistance to the point where you won't have the need for those bad habits. When that starts to happen, that's when you'll know you're beginning to change for the better. Again, it varies from person to person, and you should never judge your progress with others. If you happen to slip up and make a mistake or relapse on your journey, don't go and undo the progress you've already made by falling back into your habits permanently. Pick yourself back up, and look to go even further than you did before you slipped up. I'm going to sum this up by repeating something that I heard someone say recently. The goal should be progress, not perfection.

Alright folks, I think I got the point that I was looking to make across. With all of that said, I'm going to go ahead and close out this entry of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'. As always, I'd like to thank everyone who joined me today, as well as in the past. My hope is that some meaning and understanding can be gained here, and even if there isn't, I still appreciate those of you for your support. Feel free to leave any feedback or thoughts on this topic. Hope you all have a great week ahead, and I'll see you all in the next one. Peace!

©2016 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.

Your Worth Isn't Defined By A Number.

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Even from a very young age of life, the majority of people realize how big of a role that numbers have on our lives. Numbers are just as important to life as the alphabet, and it can even be debated as to which of the two is the most important. Whether its dealing with academics, money, age and etc, numbers will continue be involved in our days daily. While numbers are understandably a crucial aspect of life, I've come to notice how often that we as a society define people by numbers. This particular thought has been weighing pretty heavily on my mind as of late, and whenever that starts to happen, I have to use this platform to address my individual thoughts about whatever it is. Since much of society defines others by numbers; something that I've come to wholeheartedly disagree with, I'm going to be addressing why I feel that a person's worth shouldn't be defined by numbers.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all! Welcome to the first edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective' for 2016. We made it guys! Although 2016 is still brand new, I hope that the new year has been peaceful and positive for everyone thus far. I kinda slacked up posting these entries during the latter part of 2015, and for that I apologize. I was heavily involved in a few other things that I'm interested in, plus it was the holiday season, and I spent quite a bit of time with the relatives. I'm back again now however, and what better way than to get the new year started with being active on here active? I must say that I'm feeling pretty good so far into this year. One thing that has me feeling great is that my grandmother will be celebrating her 82nd birthday this upcoming weekend. I'm definitely happy about that, as well as some other positive things that have happened for me as of late. Alright, lets go ahead and get into why I feel that we shouldn't be defined by a number, or numbers.

Like I mention in all my entries on here, a person's individual viewpoint on any topic varies from person to person. The goal here isn't to focus on what is right or wrong, but rather having an outlet to express individual opinions on topics that will hopefully get others to think about and reevaluate. Now we all know that we live in a very materialistic society. This has been stated time and time again, almost to the point where it has become a broken record for most. I'm not saying that everyone views the world in this manner, however, society in general normally defines people by the amount of wealth a person has acquired, as well as the kind of material possessions a person obtains. Now I'm not going to say that none of this isn't important. There definitely are certain things that could be classified as "materialistic" that are required in order to survive in this world, and money for a prime example is one of them. A person would be naive to believe that money doesn't have a degree of importance in life.

Now what do material items, money, cars, etc all have in common? Yep, you guess it; they are all defined by different amounts, which means that they are essentially numbers beyond the purposes they serve. As I mentioned previously, numbers are important in everyday life, and since the things I mentioned involve numbers, they are of course important as well. While all of that is fine and dandy, here is the issue that stems from the root of this topic. While numbers are important to life, the over-emphasizing of numbers has created a system where we as a society has come to devalue other individuals as human-beings. We are tying a person's worth to superficial things, which in turn is causing us to look at our fellow men and women only as being numbers. It's almost as if the less a person has from a monetary standpoint, they are viewed by society as being worthless. This isn't cool in my opinion, and this way of thinking has seriously messed up our psyche.

One of the biggest examples of this that I can think of off top is the whole number system that we've created in regards to how a person looks. We've become a society that uses a scale of 1 through 10 to evaluate how physically attractive a person is. Of course a 10 (aka a dime piece) means that a person is super attractive, and a 1 means a person isn't. Now take a moment and think about that for a second. We're judging other HUMAN-BEINGS on something that they cannot even control. Do you even realize how shallow minded that is? Yes, I understand that everyone isn't going to be the apple of a person's eye, but isn't beauty supposed to be in the eye of it's beholder? Despite all of that, I personally think that it's wrong to rate others by something they cannot control due to a shallow and superficial scale that society has made up. I realize we've all been young and probably done it before at some point, however, that doesn't mean that it's necessarily right.

From my perspective, we need to try getting back to a time where things were much simple. A time when people didn't judge a person's worth by superficiality. Humans shouldn't be viewed like items that you purchase at a store with price tags. If you're a person that feels down from time to time because others have made you feel you're not attractive or rich enough, just remember that your worth isn't defined by a number. You are still a human-being and regardless as to what your age or social status is, you can still contribute to the greater good in some way. Invaluable qualities like knowledge, wisdom, and character; things that a good portion of society is lacking today, can be way more important to the greater good than a beautiful face and nice body. Going out of your way to help others by volunteering, or doing something nice for the elderly can be just as important than how much money you have in your bank account. If you care bout numbers that much, how about counting how many times you've helped others. In the end, the only numbers that really matter are the number of times you contribute to something or someone bigger than yourself.

Well I believe I got my point across in this entry, so I'm going to go ahead and bring this to an end. Thank you once again for joining me on another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'. My hope is that there is some meaning and understanding gained from this entry, and even if there isn't, I still appreciate those of you that stopped by. Happy New Year to you all again, and I'll see you all in the next one. Peace!

©2016 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.

Has Society Confused Being Weird With Being Unique?

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He is such a weirdo! She does some of the weirdest things! Those people are so weird! Sound familiar? I'm pretty positive that the majority of us have been viewed as weird by others at sometime or another. Most likely, in the event we're not being referred to as weird by other people, we've all at the very least been around people doing the weird talk of others. When we're not listening to others referring to someone else as weird, then we're the ones likely participating in the weird talk of others ourselves. So much "weirdness" that I'm starting off with this post today right? With so much weird talking of others going on within our society, it can sometimes be difficult to differentiate between being weird and being unique. Then again, depending on how you view things, maybe the two are one in the same. I personally believe there is a difference among the two, and I'm going to shed a bit of light on why I think that is.

What's good people? Welcome to another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! Hope everyone has been doing great as of late. Like I always say in my blog entries, I greatly appreciate those of you that have taken out the time to stop by once again. It has been a month or so since I've posted, so I'm back at it again with another one of my perspectives on a topic that I've been pondering on for quite a bit. In this entry, I will be giving my viewpoint on the whole weird vs. unique debate. Then again, since I don't really see or hear a lot of people debate this topic, I wouldn't necessarily classify it as a debate. It is however a topic that I've discussed with several people, and I do believe that there is some merit within discussing a topic such as this one. Lets get right to it!

As with any topic that can be discussed or debated, a person's individual viewpoint will always vary to what that individual thinks. My goal isn't to focus on being right or wrong, but rather coming to a space where there is a mutual respect among others opinions, despite having disagreements on those opinions. Just wanted to make sure that I threw that out there before going any further. Now I personally have somewhat of a problem with the whole weird vs. unique argument. My problem with this topic isn't just narrowed down to the fact that I'm certain there are people that view me as being weird. I'm totally fine with that if that's what someone feels. My biggest issue with this topic is that I think many of us mistake being uniqueness for being weird. Since I feel like this is happening so often in today's society, I think that a lot of people are being unfairly categorized into being something they're truly not.

Speaking for myself only, I see unique and weird as two fairly different traits. When I think of the word unique, I think of different in a good and positive way. The word weird doesn't necessarily come off as bad to me, but it doesn't evoke the good emotions I feel when I think of someone being unique. This is an assessment I think many of us can agree with. I say this because lets be honest here; most people that are classified as being weird by others are seldom viewed in a positive light. The majority of the time when we hear someone referring to others as being weird, it is normally some bad or negative. Now since I believe that many individuals that are simply unique and different in a good way and are being confused with being weird, these individuals are often avoided by those that view them as being weird. The end result is that a lot of people that are simply misunderstood by society are the mains one who end up being ostracized.

We all are individuals with our own identities, which means that we are all unique regardless. I'm not just talking about being unique in our skin tones, looks, etc. We're all unique in the things we enjoy, the values we have, the ways we think, etc. Being unique individuals is what differentiates us from being just like everyone else, and just because a person is unique, it doesn't mean they're weird. Think about this for just a second; what would the world be like if everyone dressed the same, liked the same exact things, and done everything the same way? That sounds like a pretty stale and boring society to me. From what I see on a daily basis, it almost feels like a person is instantly viewed as being weird if they're not doing what everyone else in society is doing. A person shouldn't be doing everything that society is doing just to gain approval from others. We should be marching to the beat of our own drum, and doing the things that make us happy regardless of what it looks like in society's eyes.

From my perspective, people that commit mass murders and crimes are weird. People that molest and hurt others are weird. People who have no compassion, and will belittle others to feed their own egos are weird. People that engage in these things I mentioned are weird in my eyes. Why, you may ask? I view them as weird, because they hurt others, and are not helping or adding anything to society. People that may dress differently from the normal, have views that aren't mainstream, or choose to stay home instead of going clubbing every weekend aren't hurting nor bothering anyone else. They're not stepping on anyone else's toes, so why are they weird? We have to open our minds and become more tolerant of how others live their lives. If the way a person lives isn't affecting you personally or hurting anyone else, then that person isn't weird in my opinion. Finally, if you're a person that lives an unconventional lifestyle, never allow others to make you feel weird because you're not like everyone else. Continue to let your individual uniqueness define who you are.

I believe I've gotten my point across in this post, so I'm going to go ahead and wrap this one up. Thank you again to those of you that tuned in to another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'. My hope is that some meaning and understanding was gained through this post and even if there wasn't, I still appreciate you reading. Thank you for your continued support, and I'll see you all in the next one. Peace!

©2015 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.