In the News again today, “Another Professional Athlete Busted for Cocaine!” No need to say a name, it doesn’t matter.

It’s not an epidemic. It’s a deception. Drug dealer’s target athletes for three reasons:

1) Money
Athletes are targeted early…in college…in high school. The more potential a player shows in those formative years, increases the money opportunities in the pros. Hence, if you can get them hooked before the money comes, you’ve got a “wealthy client” for the long term.

2) Exposure
High profile clients, candidates for idol worship, will improve the odds to lure in impressionable fans. Everytime a well-known athlete is exposed for drug possession, it glamorizes a way of life. It’s free advertisement.

3) Vulnerability
Most of these athletes are young men who have not come into their own. They do not have a sense of self-awareness and, like everyone else, have a need to belong, to be cool. They are told, “to be a man, you need to do this and handle that.”

So who gets targeted most and why?

First, compare African American Athletes to your White Athletes. How often do you hear of a Larry Byrd, or a Wayne Gretzsky, or a Dan Marino getting busted on crack? Now, let’s consider Strawberry, or any number of great Black ballplayers who have gone down that dark road.

Most of these young men did not have strong male role models in their life and it’s easy to fall for this deception. Most of these young men come from single parent, mostly mothers, households. It’s easy to listen to the older guys who approach them. They are vulnerable targets.

Certainly, there are many exceptions, Kareem, Magic, Dr. J, Mike, Jason Kidd, Kobe, Barkley, Bonds, and on and on. And consider that most of these names came from two parent families. They had involved father figures.

Nevertheless, somehow, the poor choices by the ‘other guys’ get the most exploitation and make it seem rampant among Black atheletes. And it is. Because they are the most vulnerable.

Illegal drug use and abuse by any athlete, including sterioids is idiotic. Common sense should win over. Your body is your key to success. You need your body in tip top shape to perform at your best. To perform at your best, you need your mind sharp. Drugs counter all of that.

It wears your organs down, it diminishes your aptitude, your quickness and speed, and distorts your judgment. And if you need sterioids to compete, maybe you’re in the wrong business. Specifically, African American athletes should realize they don’t need the added boost. They are just told they need them. Like race horses.

Critically, drug abuse increases your chances to lose not only your reputation and standing — your potential — but, if caught, no…when caught, you lose your freedom. A loss of freedom is equivalent to slavery. Didn’t we overcome that?

So, essentially, you become a slave to an intangible object, some inanimate thing that has no power to make you do anything, because drugs can’t speak, they can’t demand that you take them, they are not holding a gun to your head. It’s a pebble…a stone…a pet Rock that becomes a boulder, then a mountain that you are chained to.

Addiction is real, physically, but it’s also mental. An addict is married to his or her drug. The drug becomes your employer, your best friend, your child, your God.

There is not a little boy in the world who dreams about growing up and becoming a pro ball player, ever imagines they will become addicted to crack or meth and destroy that career. It’s not in their plans.

It’s a deception that found them before they saw it coming. And then it becomes a trap, sometimes a life long trap.

With all the speeches and anti-drug campaigns, nothing has penetrated the psyche of pop culture more than the glamorizing of drugs using icons. It was a bold move by the powers that be. It started with the tobacco industry.

Illegal drugs are a multi-trillion dollar tax-free business. It is the most profoundly enterprising pyramid network in the world. Nothing and NO ONE will ever be able to burst that bubble. It affords only the people at the very top of the pyramid to live a vast and luxurious lifestyle. And the “middle-men” get to live large for a very short amount of time and then the ride is over. They are expendable because most of them become their own clients.

Impressionable young minds will hear the lectures, and soak in the anti-drug ads, but most will follow the “trendy” thing to do. And talk is cheap.

The only way to reach future generations and to try and save the ones already affected, is for the successful men and women icons to launch major, major anti-drug campaigns…actually going into the schools and the communities and making more and more commercials and print ads. Market it like it’s hot to not do drugs.

Another antidote would be to find a way to persuade the media to stop covering celebrity mishaps when they involve drugs. If those incidents fail to receive exposure, eventually, young people will stop associating drugs with success. That doesn’t mean covering it up or hiding it.

It means acknowledging how detrimental those actions are and the cost. It could start with celebrities making statements about how much it costs to get out of those situations, and how difficult it would be for the average person to get back on their feet from the consequences of the legal ramifications.

Crime doesn’t pay, but you will. Using drugs is criminal behavior. The penalty is prison, a lost future, or a vicious cycle of a seamy, scary, and shameful lifestyle. Ain’t nothing glamorous about it. Drugs take the edge off only once, the first time. After that, it’s a trap. Drugs cannot make you escape your daily grind, they only create another cross to bear.

Abusing drugs can and will kill you eventually. Another penalty is poor health if you manage to survive. But the ultimate penalty is an early grave. And let’s face it, a grave at anytime is too early. Especially, if it could have been avoided.

Avoid the deception. Tell your “friends” to take it on down the road and sell it, cause you’re not buying. And feel good about that. If you’re already involved, be brave, get help, get clean, get free. Don’t be afraid to start over. Many, many people have done it.

Now that’s being cool. You’ve got four minutes to save the world.

What do you think is the number one reason that causes people to be unhappy? Money Problems? Relationships? Work?

None of the above. Why? Because rich people can be unhappy. Couples that are very much in love can still be unhappy. A person with the greatest job in the world can still be frustrated and unhappy.

The number one reason for unhappiness is a lack of personal fulfillment. When we are not fulfilling our purpose on this planet, we may not realize it, but it leaves us adrift — idle. Sort of in a state of “waiting” for “it” to happen. That thing that makes it all come together, makes life worth living, centers us, calms us, motivates us to get up every morning with a spring in our step.

That’s the hardest thing in life to find.

And very few people on this planet ever find it. There are a number of reasons why.

Of course, we cannot go into the full discourse here in a blog, that’s best left for a longer version, perhaps a book later on.

Basically, we tend to get caught up early on with the basics of life. Finding a “job”, marriage, children. And we never take the time to find out what we’re supposed to be doing. And that is the vital ingredient for being here on this planet.

No one tells us that. College is an opportunity to search for that perfect career, to earn a good salary, and create a solid foundation. But most of the time, graduates end up taking jobs that have nothing to do with their major, or minor. They are not much better off than the high school graduate who accepts the first full time job. Only more in debt.

Personal fulfillment requires something most people are too impatient to try: Stopping everything, Sitting down quietly, alone, and brainstorming. That’s because we live in an instant gratification, now now now faster faster faster world.

We don’t believe we can afford to stop and sit down and listen to our hearts. The truth is, we can’t afford not to. The consequences already prove how disastrous our lives and the world at large have become.

Idle hands are the devil’s workshop. Ever hear that before? We take that to mean laziness, or slackers. What it means is what most people are — miserable souls. Souls in misery are souls unfulfilled.

You may be busy, but busy doing things you don’t really want to do. Or, you may not be busy enough. Both cause frustration. And frustration causes all kinds of trouble. Meddling, pettiness, vindictiveness, controlling, manipulation, jealousy, excessive behaviours like addictions or eating disorders, crime and violence, and the list goes on. It’s on the News every day.

Unfulfilled Souls are yearning for what they came here to do. And we mistake that to mean we’re all supposed to be Brad Pitt’s or George Clooney’s, or Jay-Z’s, or Obama’s. Or Oprah’s. Famous, rich, beautiful, and powerful.

If fame, wealth, beauty, and power were the answer, Princess Diana would never have had a moment of unhappiness in her short life. Neither would John F. Kennedy, Jr. Yet, we all know they had many dark days. Just like the rest of us.

And if you achieve that perfect career, that dream relationship, and have all the creature comforts, and still find something missing…it’s because there’s something else you’re supposed to be doing.

Yes, we have to do things we don’t want to do a lot of the time, but the key is finding that one thing you’re supposed to be doing and try to find a way to get to do it, at least some of the time.

How do we find it? It’s easy and it’s hard. We look inside and we look outside of ourselves. We observe the things we do easiest, without thought, that perhaps we’ve sort of been doing all of our lives. We pray about it, we meditate on it, and the mystery will start to unfold.

Your purpose will reveal itself. Most probably, you’ll ask, “that’s it?” But you’ll also discover, “yeah, that’s it.”

And your world will forever be changed.

There is a scripture in the Chrisian NIV Bible, which reads:
“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you.” Jeremiah 29:12-14

And the verse right before that states:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jer.29:11

That was a declaration! Which means to “make known formally, or explicity!” I am sure all other religious texts possess something similarly. Search for it. Ask your spiritual advisers about it. It’s there, somewhere.

Our Spirit Souls may be invisible to us, but they are real. As real as our thoughts. And we know our thoughts are invisible, but just as real because we have them 24/7, even while asleep. They never leave us.

Our Spirit Souls know something that perhaps we once knew, but forgot on the journey here. Therefore, it’s not really a secret. It’s just buried, lost in the harddrives of our memory banks by the recesses of time. It’s there. Your purpose.

Find it, and you’ll find happiness. And all true happiness comes down to is personal fulfillment.

Boredom, frustration, anger, fear, loss and lack and all the negative things we encounter in our lives and our thought world, all come from an idle Soul yearning for peace. That peace will come when the Soul knows it has found it’s true purpose.

“Listen to the Soul” Card – Available at “Word by Jabari”

I played football and basketball in high school, college and the NFL during the 70’s. The pressure to be good role models back then was not as relevant as it is today. An athlete’s personal lifestyle was glamorized, but not front and center. The media changed all that.

Today, the private life of a public figure is paraded as front page News on a daily basis. Make one mistake and it can cost you a career. Just ask Pete Rose. Or Michael Vick. Or Marion Jones. Or Elliot Spitzer, you know, the NY politician?

You ruin your reputation and you jeopardize commercial endorsements. Kobe Bryant may still be the MVP of the regular NBA season, but those lucrative deals start to vanish.

Is it fair, when entertainers, say Mel Gibson, or Robert Downey, Jr., or Paris Hilton can go to jail and continue on with their careers, as though it were part of a movie script? Why are some public figures held more accountable for their human mishaps than others?

Simple answer. Personal responsibility. It’s a subject that is becoming more popular every day. Recently, Bill Cosby wrote a book about it. Barack Obama is making it his new hot topic.

What is personal responsibility and why does it apply more for some and less for others?

The answer: if it affects others, it’s personal. Because it’s everyone’s responsibility to know how our actions will affect other people.

First, politicians have a responsibility to serve their constituents. They have signed on to represent our nation, to handle our affairs, and receive taxpayer funded salaries. So, that’s kind of a no brainer.

If I’m paying an employee, I expect him or her to be considerate of my policies, the rules and regulations that have been set, in order for my company to be respected and successful. Our Nation is our Business. Big Business in fact.

Professional athletes are another kind of animal. They represent the dreams and hopes of a younger, a more easily influenced audience. Kids, mostly. But also, those of a community.

We tend to form a personal bond with our teams. “My team.” “My favorite player.” It becomes something akin to ownership.

“We pay for tickets that pay your salary and expect you to perform on and off the field, or court, in a certain manner — essentially, to live up to my dreams.”

For an athlete to sign on to a sponsor a product, they have to be believable. If their reputation is contrary to that belief, the product won’t sell. A trust has been breached.

Personal responsibility may be a new hot topic, but it’s an old tradition. A tradition that got lost on the way, or was never really absorbed properly. Personal responsibility is a vital ingredient to everything we do in life.

For instance, our diet, exercise regime, hygiene, and proper rest, matter. They all add up to a healthier body and possibly a longer life. Ignoring those elements, or indulging in destructive habits, result in poor health, or death.

Committment to our marriage vows, keeping our children safe, obeying the law, contributing to our communities, matter. Doing the opposite lands us in divorce courts, prisons, and as outcasts. No man is an island.

All I’m saying is, personal responsibility comes down to one thing — common sense. We know right from wrong. Unfortunately, it’s easy to blur the lines these days.

When Paris Hilton goes to jail and comes out bigger and more popular than ever, because of what she did, it’s glamourizing a lifestyle, wild parties, drugs, and even prison. That’s not a good thing. It says there are no dire consequences for poor behavior.

If Britney Spears makes a heroic comeback, as Robert Downey, Jr. did, we can applaud their survival. Think of it as an inspiration. That’s a good thing. Michael Vick’s experience will be an inspiration if he overcomes what happened to him by using it to help others. If others can learn from his mistake, even better.

The bottom line is that humans make mistakes. Athletes, politicians, and entertainers are held up as hero’s, but they are still just people.

It’s all about common sense. Spike Lee said it best: “Do the Right Thing.” If we can get that one concept instilled into the fabric of society, personal responsibility will become an ‘a fait acompli.’ Is that the right word for a done deal? You get the message.