Love. Hate. Want. Need.

By Sidney Gaskins

Everyone is interested in what is happening in the United States today. Unless you are living under the proverbial rock or without a television, you have been inundated with information. These are times to take a breath, look at your Life, and then, choose. The election is the perfect place for me to look at my Life. What I love, hate, want, and need. Let me break it down.
LOVE. I love the conversations with people about the elections. Never in my Life have I been involved in information-gathering around an election before. When the opportunity arises, my little fingers are typing away to search for speeches, statistics, articles, and video clips on the web. Maybe the web-searching is wearing away at my Lasik surgery, but I think it happens to be a good cause! I love the passion that the election brings out and the opportunity to share history with another generation.

On primary election day in Georgia, my son and I drove to the polling place. When we arrived, I made it a point to allow him to cast my vote. He actually understands the historic nature of this election. Given the opportunity, this nine-year old will grill you about the political party which you align yourself – that’s Agape Love!

HATE. As seen through a town hall meeting with John McCain’s supporters, there will always be hate espoused by people who are ignorant. It is not wrong to be ignorant; my take is that to be ignorant and share your ignorance in the form of hate contaminates the World at large. At this time in our country, the last thing we need to see is the ugly head of that beast hate sitting overtly in the Presidential election.

WANT. Rarely can you find a multicultural, multiethnic, socioeconomic mix that agrees on the issues. Heaven knows that we do not naturally agree on everything. All I want is to see that all people have not only the opportunity, but the means to step up. No, not hand outs, but hand ups. I want to see people stand in their power to transform their Life and the Life of those around them through taking on their own fears, raising the bar for themselves, going beyond the norm, and doing things they previously thought were impossible. And in that, I hold the mirror to myself first.

NEED. The definition of the word need reads as follows, “a requirement, necessary duty, or obligation”. With that said, I challenge you to look at what you need for your Life, look beyond and see what your friends need, then vote with the person or party which will provide it. But, after November 4th has passed, I challenge you to fulfill your needs by taking an evaluation of your Life and then, raising the bar, going beyond the norm, and doing the impossible. You will be surprised at the Life you create. Maybe the Government can take a page from that book.
So, maybe this is not the column you Love, Hate, or Wanted to read this month, but it is the one you Need.

Sidney Gaskins, Personal and Business Developer/Consultant/Coach, operates Enterprising Life in metropolitan Atlanta, GA. Enterprising Life encourages individuals and businesses to look outside of the box to unleash their dreams and achieve success. For more information visit: http://www.enterprisinglife.com/ or call 678.886.3174 . Are you thinking of adopting, contact your local social services agency, Adopt America Network http://www.adoptamericanetwork.org/ and the National Adoption Center http://www.adopt.org/ .