Written by Corey L. Stokes
Published by Corey Stokes Enterprises
Copyright 2005
ISBN: 978-1-6040-2317-6
This book of poems is a conversation between a father and son. After spending some time apart the two have reunited and begin to tell each other exactly what they have been feeling.
Corey L. Stokes
I am often in amazement at how fast my children are growing up on me. My son, now 9, went on his first camping trip without his parents. While I, concerned for his well-being, I was more concerned of his readiness to succeed without us. Although this trip is supervised and he is not solely on his own, I know he is ready to go and experience the world (or at least a campground not too far away). Getting out of the car once we got to the camp grounds, he asked me, “Daddy, can you help me carry my bags and put up my tent?”; then he was gone. He showed up about ten minutes later with a friend ready to help get the bags out of the car and then off to set up the tent. By the time I arrived at the site the He had much of his things unpacked and was ready to put up the tent.
We, and I do include myself, treat our dreams like we treat our children; We hold them close by keeping them safe. For some Fear of your child getting hurt will keep you from letting them go off on their own. But by letting our fears dictate what we allow our children or our dreams to do , will only hinder their growth. In his book, “Start, Punch fear in the face” Jon Acuff goes further into detail about how to deal with this phenomenon. For starters, letting your “Baby” (both dream and children) grow and not stifling them before has a chance to breathe, is vital part of its success.
Two of the most common reasons that many endeavors don’t get off the ground is the fear of success and the fear of failure. The number one reason in all cases that dreams will fail, is not giving it a chance at all.
This weekend my son, showed me that with some guidance and molding, he was ready to grow and flourish. It was time for me to give him a little room so he can show me that he can! I’d like to share some advice I received, that I use in my personal life as well as in any endeavor I take on. This continues to work with everything I apply it to.
Work from a position of strength – I have often heard that you should work toward making your weaknesses your strengths. In doing that however, you set yourself up for less success. Instead, work from your strengths. You stand a greater chance of succeeding if you are working on something you know. This also, as you complete tasks, builds your confidence as you move through your accomplishing.
Set goals – I often recite the quote ” If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time”. This reminds me to set goals and to ask myself, “Where am I going”?. Setting goals will help keep you on track to seeing your dreams come true. For more on Goal Setting See my blog post titled “Plan our 2013”.
Give your endeavors a chance to breathe If you are like me, when you start something, you want to see results. Looking at many of the pioneers in your field and seeing their success was frustrating to me because I wasn’t getting there. What I had to remember was, I could not judge my beginning off of the endings of others. I had to give my projects time to take its first breath. Do expect immediate success, it will take time to develop. If you keep that in mind your chances of quitting before you get started , lessen dramatically.
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Frugality leads to security : www.corey-stokes.com/?p=1106
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Science with Nalah and Nolan
Will Paper get wet if you put it in water? If you missed it, check it out on You tube
Something to think about
What is a dollar?
Answer – The “dollar of our fathers” is a silver coin weighing almost one ounce. It was never to be debased; it was never to be any weight less than 371.25 grains of pure silver.
What am I building?
I was asked to build 2 challenge coin holder’s.
The first one is a Pyramid coin holder this is my template I am using.
The second one however, I’m still trying to find a design.
What am I reading?
I am currently re-reading Decisive: How to make Better Choices in Life and Work by Chip Heath and Dan Heath 
(c) Corey L. Stokes LLC 2014
Notice: Although I strive for perfection I know I am not perfect. If you find mistakes in my work, simple inbox me to let me know! Thanks.
Some time ago I posted a question to my Facebook followers. “If you were debt free, what
could you do?” Some followers had big dreams and thoughts of having lots of money in the bank. Others however, were not able to see life without debt. In a survey conducted by Federation of America, it was found that 2/3’s Americans were failing or had made no progress toward building a savings, let alone hacking away at debt. While the other 1/3 were secure their financial lives. The number one reason given for the majority’s inability to succeed financially is American’s inability to live within their means. In our culture of buy now and pay later, Cash has been replaced credit as the societal norm.
My wife and I have, learned that, living within our means can be highly rewarding. With summer Stay-cations, free stuff, as well as the hundreds of dollars of savings offered by companies around the world, we have experienced that we could be frugal and fabulous. All it took for us to get there was a little planning, saving, and commitment, Here are some of the things that we did to start our move into the 1/3 of Americans who make building a savings a priority:
By setting a goal, committing to living within your means you can move toward a position of financial security. So I’ll ask again, If you had no debt and your full paycheck, what could you do?
Corey Stokes 
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