The Way It Is<\/p>\n
We were all just young kids.
\nTrying to find our way as we live.
\nSome of us went the wrong path.
\nLed astray while others laugh.
\nSome of us made our own way.
\nWe survived to this very day.
\nIt wasn\u2019t easy for our lot.
\nWe went to \u2018the school of hard knocks.\u2019
\nThat was where we learned most things.
\nThe lessons were felt, but rarely seen.
\nThey made us the men we are today.
\nIndependent and wise in our ways.
\nParental guidance was a help.
\nIf not sheltered, like a whelp.
\nWe were allowed to make mistakes.
\nFrom this we learned what it takes.
\nLife is hard. We needed coping skills.
\nWe learned these along with the ills.
\nWe learned to respect the law.
\nWe knew hard work, & that ain\u2019t all.
\nRespect for others was a plus.
\nOthers would then look out for us.
\nDo your part, others can\u2019t or won\u2019t.
\nBe drawn to the do\u2019s, avoid the don\u2019ts.
\nBe a man. Always tell the truth.
\nBe kind and courteous. Never uncouth.
\nTry not to be too judgmental.
\nOther\u2019s survival was not sentimental.
\nThey are who they are from their past.
\nTheir experiences back then still last.
\nThe results are who they are.
\nGive thanks that we have come so far.
\nA lifetime has made me and made you.
\nDon\u2019t waste it by acting the fool.
\nUse it all to improve yourself.
\nOthers will be blessed. It will be felt.
\nThank your parents and thank God.
\nYou are surviving with their nod.
\nNow, make them proud of you.
\nContinue to grow in every venue.
\nSomeone all will look up to.
\nIt\u2019s in the cards for me and you.<\/p>\n
———————–R. W. Johnson—–(2015)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Way It Is We were all just young kids. Trying to find our way as we live. Some of us went the wrong path. Led astray while others laugh. Some of us made our own way. We survived to this very day. It wasn\u2019t easy for our lot. We went to \u2018the school of … Continue reading The Way It Is<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,16,29,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-factual","category-free-bird-poetry","category-life-lessons","category-random"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1674"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1674\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1675,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1674\/revisions\/1675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsmithwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}