I’m a Man of Principle, Damn Near Invincible...

In my own mind, now that my soul’s aligned. Didn’t know before now my role’s defined; to take hold and control of what’s mine. (You know the rest. If not, look it up.)

It’s ya boy! Alright, today’s hustle lesson is ‘know and respect your limits.’ See, as I often repeat, life ain’t a game no more, it’s a sport –a full contact sport. My Dad would always tell me, “Some people are the ball and get kicked around, while others are the players. Which one are you, son?”

Here’s the background—you go to school with someone, grind it out, land your first job and start to building. Things are gravy, then your buddy takes an “L”, a big “L”. So okay, you let him move in, and stay on your couch. You are trying to be there, to look out, and help your boy get back on his feet. Then you notice, this motherfucker ain’t done shit to move out. No apartment guides, no flyers, not even a fucking Sunday paper, so at least he can fake like he’s looking. So you tell him, he has until – I dunno, let’s say the 15th – so he has till the 15th, and it’s the 3rd.

So the 15th rolls around and he’s still there. He asks if he can move during the weekend. So you think, “the 15th, the 17th; what’s the difference? Sure.” Now we all know where this story is going, on the 17th he still ain’t got no where to go. He tells you, “I’ll have to live in my car.” Question, do you:

(a) Say okay, and give him an extension;
(b) Bitch at him relentlessly, but let him stay;
(c) Tell him, “That’s your problem, leave my key on the table.”

I’m sure you can guess what my answer is. That’s right. He gotta go. Why? Because, I know my limit. The problem many people have is that they don’t respect their limit, and find that as a result others don’t respect their limits by extension.

Many of us live our lives with very fluid limits. The problem becomes, that when others can’t tell what your limits are, often they will attempt to push you to them. Set your limits; be it in business, life or relationships. If you stand strong by them, wherever they may be, people will respect you for you. That, my friends (and foes – I peep y’all watching) will showcase your character.

Now then, I want to address something that is becoming appallingly obvious. I pissed some folks off. It is nothing new to me, and as a man of character, I stand by my points. However, if I hurt your feelings, if you have found me to be a ‘bad’ person, I ask you, “why?” Who am I, in the ultimate scheme of things, that your feelings should be ‘hurt’ by anything I have ever written? I owe you nothing, and you owe me nothing. If you have heard my words before (quite possible, as I am not the originator of most of my ideas—I just add some ‘four letter words’ for flavor), then perhaps you have unresolved issues with someone else whose words I’ve parroted. Not my fault. They know you, I don’t. This thing, this ‘blog’ thing, has the ability to allow the exchange of ideas, thoughts and opinions over great distances. You can even enjoy the conversation of people with whom you don’t always agree (preferable company to my mind – the other way is boring after too long), but to ‘beef’?

I am going to say this now, I am not above a ‘blog’ beef. But, think about what you do, and moreover why you are doing it. It is more important to me to spread the message of my thoughts and opinions, not get bogged down in childish things, particularly when we both have other things to do. So I offer no apologies, no ‘I can change’, but this promise – you’ll always get what I think on an issue, and what I have learned from life along the way. It’ll always be honest, and always be straight. That’s the deal. I hope you enjoy the journey, but I am far too self centered to care either way. Take it or leave it. I am not addressing this again.