 Hi, this is Mitch Mitchell and I got a story to tell you that is eventually going to end in a motivational point So here we go with the story I'm down in Memphis, Tennessee and this past Saturday I decided that I was gonna head down to the river, you know and do what I was just calling a river walk the Mississippi River runs basically between Tennessee on the Memphis side and Arkansas on the other side I don't know what city actually I think they call it West Memphis and I've never gone across the bridge one of these days I might but I haven't done it yet So anyway, I go down there and I get to the end of the street main street and there's a parking lot So I go across the way and I go to park the car and the lady says are you here to go to the Mud Island River? Museum said I don't know She said well, this is really the parking lot for that She said it's across the way you park and then you can go over using the monorail And I said oh that sounds cool and she said you can go look at the museum of the museum closes at four So if you're going now, you're probably want to go to the museum first And then you can walk around take a look and then take it take the monorail back and have you ever been to Bale Street? I said well, I drove by it once but I haven't really been there She saw we ought to take a trolley of the trolley bus and go down I said why I thought the trolley's had been shut down She says yes the trolley's have been shut down, but the buses haven't so you know you should take a bus So the first thing I do is I decide okay? Let's go see Mud Island now folks who I've been working with said you need to go check out Mud Island If you can touch the mud because it's a different grain of dirt than you've ever touched in your life It feels like silk. I Don't know so I said okay sure so I take the monorail It wasn't all that cool It went really slow It just basically takes you over the river, you know to the other side and there you are you sitting there Okay, well this was that yeah So anyway, I go to the museum and I took a ton of pictures the way they set it up It's like you're on an old riverboat So you know you saw all these different things you saw what a room looked like you saw what the room looked like where the Captain would have been with the the steering wheel or whatever they call that thing all the stuff I took just a ton of pictures and then what they have Outside on the grounds there is a full size. Okay. I guess that makes no sense But a replica of the Mississippi River and it's a huge thing. I mean it's pretty long walk And then they have different things here and they're telling you like the different access points and the states it goes through and New York and one of the states it goes through so it happens So anyway, that was kind of neat There were some families there with their little kids and the little kids had their shoes off They were walking through the water and it's one little boy. I said so the water Kind of cold or is it kind of warm? He says this in the middle I thought that was kind of a cute answer for a kid. So anyway, I did that and I'm done looking everything and taking my pictures and so I get back on the monorail go back across I said, you know what? I think I'm gonna walk down to Beale Street now I'm one of those people who will just do stuff on the spur of the moment And so walking to Beale Street was my spur of the moment thing What I didn't realize was just how far away Beale Street was going to be So I walk and I'm walking and I'm walking and I'm walking and whoa boy. I start getting tired So there was a place on whatever street I was on. I'm not sure if it was Front Street or something else It was called New York Pizza. I said, okay. Yeah, right. Let's go in and find out So I go into the place and the guy there Okay, he wasn't Italian so you know, I'm thinking okay This isn't gonna be true New York pizza and it wasn't it was horrible. It just always is Anyway, I walk all the way down finally get to Beale Street and there's the Orpheum Theater and There's no people around I said, okay here. I'm on Beale Street again And there's no one here So I look down to my left and I see what looks kind of like a denser. You said I'm gonna walk down there So I since I'm that far I start walking down and the further I go the more people there are and Eventually like three blocks down or three or four blocks down There's tons of people and now I am officially on Beale Street and there's this music coming from both sides of the street and All these different restaurants and it was just like every single restaurant had its own musician And so it was just this cacophony of sound and there were all these people who are merged around and they were all Having a good old time and listen to different musics and they were the stores Selling things with ever and there was this guy who was selling things on his little cart And he becomes important to this story because he was the only guy who was selling stuff on a cart And they had these barriers set up and there was no one in the streets and I thought well, this is interesting I didn't think that Beale Street would you know Take care of the people like this and keep people segregated make sure that you know, they would be safe on the street Come to find out. There's gonna be a parade. I hate parades. I Truth of the matter. I hate parades. So I'm like, oh geez I don't want to be here for a stupid parade. So I see the FedEx Center where the Memphis Grizzlies play So I go over there. I take some pictures of that. I Sit down for a little bit just to rest because I've had this long walk And then I noticed that traffic on this road across from the FedEx Center starting to back up So I said, oh, I guess the parade has started that I realized I'm on the wrong side of the street How am I gonna get back on the other side of street to walk back? Oh So I walk over to Beale Street and it's a gay pride parade And I get the biggest smile on my face because I've always wanted to go to a gay pride parade And there's something going on in Tennessee that some vote coming up or whatever So they decided to have their parade and I don't I don't know because I'm staying out of the politics of Tennessee I'm staying out of my own politics. I'm just like that. So This thing starts going on I've seen these people a lot of men dressed as women men being all flamboyant and everything these groups of people walking with their banners Women just being women the women weren't flamboyant at all You know, they were just there marching some women were holding other women's hands And I should have picked up on that earlier because I saw a lot of that and they see any guys holding hands But I saw definitely saw women holding hands and we're in the same clothes and I just being me thought Okay, this is just family members don't want to lose each other or good friends Never occurred to me. It was anything else And then I thought back to the guy who was selling stuff Like I said, he comes back in the story because he was selling all the rainbow stuff They had the rainbow flags and some rainbow shirts and the head beads which really threw me off because I thought that was a New Orleans thing I was just oblivious. I missed it all Anyway, I was there about 30 or 45 minutes watching people and waving back at people and some of the people who were with me Weren't necessarily as happy to see it but some of them were You make your own fun, right? So anyway, I wait for a little while and I say, well, okay, you know, it's time for me to get back So now I've got to walk all the way back Because as I said on the street where the orphan theater is there's nothing This is not like New York City where there's cabs all over the place No cabs and I never saw a bus. I did see some horse-drawn carriages Which I know sit in front of the Peabody Hotel I saw a couple of those while I was walking the Beale Street But I didn't see any walking back and let's face the facts here The end horses don't get along so I was not going to get in any kind of horse-drawn carrots So I had to walk all the way back and it was a long walk and I walked past this Park where I took a picture of a cannon and then they had a statue of Jefferson Davis And I was going to throw something at it and I said, okay, we'll just let that go Hey, they lost the war, right? So Northern bias. I know that's so wrong, but there you go So anyway, I finally make it back to the car and I go back, you know to the hotel and the next day My hunches were killing me. I mean, I basically stayed in bed till like 330 or four because I was just in so much pain Ibuprofen had trouble Regaining, you know, helping me to regain some mobility. So I tell you that story because Little while ago. I'm over in the What do you call it the clubhouse of the hotel before the front desk is also where they serve meals They serve meals in a homework suites from monday through thursdays And I almost never eat there but tonight they had these little mini meatloaves Which I initially thought was salisbury steak But still they were good with mashed potatoes and corn. Are you kidding and gravy? So I ate at the hotel for once and I enjoyed the meal So after that I'm talking with some of the people and there's this young lady there who's probably been there Maybe a month and a half. I've never really had much of an opportunity to talk to her So I'm talking to her About stuff because she had been singing initially and I was talking to her about that and Different things and then I was telling her what I did and she said, well, you know, I'm doing this here But this isn't my dream. She said I had to drop out of college My first year because my dad passed away and then I really didn't have the money or the you know I really didn't just want to go back to school because my mind was elsewhere But I do want to go back to school and it's my dream to be a counselor for troubled kids And I also want to start a program to help kids who are having trouble at home and do do all kind of things I said, well, that sounds like a nice dream. I said that's a lot of hard work But that sounds like a nice dream. She says yeah, but you know when I mention that to people I you know almost hate to because everyone puts it down and they say it's a dumb idea They say I'll never be able to get through college and I'll never be able to do anything And I said, you know what? Anyone who has never done anything has no right to tell anybody else what they can or cannot do You never base your life off of what other people expect of you I said unless you want to be the center for the Los Angeles Lakers and you're only five foot six There's there's a dream that I'm sorry. I will even jump on that and tell you You can't be the center for the Los Angeles Lakers But you can be anything you want to be if you really want it If you want to go to college and get that degree you can do it If you want to modify something else later on you can do it. I said, you know, you take your chances I said here. I am now. I said I Went into business for myself in 2001. I got incorporated in 2006 by law I am the president and ceo of my corporation Said I haven't had a vacation since 1999. I've had some down years, but I've had some great years And since I've been in business for myself I have traveled All over the country done all kinds of things that I never would have thought possible Had I still been working a basic nine to five job With my three to four weeks vacation every single year and earning my sick time and basically Making money for the man, but not making any money for myself. Just letting them basically control me So don't ever let anybody tell you what you can and cannot do you work for it You study for it. You get yourself prepared for it And then if you want to you go for it you take your chance And you know what if it doesn't work out you can always go do something else But at least you'll be able to say to yourself you gave it a try But don't ever let anyone else tell you what you can or cannot do So this is what I'm telling to y'all and I had to build up with that story because that led to be talking to these ladies here You've never let anyone do that So this is my tale and I love being able to tell stories and then get back to something else that has a positive message So let me know what you think. This is just me rambling on And by the way, when you see that image because I was getting ready to do something else and I got distracted I started to look over here and then I was taking the picture at the same time I said, I'm just gonna leave that there. So that's my what do you call that the little thumbnail so to speak Anyway, this is Mitch Mitchell. Hope you enjoyed my story. I hope you enjoyed this little message of positivity And let me know your thoughts y'all take care