Keep It 100

In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.
-Bill Cosby

Greetings folks and welcome to the 100^th edition of “The Diplomat’s Report”. Wow, just saying 100 makes me feel special. I was going to rent out Liv, contract DJ Khaled and Rick Ross for a live performance and throw a huge party. But after consulting my accountant, my bank account and the shoe box in my closet, I realized that was not in the budget. Instead, I’m pouring a bottle of something dark and delicious, raising a glass and giving thanks to God, my family, friends and followers for making this possible. CHEERS!

I’ve been writing for quite some time, yet when I made the decision to go to law school, my passion for writing along with my dreams of becoming a football player and a famous R&B singer went the way of the dodo. After law school I went through some troubling times and was encouraged by a friend to start writing again. After months of encouragement I finally did and what resulted on April 13, 2010 was the first post of this blog entitled “I’m Sorry.” It was viewed by a grand total of 7 people. No, there aren’t any numbers missing and no you didn’t develop an acute form of dyslexia. The numbers were pretty typical, all under 10 views until June of 2010.

Initially the blog wasn’t about the views. It was about me finding my lost passion for writing and getting my thoughts and feelings out of my head and onto the screen. The blog started out as a form of therapy for me and over time it turned into a critique of society, politics and me.

Today, I care a little more about the number of weekly views than I did then, but not much more. As I’ve been doing this for over two years, I’ve learned that the number of views a particular post gets depends on a lot of factors, most of which I don’t care to address week in and week out, just to pat myself on the back because a few people read my blog. What I care about most is my message and sharing it with others. Over the years, it’s been the thanks I’ve received for timely words of advice, consolation and encouragement which have strengthened my resolve to continue to write this blog.  It’s because of you more so than anything that I continue to write.

Reading over the previous 99 blog posts has led me to a few conclusions:

1. I have grown a tremendous amount in the past 2 years;

2. The blog would not be possible without my family, friends and avid readers; and

3. There’s still so much more I can do with this blog.

For those of you who know me best you know that my greatest goal in life is to take over the world. My quest for global domination isn’t to enslave humanity and force them to bow at my feet and feed me grapes. My quest is so that I may be able to travel when I want, enjoy the finer things in life, take care of my family and help others along the way. Today that’s still my goal and it’s something I wake up and work on every day, except Sundays (a man has to have a day off). I believe this blog is a step towards helping me achieve those ends, which is why I continue to write.

The initial lackluster number of page views sometimes felt like rejection. It felt like I had offered the world my life and they snatched it, threw it on the ground and did the Mexican hat dance on it. Over time, I learned to take it for what it was, a challenge. Challenges strengthen us and present opportunities for greatness. For all of the hardships that I have endured in my life I’ve experienced a lot of accomplishments as well. Every challenge and controversy was followed by a subsequent moment of triumph, which allowed me to appreciate the moment so much more. I’m thankful for the great times and appreciative of the not-so-great times because I know both are needed for success.

Admittedly, I’ve experienced a lot of growth between April 2010 and now but by no means am I anywhere near where I want to be as a man, friend, family member and global citizen. I want to be stronger, kinder, more understanding, more humble, rich, and famous with a closet full of Jordan’s (I kid, I kid). Until I’ve reached those goals, I’m going to continue to work on being a better man and I’m going to continue to write.

To those seven of you who have been here from the very beginning, thank you so very much for the inspiration and instilling in me the courage to step out on faith and share my thoughts with the world. To the rest of you that make up the more than 4,300 page views this blog has seen in two years, thank you as well. The initial seven may have jumpstarted this post but you are the lifeline that continues to keep it going. I hope that you continue to read my blog, that you’ll share it with others and grow with me. I love you all. Until next time, Stay Up and Be Blessed!