How Positive Daily Habits Throughout Your Life Can Aid You In Handling Negative Factors.

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The majority of us all know by now that habits are a part of our daily lives. For the most part, we are all creatures of habit. Some of these habits that we employ are done on a conscious level, and some of them are subconsciously driven. For example, when you put on your shoes, you probably subconsciously put the first shoe on a specific foot before the other. You may subconsciously tie your left shoe before your right shoe every single time, etc. This is an example of how we all practice habits on a subconscious level. Then there are the habits that we partake in that we consciously engage in. When you make the choice to go for a walk everyday, that is a conscious choice that you make to improve your health. If you make the choice to just sit around and never exercise or move your body, you are also making a conscious choice to not improve your health. Whether for good or for bad, habits are a driving force in our lives. Now we all know that there are good and bad habits, but for the topic that I'm going to covering for this installment, I want to focus more on the habits that are deemed to be more positive. I just gave an example of what I consider to be a positive habit when I talked about improving your health. However, I will also acknowledge that what is considered to be a positive or negative habit is something that is subjective to what an individual thinks. It also comes down to what an individual considers to be right for their own life. Now when we think of positive habits, we also think of activities that we engage in that produce some kind of positive results in our lives. Now regardless of how positive your habits are or how positive of a person you may be, we all know that there will occasionally be factors that are going to affect us negatively. There is no way around avoiding negative factors happening in our lives. However, depending on the severity of those negative factors, there are various ways that we can combat against those them. The practice of positive daily habits throughout our lives that can help greatly in handling those potentially negative factors.

Hello once again ladies and gentlemen! This is your main man Brad H. back once again to bring you another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! Thank you once again to all of you that are joining me on this journey of inspiration and self-awareness. I'm back for another week to give my personal perspective on a topic that has been on my mind recently. By addressing the topic that I'm going to discuss, I'm hoping that it will serve as inspiration that can hopefully help us all to keep on moving forward in our lives. So for this week's section where I discuss something that isn't related to the topic for the week, I'm going to address something in regards to the recent hurricane that hit the U.S. mainland. By now, most of you know about Hurricane Florence that made landfall as a category 2 storm two weeks ago in North Carolina. The storm affected several other states as well, including South Carolina. Last I heard the death toll from the storm was at 36. Now what I want to address is the idea of evacuating from areas where storms are approaching. One of the things that was in the news prior to Florence's landfall was the number of people that chose not to evacuate despite there being mandatory evacuation warnings from local officials. Now I'm not sure what the count is, but I'm sure there have had to be hundreds of rescues taking place due to people being trapped by flood waters. So where I am I going with this you may wonder? I just want to say to everyone that are in areas where hurricanes have the potential to affect you, listen to your local officials when they call for mandatory evacuations. This is something that I've been affected by myself, so I'm not just saying this as someone that can't relate. I've had to evacuate for two hurricanes in my life (Rita and Ike), and I can say without a doubt that listening to your local officials when something like this happens is of utmost importance. I know that some people weren't able to leave, but if you are one of those that are able to evacuate, please don't put your life and first responders lives at risk. I realize that hurricane season is coming to a close, but there is still potential for the United States to be affected in the coming weeks. Just be smart and have a plan if you're in one of those areas. Alright, now that I've gotten that out of the way, lets go ahead and transition into the topic of the week that deals with positive habits and how they can aid us in handling negative factors in our lives.

Now is the part of the topic for the week where I give the usual disclaimer before tackling the topic that will be covered. I do this as a way to let everyone know that I'm not trying to force my beliefs on anyone. I'm just simply using this as a way to give my own perspective. We're all different in all areas of life, especially when it comes to how we think and see the world. The main goal here is to hopefully provide some inspiration for us all, and through that potential inspiration, I'm hoping to also encourage others to see certain topics in a manner in which they may not have before. I know that for me personally, I find myself feeling more enlightened whenever someone is able to express something in a way that I never considered before. I believe that the potential to learn from one another is limitless, and I hope that I'm able to do that for some of you. By now, I'm sure that some of you are wondering how did I arrive at wanting to discuss this topic? Since the last installment of the blog series, I've been thinking about how I handle negativity now compared to how I handled it in past years. As with most of us on an occasional basis, I've recently had to deal with brief bouts of negativity being directed towards me. No need to get into what it was specifically about, but I know that some of you also deal with this on some level of capacity at times. From my personal perspective, I considered how I handle certain negative forces these days. In years of past within my life, I often used to find myself being completely thrown off balance whenever I encountered negativity from certain people. My entire day would often be ruined, and I found that I was often more on edge during those times. Now I will acknowledge that a lot of my not allowing these kinds of things to throw me for a loop like they once did can be attributed to me being older and wiser. However, I also know for a fact that implementing more positive habits on a daily and consistent basis has helped leaps and bounds. For this week's topic, I'm going to give some examples of daily habits that can help with handling negativity. I'm also going to try and establish reasons why I personally feel this can be beneficial to our lives. Again, these are just my own personal thoughts, and I hope some of you can relate to what I say.

Now I mentioned earlier that there are various habits we have that dominate our lives, and that what can be considered positive or negative when it comes to habit is totally subjective. What you consider to be a positive or negative habit is up to you, but a good example of a positive habit that I think most of us can relate to is gratitude. I think it is fairly safe to say that most of us express some level of gratitude daily. You may express gratitude for being able to wake up and see another new day. Your depth of gratitude could also be showing gratitude to someone else for doing something for you, etc. I believe if you develop a habit of expressing gratitude, whether openly or internally, you likely focus more on the things that you're grateful for rather than focusing on the things you're lacking in your life. Another example of what I think we all can consider a positive daily habit is what I mentioned at length earlier, fitness and exercise. A person that exercises in some shape or form on a daily basis is probably going to have a much better quality of life than someone who doesn't. We all know the benefits of moving our bodies are innumerable, so there isn't much need to go more depth into that. These are just a couple of positive habits that we have the capacity to exhibit on a daily basis. Again, the idea of positive daily habits is subjective. They are also limitless in the sense that there are always new habits can be acquired that can add to our lives. Again, there are all kinds of habits, but I want everyone that reads this to consider the positive habits that you exude daily. I realize that conquering habits that may be negative is important as well, but that's not what we're going to focus on for this installment. Again, lets ponder on the positive habits in our lives, because I believe the positive habits are the ones that are the most important when it comes to conquering negativity. Just like you can't put a fire out using fire, you can't defeat negativity with negativity.

So why do I feel that practicing positive habits on a daily basis can aid in us handling negativity? Well from my perspective, the positive habits that we practice on a routine basis helps in giving us added confidence to tackle various aspects of life. I personally believe that this gives us an added tool to have in our arsenal when it comes to combating against negativity. I have a belief that a person that is willing to put themselves through something challenging has a leg up on someone that doesn't. One of the things that separates elite athletes from us is that they put their bodies through things that most of us either can't, or not willing to do. When you watch a boxing match and see a boxer that is able to fight for 12 rounds, that comes from hard training before getting into the ring. I believe that the constant running and training in the gym that they put themselves through gives them the confidence they need to face the challenge of going into the boxing ring. If you were to take someone that has never trained for a sport and put them in that situation, they probably wouldn't fare to well since they're not conditioned to do so. Now think of us that aren't elite athletes in regards to this week's topic. You may not be any kind of athlete, but practicing daily habits is similar to training, and the upcoming negative events that will be approaching are similar to the upcoming event. The negative events are going to be coming after you, but the training that you do in the form of those positive daily habits will help you during the battle if you apply them correctly. I hope I'm not confusing anyone with the comparison to sports, but I think most of you get where I'm coming from with this. If you are a long time reader here, then you likely know that I'm a big sports fan. Sometimes it is easier to incorporate these kind of comparisons to be able to get a point across.

Now that I've tried to convey why I feel the practicing of positive daily habits can aid in handling negative factors, I want to close by mentioning that this doesn't always guarantee you will come out on top. Going back to the sports analogy, training hard for an event doesn't mean that a team or athlete will always be victorious. The same applies when it comes to this week's topic. You can practice positive habits daily, yet there are going to be some negative factors that come at us that are going to be too hard to handle initially. Much of this deals with an individual's threshold to handle life, but there are always going to be instances that seem to be a little too big for us. Of course being victorious is something that we all want to experience, but the most important takeaway that I hope people can take from this comes with being confident enough tackle those negative factors whenever they creep into our lives. When a person works on a specific muscle, that muscle naturally becomes stronger through the constant training of it. The daily habits that we partake in are us flexing our life muscles in order to be strong enough to cope when negativity comes around. So I want everyone to think of at least one positive habit that you practice daily or on a frequent basis. Whatever that may be, I want you to rely on that whenever you find negativity thrown your direction. I want you to remember that you are bigger and better than any negativity that is in front of you because you put yourself through challenges on a daily basis. You are a disciplined vessel that is in control of your emotions and how you react to others. For those of you that can't think or any daily habits in your life, I challenge you to look within and find some that you can engage in. Again, this is be anything. It all boils down to what works for you in your life. So lets focus on being and staying positive, and lets slay those negative dragons that are lurking in our lives. \

Well I think that about wraps it up for this one folks. Again, I hope that I was able to express this in a way that people out there can relate to. This has been another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective' brought to you by Brad H. As always, I hope that there was some meaning and understanding that could be gained from this. Furthermore, I hope that it served as some kind of inspiration to at least one person out there. If you have any comments on this or any of the other topics that I cover, please feel free to drop some comments. If you are on Twitter and you want to connect with me, you can find me on there with the handle @BradrickH. Hopefully the weekend has been treating you all well so far. Mines has been pretty good so far. I attended one of my cousin's football game earlier. They lost the game, but it was still a good experience. Well I hope you all have a great week ahead, and remember that negativity is going to come into our lives, but keep on going! I'll see you all in the next one. Peace!

©2018 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.

Why Linking Too Much Of Your Happiness To People Can Leave You Feeling Inadequate.

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I think that we can all agree that mostly everyone in this world wants to experience some level of happiness while we're here. I say "mostly everyone" because we also know that there are some people in this world that don't care either way. However, generally speaking, I think that we all want to experience happiness. Now what exactly is happiness? Happiness is a state of being that varies from person to person, and no two people will completely agree on what their definition of happiness is. I personally feel as if happiness is a state of bliss that we all desire. I also see happiness as something that must constantly worked on. I state this because depending on the level of happiness that a person is mentally able to achieve, happiness is a feeling that will be constantly challenged. We all know by now that the feeling of happiness is something that comes and goes. I see happiness as waves that are sometimes high enough to ride comfortably, but those same waves can also be low enough to not even ride at times. Again, it is a feeling that comes and goes. I've already pointed out that happiness is something that varies from individual to individual. However, I think that we can also agree that one of the biggest things in this life that brings us the most happiness is other people. Just take a second and think about all of the people in your life that you love and care for. I'm almost willing to bet that just the thought of these people probably made your heart feel full of joy. I do believe that the majority of our happiness comes from the relationships that we have with other people. However, I also feel that too many of us link too much of our happiness to other people as well. For this week's installment, I'm going to explaining why I feel that this can be a mistake in our lives, and how it can leave us feeling inadequate.

What's going on ladies and gentlemen? I go by the nickname of Brad H., and I'd like to once again welcome you all back to another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! I am here once again to give my perspective on a subject matter that I've been pondering on as of late. Through the content of this subject matter, I am hoping to bring a bit of inspiration that will hopefully help serve us all in our everyday lives. I'd like to thank you all in advance for those of you that are joining me for this week, and I hope that everything in your world has been full of peace and happiness. I know for a fact that those of you that are sports fans are probably happy. Last week was the start of the 2018 NFL season, and boy did it shoot off like a rocket heading into space. There was quite a bit of high scoring going on overall throughout the games on Sunday. Being that it was only the first week of the season, I don't feel like there was a lot that could be taken away from it. Now those of you that read my posts pretty frequently know that I'm a Dallas Cowboys fan. We saw the Cowboys lose to the Carolina Panthers by the score of 8-16. I personally thought this was a pretty ugly game on both sides from an offensive point of view. I think the end score is a pretty good indicator of that. However, I think a lot of that can be attributed to how well both defenses played, particularly the Panthers. There were a lot of questions coming into this season about how the Cowboys offense would look without having a "go-to wide receiver." Again it is only the first week of the season, so I don't want to push the panic button quite yet. However, I do feel that the concerns about the shape of the Cowboys offense is warranted by fans. I get that this offense is built around having a strong running game, but a team can find themselves without a lot of options whenever you run into a defense that defends the run well. Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliot wasn't able to get much done, and quarterback Dak Prescott and the receivers besides Cole Beasley looked totally out of rhythm. Again, I want to stress that it is only the first week, but losing Dez Bryant and Jason Witten just may come back and bite this team. We'll see how this all unfolds in the coming weeks. Alright, I've talked too much about football, so lets get to the topic of the week of how putting too much of your happiness into others can leave you feeling inadequate.

Now this is the section of the topic where I give my usual disclaimer in regards to giving my perspective on topics. I make this a priority because I don't want people to get the illusion that I believe I'm always right, nor do I want others to think that I'm trying to change their opinions. We are all unique people that have different ways of thinking and seeing life. Since the idea that we're all different and unique applies to us when it comes to how we think and view life, it isn't realistic to believe that we're always going to agree. As I mentioned earlier, the goal here is to hopefully bring some inspiration to our lives, and I hope that the potential inspiration that I'm aiming to bring encourages us to open our minds to the ideas of others. Regardless of whether or not you folks agree with what I'm addressing for this week, I still appreciate every single person that spends a little time of your day reading this. So why did I choose the idea of how linking too much of our happiness to others can leave us feeling inadequate and unworthy? Well for one, I think this is a topic that I'm sure many of you can relate to. Being that we're living in an era of where social media is so relevant in regards to how so many people view their lives in comparison to others, most of us have probably engaged in this habit. Secondly, I myself have struggled with this in the past, and I'll concede that it is something that I still struggle with on occasion. So I guess in some ways that I'm going to be somewhat speaking from my own personal experiences on this topic. Finally, I feel this is important because I don't anyone out there feeling unworthy or inadequate. If you've lived long enough, the feeling of feeling inferior to others is probably a feeling that you've felt before, and we all know how bad of a feeling it can be. It is one of those feelings that can totally deflate your morale and the way that you view yourself. For this topic, I'm going to be bringing up a few examples of how we engage in this habit, and I'm also going to show why it is something that we have to work on avoiding. Again, I'm not perfect, but I'm going to do my best to get the points I want to make across. Lets go ahead and get into it.

There is no way to avoid people when it comes to interacting with them on a personal level. While there may be certain people that you may not care much for, the interactions we as humans have with one another is something that drives all areas of life. The reason I bring this up is to help establish the idea that having human connections with other human-beings is both natural and healthy. I wanted to be sure and get that out there because what I'm going to say next will likely sound like a contradiction otherwise. The very connections and interactions that we often have with other people; while a good thing for the most part, can also a bad thing at times. Why do I say this you may wonder? As with the theme of this topic that is being covered, we often link too much of our happiness to others. Now when I say that we link too much of our happiness to others, what exactly am I saying here? What I am saying is that there are too many of us that center too much of our entire well-being on the actions of others. Let me paint a couple of scenarios that I think are good at deducing my point. I'm sure that most of you have been in love with someone else at some point in your life. If so, how much of your happiness can you say was tied to the person that you were in love with? For most of us if we're being honest with ourselves, a good portion of it likely was linked directly to that other person. We know this is a fact because when that person hurt our feelings, or if the relationship at the time happened to come to an end, you probably went awhile not feeling much happiness right? Quite a normal thing, but nonetheless, a large portion of our happiness in that relationship was tied to someone else. The next example may not apply to many of you, but think about how many times you've been on social media and found yourself comparing yourself to someone else? Maybe you saw a woman that you liked with another guy, or you saw someone you know taking a trip out of the country, and you said to yourself; "Why can't that be me?" Though maybe a bit extreme, these are a few examples of how we as people tie too much of our happiness to others. One of the biggest problems with this practice is that it often leaves us feeling empty and worthless. Of course this is a feeling that none of us really want, yet time and time again we torture ourselves by putting too much emphasis on others.

So why exactly is tying too much of your happiness to other people a potentially bad thing? Besides what I stated earlier about it potentially contributing to having feelings of inadequacy and low self-worth, quite frankly, the people in our lives regardless of what your relationship with them are never guaranteed to always be in your life. Time and space always bring about changes, and the same logic applies when it comes to people. Why do you think people that were close at one point in their lives tend to grow apart as time carries on? There are circumstances in life that change people to the point where they can become someone you may not even recognize anymore. Though we may not want to acknowledge or accept it, the reality is that a person can walk out of your life at any time without any explanation. I'm sure most of you have dealt with the loss of a friend or loved one right? We all know how helpless of a feeling it is when someone that love and care for is no longer here. I think that we often try to paint an image in our minds that we are in control of things. We believe that if we do all the right things that mold a situation to our liking that we're always going to be in control of the circumstances that surround that situation. From my perspective this way of thinking is all wrong. The truth is that we have little if no control at all over what happens when it comes to dealing with people. The only thing entity in this life that I can think of that we're in control of or responsible for is ourselves. I can't remember off the top of my head at the moment the name of the topic or when I wrote it, but I recall mentioning in a previous topic how another person can never truly make you happy, and how happiness is an inside job. A person can only add to your happiness, but they should never be the end-all be-all of your happiness. Of course some of our happiness is going to be tied to people, but they key word is SOME! Again, it all starts within you, and we have to work on not surrounding our entire life around the actions of others.

So how do we keep ourselves from linking too much of our happiness to other people? I'm going to use an example from a film that I think helps puts this into perspective. I'm sure that some of you may have seen episode 3 of the Star Wars franchise titled "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith". In the film, the character Anakin Skywalker has steady visions of losing his wife, Padmé Amidala. After these continued visions of death and heartbreak take their toll on him mentally, Anakin seeks out the council of Jedi Master Yoda. After counseling Anakin on how to deal with his visions, Yoda tells Anakin to "Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose." Now some may think that is a bit extreme, and I can understand why since it is only a film. However, those words from Yoda were pretty thoughtful. Now how does this tie-in with the topic for this week? For those of us that struggle with linking too much of our happiness to others, we have to learn how to train ourselves to build a wall of happiness inside of ourselves first. You don't want to be a person that allows everything that others do to affect you in a way that brings you done in a negative way. Now none of us are perfect, so there will happen to be times when this will happen for most of us. However, it does happen, you don't want to dwell on it for too long. I think that happiness should be a state of being that can be controlled by us. I believe that when we link too much of our happiness to others, we have lost control of what our definition of happiness is. By doing this, we are allowing other people to define what makes us happy and what doesn't. Again, we cannot control everything in this life, but we can control the things that we choose to make us happy or not. In my opinion, this should never depend upon other people. We have to be willing to put things into the proper context, and be able to see things for how they are rather than what we want them to be. I'll end by saying that you are always an important and valuable person, and no one can ever change that. Even when other people may not see your worth, you are always worthy and valuable to someone.

Well that is all that I got for this installment ladies and gentlemen, so it is time to sign off for this time. This has been another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspctive', and this is Brad H. saying thank you all once again for those of you that came through. Before signing off, I hope that there was some meaning and understanding that could be gained from this. I also hope that it is able to bring some inspiration to someone out there. If anyone wants to comment or give any feedback to to this topic, please feel free to drop a comment in the comment box. You can also connect with me on Twitter @BradrickH. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the weekend, and keep the people that are being affected by Hurricane Florence in your thoughts. The trek that storm made from off the western coast of Africa to the states has been wild. Mother nature definitely ain't no joke, so stay safe out there everyone. Well I hope everyone has a good and positive week ahead, and I'll see you all in the next one! Till then, I wish you all the best! Peace!

©2018 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.

Never Expect Others To Have Your Heart (Some People Are Cut From A Different Cloth).

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For many of us during our time growing up as a youth, there's a saying that most of our parents' and elders drove home on a regular occasion for many of us. The saying that I'm referring to is the famous one that goes; "Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you." I'm sure that this sounds familiar to many of you, and depending on where you're at in your life in regards to whether you're a parent, teacher or mentor to someone else, you probably use some form of iteration of this statement to make a point to someone else. The phrase that I've brought up of doing unto others as you would like done to you is pretty straightforward and standard. It comes from the idea that we should treat others as we would want others to treat us. Now if you ask me, I think that this way of thinking should be a standard for how everyone should strive to live. I mean if you want other people to treat you fairly and well, you should be willing to do the same unto others right? That said, most of us know and understand by now that in reality life often doesn't always work out that way. There are often situations and experiences in this life where you're going to be kind and fair with other people, and everything positive that you give out towards others won't always be reciprocated back to you. I know that this is an aspect of life that sucks, and it is hard for many people to accept. However, as much as we may not like this aspect of life, it is just one area of life that we have to accept is going to happen at times. For those that frequently experience the downside of consistently doing right by others and doing right in general, only not to receive it back often feel frustrated. We just can't figure out or understand why people whom are supposed to care for you can prey on our kindness and use it against us. While feeling frustrated and angry by this kind of behavior is understandable, accepting that people are just the way they are is critical to being able to remedy this issue. The reality is that some people in this life are cut from a different cloth, and you cannot always expect others to have your kind heart.

Hey what's good people? This is your main man Brad H. back at it once again for another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! I am coming at you all once again to hopefully bring everyone a bit of inspiration and wisdom that will hopefully serve us in our lives. I hope that all has been good and well for everyone since the last topic that was covered. So for my soapbox this week, I want to acknowledge death and how so many people allow their differences in beliefs to blind them from the bigger picture of life. By now, nearly everyone is aware of the recent passing of Senator John McCain of Arizona. Senator McCain died at age 81 after a battle with brain cancer. Senator McCain was easily one of the most beloved politicians that America has ever had, and it is showing from the constant coverage in the days following his passing. Now I'm not going to get on here and that that I politically supported John McCain, nor did I vote for him when he ran for president. I can say that though I may have disagreed with him politically, he always seemed like a stand up man, and there probably isn't another politician that has suffered the kind of trauma that he has from being a prisoner of war. However, besides having differing views than he had, I can put that aside to say that I wish his family and everyone that is grieving behind his passing all the best in the coming days. Too often in life we allow our differences to cloud our minds to what really matters. All of us right now are carrying on with our lives, but his family is grieving now, and the coming days are going to be hard for them. I can remember back in 2009 when Senator Ted Kennedy died from the same ailment that Senator McCain succumbed to, there were people saying harsh things such as "Rest in piss", etc. All of this because of differences in political ideology. Again, we may not always agree with people, but there isn't anything in this life that is bigger than death; not even politics. I'm sure that everyone that comes across this has lost a loved one before, so we all know how hurtful it can be. So whether you supported the late senator or not, keep his family in your thoughts in the days ahead. A lot of us don't really care much about something until it affects us directly. We gotta change that since none of us are immune to the hurtful moments of life. Alright, now that I've addressed that, it's time to get into this week's topic of not expecting others to have or understand your heart.

So now that I've gotten all of that taken care of, I'm going to go ahead and give the regular disclaimer that I give before putting my thoughts out there for others to take a look at. We're all unique individuals that have different outlooks and viewpoints on how we see this life. Because of this logic and way of thinking, it is unrealistic to think that we all will always agree on everything. The objective that I have with this isn't to focus on what is right or wrong, nor is it my mission to try and get everyone to agree with me. The mission with this is to hopefully provide some inspiration for all of us that can hopefully get the creative juices in our minds going. I frequently liken this to being an outlet where we're able to inspire and learn from one another. As I always mention, I don't expect everyone out there to agree with me, and that is totally fine. Whether you happen to agree with me or not on this or any of the other topics that I've covered, I appreciate every single person that has read and/or provided any feedback. That is something that I cannot say enough. As for why I chose this as the topic for this installment, I would attribute it to recent thoughts that I've been having recently about how so many of us expect others to have the same mindset as we do. It's actually quite funny that I'm even saying that considering that I always make it a priority to mention how we are all unique individuals. Even knowing this to be a fact, there are many people that still find it frustrating when others don't think or act in a manner in which they do. I chose to bring this topic up as a discussion because I think it is important for us to realize that the differences that make us all unique applies in every aspect of life; both for good and bad. Though it may be something that is hard for some people to understand or accept, not everyone will appreciate or relate to the kind heart that you may have. This topic is meant to hopefully get others to understand this, and find ways to combat against it.

For those of you that may be a little older, or if you're a fan of the 'Rocky' movie series that Sylvester Stallone made famous, you have probably seen 'Rocky V'. Though the Rocky franchise is one of the more popular franchises in the film industry, the fifth entry is considered by many to be the worst of the franchise. I'm not going to review the film, but there is a scene from the film that I really like that I feel speaks to the topic that I'm addressing this week. In the film, the main character Rocky Balboa has retired from boxing, and he ends up meeting an up-and-coming fighter named Tommy that he takes under his wing. Through Rocky's tutelage and experience, Tommy rises up the boxing ladder and becomes a champion fairly quickly. Of course with his newly acquired fame and success, Tommy develops a more arrogant attitude and ultimately leaves the man that helped get him to that point, Rocky. After trying to unsuccessfully coerce Tommy that he was being blinded and manipulated by his success, Rocky feels hurt that Tommy has basically left him out in the cold. Now the scene that really stands out is one where Rocky's wife in the film, Adrian, attempts to comfort Rocky following an intense confrontation between Rocky and Tommy. After another intense encounter, this time between Rocky and his wife, she goes on to tell Rocky the following: "I know when somebody like Tommy comes along you feel alive, but he's not you, he doesn't have your heart." Now there is much more that was said during this scene, and I would highly recommend those of you that have yet to see this film to look that scene up on Youtube. However, the quote from her is the one that I want to key in on in regards to what I'm talking about in this installment. Not everyone is going to have the same kind of heart and spirit that you have, and there are some people out there that will take advantage of it. You have guy like Rocky in the film that opens his home to a stranger that he barely knows. He goes on to help train and be a mentor to this person, only to be left out when the success comes. I know that this is only a film that I'm referring to, but truth be told, there are some people out there that have big hearts similar to what Rocky's wife said about him.

Now there have probably been times in your life where you've heard someone mention that they're cut from a different cloth. I'm sure that most of you are already aware of what I'm about to say, but this saying isn't one to be taken literally. I think that it is one of those popular cliche sayings that can have various ways of being defined, but for me personally when I think of what it means to be cut from a different cloth, I think of someone that stands out from everyone else. This doesn't mean that they're better than the next person, nor does it mean they are particular special. I just see it as a person that has views or carry themselves in a manner in which most others happen not to. Now thinking about how our world is today when it comes to how so many people treat one another, wouldn't you guess that a person that has a big heart is unique? I personally believe this to be the case, and this can apply to nearly anything. People that tend to have big hearts are often the ones that get hurt easily by others. This is something that many people won't understand. Because of how cold our world has become over the years, people that have heart are often seen as being weak. Some people may wonder to themselves; why would a person continuously be kind and do right by others when so many people in this world try to take advantage of them? Well from my perspective, that is the very reason why I say people like this are cut from a different kind of cloth. You see, I think it is probably easier to just be like; you know what, people are cruel, this world is cruel, I'm just going to be cruel like everyone else. That is the route that a lot of people that have been taken advantage of often take. But from my perspective, a person that is cut from a different cloth stays true to themselves if that is genuinely the kind of person they are. They don't allow this world or other people to hardened their hearts to stone like most of this world tends to do. I personally feel like this is what makes people like this so special and unique, hence why I say that some people are cut from different cloth.

So now that we've used an example of having a big heart and explained why I believe that people of this nature are cut from a different cloth, how exactly do people with big hearts protect themselves from being hurt by others? Well from my perspective on this one, if you happen to be a person that has a big heart and you continue to stay true to yourself and who you truly are, the likelihood of keeping your heart from being hurt is something that probably won't happen. I know that probably isn't the ideal response, but hey, that's just my belief on it. Due to the fact that people of this nature are often being true to who they are and not willing to conform to this world, being hurt by other people is likely eventual. I think that the silver lining and the probably the biggest takeaway I want to leave from this is though you may not want to be like everyone else, you can give yourself an upper hand by not expecting others to have the heart that you do. I believe that a lot of people have too much expectations when it comes to this world and others. As I touched on earlier, we often believe that if we do right by people that they will in turn do right by us. This isn't always the case as I mentioned earlier, but if you come to lower your expectations when it comes to other people, then you will be able to soften the blow of being hurt or taken advantage of by others. Again, many of us as people expect others on most occasions to see things the way we do, and that way of thinking is why people are often disappointed and let down by others. Like I always mention in nearly every single installment of this blog series, we're all unique and have different viewpoints. You cannot always expect other people to understand you. You can't expect others to reciprocate what you give them back to you. Always be mindful and proud of your positive traits, but also be mindful of how you use those positive traits when it comes to others. I'll close by saying not to allow the negative aspects of life to deter you from your kind heart, but never have expectations when it comes to what people think of you.

Well I think I've pretty much said all that I've wanted in regards to this topic. I'm going to go ahead and sign off for now, so thank you all once again to everyone that took out some time to see what I have to say. This has been another 'Brad H.'s Perspective' production brought to you by Brad H. I hope that there was some meaning and understanding that could be taken from this. If there is anything that anyone wants to add or give any feedback on, please feel free to do so in the comment section. You can also hit me up or follow me on Twitter @BradrickH. Well the weekend is here, so I hope that everyone has a fun and safe one. It is so exciting that this time next weekend that many of us will be gearing up for NFL football. This is definitely the fun time of the year in my opinion, so lets go ahead and try to enjoy it to the best of our ability. Enjoy the holiday weekend folks, and I'll see you all in the next one. Till next time, I wish you all the best. Stay tuned, and peace!

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