Have you ever walked into a room and forgotten why? Have you ever sat down at the computer to do something productive but wound up losing a huge chunk of time on Facebook? What about when you go the store for one specific item but end up buying a bunch of stuff that you really didn't need and maybe not even what you went for in the first place?
The problem is lack of focus.
You're not directing your energies or your thoughts toward what it is you really want. And the consequences are apparent.

​Besides Vance Joseph getting fired and a 9-hour documentary on R. Kelly, other recent news says that Denver homicides were up significantly last year. 
9NEWS (KUSA) reports "one of the biggest culprits is young men and guns."
(Personally, I wouldn't have used the word "culprit" but rather factors as it's a more appropriate nonjudgmental word)
What you have to read between the lines to know is that when we speak of young men and guns, for the most part, in Denver and nationally, both the victims and perpetrators of this violence,are young men of color.

​America tends to only view and or pay attention to gun violence and young people when there's  another mass/school shooting.
And sadly, we tend to overlook the constant threat of gun violence in our own communities and schools as though it's a normal part of our culture.
As the article points out, 22 people under the age of 26 were killed in 2018 in Denver.
That's about two a month or one every other week.
If the 22 young people who were killed at the same time in the same place there would be mass vigils and 24 hour national news coverage.
If the majority of those deaths didn't happen in Far Northeast Denver, Northeast Denver, and Southwest Denver but rather in Cherry Creek, South Park Hill, Stapleton or another area, heads wouldn't only turn but they would roll.
Time and location shouldn't make a difference when it comes to creating urgency around saving our children's lives.
Yes, our children.

Also, thanks to City Councilman Albus Brooks recognizing the dire need for prevention, intervention and more support services for the young people of color in his district. He hired me to be an intentional advocate and resource his constituents who are the ones most often overlooked, unheard and most disenfranchised due to systemic racism.
I've had conversations with Mayor Hancock who has promised to support efforts to reduce the number of youth involved gun violence/crimes.
I've recruited members from the African American Commission, the Latino Commission and the Women's Commission to assist me in building a network of servant leaders who are ready and willing to roll up their sleeves to do whatever needs to be done to find and create solutions.
I convened a group of faith leaders to assist me in building a spiritual backbone for the work to be done.
This is only the beginning.

​There are revolutionary, innovative plans and programs being discussed like Park Hill Collective Impact, Launch at Stedman, a anti-gun media blitz, and others that will disrupt the way our education system, juvenile justice system and workforce development efforts coordinate to raise children who not only survive but thrive.
If I have anything to do with it, 2018 will be the last year that the homicide rate in Denver increases.
Please resolve to join me.

I've found one of the easiest and best ways for me to continue to move toward the success I desire in life is to examine where I am and to be introspective about how I arrived to this place. This calls for a willingness to be present and self-aware and the ability to self-evaluate -- not self criticize. 
Over the last few years, around December, I've taken up the habit of identifying and reflecting upon the lessons which the previous year has brought and taught me. 
2018  was  a very productive, rewarding and challenging year. I experienced  incredible personal and professional achievements while also experiencing personal and professional struggles, tragedies, disappointments, betrayals and rejections.
The powerful lessons which I acquired from both the victories and theoretical losses have prepared me to enter confidently into 2019.