Life is Unpredictable

Life is Unpredictable

            We live our lives every day, not knowing what is going to happen next. We live each second in the moment, riding along the roller-coaster of life as it takes us up and down. To an extent we have control over situations, but essentially, there are too many outside forces that control what happens to us. However, we do have the ability to control how we react to life's curveballs and the attitude that we emit to the world and public eye. 

            Because we do not know what will happen next in our lives, we sometimes get lucky, we sometimes fail, and we sometimes succeed beyond measures. We prepare ourselves for obstacles by practicing and learning. We grow through our failures if we make changes after making poor decisions. We fail to grow if we believe in making the same mistake again or fail to realize something was a poor decision. Growing means that you are experiencing and then learning from those moments.

            We are going to fail. We are going to make poor decisions. We are going to live a life that is not perfect. What we must understand is that God does not need us to be perfect because He knows that nobody is. The more we strive to be perfect, the more we will not be. The more you try to be something you are not, the farther off the path you stray. If we admit to our flaws and accept our imperfections, we are illustrating a sign of maturity. If we can admit that we have failed and acknowledge that we will continue to educate ourselves and devote ourselves to growing, we will grow. If we fail to announce our flaws, then we will stay in a hallucinated, unrealistic world of thinking we are perfect and never changing. 

            Life is full of surprises and full of conflict. We will find ourselves in good situations and we will find ourselves in tough situations. The question that needs to be answered is, 'how can you learn from this and how can you become a better person, while helping those around you become better as well'. The first step in any situation is identifying if it is good or bad. Then, you must take initiative and analyze how the situation happened. Next, you must determine how to make the situation better. Finally, you must be able to tell yourself that the situation happened, and you must continue to live as the person you truly are, but know that changes need to be made to become a better person. We are always coming into new situations, new experiences, and new discoveries...so how can we not learn then? You will always learn if you are living. What separates those that learn more than others is that those who learn experience more, fail more, and live more, and are open to changing who they are for the benefit of not just themselves, but for the people around them. Those who are willing to change for someone are the ones you want to be with because they are illustrating their love and commitment, showing you that they will give up themselves and their lifestyle to meet you halfway.

            Life is unpredictable and we have to respect that. We are on a journey that will have both high and low moments, but we must realize that just because we may be in a low moment does not mean that life is worthless. I say this because a couple hours ago, life could have been at its highest for you, and a couple hours later, it could be at its lowest for you. But, does that low moment take all the good moments away...No, it does not. You cannot let one situation determine the end result for you or the direction in life you take. 

            If you truly want something in life you will not let a situation take that away from you. Life does not end for you when you make a mistake, so why give up on life? God gives you another day. God gives you another chance. God gives you your character and the person you are in strength, so that you can withstand the pain life has, but overcome the obstacles thrown at you if you care enough to do so.

            Nothing in life is what we expect, and life is unpredictable, but you must understand that it is all a test; A test to help you discover what and who you care about, the degree to which you care, and how devoted you are to learning, growing, and sharing the world with those who you care about.

-Austin McClain Baker

Austin Baker 

Twitter/Instagram: @ABakerPresident

DreamsDriveDetermination@gmail.com

Austin.Baker25@yahoo.com

Wind: Its Meaning on Life

Wind: Its Meaning on Life

A movement of air, that we cannot necessarily see, but something we can feel. Our perception is that wind can be a force of air that causes the movement of things, such as trees. We perceive that wind will blow our light items, such as newspaper and trash down the road. We see wind as the thing that causes the paper we dropped on the ground to blow away. We see wind as the catalyst for cold air in our face during the winter. We see wind as what moves so many things. 

But have we ever pondered what wind could be in terms of a cause for a reaction that could lead us in a new direction or down a new path that directs us to the destiny God has for us? Those who are against change see it as a detrimental effect. Those who are for change still are questioning whether it will bring a better or worse outcome. We must understand that "If we're growing, we're always going to be out of our comfort zone." (John Maxwell) and "If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living" (Gail Sheehy). Over the years of our lives, we will run into situations where we must adapt, change how we act, and commit to new things. We will change, and we are changing...every single second.

If the wind is God's hand pushing us in a new direction, we have a choice to buckle down and stay back or we can go with the wind and follow the path God has for us. We all want to explore the world, so why not travel with the wind, and if you want to travel it with someone you love, ask them to see the world with you.

I always perceived wind as something that ruined the day. It blew dirt in my eyes on the baseball field. It made the great day on the beach turn into a sweatshirt day. It made trees fall down in storms. There were such a vast number of effects that the wind contributed to in a conflicting manner that I never appreciated the benefits that it stirred up for the world.

Those benefits are not the ones that we can see from the start, but rather the finish. If it was not for the wind, would I have turned my head in the opposite direction to avoid the sand blowing in my eyes to see the sunset that made me realize how fortunate I was to see? For the wind took me away from many old situations and took me upon itself on a journey to a new place. Riding in the car with the windows down on a summer day is a feeling we can all enjoy. If it was not for the wind would I have traveled a few more feet down the beach to find the mysterious shell that we place meaning in. The wind pushes us to keep going. The wind is a motivational force that wants us to succeed. So, when you say the world is against you, realize that the wind is behind you (or in front of you) pushing you to keep working towards your ultimate goals.

The wind has impacted me in a way that I am grateful for. When I feel that there is nothing else to look forward to, I can trust in God's hands that He and the symbol of the wind are moving me in the right direction. On days wind is not present, I think to myself that the wind is helping someone out who needs it more than me.

I have complete trust that where I have started, where I have gone, where I am, where I am going, and where I will end up has and will be impacted by the wind in some form and fashion. Even in the past year I have found myself with new thoughts, with new surroundings, and new dreams. Right now, I have an amazing surrounding of people by my side, a family that loves me, and friends that believe in me. I have an amazing girlfriend and I am thankful for her family, and their farm animals that make me realize that the chance I took to follow the wind has made me not only happier, but motivated to learn, grow, and experience with someone who I can do anything and be myself with.

I continue to praise God in the work He has done for this world and I am constantly realizing how lucky I am to be where I am, while discovering that there is so much more that I will be learning. The wind truly does have an impact in our lives other than the force it has on material objects and God's hands are always waiting to catch us if we are misguided by the wind, to turn us in the right direction.

-Austin McClain Baker

Austin Baker 

Twitter/Instagram: @ABakerPresident

DreamsDriveDetermination@gmail.com

Austin.Baker25@yahoo.com

 

Adapting to God's Plan

Adapting to God's Plan

Many pieces and memories of our lives that we hold onto today were not included in our original planning process for ourselves. With that, we must wonder how the plan deviated from our thinking. If we trust God and His amazing plan for us all, we will recognize that He sometimes takes out or adds experiences for a reason. The motive, we do not always know. However, God introduces us to the world and beyond in the eyes of Him and the world, not just our closed-minds. We have been told by our friends and family on what we will become, which could be true, but only God knows the end path for us. We have the ability to choose whether or not we want to follow His path and better ourselves and those around us. It is eye-opening to reflect on past situations and what they have taught us. It is remarkable to see the growth in ourselves. It is a proud moment to realize that you are doing what you love and you are surrounded by people who you love. I am continuing to live in the presence of The Lord and I am continuing to chase my dream. Blessed for He is by my side.

-Austin McClain Baker

Austin Baker 

Twitter/Instagram: @ABakerPresident

DreamsDriveDetermination@gmail.com

Austin.Baker25@yahoo.com

A Transformation: From One Door to Another

A Transformation: From One Door to Another

           

            Reflecting on today, I've realized once again, what sometimes seems to be a wrong outcome may actually be the start of a new beginning for greater successes. I realized that a leader is not one with a position, or a label given to them. But rather, a leader has his/her intentions and actions focused on helping the people around them and in return, helping to unify a community of leaders.

            In the past, I only spoke about my achievements and successes when running for leadership positions, but I've discovered that a leader walks with his/her peers, sits eye-level to his/her acquaintances, and listens to his/her community as much as he/she leads them. It is no longer about me as much as it is about me helping those around me. My life is worth more if I am making an impact in the lives of those around me than compared to me helping only myself. I do not see any benefit to being self-conceited.

            God did not place me on this world to serve myself, as He placed me here for a reason. That reason has yet to be discovered, but my heart tells me I am here to inspire and here to make a difference in the lives of others through my opportunistic outlook on life. I am grateful to be learning and growing each and every day. I am walking with God. I am taking a path guided by God and trusted by myself. I am on a mission and I will continue to achieve my goals. We must always have Faith and trust in The Lord. He takes us to great depths of challenges and obstacles, but He strengthens us to become achievers, do-ers, and followers of Christ.

            The Lord has a plan for each and every one of us and it is remarkable to see parts of it unfold and to reflect on our lives and see the transformations we have made. Chase your dreams because you'll never know how long you have left to see, breathe, speak, or live. Stay humble in your living, Be confident in your ways, Stay true to your morals, and value those that care about you.

            One door closed, but another door is opening. My vision considered only this one door, but now I see many more. Dreams. Drive. Determination.

-Austin McClain Baker

Austin Baker 

Twitter/Instagram: @ABakerPresident
 

DreamsDriveDetermination@gmail.com

Austin.Baker25@yahoo.com

Literacy Narrative

Literacy Narrative

            Learning to read and write was never difficult for me because my parents were avid readers and I looked up to my older sister who was always eager to dive into a novel. Throughout elementary school, I was the kid who read a book a day and then checked out another book a minute after. I enjoyed finishing books and taking the online tests that went along with them because I could receive points and the student with the most points received an award. I won the award in fourth grade. I had no competition. It was not that no one else read books and took the tests, but rather, it was because I had distanced myself in my level of proficiency and passion to read. I read 48 books and passed 43 of them. I was also a devoted writer in my early days; writing short stories for a comedic purpose to share with my classmates during break-time. In elementary school, I scored exceptionally well on all of my English and writing tests and the state-given final exams. I had no trouble to any extent with my ability to succeed in writing or English up until my junior year of high school. Junior year of high school is the toughest year for students because colleges begin to recruit and classes are more rigorous because students are striving to impress the universities’ in which they are applying to.

            It all started on the first day of my junior year when I was assigned an essay prompt, “I Believe”. I was eager to write an essay on such a broad topic. I had several ideas traveling through my mind, almost like the way a little boy’s mind scrambles when he is required to choose one ice cream flavor from a list of twenty. I went home that night feeling excited about the first day and how perfect my classes were because all of my best friends were seated next to me and I even had some cute girls in my class. I finished all of my math, science, and history homework and then took a shower before eating a family dinner. After dinner, I took my laptop upstairs and plopped it on my desk. I pulled out my headphones, turned on some music, and opened up Microsoft word. I began writing freely, attempting to strike gold with a remarkable essay. I formed an idea of which I began to write around. Starting the paper off with, “How did I begin to believe”? I wanted to travel backwards and answer the question of why someone believes something. I had a structured essay with no grammatical errors and I was confident that my professor would score my paper with distinction. After turning in my paper and after a few days passing by, our teacher had graded the papers and they were ready to be handed back. Our teacher was walking in circles around the classroom struggling to remember everyone’s names while passing back our essays. I was awaiting mine with a sense of nervousness even though I was positive that I scored well. When I received my paper, I saw red pen marks; the “red pen marks which usually signify errors”. I flipped my paper over with assurance, only to see an 80 on the top right corner of my paper. I had just received a ‘C’ on a paper that was issued, “I Believe”…A paper that was supposed to be written on something I believe in. How can someone grade the value of what someone believes in if we all have our own beliefs and perspectives on life? From that exact moment of seeing a low score, I knew the teacher did not like me and I had no intention of considering her an effective instructor.

            Of all my classes, English had always been the most preferable class to take and I never had an issue with any of my prior teachers. But after having a teacher who graded me harshly for so many assignments and tests, I had no intentions of caring anymore in English. I started seeing myself more interested in a depressing science classroom than I did in English. We were given AP practice essays to test our ability to write and I scored in the 3-5 range. I repeat; I scored in the range of a 60-76 range, which is an average of a ‘D’ grade. I am not a ‘D’ student and my work ethic surely did not reflect even the lowest of a ‘B’ average. I told my other teachers, my parents, and the principal of everything I had been doing to score well. I went to tutoring at 6:00AM three days a week to strengthen my writing skills and I went to everyone asking for help. I saw no results in my grades; if anything my grades in other classes went down because I had placed so much of my energy into English.

            Over the rest of the semester and into the second semester, I had kept a solid, ‘82’ average in English and A’s and B’s in each of my other courses. I was attempting every possible plan and idea to earn a higher grade. I began writing to please my teacher, rather than writing for what was on my mind and I saw lower grades. I did not understand her reasoning. I listed her as the number one teacher for being irrational and illogical. I spoke with her many times about how I could improve my grades and we were on the same page and we connected with one another. She was one of the most sociable and personal teachers I have met when she was off-duty as a teacher, but inside the classroom, I could not take her anymore. I felt enraged with an unknowing sense of anger because my hard-work was not paying off and my determination to succeed was diminishing because the results I had hoped for were buried deep beyond my reach.

            With less than three weeks of school left in session, I knew that I needed to bring my grade up to a ‘B’ or I would receive my first ‘C’ in my entire life of schooling. It was a sunny Friday afternoon and school had just been let out and I had to stay after school to make up a quiz with my English teacher. I was just looking forward to the weekend and had no desire to be at school for any longer. I took my quiz and handed it to my English teacher. She asked me how I felt about the class and if I had learned anything over the course of the school year and I said to her, “Personally, I have only learned that with effort you do not always succeed, but I am irritated that my grade is a ‘C’, which is considered ‘average’ by the State of North Carolina. If I knew hard work was going to earn me a ‘C’, why try? She told me to think about the school year and to study for the final exam and the essay, counted for 25% of the final exam. I waived her off and just thought she was the average teacher who said, “Study and you’ll be fine.” That is too broad for success to result from. I left that day and enjoyed my weekend. I came back to school the next week and we worked on a couple of practice tests and essays and my scores were still at 4’s and 5’s, but I felt that I was understanding the material more and more because our teacher pulled out an essay prompt we did on the second week of school and my mentality on what to write at the beginning of the year was far less persuading than how I decided to write it at the end of the year.

            At that very moment, I realized that my teacher was not trying to be the ‘harsh’ teacher that we all have at one point in our lives. She was helping me reach my true potential as both a writer and as a person. I learned how to control my emotions with maturity. I learned how to communicate effectively with an adult regarding business and in my case, grades. I learned more about myself from that class then I did from any other course. I respect Mrs. Danielle Volker (Danielle Cupples) because she wanted the best for me, and she was one of a select few teachers who have truly pushed me to the maximum. Essentially, our perspectives at the beginning of a situation are like judging a book by its cover before opening a single page. In life we must allow for the story to unfold and we must not quit when the results we are looking for do not fall our way.

            So, growing up I was always an avid reader and writer who never had any trouble with my ability to write a persuasive essay or to report on a book that was over five-hundred pages. But as I grew up and reached high school, challenges arose and junior year was a year to remember because I learned that there is always something new to learn and that education never ends and new knowledge is always beneficial. Being literate comes not only from reading books or writing, but also from the experiences we encounter and work through. Experiences shape our minds, heart, and our eyes. These three combine to shape our understanding in life. In life we must converse with others, communicate, and work with one another. If we experience, we learn and when we learn we grow. If we are growing we must be moving forward and literate people are educated individuals who have experienced a lot through books and through living life’s never-ending journey.

-Austin McClain Baker

Austin Baker 

Twitter/Instagram: @ABakerPresident

DreamsDriveDetermination@gmail.com

Austin.Baker25@yahoo.com

Learning Experience

Learning Experience

            As you enter your freshman year of college, you realize that you can start on a new slate and you can be whoever you choose to be. Usually, you will attempt to change and be someone other than you were in high school, but in the end your true character will unfold itself and trying to be someone other than yourself will not work to your advantage. When you leave high school, you leave your friends and past life in the back of your mind and begin focusing on your new journey. That journey begins with learning how to sign up for classes, knowing where your lectures are held, figuring out how to purchase food, and much more. However, the most important part of the journey is discovering who you are and discovering who your true friends are. In college, you will constantly come across new people and you will build relationships and make new connections with students from across the country and beyond.

            However, meeting hundreds and maybe even thousands of people will make you feel as if you are friends with everyone. You will have hundreds of phone numbers, followers on social media sites, and you will know the names of so many. But, if you sit back and think about which ones are your true friends, how do you know? Ask yourself the question, “If I were to leave college today, how many of the people that I met would contact me ever again to see how I am doing?” So, how do we know who our true friends are?

            Well, it is the ‘learning experience’ which enables you with the ability to clearly determine who will always be there for you. In college, we are learning a different life in a foreign environment. We are persistently learning fresh knowledge about life, relationships, academics, ourselves, and miscellaneous information that we will use to be successful. It takes messing up to not make a mistake again. Therefore, it takes experiencing to even have the chance of making a poor decision. So does this mean that we should all make poor decisions early in our lives so that we may have a wider understanding of how not to mess up? Yes and no. We should not aim to make non-intellectual decisions, but once you enter adulthood, any decision can affect your reputation and ability to acquire a job. Making one corrupt choice can cause your downfall when you reach an age where you are expected to never make poor judgments. For college students, the time is almost at its end to make poor decisions and still be able to bounce back in a reasonable amount of time.

            Essentially, the most important aspect of college besides attaining an education is to find yourself and to find who your true friends are. Secondly, it takes the ‘learning experience’ to realize who your true friends are and inside of the ‘learning experience’ consists of several things. First, you must mess up to find who your friends are. You will know when you messed up and learned something that will serve to better you when you wake up and think about who was there to help you. You must fail. Without failing, how do you know how it feels to be at a low-point in your life? You must also learn to adapt. If you cannot adapt to your surroundings, you will never grow. If you are not growing, you will fail to reach your highest potential. You will experience a lot in college and will learn an abundance of life-knowledge.

            In my perspective, you will learn more in one weekend than you will learn in a week in college. Academics are vital to your success, but life-skills and common sense, which is only attained through experiencing firsthand, is what enables you to accomplish the toughest of tasks. If you do not know who you are, then what purpose does academic knowledge have? It starts with YOU and discovering what YOU enjoy doing, what YOU want to do with YOUR life, and who YOU want to be. We are in college to learn and gain new knowledge, but we are also here for four years or more if we head to graduate school, to learn about the things we cannot be taught by a professor or by our parents.

            You will discover who your true friends are when you have a poor experience or make a poor decision because those who care about you will be by your side the entire time. You will have your friends. You will have your best buds. You will have your party friends. You will have your business friends. And you will have your lifelong friends. You place the people you know into different groups based on their importance and connection to you. Learning is endless. Find who you are and find who your true friends are. Learn to learn and live to learn.

 -Austin McClain Baker

Austin Baker 

Twitter/Instagram: @ABakerPresident

DreamsDriveDetermination@gmail.com

Austin.Baker25@yahoo.com

Taking A Chance

Taking A Chance

            Something we always try to do is win. We see everything as a competition because in reality, everything is a competition. We are being tested through everything we do, everything we act on, and every decision we make. However, when it comes to relationships and finding someone we want to be with, people choose to make the competition between one another. When things go wrong, each partner wants to ‘play hard to get’ and they each want to make the other jealous. Our world thrives off jealousy. If you ask someone what they are most self-conscious about, many will say their appearance or what others think of them. Therefore, when one partner in a relationship plays hard to get, the other will want that partner even more. Another thing; people want to take time off and want to wait and see where things go. The average person will want to wait and see if they like a person and then come back to them. With trust and knowing that you are attracted to someone both physically and emotionally, why wait? If you like someone, don’t play the ‘game’ of playing hard to get or trying to make the other partner feel jealous because you are talking to other people. The goal is not to win a relationship. Striving to win a relationship is the same as striving to get A’s, but not striving to learn a single thing in school. The goal of a relationship is beyond the label of a relationship status.

            It is something difficult to grasp, but what makes us so attracted to someone? There are so many people in this world and so many people that would be open to a relationship with us, but we choose one. We choose the one that makes us happy. The one that makes us feel like we are headed in the right direction. The one that will do anything for us, at whatever time. When we meet someone we like, we know it. When we have a number of people interested in us and we turn them away without hesitation, we know at that very moment we have someone special. And sometimes the perfect relationship we thought we had turns to rubbish, but other times it turns into gold. We are in a world where we must learn. We are in a world where we must take chances and risk everything for one thing. We are in a world where our lives will be perfect one second and at rock bottom the next. There is no holding back for me and there is nothing I will give up on when I am motivated. In this world, there is too much competition to sit back and wait for everything to come to you. The average will wait for what comes to them. Waiting is not wrong, but patience has a limit. You cannot wait forever because then your time runs out. I believe in chasing what is on your mind. If you cannot go a day without thinking about someone, that person matters to you.

            I will never know what is right or what is wrong unless I try. Unless I try, I will never learn. Unless I mess up, I will never grow. If I never grow, I will never move forward. If I never move forward, I will always be average. If I am average, I will never be a leader. If I am not a leader, I will never be successful. If I am never successful, I will never make an impact in this world. If I never make an impact in this world, I will have failed.

            When the time is right, go for it. When the time is wrong, figure out when the time will be right. People will not always understand your reasoning and intentions, but your goal is to teach them why. Through your words you must explain to them. Through your actions you must prove to them. Show someone why you care about them and if they do not see it, keep trying. If they still cannot see how much you care, go forth with your life and let them choose the direction in which they want to go. Life is too short to be dwelled on. Wake up each day giving thanks to The Lord and wake up every morning with the intentions of helping the people around you. The Lord has a plan for us all and every second is a learning second. We are living the life which we are learning and there is never a second that goes by when The Lord is not with us. Have Faith that it will all work out.

 -Austin McClain Baker

 

Austin Baker

Twitter/Instagram: @ABakerPresident

DreamsDriveDetermination@gmail.com

Austin.Baker25@yahoo.com