Category: Experience

Waiting with Patience

by Rhobie Toussaint, posted in Experience

Wait. 

This is not something that we always like to hear. Sometimes there is nothing more that we crave than to get what we want, to get what we are working for, and to get it right now. Sometimes all we want is to receive the instant gratification. This makes it easy to forget that all we can do now is wait.

Wait.

With patience comes healing. This can be the healing of a hurting heart, of what feels like a broken soul, or the healing of a scar, either a physical or emotional one. One’s arm usually does not magically heal after it has been broken just as one’s heart usually cannot automatically become restored after a feeling of it being shattered into a million pieces.  There are times when we try to rush the healing, automatically claiming that we’re “good now,” ignoring the pain that we feel instead of just waiting. Waiting and understanding that there are some things, like healing, that simply do not happen overnight.

I say this from experience.

Wait. 

In many instances, it will take time before we can fully reap what we’ve sewn. It takes time before the hard works pay off. As someone sits in a classroom, they may not see the point in being there. It is after receiving the diplomas and reaching the level of comfort and success that they have spent their life fighting for that said person realizes those hours sitting in the classroom weren’t absolutely pointless. They lead to something greater.

Wait. 

And wait patiently as you put work and effort in the things that you do.

You’d be surprised at how far that can take you.

 

This week I wanted to write about patience, a virtue that I feel is so important. When people rush things, they are usually not as good as they can be. So I wanted to use this piece as way to remind others to have patience and to just wait. Whether we like it or not, sometimes that is the only thing we can do, and sometimes it’s the only thing left to do. In Every difficult situation that I have ever gotten out of, I managed to get through it with faith, but also patience. 

 

Source of picture: https://www.industryweek.com/leadership/why-patience-virtue-leaders

 

 

 

Friends

by Rhobie Toussaint, posted in Experience

Choose your friends wisely. 

Fortunately for me, that’s a lesson I never had to learn the hard way. I’ve been graced by wonderful friends throughout my life. 

Others have not been so fortunate. Association with what can be described as the “wrong crowd” has caused trouble for individuals with pure intentions. For example, a night with said wrong crowd may have started as a simple hangout, but ended with someone in a jail cell. Or a goal-oriented, straight  A student losing sight about what’s important to them after having bad influences as friends.  

The people you surround yourself with also speaks to others about your character. If you spend all your time with a group who slacks off constantly and goes on mischievous adventures, nothing more than that will be expected from you. If you are a hard worker, or at least are trying to get there, and surround yourself with people who want the same thing, surely you’d be perceived in a different light than the individual who hangs with the ‘slackers.’ 

Surely it can be argued that the way others perceive you shouldn’t matter. Or even better, that just because you are friends with a certain group of people doesn’t mean that you are similar to them. But why would you want to be friends with individuals who hold you back instead of push you to do better?

Thus, there is an importance to having good friends. To me, a true friend is someone who will be there for you in the ways that they can. A true friend is someone who won’t leave you in your difficult time. It is someone who wants the best for you, someone you can laugh with, cry to, support, and vice versa.

 I can say with 100% certainty I have true friends, and I appreciate them more as each day passes by. They make the tough times a little more bearable. They celebrate with me, they advise me, and they support me. I want everyone to have those kinds of people in their lives.

So, choose the people you call your friends wisely. 

They can easily cause wreckage in your life just as easily as they can make your life better. 

 

 

 

 

image from: https://teenpregnancy.acf.hhs.gov/events/national-teen-pregnancy-prevention-month

Father’s Day

by Rhobie Toussaint, posted in Experience

Dad, 

Today is Father’s Day, and I always tell you that I love you. But today I’ll tell you why.

We don’t have the closest relationship, but that doesn’t mean everything that you do for this family goes by unnoticed. At age 21 you came to the U.S., and you have been working hard ever since.

I recall the nights as a fifth grader when I’d rush to my room at midnight as you arrived home from work, praying that you wouldn’t figure out that I was awake.

I remember the nights during my freshman year when I’d stay up to finish an assignment and I could hear you getting ready for work from my room.

I remember the dollar you’d give me everyday, and the days when’d you search the car and your pockets for change so that I would have money, just in case I need it.

There are days in which we would barely talk because I felt that you were being unreasonable, or you were mad at me for a mistake I made.

There are days when the only words I say to you are “Good morning, how are you,” and “good night.”

But there are also days when I would go on about a project I’m working on, and urge you to look at the finish product. You would look at it even if you’re tired from a long day at work.

I just want you to know that I appreciate you and how you have contributed to providing for the family.

I love you and Happy Father’s Day.

Sincerely,

A daughter who will be forever grateful for you.

 

Miracles

by Rhobie Toussaint, posted in Creative Writing, Experience

I believe in miracles.

I believe in miracles because there are things that even science can’t explain, things that are beyond our level of understanding.

Take the beginning of the world, for instance. Some people believe in the Big Bang Theory, and some believe that God, or a higher power, created it all. Either way, the fact that everything exploded into place or that a higher power caused there to be light and darkness seems unfathomable, even with what science has to say about it.

I believe in miracles because I’ve heard stories of things that shouldn’t be possible, and I’ve experienced things that shouldn’t be possible.

How is it that someone’s newborn can be alive after the doctors declared the baby dead?

How is it that a car crashed into an electrical pole, nearly caught on fire, was a total loss and not one person comes out the vehicle with a broken bone?

How is it that someone’s sickness is eradicated without any medical treatment?

My answer: Miracles.

There is too much out in the world to rule anything out. There is too much in the world to go strictly by what science says. There are discoveries to be made, species not yet identified, concepts not yet grasped, so why should the very idea of miracles existing be anything less than logical?

It shouldn’t.

Even in T.V shows or movies, there are characters who hope for their situation to turn around, even when there’s every indication that the situation will remain the same. With the endless possibilities out in the universe, there is very little that is truly impossible.

I believe in miracles because they make sense. They make sense because so much happens that we don’t know, things that to us don’t make sense.

Besides, believing (in non-violent things) never hurt anyone anyway.

 

Bayside

by Rhobie Toussaint, posted in Experience, Photo Essays
On Saturday, my parents and I went to Bayside, an outdoor two story marketplace near the Biscayne Bay. My mother told me she has been thinking about going there for a while now, and I don’t remember the last time I visited Bayside, so going here presented the perfect opportunity for a photo essay, walking around, and family bonding.

Throughout our visit to Bayside, we listened to a band play, saw people dancing, visited souvenir shops and the food court. The band consisted of about five people, playing well known songs such as “I like it,” while people bopped their heads, recorded, and danced. Souvenir shops varied from places with key chains, postcards, hats, and T-shirts with “Miami” on them. There were many places to eat both upstairs and downstairs with different kinds of foods: steak, plantain, pastries, fast food and so forth.

As I passed by different stores, I photographed them, trying to soak in everything, admiring the different places there, and capturing moments. I don’t know when my family will make a visit to bayside once more, so I felt that the pictures will later serve as memories that I can reminisce on. Perhaps the next time I have a chance to go Bayside, the hat shop and the podiatric based store across it won’t exist anymore. Or perhaps this is the last time I’ll have the chance to go with my parents, making the memories we made at Bayside the last ones we make there together. Basically, I felt and still feel that taking pictures of the different places here that I can look back on later holds great importance.

Although there was a lot of people there, it wasn’t crowded. There was never a space completely full, so finding a place to buy something without a long line, or simply somewhere to sit was hassle free. This gave everyone, tourists and locals, a chance to shop and enjoy what the place had to offer.

This is Bayside.

After spending over ten minutes trying to find a parking space and walking, my parents and I finally reached the front of the Bayside Marketplace.

The sign above says “the Pier 5 Marketplace,” and it was one of the first things that caught my eye.

As we walked through the Marketplace, signs containing the stores’ names and flags of countries around the world appeared up above.

Some stores and souvenir shops had displays such as this on the wall just outside the shop, promoting their items and showing creativity.

We stopped at a few shops ourselves, one in which my dad tried on a few hats before purchasing the navy blue one seen in the photo above.

We also passed by stores with artwork inside

After my parents and I visited and passed by the souvenir shops, we did the same for different restaurants and the food court.

At this restaurant, Mambo, there was music playing and song singing, giving the people there a source of entertainment.

We then headed to a stand with ice cream. My mom purchased a cookies and cream flavored one and shared some with my dad.

As we started to make our way back to the front, we saw different boats in the bay.

Near the parking lot, the “Bayside” sign was still visible. I took a photo of it to conclude the visit the trip to Bayside I made with my parents.