So I am one of those guys who uses Pinterest. Yup, I am. A good friend of mine, who is credited at the bottom of the image below, posted this to one of his boards and added a slightly harsh sentiment to go along with it. Mine is shorter. But I'm not sure it's sweeter:

"If you box me in...sooner or later...I will break your box."

---

Thanks for reading! To learn more about me, you can read my story.

There are definitely situations where we blow or miss opportunities. We have the option to be nice to a stranger or someone we know, yet we choose to act otherwise; we don't study for exams that we know count for major percentages of our grades; that hotness on two legs was waiting, obviously waiting for you to come over and talk to her. But you waited or took too long to move until someone else did.

But the following question begs asking regarding "lost" opportunities:

It's not often that I get into matters of religion in this space. I save that for conversations with my mother, my family, select friends and a pastor who personally counsels me from time to time. But I will today.

I grew up saying my blessing/grace before every meal. My father led the prayer and if he wasn't around then my mother did. I have been saying the same 3-sentence grace since learning it and I have in turn taught it to my family. My wife says it, my son says it and my daughter follows along mouthing it with the intention of being able to say it on her own very soon.

Then she (babygirl) decided to throw us a curveball.

"Daddy, Daddy! I have a blessing I want to say," she announced before dinner not too long ago.

"Sure go ahead." We all waited for her to stop giggling and she said:

"Dear God, we love you. Thank you for this food. Amen."

My wife loved it and clapped for our daughter. My son loved it as well as it shortened the usual grace by about 45 seconds and allowed him to bury his face in his plate that much quicker. I thought it was cute, but like a Pharisee was skeptical of the "meat and potatoes" of the blessing. Regardless, we've been alternating between hers and "ours" ever since.

Just yesterday it hit me like a bag of bricks: My daughter begins her grace by saying "We love you." I've never said that --- not even once before giving thanks and asking that my meal, anything from a hamburger to a salmon fillet, give me wisdom, health and strength. My little one is giving praise and then thanks. Her little "2-sentence" blessing is more potent than the most long and drawn out "sermons" at the table. It has more meat and potatoes than any I've ever heard to date.

Out of the mouths of babes. She is so ahead of the curve.

Photo Source

E.Payne is the author of Investing In An Emotional Letdown and I Didn't Invented Sex. For the past 3 years he has posted 600+ articles about fatherhood, marriage and everything in between here at Makes Me Wanna Holler.com. To learn more, click here.

I've been keeping secrets...

I've been going through a lot lately. Painful, heart-wrenching, gut-busting stuff. What's even more painful is the growing realization that I have played a major role in all of the above mentioned misery. Hopefully in time I will have the courage (or plain insanity), or best stated: permission, to share.

If you've haven't noticed, there are overarching themes that have developed on this blog. For a while I was making light of a lot of my early missteps as a father and husband. Then I just started speaking specifically to my experiences as a father. I then began to mix a little bit of weight loss and inspiration in. As I've moved closer toward my personal weight loss goal I've now migrated into discussing being your best --- the best employees, the best parents, the best person you can be --- in order to effect change in your life and the lives of everyone (intimate or stranger) around you.


The Wind At Your Back

In order to do this however you have to have a grasp on who you are. So that you can know where you begin and end. So you can know what to fix and what to leave alone. So you can know who to be and how to be in the midst of a constantly changing life. So although there may be plenty of surprises that crop up in front of and around you, you won't be caught off guard by any surprises coming forth from you. As has happened to me. Trust me, you don't want to be surprised from within.

In order to swim through this life effectively, with the wind at your back and joy in your heart, you have to have a solid grasp on who you are. You must.

At the end of last week, I answered the question of "Who are you?" on a post on my big brother site, Black And Married With Kids, the following way:

My name is Eric Payne. Most people in the blog world know me as E.Payne. I'm a Man, A Dad and A Husband. I am a son to two loving and God fearing parents. A nephew to countless aunts and uncles and a cousin to even more people. I am a Child of God. I am made in His Image and as such I am eternally optimistic, frustratingly faithful (to some) and have no problem relinquishing authority to the Most High when I've run out of answers and strength. I am in the process of rebuilding my life as it has gone off course in the past few years. I have a purpose here that goes beyond just being a committed and hard working father. My walk has gone far left of center or straight but the whole while God has been with me, not letting me go too far, not allowing me and my flesh to mess things up too much. Who am I? I am God's Handiwork with some good old fashioned sloppy humanity mixed in. I am a work in progress and I am blessed.

This is who I am right now. Please think about it for a while and answer below if you feel comfortable...Who are you?


Want to enrich your Makes Me Wanna Holler experience with discussions, current events and interacting with people just like you? Then please "Like" the Makes Me Wanna Holler Facebook Page and join the movement. You won't be disappointed.