CUTTING OFF DEAD BRANCHES

I talked to God before I started posted this blog because I knew that i had to be careful of what I typed. I will say this much how ever. I sorta understand how the Republicans in congress feel. We all know about the government shut down that's going on. Congress didn't like what Obama presented so besides being grown up and having a conversation with Obama on what to do to compromise, they decided to shut down in protest. The reason why I say I understand how Congress feels is because I too understand what it is like to disagree with leadership. Some people in leadership, to be blunt, really suck at leading. I'm not saying that's Obama, I'm just talking general, but even if they are horrible at their post, we got to show them respect. We may not respect the person holding the position, but we got to respect the position.

Now, a couple of days ago I posted a status on my Facebook, that said, "Have to turn some people off…for my own health and peace." In the comment section I was asked how do we do that? How do we cut people off? I said, "You got to choose to. Delete them from from your facebook. Keep the conversations short. Don't give them a thought." To add on to that delete any text conversations. Turn them off from your memory. The questions comes, who was I talking about in that status? or why did I post that status? That I won't get into on this blog, but I will say that I question if some people really care, or are they just nosey? or if they do care, do they care for the right reasons?

Also I will say that when an athlete is out with an injury, people try to rush them back on the court or field. When the athlete comes back too soon they risk permanent injury. Or they do what Derrick Rose did and sit out an entire season to make sure they are ready to come back to play. Now I'm more of a Derrick Rose. Those that know and read the last blog post know that I was in the hospital. And a lot of people know that I sing in the choir and on the P&W team at my church. At a recent choir rehearsal I tried to come back on the choir and realized that I was no where near ready. At that point I realized that I needed to take my time coming back to the choir stand. I'm not going to let anybody rush me back or force me to come back. I don't care who they are.

I'm going to stop right there because if I keep going, I'll start mentioning names, and that's never a good thing. Update after the hospital btw, I'm feeling better day by day. I'm taking my meds like I'm supposed to. and my weight is coming down also. Yet I shall not be rushed. So yes I am cutting people off in my life. Why? Because, one, I'm tired of losing sleep. Two, my blood pressure is already bad enough as it is. Third, I got better things to do then to spend my time staying mad at folks that don't matter. And I'm tired of having no one to confide in. I can count on one hand of people I can actually confide in on this planet. So I'm trimming off dead branches if you will. I am a bit too sensitive at times I admit that, but at the same time some people are just not worth my time or my thoughts. Y'all got people like that in your life also. I say turn them off and get your sleep back. Nobody is worth your peace.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson aka Big Dusty

No Comments This Year Yet, But I'm Still Coming Strong

When I started thinking about this blog, that title came to me. I feel disappointed when I get no comments, but with the subscribers and followers, I at least know they're being read. Luke 6:31 says in the Message Bible, "Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them!" That's why I try to comment all the blogs I read because i want comments myself. Now, when I comment celebrity blogs, I don't expect them to comment my blogs, but you'll never know what will happen. The same thing with the podcasts. I haven't got any comments on a podcast this year either, but besides getting down about it, I keep them coming because I know people are listening to them. How do I know that? Well because most of the podcast I've do has made it to the top 10 of the charts on SoundClick in my category. With my videos also. Most of my videos get little to no comments, but I do my best to comment other videos. So do i want comments? Yes. Can I live without them? Yes.

As I was reading up yesterday in the Bible, I found something interesting. 1 Peter 2:13-17 in the Message Bible says, "Make the Master proud of you by being good citizens. Respect the authorities, what ever their level; they are God's emissaries for keeping order. It is God's will that by doing good, you might cure the ignorance of the fools who think you're a danger to society,. Exercise your freedom by serving God, not by breaking rules. Greet everyone you meet with dignity. Love your Spiritual family. Revere God. Respect the government." So notice it didn't say that you had to agree with them, but it said respect them. I think we need to set a standard for the next generation by respecting authority. We all know that our leaders are far from perfect, but we still need to respect them. This generation has a bad rap for not respecting authority. Now sometimes we want to be anti-authority because some authority is not good authority, but the Bible says, "The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace." That's found in Exodus 14:14.

So I just watched most of Saturday Night Live, and I was disappointed. I went in with high expectations because Steve Martin was hosting, and he's a SNL legend. The show overall was brutal as all get out. The final straw for me was a brutal performance by Steve Martin where he was playing the banjo with his band singing about going to school. I watched with my jaw on the floor thinking, "Are you kidding me?"

Anyway, thanks for reading. I'll be back next week. Stay saved.

~Daniel

"I'm a good man, right? I mean I'm nice. I'm respectful. I'm no playa, but I have a heart. I'm honest. So why can't I keep a girl for more than 3 months? Oh, I know why. It's because I'm not Usher. I'm not Omarion. I'm not Marques Houston. I'm not Will Smith. People don't want to look at the heart anymore, they want the outside. I understand that God does have a girl out there for me, but I'm going to tell y'all the truth because I know you won't rag on me, or maybe you will, I don't care. I have no patience. I got as bout as much patience as a female celebrity waiting at a restaurant."

Why are we as humans so quick to judge? If a guy like me comes up to girl, they wouldn't give me the time of day. Tell me I'm lying. I know there's no way of getting around the outside appearance of somebody, but that shouldn't stop you from getting to know a person. I'm so sick of being judged by my outside appearance. It's not cool and it's not right. I bet that when I lose weight, I'll gain more popular. That's not the reason I want to lose, don't get me wrong, I'm just saying that it's most likely going to happen. I'm still going to be the same person. Another crazy scenario, what if one of my stories happen to become a best seller and I gain a whole much of money. I'll be more popular than I ever dreamed. Not saying that's my reason for writing because I love to write. It's a way for me to express myself without pressure. Let me get back to the subject. Did y'all know that the reason you may not get a job is because of the way you look? It's proven experiment. Back in like 1994, 20/20 I think it was sent 2 actors in to apply for the same job. One was a normal looking, every day guy. The other one was "handsome" guy. The handsome guy got treated like royality basically and the regular guy got treated like left over Chinese food. Why are we as humans so quick to judge? Look at 50 Cent. He got all this money, and all this fame. With that he got all the women he can imagine. Let's look at it this way. What if he didn't have the money, and he was just an everyday dude like me and a couple of my folks? You think he would have half the things now? Hate to break it to you Mr. Curtis Jackson, but they just want your money. (not that he's reading this) I'm just saying that we shouldn't be so quick to judge. Just because I'm fat doesn't mean I don't have a good personality. We all know I got a personality. It's all about stereotyping, and bottom line we need to stop. Racism needs to stop. Biggetry needs to stop. Judging people without knowing the circumstances needs to stop. We got to come together and make this world a better place for the future, despite what the government does. If they want to forget that they come from the same place we do, let them. We got to change our ways of thinking. Can we truly look at ourselves and say that we're a good example for the next generation that's going to come up? If' not, let's change our way of thinking so the little G's coming up will have somebody real to look up too.

"For a little advice for those going through. Weather is spiritual or what not. Give up. That's right, give up. Realize that you can't do it on your own and give up. (Of course this is when y'all run to your mommys and daddys saying I said such and such without reading on. Read on...) Give up, and give it all to God. As my brother from another mother on my cousin's daddy's side, Jodah, told me, "Let go and Let God, you once told me that." That's exactly what you have to do when the problems get too hard for you to bear. Let go, and let God work. That's our problem we never let go. We let God but we never let go. That's why you never see improvement in your situations right there. You hear people say it all the time, "Give to Jesus and he works it out!" But you have to do your part, and let go of the situation. We have to do our part. If we say that it's in God's hands and we'll still walking around with our bottom lips so low that is dragging on the floor, don't expect change to come."