So I have been working on some things and 1 of them is a passion project in support of a great organization. I'd been rattling my brain thinking of ideas on how to support and finally things started to come together.The organization is called the Power Project, a youth organization supported by Hawthorne Police officers who work with young teenage girls from LA. They teach these girls how to play hockey for 1, but more importantly they provide a safe place for mentorship, support and experiences for these young woman. While working with the Power Project team , they asked if we could help them come up with a new team motto.
We came up with Own Your Power…
I mean it made sense to me, I can relate to a lot of inner city kids who grow up with a lot less than most. For a lot of us the struggle and environment makes it difficult to control or own our power. As I think back into my own life, I remember wanting to grow up early because most of my youth I was powerless. Most of my youth felt like life had it out for me, and that feeling, that feeling fucking sucked. Now my struggles may have been hard, but I know for a fact that there are plenty of others who’s struggles are much harder. Kids who don’t have basics, imagine not having more than 1 or 2 pair of socks, or having to share clothes, eating once a day maybe? I was one of those kids who had to eat at school because if I didn’t I might not have eaten at home. Fucking Powerless, but as I got older, I mean like early teens, my situation allowed for me to control a lot more of my power earlier than most. But it was dangerous, a lot of the choices I made at the time could have led me down a dangerous path, but fortunately I had great friends with great families that supported me and helped me get by.
At some point in my life I made a decision to manage my power better, I had kids early that probably helped, I loved my mother so much I couldn’t let her see me fail. Luckily for me I had great people, family members, teachers, coaches, and my best friends fathers as examples of something I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to be a Sam Sisk when I grew up, my best friend Steve's father. He was like a bad ass kinda biker/gangster white guy who was known for kicking peoples asses when he was younger, but he grew up to be a Site Manager at Lockheed building some of the baddest war planes ever built. I mean Sam couldn’t even talk about the shit he worked on, I used to be like damn how did he get into that shit? Sam was not just a bad ass, Sam was just one of those people who was just good at shit, construction, electrical, cars and trucks, the whole Sisk family is a bunch of bad asses who are the best at whatever they decide to do. Sam worked hard, used his power to get ahead, he wasn’t rich, but he wasn’t broke either, Sam took great care of his family. I wanted to be like that, I don’t need to be flossy, I just wanted to be a bad ass dude who grows up to be a bad ass boss, doin dope shit.
Fast forward to now and I’m a grown man who’s lived beyond any youthful dream of accomplishment. I just wanted a normal life and I have that, I made that fuckin happen. It took a lot of hard work, struggle, pain, failure, and countless times of picking myself up off the floor Cuzz life loves to knock you down. But what is it in us that gets us back up? What drives us, drove me to get back up, over and over again? It is our power, our ability to take control of our own life, to endure throughout the struggle, to decide to get the fuck back up and try again as many times necessary. That power when practiced and exercised makes you better at everything you do and helps you deal with every swerve ball that life throws at us. I believe that at some point in my life I made a decision to manage my power better, my mission was to be another Sam Sisk, but like Sam I knew I had to focus on my power, I had to protect it, and I had to believe in it. At this time I'd like to thank my boys Steve and Terry, for sharing your families with Shane and I. We all lost Sam a couple years ago, I am forever grateful for every thing Sam had done for me. Oh and yah Terry's dad was a bad ass too don’t get it twisted, the Lee's have another blog story ill share at some time. But for now Rest Easy Sam, thank you for being a part of my life, thank you for helping me control my power.
Everyone has power, but sometimes life, situations, environments, and people try to take your power away. There are a lot of people who get a head start managing this power early, these people come from good families, blessed situations where the hard knocks of life are protected by family and their environment. But power is power and even though they may have come from a blessed situation, it can be argued that they are sheltered, and their power may not be as mature, or exercised enough to be able to manage life on their own as they get older. It all takes balance managed by the individual depending on their situation. I don’t believe that life gets easier, life is fucking hard, we just get better. As we begin to control our power we get our shit together and take care of our environment, which helps us manage our situations, and makes life easier. In my situation I was surrounded by enough great people, I wanted a better life for myself and my family, so I worked hard to manage environment and situation in order to protect my power. So what’s left, what’s left to take our power?
PEOPLE…
People fuckin SUCK! They can be your friends, your family, it’s not just strangers, it’s everyone. Well not everyone lol, not you right? It doesn’t matter where your at in your life, your situation, or environment, people are a significant reason why we lose our power. Sometimes we can’t control what people do to us, but when we can, it’s important that we do. Sometimes the people we surround ourselves with can have a negative effect on how we manage our power. If you kick it with the wrong people, you typically will end up in the wrong situation. Sometimes we cant control the people around us, like at the job, where people may be biased towards you, and try to hold you back in one way or another. It can be tough, but this is where hard work and determination can push you beyond these types of people. It sucks, but its part of life, we have to deal with people, out work people, and stay away from the wrong people who can negatively impact our power.
Own your power, life is hard enough, and we have to actively protect our power. Please don’t mistake this with being an asshole, please don’t be a dick. But don’t be a punk either, stick up for what you believe in. Be proud of who you are and where you'r from. Be appreciative of your journey, your culture, your preference, your history, your ancestry, and especially your struggle. Don’t let people take any of that shit away from you or belittle you from who you are. Times have changed and society is changing. Society today is not controlled by a majority group calling the shots about who were supposed to be, what professional looks like, what kind of hair you'r supposed to have, or the color of your skin determining your status.
Owning our power is difficult but more necessary now than ever. We are seeing for the first time signs of real freedom to be who we are. You can be a gay black lawyer, or you can be an Asian female police sergeant, a white rapper, a transvestite woman politician and all this shit is crazy fuckin cool! But all of these people have to own their power, and deal with the people who try to diminish their power or hold them back. We all have these people in our lives we may or may not know it.
Poor or Rich, black or white, gay or straight, hood or country, we all harness a power. That power needs to be exercised liked a muscle and exercised to failure in order to grow. Sometimes we need to flex that muscle but again don’t be a dick, grind through the struggle, and believe in your power. And for those of us who have no control over your power, time has a way of changing things, and when you have the opportunity take charge. Take your power and never give it up, own it forever and control your destiny!
THRIVE!
If you would like to support the Power Project, please donate here, we are working on helping these young ladies with essentials to support them Owning their Power!