My Next 24

CL Black Jr.

Contents

Preface

Introduction: What If I Die Today?

Chapter 1: Did I Laugh This Day?

Chapter 2: What Did I Do for Myself Today?

Chapter 3: What Did I Do for Others This Day?

Chapter 4: Feeling Accomplished

Chapter 5: Mental Well-Being

Chapter 6: Physical Well-Being

Chapter 7: Spiritual Well-Being

Chapter 8: Time with Loved Ones

Chapter 9: Keep Grinding in the 24 Cycle

Chapter 10: Live My dream This Day

Chapter 11: Travel in the Mind (Bonus Chapter)

Preface

This book revolves around the premise of gaining more perspective on the twenty-four-hour period in which we live our current lives. My goal is to relate everyday experiences that will help establish a common ground for all to build upon. I truly believe the past is just the past, the future has not yet arrived, and the present is the only thing in our control. Actually, the present has a direct impact on how we perceive the past and the future. So why not live in your next twenty-four?

Introduction

What if I Die Today?

This is the start of my second book to date. After The Fundamental Rules 4 Kindergarten 101, I felt compelled to carry this positive mental attitude over to what I call the twenty-four-hour cycle. It is going to be there right in your face, no matter what presuming we wake up. In which case, if we don't, it will not matter anyway because you will be dead! Not cool to really think about, I know, just a reality check and all the more reason to pay attention to the point I'm trying to make.

Jumping right in, let's say you did die, what would matter to you if you were to speak? If you were to give a eulogy for yourself, what would that sound like? I took an elective in college called death and dying, and one of the assignments was to do your own eulogy. Talk about creepy; however, it was very interesting and informative. It really made me think about everything from a different perspective. I was younger, so of course, what I thought about was a bit more superficial than now with some years of wisdom behind me.

To be fair, I think the parameters should entail my actual accomplishments and what could have been achieved. Kind of like the distance between potential and kinetic energy. This is an interesting concept when discussing the duration of your life. Obviously, we would want to mention a lot of things, but they must be summarized due to time constraints. That is why I believe just as you should make the fewest words go the furthest, the next twenty-four hours and how we perceive them is paramount!

Chapter 1

Did I Laugh This Day?

Laughing is something that when it happens makes us feel good. So why would we not want to do more of that? It's not like we are taking drugs to feel this effect. These are naturally produced endorphins free and at our disposal. Life can most certainly get the best of us some days, and a laugh here and there can reciprocate. Yeah, how about we do a little bit of the ole lex talionis and fight fire with fire!

It all starts with attitude and how we perceive any given situation. There are many opportunities to take advantage of this great ability that has been given to us. We just have to recognize and create these moments and realize how important it is to our complete day.

It truly is amazing how something so basic can have such an impact on the way we carry out our mission in this world. It is a serious place we live in, and life itself is probably the most difficult combat sport of all. Let us be prepared to deal with it on our own terms as much as possible and kick it right in the ass!

It was a morning that I awoke early thinking of everything! And when I say everything, I mean literally all things out of my control. Usually, all kinds of thoughts of the past and the future, ranging from what I could have done better to what I may never encounter. I know it sounds crazy, right? But I'm not crazy because I know that you can relate, and that would make you crazy, and we can't have that now, can we? Maybe we are all crazy! Anyway, I'm lying there with this feeling of my world coming down on me, and I somehow have to snap out of it. By just getting out of bed is a start and allowing myself to begin my morning routine. As I allow this to happen, I find myself gaining some ground on the tension I have been exposed to with my thoughts. It is more of a negative feeling that can take me into a downward spiral and have an impact on the entire day.

Meanwhile, what is about to happen takes me on a different journey. I'm on my way to work, and I see this guy on a mountain bike riding alongside the road. And not just any road, it was a very busy stretch with a speed limit of forty-five miles per hour, which means fifty-five miles per hour to most people driving these days. I'm thinking to myself as I pass, Why would someone put their life in jeopardy like this?

As I pass, I notice he is an older man, and there is a storage rack on the back of his bike. This prompted me to go further into my procession of what I like to call merely an observation, not a judgment. So I'm trying to come up with reasons why this guy would be doing something so ridiculous.

And on the back of his bike, there was a rack that harnessed a thirty pack of natural ice beer and two cartons of his type of oxygen. Immediately, I thought, Yeah, this guy recently acquired a DUI, and this is his primary source of transportation now. The time is around 8:15 a.m., and the morning rush is in full effect.

Yes, this is a person willing to risk their life for chemical satisfaction at a cellular level and has this big ass smile on their face as I pass. And what was running through my mind at this point is, What the hell am I watching right now? As I look in my rearview mirror, I'm not really sure if I should feel sorry for this person or be jealous of their laissez-faire brush on the canvas of life.

But one thing is for certain here, I got an internal laugh that would blot out my morning of negative vibes. And this most definitely would have an impact on how I put things in perspective for the rest of my day. Two important things happened here that I will mention.

The first being that after I chuckled, I felt happy inside that I wasn't this person regardless of his lack of irresponsibility and neglect. It was quite apparent to me that even though he appeared happy, there were many issues that needed to be addressed.

The second was a complete validation of how my attitude changed when I realized that I was in the present state of mind and not conducting thoughts from the past or future. This was comforting and allowed me to think about just how good my life really is right now! This train of thought may seem very primitive to you, but this is everything.

It is right in front of your face most of the time, and we fail to recognize it. Much like an opportunity standing, silently waiting for you to recognize it. Most think that it knocks on everybody's door. This is just not the case. We are actually taking a situation and using it to our benefit, kind of tricking yourself into a different type of mindset.

This is a way to impose the death penalty on these ghosts of thoughts that only we have the power to bring to life. I know that sounds a little deeper, but just as every action has an equal and opposite such is the case with our feelings. I don't know about …