#tenyearplan

Do you have a ten year plan? I didn’t. But one morning I was driving to work and got to thinking about what I wanted to achieve in life. 

Everyone wants money, a house, a nice car and the usual materialistic things, but what does you soul need? What do you crave? 

I crave the respect of those around me. To be in a position where people look up to you (not physically - I’m 6ft 7, they already do that) - to be the beacon that people look to in times of need. I want a job that commands respect, but allows me to lead, not control. 

I crave the love that my parents have shared over the last 30 years. I want to be loved for longer than a few months. I want to go to bed every night thinking of the person that’ll I’ll wake up to. He will share my life and I will share his. 

I crave fatherhood. My spirit wants to father a child, to have someone depend unconditionally upon it. I want to love someone without fear of being unloved. I want to care, nurture and support a child to grow into someone to be proud of, in every way. 

Sunday 21st September - 2014

I was suddenly thinking about Japan the other day at work. About my visit to the place back in 2008 with my Brother. How amazing & satisfying it was to be there & how magical the place was to me. & as I was thinking about those things I was suddenly struck with this overwhelming wave of emotion for the place & how much I wanted to go back. A mixed emotion of Melancholy & Euphoria was suddenly overwhelming me.

sometimes when I'm dreaming, emotions can overwhelm me like that, but never whilst I'm fully awake & working. 

My thoughts soon changed to how much I've wanted to learn the Language of Japan & all I wanted to do then & there whilst setting a vat of milk was to rush home & hit the books once again & commit myself to studying. This soon turned into reflection of all the failed & half-hearted attempts I'd made to do just that.

I knew something had to change or I'd never speak the language that I loved. If I wanted to change my habit of continually letting myself down in that regard I had to do something to elevate my efforts in learning the language. I needed an environment, or some kind of system that could keep me going & keep me in place. That of cause, reflecting from past efforts, is easier said then done.

So with the wave of emotions still in tail, I got to thinking about keeping a log or some kind of journal of my efforts to keep me on track. A few days prior I'd purchased an analysis book to keep track of my finances & to help me cut down on my spending. But the thought of writing down a log sheet or some kind of self-regulatory diary of my efforts was kinda depressing & seemed like a lame Idea.

However I got thinking about sites like Tumblr & Blogger, about taking my efforts online & keeping a blog about it, or an online journal chronologizing my efforts. In my mind, It would give me a reason to keep up my efforts, Instead of abandoning a dusty old book, where I'm telling myself to keep on studding & how little progress I'd made. Abandoning my studies altogether soon there after. So I decided to create my own personal blog.

Ideally I would be my only audience, creating an outlet for my thoughts & opinions, educating myself on my own personal struggles, ideas & progress. Something I could go back to later on If I even doubted myself & needed encouraging, something to reflect on later down the road. Progress.  

Again, ideally I'd be my only audience. But the Idea of being online, open to the world seemed to carry some kind of actual weight to it, even if that weight was rather artificial. An audience to keep me in check, even if the Audience is imaginary. I would never know for sure if people were watching me, listing to my thoughts, the journey to master another language.

Creating a journal of it all, how it all ends & how it all began. Everyone yet none but myself as my audience. My Ten year plan. Take it or leave it. 

Let's give it all I can give & come back to this post in ten years with my efforts not wasted. let's return to this very first post one day as the start of my most worthwhile achievement, my finest moment, my Magnum opus. 

Homeless activist Al Williams has been living in the streets of Fresno, Ca for many years. He's experienced homeless shelters, abuse from the police, robbery, and hunger. Al Williams, however, feels like the city doesn't care about the homeless. In a way, they do not do enough to help the homeless. He is convinced that former mayor did not like the homeless.

The day Al Williams came to speak in my class, i thought it was just another regular man. He didn't appear homeless to me. He addressed the importance of helping each other and surviving on your own. The City took away his personal stuff, wedding pictures, clothes, etc. Al Williams and other homeless activist were tired of the city destroying their private property. A team of homeless activists and attorneys fought against the City of Fresno and won a settlement of approximately $2 Million. 

I feel like the city SHOULD be doing something to clean up the streets of Fresno, CA because the city is paying more to keep them out of houses then if we would if we did house them. The homeless filing reports of abuse from the FPD is absolutely wrong. The police should be protecting the residents of Fresno and helping them not abusing them. Homeless people are human beings just like everyone else and live in the City of Fresno just like everyone else. 

Al Williams motivated me to want to give back and help the community clean the streets. To donate food and clothes to the Poverello House to feed and clothe people who need it. 

The City is currently in a program to get rid of chronic homelessness in Fresno, CA. They have a Ten Year Plan is planned to permanently house over 950 homeless people by 2018. The plan that started in 2008 has been progressing towards that goal. Every 2 years, statistics show that the rate of chronic homelessness have decreased.