After the Bridge Was Crossed

iUniverse, Inc.

Contents

About the Author...........................................................viiAcknowledgments............................................................ixIntroduction...............................................................xi1. The Art of Thinking (It's Your Choice).................................12. My Interpretation of Love...............................................113. Education...............................................................164. Minorities and Economic Endeavors.......................................225. My Military Experience..................................................306. The Penal System........................................................437. Abortion (Is it right or wrong?).......................................558. Excel in life (Maximizing you 24hr day)................................649. Our Community (It still takes a village)...............................7310. Hip-Hop (The positive and negative aspects of it).....................85Words From The Author......................................................97"If We Must Die" (By Claude McKay)........................................99

Chapter One

When a man and a woman mate and semen is ejaculated into her body, millions and millions of sperm reproductive cells race at a frantic pace toward the female ovaries. Life and death are literally on the line; before you were in your nineties, on your deathbed, surrounded by three generations of love that you helped to create, way before that point in life where you thought, its either now or never. Way before you had the opportunity to risk life and limb within the military services, long before you had the chance to succeed or fail at anything. Way before the trials and tribulations of life had a chance to run their courses, you were engaged in the most critical battle of them all, the battle to be produced or not.

Maybe today, you feel like you're battling the aforementioned problems of the world, hard pressed for success, like the mountain is too high to climb, like the hole is too deep to climb out of; like success is virtually impossible. My, my, my ... how quick the mind forgets what it never knew ... or should I say ... never took the time to think about. To the individual whose reading this book now; you're stronger, greater and more determined than you ever knew. You're a survivor in the truest sense of the word. I mean, just think about it, out of a million cells, yours was the only one to make it through the reproductive system. Thus confirming my theory, and making the old proverb true that, "you are one in a million," capable of achieving anything in life. All you have to do is want it as bad as you wanted life; o' so long ago.

The last paragraph represents a spontaneous thought that had just occurred to me, and well, you know they say that the thought is the cause of it all. The words produced by thought have the power to create, save and destroy. Name something in the world that didn't start with a thought. The house that you live in was someone's thought. The car you drive was someone's vision. The clothes you wear, the chair that you have unconscious faith in when you go to sit in it, are all things that started with a thought.

So I ask you, what's your thought? When are you going to remember the potential you possess and bring your thoughts to fruition, manifestation? When are you finally going to have as much faith in yourself as you have in that chair that you're sitting in? You're so sure that it will sustain your weight, that it will support you. But if you ever decided to muster up that same strength, greatness and determination, and applied it to a passion of yours, I guarantee you that you'll be successful. There's no doubt in my mind that you will capture anything that you decide to pursue.

The art of thinking is complex, yet simplistic. See it's like lifting weights; bench pressing to be exact.

1. You have to have a thought; an ambitious drive.

2. You must get mentally prepared and focus on the goal at hand.

3. Prepare yourself for the expected, as well as, the unexpected pitfalls.

4. Make sure that your spotter is ready to assist you just in case you experience it difficult to get the weight off of you.

5. Secure the clamps, then execute.

The thought was to lift the weight on the bar up and down (10x for instance.) Then, the mental preparation was controlling your breathing and getting your mind ready.

Secure the thought in place then, no matter what, as long as your spotter can support you, don't stop until you reach your goal of 10 repetitions. Even though you had nothing left on rep seven, you dug deep down inside and hit that switch, the switch that all the great ones seem to be able to hit almost automatically. The switch that Ali hit against Foreman, the switch Air Jordan use to hit in the clutch, the switch that a mother hits when she feels as though her child is in danger. You have to hit that switch that allows you to see yourself turning a difficult 8,9,10 into an easy 1,2,3. The art of thinking has the power to do that, and the game of life is played within a 7' perimeter; and that just happens to be where thoughts are born and developed ... inside your head. So the point at hand is, that, the man that believes he can and the man that believes he can't are both right ... the question is ... which person are YOU??

Be aware of the chameleon though, because he possesses the capabilities to forge the appearance of a great thinker, of great thought; but that is not the case. See, the wisdom that's spawned by critical thinking can only be measured and critiqued by who, what, when, where, and how that wisdom is applied and not by your abilities to retain and memorize information, because a parrot can do the same. A chameleon has the shrewdness to interchange his characters when needed. He blends in, and utilizes his handle on the English language to mislead, deceive, and within his mind, in some way lift himself above others.

Don't get me wrong though, because you should never have to dumb down your intellect, and it would be a beautiful thing if his intelligent wordplay was given with the purpose of helping the other man grow, sparking a motivating fuse, or improving his brother man's expansion of thought. More often than not though, it's done merely to display their cynical mirage of superiority. To pat them on the back as if they had once and for all proved and convinced themselves that they now have ascended to an elite coterie of individuals.

You can trust ME when I tell you that every word in this book is used to uplift and expand your thought. Professing great wisdom in this or that, sure they might be highly versed in the rhetoric, they may own the doctor's uniform and they may spend hours upon hours discussing medicinal matters. But when it is actually time to perform heart-to-heart surgery and save another's life, it is here that they remain speechless and motionless. He knew everything in the world but his own ignorance, while the man whom he recited the big words to is on hand, at that very moment, performing the critical transplant.

It was here that we found out that the parrot was not a thinker. It was here that the chameleon was uncloaked and exposed for who he really is, a fraud. But think about how much more useful he would've been to himself and to others if he only had taken the time to actually be who he claimed because, the truth be told, he exerted more energy creating the image and the lie, than he would've used in actually tackling the task at hand. Therefore, the potential had never been in question. He could've easily became who he desired out of life had only he channeled his energy, not towards the explication of things, but towards the application of them. If only he would've used his powers for good instead of evil.

Sure, you could read through this book and be finished with it in a matter of days, but you would get so much more out of it if you forced yourself to apply thought. For every topic that I have given you, stop for a minute and think about it, then find a scenario in your own life to where the passage could've been applied. Nobody knows your life better than you and until you grasp complete control of that you'll forever be searching for the switch that all great thinkers are able to hit at random. So I say to you, apply yourself, fight through all adversity, and I promise you that you'll obtain success monetarily as well as mentally. Never. Ever. No matter what you do, be like the parrot and the chameleon.

Is thinking an art? Well let me say this, when done properly, when all data concerning the matter has been ascertained, when it is founded and based with intellect and understanding, when the crowd's anticipation of the idea or concept has reached it's zenith, then, and only then should the veil be removed and if done with precise timing, what will be revealed is a masterpiece. On the other hand, if you're thinking is rash and sporadic, If your thoughts come and go like the wind, if when the stage is set and you have no idea of when to open and close the curtains then your display will come over as quite tasteless and artless. So I ask you, how could thinking not be considered an art? As a thinker, nothing in life should catch you off-guard. You might not be able to pin-point a scenario down to the precise second it will happen, we're not psychic, I'm definitely not implying that, but just the thought of knowing that anything can occur will put you ahead of the curve.

One day it's going to happen; your son or daughter is going to come to you and ask to go outside to play. Have you prepared your child for that day, have you prepared yourself? From the moment the ultrasound showed that a child was conceived the mind of the young man or woman began to think differently. I recognize the joy that comes over an individual because I've fathered two beautiful children myself. The time goes by so fast and the child is so precious, they're in their infancy stages, unable to think and rationalize for themselves. So it's our job as parents to think and rationalize for them. They don't know what awaits them outside, they have no ideas of the danger to come, and are innocent at heart. They have no idea, but you do?

So a plan should have already been in effect waiting for that day to come about. You can never be too careful with children. I don't care what neighborhood you live in, whether it's the projects on the south side of Chicago or amongst the palm springs of Beverly Hills. The artless painter would just let their child out to roam aimlessly about, but the skillful artist will go out with their child, ingratiate themselves with the parents of the other kids and then set perimeters for the child to play in. "Under no circumstances do you go in the street, and never go pass our neighbors house to the left or the right."

Even more so advised would be if you could stay outside with the child supervising their progress while at the same time building your bond between parent and child. Now all of this sounds simple enough but you'd be surprised how many people are not prepared for this day. So now that we have looked at it in a different light and linked critical thinking to the early childhood development of our own children, I'll ask you again, is thinking an art? A hot head will never make a cool decision. I.e. if your judgment is influenced by anything other than the facts and the truth, you are almost never going to arrive at the best possible solution or remedy. Emotions have the tremendous power of influencing a decision or action. Let's go back to our child that has now made a couple of friends on the block and has made you comfortable with letting them go out and play more frequently.

One day your daughter/son comes in the house crying and screaming with a scraped elbow that is dripping blood. The natural instinct is to ask, "what happened?" Filled with emotions, then frantically, while gasping for breath, your child says (lets say your daughter) that "Johnny" pushed her to the ground. How do you respond? Have you ever given it critical thought? I'm sure that you've thought of it before, but has it been in depth, did you utilize our four steps? Remember, a true thinker should never be caught off-guard with the possibilities of what can happen in life, maybe the exact time, but not the scenario. So as thinkers, let's take advantage of that information, let's work through the scenarios right now together so we'll be prepared when the situation arises.

For the record, let me state the obvious, when it comes to something as devastating as losing a loved one, no one is ever fully prepared, but think of it as a house fire. No we're never 100 percent prepared or ready, but we're as close to it as we can get, because we've already devised an escape route, with sheets pre-tied, knotted and hanging from the bedroom window. There's one in every room, increasing my family' chances of survival. I don't care if you have to stop, drop, and roll or run, jump, and skip ... just get there. So again I ask, how do you respond to the situation involving your daughter and Johnny? Let's explore the options; smoke would have been blowing from a non-thinkers horn only because he loves his child more than himself, (which I could never knock because I love mine the same way). A parental, protective, natural instinct sets in and as a result, a maelstrom of love, anger, and sense of responsibility clouds our judgment. From that point who knows what the outcome will be, not even you will be in control because that hot head will never be able to make that sound and cool decision. Isn't wisdom a luxury?

Now, let's do a complete 180 and travel down a whole new route, that's not to insinuate that those same feelings of love, anger, and sense of responsibility are not embodied amongst those traveling on this road, because they are. It's not to say that these people on this path love their children any less because they don't. They love their children just as equally and possess the same emotions when it comes to theirs, the difference is that they're able to hold those emotions in check by first and foremost, creating a thought, working intelligently to logically figure out what happened. Just the thought of you understanding and acknowledging that more than one scenario could've occurred is a self-evident axiom that implies wisdom.

Was Johnny provoked, or peer pressured into pushing your daughter? Was he struck first? Did Johnny sustain any injuries? It's an abundance of missing information that needs to be unfolded before you can come to a rational decision. Do the kids have puppy love? Its not uncommon for there to be some minor altercations when they have no other way of expressing themselves, other than wrestling in the sandbox and calling each other names, who knows? That's exactly my point. Secondly, did you get mentally prepared and focus on the goal at hand? What did you hope to achieve by addressing the young boy, Johnny, because if your only purpose was to strike fear in the other child then that makes your logic and reasoning no more even kilt than the children's.

So let's take the other route again and explore other beneficial avenues. As adults we understand that these things happen; it's not the end of the world, so control your breathing, your grammar, and body language. If nothing else is achieved, it'll be a great opportunity to show your child how to respond to awkward, strenuous, or unfamiliar situations, because believe me, she's watching you. So approach this situation with precision, as a doctor would with a heart transplant. Thirdly, you need to prepare for likely and unlikely pitfalls or encounters. What if the child is really a bully and literally tunes you out when you asked him where he lived or who his parents were? What if when you reach the scene of the incident, Johnny's parents were already there with smoke blowing from their horns, motivated by a completely different story than the one you might have been told? The situation could easily turn from bad to worse in a matter of seconds, so someone has to step up and be the thinker and the majority of the time it will just have to be you. That's the burden of leadership!

Aggression thrives off of aggression. You literally turn over and give away any advantage you might have had once you agree to fight aggression on his terms and on his home field. Therefore meet that aggression with not passiveness, but with the strength of reason. If done correctly it will completely annihilate and cripple aggression. Fire thrives off of fire, it feeds off of it, and the fire spreads almost at the speed of light, but if you take fire and douse it with water, well, you get point. Fourthly, you need to see the plan all the way to the end; you can exchange numbers with the parent to show your commitment and dedication to order and peace. Each parent can take the initiative to be fair and impartial when it comes to dealing with further issues that might arise with the children in the future. Now, Which ending would you prefer?

Nothing is written in stone but if these steps are followed in everyday life, no matter the circumstance, the chances of it ending on a favorable note are highly enhanced. May I add this, nine times out of ten, no matter how the adults chose to handle our prior situation, the kids probably were outside playing again, as friends, the very next day, if not hours later. So think, think, and think. The situation can't do anything but prove each individual is responsible for himself, singularly as well as collectively. Each one, teach one and remember a lesson learned is a lesson earned.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from After the Bridge Was Crossedby Darryl K. Cooke Copyright © 2011 by Darryl K. Cooke. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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