On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

By Jay Thomas Willis M.Ed. MSW

“On a Clear Day You Can See Forever,” is a book of sayings, thoughts, ideas, statements, and affirmations about some of the truths the author has come to realize. He developed these truths from his experiences while growing up on a farm in East Texas, going to college, then to the Navy, back to graduate school in Houston, and then settling in a South Suburb of Chicago. The author expresses how life has impacted him. It hasn’t always been easy, but then life is not always easy for anyone. Life for him was like a pendulum: up and down. But he is happy just to be alive, and to be able to express himself through his writings, which is the only way he knows how. Uncloud your mind and you can see forever. This book will help you to uncloud your mind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 1, 2024
• ISBN: 9798369419274

Jay Thomas Willis M.Ed. MSW

Jay Thomas Willis graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University with a B.S. degree in sociology. He also graduated from Texas Southern University with an M.Ed. in counseling, in addition to receiving an MSW in social work from the University of Houston. Willis has held numerous social work positions and has now turned to freelance writing. He has written fifty-six books, fifteen professional journal articles, a number of consumer articles; has written Op-Ed Commentaries for the “Chicago Defender,” “Dallas Examiner,” “East Side Daily News,” of Cleveland. As well as an occasional “Guest Column” for the “Final Call” Newspaper.

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Copyright © 2024 by Jay Thomas Willis, M.Ed., MSW.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This book is a work of nonfiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Rev. date: 04/15/2024

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

859609

CONTENTS

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Preface

1. God and Religious Issues

2. Assignment Issues

3. The Universe as an Issue

4. Family and Relationship Issues

5. Friendship Issues

6. Educational Issues

7. Assessing Your Situational Issues

8. Community and Societal Issues

9. Change as an Issue

10. Behavioral Issues

11. Personal Issues

12. General and Miscellaneous Issues

13. Financial Issues

About the Author

Also by Jay Thomas Willis

Nonfiction

A Penny for Your Thoughts: Insights, Perceptions, and Reflections on the African American Condition

Implications for Effective Psychotherapy with African Americans

Freeing the African-American’s Mind

God or Barbarian: The Myth of a Messiah Who Will Return to Liberate Us

Finding Your Own African-Centered Rhythm

When the Village Idiot Get Started

Nowhere to Run or Hide

Why Black Americans Behave as They Do: The Conditioning Process from Generation to Generation

God, or Balance in the Universe

Over the Celestial Wireless

Paranoid but not Stupid

Nothing but a Man

Things I Never Said

Word to the Wise

Born to Be Destroyed: How My Upbringing Almost Destroyed Me

Nobody but You and Me: God and Our Existence in the Universe

Got My Own Song to Sing: Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome in My Family

Random Thoughts on My Reality

A Word to My Son: A Celebration

Messed-Up Kid

Off-the-Top Treasures

Going with the Flow

Man’s Basic Purpose

God Told Me to Tell You

My Life and Times: Some Personal Essays

Life’s Lessons: Some Passing Thoughts

Why I Write: Notes Straight from the Hip

Just Jazzing: Thoughts from the Depth of My Soul

It’s Good to Be Alive: Focusing on the Positive Rather Than the Negative

Country Boy: Way Down Home

How I Became Dysfunctional: Notes from a Personal Perspective

I Got My Reparations: You Can Get Yours Too

Fiction

No Worldly Options Except Suicide or Schizophrenia: But God Has His Own Plans

You Can’t Get There from Here

Where the Pig Trail Meets the Dirt Road

The Devil in Angelica

As Soon as the Weather Breaks

The Cotton is High

Hard Luck

Educated Misunderstanding

Dream On: Persistent Themes in My Dreams

Longing for Home and Other Short Stories

Promises I Must Keep: Maintaining My Family’s Legacy

What Kind of Fool? and Other Short Stories

Sexual Storms

Poetry

Reflections on My Life: You’re Gonna Carry That Weight a Long Time

It’s a Good Day to Die: Some Personal Poetry About the Ups and Downs in My Life

Dedication

For all those who helped to clear my vision—you know who you are.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to all those who meant me harm, but it turned out to be for my good.

Thanks to all those who helped me in ways I will never know. There are always those who are working behind the scenes for a poor and ignorant country boy who had an underdeveloped conscious level.

Thanks to all those who decided to leave me alone, and just let me find out what life was all about for myself.

Thanks to all those who saw I was headed for trouble but decided to leave me to my own devices. It turned out it was better for me to draw my own conclusions.

Thanks to my parents for allowing me the freedom to explore life on my own terms.

Thanks for the farm that motivated me to move away.

Thanks to everything and everyone that kept me alive and in a decent state of mind.

Preface

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, is a book of sayings, thoughts, ideas, statements, and affirmations.

Another winter has passed and during this time the author has produced another book of sayings. He hopes you enjoy them. He wrote until, for that moment, he had exhausted his repertoire of sayings.

He has written several other books of this type in which he discusses both the more negative and positive aspects of his experiences. This time he decided to point out mostly the positive aspects of his experiences. These are all statements that are more positive than negative.

The author wrote these sayings while sitting in his study listening to smooth jazz on his TV, relaxing in his plush, comfortable, La-Z-Boy. Sometimes with a warm blanket. The blanket reminded him of the Peanuts’ character who is so attached to his blanket. Chicago winters, as most of you know, can be very cold. It was in the heart of winter: around November, December, January, and February. He does his best writing during this period. The author used a process of brainstorming to arrive at his ideas. The statements he makes in this book are some truths he has come to realize over the years. He wouldn’t make a statement if he didn’t believe it to be the truth. Some of these statements are simple and obvious but good to think about and ponder.

These amazing sayings, statements, ideas, thoughts, and affirmations are mostly original. These sayings may not be 100% original, but he has at least combined them in his own way to achieve his purpose. They came mostly from the deep recesses of his cerebral consciousness. He never sought out any other written source. Some of these sayings are things he has heard over and over for many years.

The author has tried not to repeat any of the sayings in this book that he has used in other books, but he is going strictly from memory, and hopes his memory serves him well. He had a difficult time remembering what he had previously written. These sayings would often fade away from his memory like butter in a hot frying pan. It was hard to keep up with them. He would get an idea but lose it quickly. As soon as he thought of these sayings, he had to hurriedly write them down. After all, he is a seventy-six-year-old man. He also hopes he didn’t repeat any of the sayings several times as he moved throughout the various sections in this book. Even if he did repeat some of the statements, they are worthy of being repeated.

It was inevitable to repeat some of these common sayings. He tried to limit the number of common sayings. If there is any similarity in thoughts to other ideas, it’s because he had the same idea as someone else. Some of these sayings are questionably