It’s very cold today. My body is engulfed by high-speed winds. The wind is circling around my ears and gnawing at my fingertips. The weather is not favorable. There are many days in our life where conditions are not favorable. It has become a long and exhausting day.
Taking this trip was hard but it is TIME. Yes, another ICON’s ship has sailed into the night. Her glow from life’s candle shifted as the wind-swept around the flame. The flicker of the light struggled but another strong wind caught her breath.
This moment of darkness and silence has claimed yet another ICON. DESTINATION has caught up with her. She has now boarded a cruise liner to ease her from this life of hurt, pain, and sorrow. In our hearts, we pray her spirit will be guided by an eternal beacon.
Let her soul be at rest for a pleasurable journey.
In life, some of us will run a MARATHON. The MARATHON is so rigorous with so many obstacles and hurdles to jump over. There are those who will SPRINT through life. If you’re a SPRINTER it is TIME to reflect. Don’t be in such a hurry to run a short race through THE DISTANCE.
You will meet with an early DESTINATION. When you hear someone make the comment “GONE TO SOON,” you’re beginning to understand life’s race can be shortened. Why are we in a hurry? We feel everything needs to be taken care of immediately.
How many laps can we run once the START button is pushed? Will we need to reset the start button because we have jumped the gun? Some of us will not get the opportunity to reset the start button in our lives. Will your life be a SPRINT? Can you endure the MARATHON?
A chain of events will take place on our life journey. There are TIMES when we will peek over into someone else’s life. We assume they have everything to live for. We are plagued by SHADOWING the lives of others. Our hearts are overcome with resentment, bitterness, and jealousy.
Finally, we graduated from HATRED ACADEMY. All the happiness, wealth, and power we assume an ICON lived, lies right there before our own two feet. What did we do? We stepped right over the most priceless commodity, TIME. We continued our HATRED CAMPAIGN.
This type of campaign diminishes one’s health and one’s life. The SHADOWING which is done to the lives of others has set us on a course for destruction. We yearn and grasp for what we think have made ICONS and other people successful. It blinded us and we lost track of who we could become.
We lost ourselves and we lost RESPECT for TIME. Reality is beginning to sink in. As the media reflects back on the IMAGE of the LIFE of an ICON, we realize we could never make the sacrifices in life to maintain the ICON lifestyle.
Bottom line: Never want what others have because you may not be willing to take the beat up for it.
Her music is beginning to rotate through my brain. As I walk through the stone garden, I hear her strong vocals bellow out “I Have Nothing.” The wind has picked up, my legs are beginning to weaken. The sorrow and sadness are starting to creep up on me.
I heard another rendition of the songbird voice. The tune was “I Look To You.” Many people say they never saw it coming. Did we PAY ATTENTION? She delivered a strong message in her MUSIC and in her BEHAVIOR. She went back to her gospel roots preparing for the journey home.
She was there to sing her last song with Kelly Price, “Jesus Loves Me.” She stopped in on CLIVE DAVIS, her long TIME mentor. She visited with Ray J, Brandi, and Monica. Bobbi Kristina got a chance to briefly visit with her Godfather. Brandi will never forget this birthday.
Sitting here on this stone, right at my eye level, is the DASH. From the day we are born to the day we die and have met our ESTIMATED TIME of ARRIVAL(ETA), there is THE DASH BEFORE THE DISTANCE.
The DASH is all the life one is living and what goes on in between one’s life BEFORE they run THE DISTANCE. As the leaves crackle beneath my feet, I notice on the carving of the stones there are a lot of SPRINTERS here today. I came across this magnificent marble stone.
The birth date is here, and the DASH is here, but no DESTINATION date. I wonder if the person was a SPRINTER or A MARATHON RUNNER? Was this someone who had not been found and declared dead? Maybe the person was found and no one knew the DATE of his DESTINATION.
People in our lives demand so much from us. We cannot possibly meet all their requests. When it is TIME for us to meet the demands of our lives, so much Time has been devoured. The DASH BEFORE THE DISTANCE is much shorter.
Every day from this moment on our ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL(ETA) draws near. We are so much closer to our DESTINATION. ALPHA is the beginning and OMEGA is the end. The DASH BEFORE THE DISTANCE is the life we are now living. RESPECT TIME!
A door has not closed. The door is wide open. It will give others the opportunity to reflect on their lives and make changes and seek INTERVENTION.
In Loving Memory of Whitney Houston and the Celebration of her Life.
To the Houston/Brown Family, Clive Davis her long TIME mentor/dearest friend, and the many relatives/friends who mourn the loss of their loved one.
Visit the April archives. Read Rest Peaceful My Nubian Queen.
Visit the May archives. Read Reflection of Magical Moments on Twitter, I Have Learn, Etiology Of Quality, and Giving Recognition to the Unrecognized__Saving lives.
Visit the November archives and read Smokelbg Life Class__Dedicated To Oprah.
May you find peace in my words.
sometimes a person will to live can be a dash before the distance. a person can have a strong will and that dash towards the distance can be long or they just want to give up on life to make it short. a person will is the essence to making life a marathon or a sprint.
Very inspirational. I really don’t want to be a sprinter but take step by step..she was a great Icon and hope her death will make us reflect back on our lives.
Sal said it best, we need to reflect back on our own lives. Such a lesson for us as life is very short
and we take so much for granted. Linda you have such insight and you did Whitney proud.She is a
great icon and will be sadly missed. Thank You!!
Aweeee many statements in this post are true. Whitney as we all, battle things. Her death was shocking to say the least. May God guide and keep us all as we know not what we do. I learned in life we just do, never think long term, and wonder where we can pick up our pieces that we scattered along the way. As you said, “respect time” as it should be honored but time is limited for everyone. I enjoyed reading this! Godbless you a million time over! <3
When I first saw this title The Dash Before The Distance NLD Recognition on google I just whent and bookmark it. Thanks for the tips shared on your own blog. Something also important I would like to talk about is that weight loss is not information on going on a dietary fad and trying to get rid of as much weight as you’re able in a few months. The most effective way to lose weight is by taking it bit by bit and obeying some basic guidelines which can assist you to make the most out of your attempt to shed weight. You may know and already be following some tips, but reinforcing know-how never affects.
See you doctor first before you decide to do any weight loss program. Please have your thyroid checked. I have a new story out. Read Breaker Breaker One__Who The Hell Needs A Gun. Visit http://nldrecognition.wordpress.com. Join me on FACEBOOK @Linda M. Ballard also on Twitter @SMOKELBG. Click on any title and leave a comment.
Aw, this was a really good post. Taking a few minutes and actual effort
to produce a top notch article… but what can I say… I hesitate
a whole lot and don’t seem to get nearly anything done.
See if you like the next post. Bring all your friends for a new spin on education. Read Proceed To Where, And Safeguard WHo__Why? NLD MOM/cancer survivor
I love it whenever people come together and share opinions.
Great blog, continue the good work!
Keep reading and tell all your friends there is a new spin. On April 8, 2013, I wrote the story HOLD UP KEE-MO-SAH-BEE. Take the challenge and read one of my favorite stories. Click on the links provided and look at all the information you will gain. Click on any title of a story and leave a comment. Also read Proceed To Where, And Safeguard Who__WHY? NLD MOM/cancer survivor
This design is incredible! You most certainly
know how to keep a reader entertained. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!)
Excellent job. I really loved what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it.
Too cool!
Design is by WORDPRESS. The videos are not mind but WORDPRESS put them on to help pay for posting fees. I can have the blog updated to remove the videos. The words are really mine. Go for it. Start your blog it is not hard.
I am extremely impressed together with your writing abilities and also with the layout
for your weblog. Is this a paid topic or did you customize it yourself?
Anyway keep up the nice high quality writing, it’s rare to look a great weblog like this one today..
Not a paid topic. I write because it is in my heart to do so. I write because my son is unable to write and it has inspired me to help put his thoughts on paper. I write to write. NLD Mom/cancer survivor