Top 5: Week of 9/21

The ladies are occupied with Scandal & Empire while the fellas are occupied with sports. Win-Win for both.

— Florida Made (@RichardMIATL) September 24, 2015

What's the use of being On Fleek when your brain is on weak, and your soul is on sleep?

— Florida Made (@RichardMIATL) September 23, 2015

Doctors diagnose, God gives the prognosis.

— Florida Made (@RichardMIATL) September 22, 2015

“Stay joined to me and let my teachings become part of you. Then you can pray for whatever you want, and your praye…” http://t.co/X4lTvIWPDT

— Florida Made (@RichardMIATL) September 24, 2015

You can't change what's going on around you unless you change what's going on within you.

— Florida Made (@RichardMIATL) September 25, 2015

Facebook Dislike Button

People are already in their feelings over the upcoming Facebook dislike button.

— Florida Made (@RichardMIATL) September 24, 2015

It looks like Facebook users have gotten what they asked for. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is working with his development team to install a Dislike button. The logic behind the dislike button is it lets users dislike others' posts. I can see right now some people are going to abuse the dislike button. Somebody feels slighted by a comment someone else made, click dislike. If I don't like someone's views, I click dislike, and so on. Most people get into it with others on social media, and I see nothing good coming from this. Users wanted a dislike button, and they may get their wish. I also feel the dislike button could be good, because if someone posts a loved one's death on Facebook and someone dislikes it, that could be their way of expressing sympathy over that person's loss; they dislike the fact that someone lost a loved one. I would think if you don't like what someone posts on their Facebook page, don't go there.
I've been on Facebook since 2008,  and I've met awesome folks. These people range from old high school & college classmates to out of state folks. I have Facebook friends from across the country: New York, Washington, DC Metro, Atlanta, Miami, Dallas/Ft. Worth, and so on. What drew us together was our likeminded stance on various issues. I respect their pages & they respect mine. I may not agree with their stance on all issues, but I wouldn't dislike their post(s) & expect the same in return. Once the dislike button is unveiled, people's friend lists will decrease by the hundreds. A lot of people are going to click dislike just because they're petty. If I catch any of my FB friends disliking my posts, they will be terminated on sight. In life, not everybody will co-sign you and vice versa. If you don't like what someone posts, here's a solution: Don't post on their page. Clicking dislike because you don't like someone's status makes you look crazy because they're not changing their stance.

Top 5 Realest Tweets

Doctors diagnose, God gives the prognosis.

— Florida Made (@RichardMIATL) September 22, 2015

Let me get this straight: Memphis has 677K in the city limits, but 300 sets of gangs totaling 15,000-20,000 gang members in the city? Crazy.

— Florida Made (@RichardMIATL) September 22, 2015

For the most part, I don't discuss politics because some people get too into their feelings on candidates, like they know or work for them.

— Florida Made (@RichardMIATL) September 22, 2015

In the jungle of life, lions eat gazelles. In short, some people are predators looking for easy prey. Are you a lion or gazelle?

— Florida Made (@RichardMIATL) September 21, 2015

People are funny when they write Bih in place of B***h, like folks really don't know you're cursing. #Comedy

— Florida Made (@RichardMIATL) September 21, 2015

God: Final Prognosis

Doctors diagnose, God gives the prognosis.

— Florida Made (@RichardMIATL) September 22, 2015

Anyone who's saved & is involved in their church's prayer & healing team can attest to this: People come to church asking members to pray for their healing or that of their loved ones. Whether it's a child diagnosed with Autism or any other medical condition, it's human nature to go by the doctor's prognosis. Anybody who's walked with God long enough can co-sign being a little worried when they get that doctor's report, but some people's faith is strong enough to where they disregard the doctor's diagnosis and go by God's prognosis. God's prognosis says by his stripes we are healed. That's easy if you're walking with God, but if you don't know Christ, it can be difficult to trust God for your healing unless you have a loved one interceding on your behalf. It boils down to how strong a believer's faith is. If a believer's faith is rock solid, no diagnosis can shake them because they know God gives the final prognosis, and God's prognosis is healing. If a believer's faith is lukewarm (their faith is sometimes strong & sometimes weak), then any trial is subject to rock their world until they learn to put their faith in God, not man. Man can do so much, God does the rest.

Question

If you respectfully pursue someone and they friendzone you, can they be upset for you pursuing one of their friends?

Answer: No. When you friendzone someone, you leave them open for pursuing someone else. No one in the friendzone has time to wait around for you to let them out, if at all. Some people are in the friendzone permanently with no chance of getting out. While their friend is happily married/engaged, (s)he is stuck in the friendzone. The minute there's relationship trouble, that person you friendzoned is there for you. (S)he's playing the role of your (wo)man; making cross-town trips to check on you, cooking for you because you're too depressed to take care of your own business. This is done in hopes of the couple breaking up so the person in the friendzone can slide right into their heart. It would be stupid to get upset at someone for pursuing one of your friends. You friendzoned them, what are they supposed to do, wait for you to pull them out while you see other (wo)men? Crazy.

Perfect Criteria, Perfect Fit? No.

Just because a (wo)man fits your criteria, doesn't mean they're a good fit for you.

— Florida Made (@RichardMIATL) September 21, 2015

Is someone a good fit for you just because they meet your criteria (and vice versa)? That depends on who you ask. Some people say yes, others say no. The ones who say yes, appreciate the good, bad & ugly of a person. Those are the couples who last, so that's why I say yes. I also say no because you have some folks who look good on paper, but once you get to know them...red flags come up. They look good for a season, but they start showing their true colors. You didn't know the relationship was going to fail because you thought to yourself, "Such & such meets my standards (vice versa) so let me snatch them before someone else does" All goes well until the couple starts growing apart (yes, couples do grow apart). By growing apart, I mean both man & woman are going in different directions; they can't see eye to eye on important relationship issues. They fight more than most couples until someone comes to their senses (usually the woman, but sometimes men will end a relationship first) and end the relationship due to irreconcilable differences. It's neither the woman or man's fault; they weren't as good a fit for each other as they thought. In closing, someone may look good on paper but not be good for you long-term. Being a good fit doesn't mean there won't be differences in a relationship, it means you can look past your differences and focus on what drew you together from Day 1. To me, that's what being a good fit is all about.

Rooting For The Underdog

I like rooting for the underdog because they have more to prove. It's easy to stay on top of your game; just keep doing what you did to get to the top & stay there. In most cases, the underdog has no support. They only have their ability to rely on in hopes of coming out victorious. Because nobody expects the underdog to win, they go with the favorite given their track record of success. Today's blog is about a different kind of underdog: The one that's been dealt a bad hand from Day 1, and had to overcome great odds to get to the top. That's the underdog I want to speak on, so let's get into it. There's a small percentage of people who had a good start in life, probably 15%-20% at the most. Those people were extremely blessed with a good start. They never struggled, it seemed like opportunities fell into their lap and they capitalized on them. They can get anything they want based on word of mouth, and most people will oblige.

The other 80%-85% were dealt a bad hand from Day 1. Their lives were marked with pain & struggle. No matter how hard they tried, no one would give them a chance. These people have had doors slammed in their face and over time the discouragement wears on them. They may be down for a moment, but something smacks them in the face telling them they need to pick themselves up and keep pushing. Because they're used to being told no, they find a way to get where they want to be on their own. They figure if no one will help them, they help themselves. I've read many biographies of entrepreneurs, ministers, and other influential people who have overcome so much in their lives to do great things, and THOSE are the people I root for. Why root for someone who had a good start? I can't learn from no one who hasn't been through anything. I prefer to learn from people who know what fighting is all about; those who have overcome major challenges in their life to become successful.