Pursuing Potential has an identity crisis.

Worse than the mid-life crisis, or the quarter-life crisis, is the identity crisis; the crisis you have when you don’t know who you are, or what you believe in. You basically feel lost.

Well, this blog is having a case of that.

When I tell people I blog, I describe Pursuing Potential as a blog that focuses on tips for thinking positive in everyday situations, especially if you live in New York City. It takes a will of steel to remain positive when somone steps on the back of your flip-flop, causing you to fly foward into the steel turnstile bar in the train station. *Coughs*

But on my web site (www.amberjadams.com) I advertise the blog as a place where minority students can come for tips about pursuing higher education.

So what’s the deal, yo?

To me, Pursuing Potential is both.  I like to write about thinking positive because that is a huge part of my life. But as a huge supporter of diversity education, and cultural awareness,  I have to write about that as well. I am pursuing a career in education because I want to be able to help people pursue their potential.

So, who knows what I might write about from day-to-day?  Don’t try to put the blog in a box. Just roll with it.

Just Smile

As you all know from my prior post on Michael Jackson, I am a fan. So of course I had to watch his memorial service on Tuesday. In between tears, I reflected on Michael’s life.  For me, this memorial/funeral service was for a man named Michael Joseph Jackson. It just so happens that this man, was one of the greatest entertainers to ever life. But at the end of the day, he was a man, a human being, who defined his chief aim for success, then went for it.

Jermaine Jackson sang a song called “Smile” which was reportedly one of Michael’s favorite songs. I think he did a great job, and it served to remind me of the power of a nice smile.  On my quest to think positively each day, I know that a smile is one of the best tools you can have.

My bottom teeth are crooked, and I could stand a little whitening action, but I still consider my smile to be one of my best features. And I use it to my advantage. When I smile, my mood lifts, and I use it to lift the moods of others.

So today, smile at someone you don’t know. A real smile, not one of those fake, closed-lip smiles. Let the teeth show! You will feel better and although some people might wonder why you are smiling at them, it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, the smile is all they will remember.

Smile!

Life is like the white stuff in an Oreo: yummy.

I have been thinking about death a lot lately.

That is a depressing way to start off a post on a blog called Pursuing Potential, but hear me out.  Death is a common denominator. It is the opposite of birth and dying is the one thing we know we are all destined to do. My dealings with death have been few, but trauma worthy. The first funeral I went to was my mom’s. She was killed in a car accident when I was 14.  One minute she was there, and the next she wasn’t. That still blows my mind.

My next major dealing with death was last summer when my cousin, age 22, died of heart failure. He had been sick for a while, but nothing prepares you for the moment when a person slips from this world to the next.   He had Down’s Syndrome,  so he did not communicate like an average person, but he was still such a part of our lives. Sadly, you never really realize what place someone has your life until they are gone.

As I was walking out of the subway today, I thought about how all of the people on this earth will someday be a memory. But there is an upside to all of this, and me being me, I compare it to food.

Life is like the white stuff in the middle of the chocolate Oreo cookies. Who really knows what that staff is made of. All we know, is that it is darn tasty. Life is what we get in between birth and death. And there is a lot we can do with it.  We choose how to view our life. And we choose how to live our life. We were blessed with ability to make decisions about how we think and what we do.

I could spend time dwelling on the mystery and fear that surrounds death. But instead, I will choose to celebrate life. I had 22 wonderful years with my cousin, and nearly 15 years with my mom. So I will continue to look forward and enjoy the moment. I’ll live it up, and as my mom used to say, “do it with pizazz.”

6/25 The day the music died

I had this idea about writing a long over-due post about what direction I want this blog to go in. But what can I say? The news of Michael Jackson’s death hit me like a ton of rocks.

My earliest memory of MJ includes watching “The Jacksons: An American Dream” the very first time it was shown around 1992, when I was in the second grade. The scene where his hair catches fire during the Pepsi commercial scarred me. I was afraid to see Michael Jackson on TV for about 3 years.  When he was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in 1993, I spent the majority of the evening hiding under the pink blanket on my bed. I was afraid to see him; I thought he would shoot up in flames at any moment.

In recent years, “Wannabe Startin’ Something” became a staple in my workout routine. I own almost all of his records, including Bad and Thriller on vinyl.

The scene at Apollo Theater

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I cried when I read the news yesterday. It was like a part of my childhood just died.  I raced to Times Square to watch the news on the giant TV. It was eerily quiet on 42nd street as everyone stood in silence and shock. I ran back into the subway to take a train up to Harlem.

I spent the rest of the evening singing loudly to “Pretty Young Thing” “Billie Jean” and of course, “I want you back” with other fans who had come out to make sense of the situation. I like to think our live memorial is what he would have wanted. No tears. Just groove to the music.

One of the best is gone. I know he will live on through his music, but nothing can ever compare to Michael Jackson live. The man who literally defied gravity, is now above gravity and pain. May you be at peace forever MJ. There is only one thing all of us down on earth can say:

Thank you.

Welcome!

Welcome to Pursuing Potential!

I prefer to think of this more as an innovative space, than as a “blog” After all, everyone can blog, but it takes a community to create and run an innovative space.

This innovative space is for discussing everything related to pursuing higher education, and how to keep pursuing your potential once you are in the doors specifically for minority and immigrant first-generation college students.  Have any topics you would like to see discussed? Any questions? Do you want to guest blog?  Contact me at: pursuit@amberjadams.com

Live Well & Excell!