Overcome All Obstacles

By Andre Gilchrist

Overcome All Obstacles is the conclusion of the autobiography of Andre Gilchrist and covers the years 20052014. The first book, You Thought You Couldnt Change, Either, came out in February of 2006 and covered the life of Andre Gilchrist in a chronological order dating back from birth to 2005. Andre Gilchrists second novel, Out of the Darkness Comes the Light, came out in May of 2009. Due to the response from the authors first and second book, the author has decided to keep his reading audience up-to-date with what is going on in the here and now.
In the authors first book, he described the journey of the individual who struggled within himself. The author takes the reader on a step-by-step journey from desperation to determination. In this book, the author reaches a stage in his life where he is comfortable with himself and his life but wants to point out that even at this point in ones life one still has to deal with the trials and tribulations of life. It is important to the author to stress the point that it is not necessary to regress in order to progress.
With a firm grasp of reality today, and not what one might want it to be, the author wants to show his audience it is possible to deal with lifes situations one at a time and always keep up front in his mind that God will not put more on him that he can carry.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Sep 10, 2014
• ISBN: 9781496938992

Andre Gilchrist

The author, Andre Gilchrist, author of the play Addiction and Its Effect on the Family Unit, is writing this play based on his own personal experience with being caught up in the bowls of active addiction. This is not fiction but is based on actual events that the author has experienced and lived through himself. The author, Andre Gilchrist, was born in a middle-class African American family with a mother, father, and brother (all of whom are deceased now and have been deceased for quite). The author wants to emphasize that whatever he has gone through and the things in the past he might have done should in no way be construed as a shortcoming as his parents’ fault. The author in no way came from a dysfunctional family. He came from a loving household where his parents were married the whole time until their untimely deaths. Their only concern was to provide a life that would be better for their two young sons than what they had to personally endure. The author, Andre Gilchrist, was given all the opportunities in life a child could every possibly want, need, or desire. The author was afforded luxuries—such as being sent to a basketball camp in the summer and being sent to a private high school, where the author never took advantage of—and now can see the errors and misguided behavior of his youth. After entering the military and his life constantly going a downward climb to degradation, the author finally reached rock bottom. The author reached a point where there was no turning back, and he made a decision to change his life around. Being a high school dropout, he entered college and went from that stage in his life to achieving a master’s degree in political science. To learn more about the author, I invite you to go to his website at http://www.notjustawriter.com. There you can read about all of his present-day achievements, acclamations, degrees, and awards, and there is also information there on some other books he has penned.

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© 2014 Andre Gilchrist. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 09/08/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4969-3900-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-3899-2 (e)

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

PROLOGUE

HANDLING THE HIGHS AND LOWS (A CONTINUATION FROM MY FIRST BOOK – YOU THOUGHT YOU COULDN’T CHANGE, EITHER)

DEALING WITH ILLNESS (Chapter 2)

MEDICAL EQUIPMENT & HOME HOUSE AIDE (CHAPTER 3)

NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE

BENEFITS OF A NEW WAY OF LIFE

AFFECTED BY DOMESTIC & INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

MOTIVATION FOR CHANGE IN HEALTH STATUS

MURDER IN FAMILY

SURVIVING DAY BY DAY

APPRECIATION OF LIFE

DIAGNOSED WITH CHRONIC DISEASES

EPILOGUE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This past Saturday, June 4th, 2011 was my 59th birthday. I found myself pondering over my life and the different avenues I have taken. Some were of my own choosing and others were just what life presented it. In the middle 1600’s there was a poet from London, England named John Donne. He is know well for many of the things he had written but what he is most known for is a poem called No Man Is An Island. My first contact with this noted literary figure came about through hearing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The lines that I remember even today go as followed: No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. Any man death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. Therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee." I said all that to say this that everything we do effects someone whether it be here in the United States or thousands of miles away. For many years I did not believe that. My philosophy in life was directed at how my choices affected me and no one else.

Today I am so very grateful for this life that I have been blessed to be a part of. Before I can acknowledgement anyone I must attempt to show my gratitude to God and his son Jesus Christ. That African proverb it takes a whole village to raise a child would not be possible without God allowing us the privilege and opportunity to dwell here on earth. I need to also thank God for sending his son Jesus Christ to come down here to earth and suffer all the pain and betrayal he went through to save us of our sins. If my writings and the lessons I have learned in my life helps just one person then I implore you not to thank me but thank God.

The people I want to thank next are the ones responsible for shaping and molding me into the person I have become today. I am referring to my father, mother and brother, who are all deceased now. The things that I hear today referred to as spiritual principles are the same things my parents tried to implant in me as values, morals. They tried to teach me to live my life by doing onto others as I would want them to do unto me. Unfortunately for a long time I lived my life by the extreme opposite belief by doing onto others before they had a chance to do unto me. I have no excuse for the way my life turned out to be because I was not raised in a dysfunctional household. I lived in a loving household where my parent’s main objective was to make life easier for their two sons. As I look back on my childhood with my brother the only thing I can truly say that I learned from him was how not to treat a woman and how to treat them with the same respect and dignity I would want displayed to me and other female members of my family.

The next group of people I want to acknowledge and say thank you is to my Aunt Mary Williams, Bobbie Askew and my cousin Faye Williams and her sons Damon Williams and Najee Jones. I live in a very small family but have always believed in quality over quantity. I especially want to acknowledge Mrs. Amanda Rivers who has been like a second mother to me after my mother’s death. From Mrs. Rivers I have learned how to be patient and tolerant because if someone had given me as hard a time as I gave her I doubt if I would still be dealing with that person all.

When I first enrolled in college in 1997 I learned that the teachers there were not my enemies but there to help and assist me in any way they could. From that experience I would like to recognize and thank President Cary Israel (formerly of Raritan Valley Community College), Professors Carroll Wilson and Lisa Tucker (Raritan Valley Community College English Department) and Dr. John Pace (advisor for New Jersey Student College Coalition. I would also like to thank Barbara Luby of the Counseling Department, Alaysha Walker and the entire staff and other professors of Raritan Valley Community College. I would also like to thank the entire staff at Kean University where I studied for my undergraduate and graduate degrees.

There are so many other people involved in my life that any acknowledgement would be incomplete without giving them a shout out to and say thank you for everything that you have contributed to my life. Some of these people are Rhea Johnson of Trenton, NJ & Saundra Facincani of California, Gwen, Nat, Mary, Trisca, Mike, Renee, Alan, Mustafa, Steve (Mu-Fy), Diane, Curtis, Hugh (deceased), Al C., Lorintha, Melvin C.,(deceased), Flo, Patti, Percell, Shakur, Nabiliah, Claire, Chuck, Melinda, Cordell, Eve, Nate, Juanita (deceased), James, John, Mary Jo, Kareem, Lonnie, Marshall (deceased), Jerome (deceased), Rock, Vincent and wife, Robert, Rex, Tracy, Will and Wajid. These people and so many more individually and collectively have had such a momential impact and impression on my life I can’t think of the words that would do justice to show my deep appreciation and gratitude.

I want to give thanks to my friend, Teena Harris, for all the inspiration and motivation effects you have had on me and anyone who finds themselves in daily contact with you. I want to thank you much success with the publication of your first literary manuscript The Pimp-A-Lo Syndrome. I want to thank all the other individuals from the United States and other parts of this enormous world I have met online through the modern technology of Facebook. I also want to give thanks to the many friends I have made through the online site SHIP.

I am so grateful for the modern times and the improved technology that allows us to communicate with people from different parts of the world who we have never had the privilege of meeting face to face. Through the technology of Face book I was able to have a pen pal from Europe named Alenka Ostroznica; I was able to meet over the air waves two beautiful women from Detroit, Michigan: Lasana Coan and Brandi Day. I have been honored with the ability to have a friend from London, England: Charlotte Tricker.

I want to thank God for blessing me with putting Camose Thomassini into my life. You are such a powerful inspiration to me. Knowing my history you have accepted me for the person I am today and not the person I use to be. You can never know how much that means to me.

I want to thank a certain group of people who have been there tremendously for me during my period of taking dialysis treatments and guiding me on the process of possibly having a kidney transplant. First, I want to thank Dr. Yudd (my renal doctor at the VA), Karen (the social worker) and the entire dialysis treatment staff for your dedication not only to me but all veterans who have found themselves needing to take kidney dialysis treatments. Second, I want to thank the Somerset Dialysis Center where the VA had transferred me to which was closer to my home. I want to thank Dr. Kabis (my renal doctor), Mary (social worker), Roland (administrator), Pam (head nurse), Beverly, Monica, Nina, Essie and all the other nurses and technicians who work there so diligently working with all the patients there taking dialysis treatments.

In conclusion, I want to dedicate this book to my cousin, Ricky Askew, and all the young American troops who have died without having a chance to fulfill their dreams and what God would have willed for them. My wish for them is something I read once by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; We have learned to fly the skies like birds and swim the seas like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers. No matter how difficult and trying the times might be never forget that IF I CAN CHANGE SO CAN YOU!!!

PROLOGUE

My first book You Thought You Couldn’t Change, Either was published on 2/22/2006. It was an autobiography of the author’s, Andre Gilchrist, life. For those of you who haven’t had the opportunity to read the autobiography the book starts in the beginning with the attempt on the author’s life and the question is asked why would someone want to kill the author and the author comes up with the conclusion the answer must lie somewhere in the author’s life’s story. The autobiography start from the very beginning and described in a chronological order the life of the author from childhood to adulthood up until the publishing of the book in 2006.

As of the beginning of this writing it is June 7, 2011 and as I reflect back I have went through many trials and tribulations in the past five years and the purpose of this writing is to bring you up to date with the various issues and dilemma’s the author finds himself dealing with on a daily basis. As I previously stated my first book came out on 2/22/2006. My second literary manuscript was a play entitled Addiction and Its Effect on the Family Unit which came out on 6/7/2007. Following that I wrote a novel called Out Of the Darkness Comes the Light which was published on 5/26/2009. For more information about the writer and these publications I direct you to visit my website at: http://www.notjustawriter.com.

As I look around and see so many of our young men never giving themselves a real chance to reach their full potential it really bothers me a great deal. They are either in jail or prison, selling drugs or addicted to that lifestyle or dead. Their deaths are mostly due to the gang lifestyle or the uncontrollable desire to acquire a lot of money quick and easy. Then we have the other young men in the armed services dying over in Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. I served during the Viet Nam Conflict over in Thailand but today I cannot tell you honestly why our young men are over there and not here starting and raising families and contributing to our already faltering economy. There are entirely too many single women left in the position to raise their families themselves. They have to be the bread winners, mother and father, educator and sometimes punisher and then we wonder why so many kids turn out the way they do.

During my stint in the higher education community in my home state of New Jersey and involvement in local and state politics I came to realize that what each individual does affects someone else whether they are your next door neighbor or someone in a different part of the world. I heard a man once describe humility as not thinking less of oneself but thinking of oneself less.

In this book I will attempt to show how applying renewed values and morals to one’s everyday life can help uplift the quality of one’s existence and quality of life. I hope to illustrate how changing one’s outlook and perception on life will help one maneuver through the storms and tribulations of life. With a renewed relationship with God when the storm comes one can react like palm trees; we may bend but we don’t break. Like one of the subthemes of my first book IF I CAN CHANGE, SO CAN YOU!!!

In my blog on my website http://www.notjustawriter.com the first topic I talked about was something that many people have approached me with and that was concerning the process I went through to determine what subject matter I would write about. As I approached the end of this manuscript two different individuals discussed with me several subject matters that they found of interest and convinced