I would like to share how committing to a exercise program can help you deal with the stresses in your life.  We are often told that we can not do much about our surroundings.  This is true.  I have to say that stress ends up in high blood pressure.  This is something I wish to never have.  Eating right can eliminate the threat of not only high blood pressure but other things such as ulcers, migraines, etc.  This are all strong indications you may stressed out.  People accuse me of being stressed out, but thankly I suffer from none of these ailments.  Why? You ask.  It simply isn't smart to remain stressed when there are a million ways to feel better.  Exercise puts you on a platform much higher than natural stressors.  You begin to see how unimportant  stressors in people and things and places tend to be.

Antwan
 

My top five movies would have to include:

5.  Death Proof by Quentin Tarantino
4.  Forest Gump by Robert Zemeckis
3.  School Days by Spike Lee
2.  The Color Purple by Steven Spielberg
1.  The Last Dragon by Barry Gordy and Michael Schultz

I chose Death Proof at number five because I do like action movies.  It's hard to pick an action movie as I like the Die Hard movies and the Bond films but there are so many of them it's hard to pick one as a favorite so there in category of their own.  So, when I think about action movies I basically think of Quentin Tarantino.  Death Proof is a movie I can watch over and over again and still get chills so at number 5 is where it sits.

I had to include a couple of what I call classics and Forest Gump is on the list.  With Tom Hanks and Sally Field the movie has an A-list cast and many one liners such as "life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you gonna get."  My personal favorite happens in the scene montage that shows Forest when he first learns he can run and this old guy goes, "that sho is a runnin' boy!"

School Days is at number three, because I admire Spike Lee's cinematography.  School Days is a hilarious film about the students at a fictitious black college in the south.  Spike has awesome music selected for the score and the actors include Lawrence Fishburne who also played in the Matrix was the second option for my number 3. 

The Color Purple is another classic and it too has an amazing cast.  Actors, such as Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, and Oprah Winfrey provide an awesome rendition of the classic Alice Walker novel.

And at number one is my all-time favorite Barry Gordy's The Last Dragon with Taimak and Vanity.  The music is awesome the fight scenes are awesome and I have seen this movie a million times and it is still fascinating.  It is a must see and a must own. 

I recently discovered how to disconnect myself from unnecessary drama.  This helps out a whole lot since drama seems to follow me.  I thought my finding was worth some sharing.  When faced with drama I have found the best thing to do is forgive.  Normally, I feel like I would have to contest the situation.  Forgiving the other party is similar to ignoring the other part and essentially a showing of compassion.  When you forgive someone you are saying that you understand that they are in a place of damage and want to put you there and you have to be strong to not give them what they want. 

I am from the metro east side of St. Louis
I am from peanut butter and jelly
I am from the studio comfort
I am from the lily of the valley
The oak tree up the road whose long gone limbs I remember as if they were my own.

I am from eating and athletic
from Charmaine and Pierre
I'm from diligent and focused and from spiritual.

I'm from evil and good and you know!
I'm from dancing
I'm from by the river and tall
macaroni and cheese and cornbread
From moving to Detroit to open a barber shop
and running like a horse
with faded pictures
in a large sack
kept tightly away

Antwan Anderson                    1.24.2012