KEEPING IT REAL
With Yourself

When you are true to yourself and care about your well being, no longer will you tolerate people who attempt to break your spirit and steer you in a direction that is not suitable for you, nor will you feel the need to please someone while compromising yourself. Once you have gone through the stages of healing and loving yourself, you will be able to be yourself which is the purpose of keeping it real.

There are many factors involved in the concept of keeping it real. This book explores reasons why a person is unable to keep it real, the benefits of keeping it real, reality checklists challenge how real you are with yourself, vignettes describe how people find themselves in situations in which they were unable to keep it real and motivational poems are included to emphasize points made in the book.

The goals of the book is to help you to discover how to create your happiness in addition, identify what you truly want, to increase self-awareness as you focus more on the here and now in your life, to assume responsibility for your behavior, cognitions, and emotions, to face your fears through self-understanding and self-acceptance, to realize choices available to you, to evaluate your value-system, and examine your self- concept, to regain power and control over yourself, to improve self-esteem, and regain self-respect, and to forgive yourself and others as you release guilt and grudges.

We must face our fears and explore our past for self understanding which may be difficult for some people. This book challenges you to overcome obstacles and change faulty thinking due to mental conditioning, and replace irrational thinking with rational thinking, while setting realistic goals. Keeping it real encourages thought-provoking confrontational self-exploration. Also, understanding your cultural identity further enhances knowing who you are which can alleviate or even eliminate many of the problems and situations you encounter in life. Some of you may find yourself doing the same things over and over again, causing grief and pain, feelings of entrapment, and believing this is the way your life is supposed to be. As you read this book you will learn how you contribute to your own suffering. When you exercise self-control, you are in a better position to handle or control any situation. So, what are you covering up when you are not keeping it real with yourself? Do you believe the person who says, "I'm just keeping it real?" Keeping it real requires you to change your pattern of thinking. When you come into self-realization, old habits and ways of thinking is transcended and you will become transformed in the process.

Available in print and now available as an Audio Book!

WAKE UP CALL
The Story About a Sleeper

In Wake Up Call, the word "sleeper" is used to describe a person with tunnel vision who is out of touch with reality and involved in situations that can lead to self-defeat and ultimately self-destruction. Our environment plays an important role in our growth and development, and shapes our behavior as we form specific habits. Some people become sleepers because of circumstances related to negative childhood experiences.

The sleepers described in this book can be found on the job; in marriage; involved with gang violence, substance abuse, and negative spirits; and in a variety of cultural backgrounds. However, sleepers exist in other aspects of life too! The purpose here is to send a message to all people (particularly our youth) about how being sleepers can affect their lives in a negative way. We must stay awake and set a positive example for those who may be drifting off, before they become sleepers.