"Beautiful People Under 35": Shondelle and Ron Miles...Empowering Others in Mind...Body...Spirit!"

When you get to know them, you know they are together not by happenstance but by a greater force at work. Only Spirit could have aligned their life’s plans and the overall direction they are taking together as a couple, fulfilling both their individual and joint goals, and with such sure steps.


Individually, each is a force to be reckoned with and unstoppable in his and her own right. As a team, their merged energy creates dynamism and an illumination that is blazing a trail that benefits so many others.

Shondelle is shining the light of empowerment for many in her personal training and fitness gym. Ron is charting his course through the path of Education. What’s amazing is that this trailblazing couple still is under 35. They both will celebrate that age this year.

Shondelle’s full awakening to Spirit happened out of the blue, when it seemed she just woke up one day in her early 30s and knew that she was not walking alone. That’s when she became fully conscious of the constant Presence of a shadow greater than her own.


Ron, it seems to all who know him, was born an “old soul.” Even as a boy, he had a wisdom within him that led him to do and be greater things than his age suggested he could.

As one of two children, Ron did not have an easy beginning. He was the product of a single mom who was overwhelmed by her responsibilities. That didn’t stop her, though, from seeking through her friends and relatives the best for her boy and girl, slightly older than Ron.

The fact that Ron and his sister, Rhonda, turned out so well is a testament to their mother’s love. When she died at the relatively young age of 46 in 2001, she died with the contentment of knowing that the goals she may not have accomplished for herself in her lifetime, she’d ensured both her kids would in theirs.

Shondelle is the eldest of three children; Saudia, follows her, then Steven, the youngest. As the eldest child, Shondelle could have been crippled by the divorce of her parents when she was still attending high school. Instead, she saw the strength of Spirit displayed by her mom, suddenly single, and made that strength and courage an example to follow, not to use for despair.


There they came: one from a single-home environment; one from a broken home. They met at Columbia University, New York City, where each attended undergraduate school. They became fast friends, and only friends, for many years, until they both graduated in 1996 and went their separate ways.


As Spirit would have it, though, this was not the ending that was to be.


Upon graduating with his degree in Spanish Literature and Language, Ron returned to Oakland, Calif., where he’d grown up. Since in addition to English and Spanish, he also was fluent in Italian and Portuguese, he began working for a translation company in San Francisco. Upon obtaining her Pre-Med and Psychology degree, Shondelle, who grew up in Silver Spring & Hyattsville, MD, was doing social work in New York City. She was not enjoying the work and also realized then that long term, she did not want to work for others. Yet, she did not know what she wanted to do.

She did not want to return home, because she wanted to show her mother that she’d developed the independence and strength of Spirit she’d always been taught. It was then that Ron invited Shondelle out to Oakland, as a friend, to visit. She accepted Ron’s invitation.

The rest became history.


It was in Oakland, Calif., that Shondelle fully developed her Physical Fitness training skills, working at 24-Hour Fitness, Oakland, which she describes as the “best training I ever could have had.”


Shondelle credits 24-Hour Fitness’ caring about her as an employee, enabling her to receive her certifications, and providing her with a certain level of stability and the solid foundation to make Physical Fitness training her career goal.

Granted, her passion for the field began years before that. It could have started when as a young girl, she saw her father, Percival, a fitness enthusiast, doing his daily work out. But she thinks the real stirrings came when she began working at the college gym at Columbia.

While working at the gym as a receptionist, she said she began to “play around” with the weights and other equipment. She began to like it. Then the idea began to germinate in her mind that she could do Personal Training as a business endeavor.

At Columbia, she developed her own following of students who paid her a “small” fee for personal training, even before the field was truly popular. She began to attract so many students that the college gym administrators got a wind of it. Realizing the demand for this type of training, the university decided that they would implement their own Personal Training department. She should have been out of a job, except that even then, her clients were loyal to her and continued to follow her for training during her off hours at the gym.

The seed was planted.

Shondelle and Ron moved to the greater Ft. Lauderdale area in 2000, because “we vacationed there and realized that this was WHO we were: the tropical weather and the overall lifestyle were US!”

Shondelle began to work at the local gym of a major national fitness chain, but she soon perceived that the business was not about the clients but “about the profits and how we, as personal fitness trainers, should be motivated to act with them. This concerned me to no end,” she says.

At that gym, though, she saw the beginnings of the potential for making a successful business. She personal trained several people as an independent trainer, until the chain went to an employee-based system for all Personal Training. Moving to another gym as an independent soon after that, she also experienced the same fate. This was in late 2003, and she was pregnant with her son, Jasai. By then, too, she began to lose all interest in working for others.


She’d completed her studies and had obtained a master’s degree in Sports Medicine from the University of Miami. Ron, during this time, was a highly successful southeast regional sales manager for Prentice Hall, a textbook publisher. He was earning a significant enough income, and he encouraged Shondelle to step out and try to do the Physical Fitness training business on her own.


They set up the first gym in their garage at home: The Fitness Playground. It was approximately 600 square feet. From there, the business began to grow and grow.

Meanwhile, as Shondelle’s business was growing, Ron began to ask himself some tough questions. In 2004, his son, Jasai, was born. He began to hate the weekends, the many, many weekends, when he had to fly to another city in order to meet with another school about new textbooks.



In 2005, he had his own spiritual awakening. “I declared that my family and personal fulfillment were the only priorities in my life,” he says. “In a seamless act of liberation, I decided to trade in my successful traveling sales manager career to spend quality time with the greatest gifts life has yet to offer me...a loving relationship with my wife and child (ren).”

He left educational publishing in 2006, but the time he’d spent there was not for naught. "It had opened my eyes to the true, abysmal state of education in the United States. What I witnessed ignited an urgent desire in my Spirit to get involved on the front lines and to join in the fight to find relevant and effective solutions.

“The Ivy Leaguer in me came alive, and I felt compelled to learn more, to dig beneath the surface to better comprehend and improve the function of education in the 21st Century."



He began to work at a local private school and began his work towards a master’s degree in International and Intercultural Education at Florida International University and also worked towards attaining a graduate certificate specializing in Africa-New World Studies (Africana Studies).


Since that time, Ron has earned his degree and certification and has worked in the private school sector with gifted and talented students, special needs students, and English language learners ranging from grades Pre-K3 through 12th grade. He also has taught a variety of subjects including Spanish, World History and Multicultural Dance. This fall, he will begin a doctoral program in Curriculum and Instruction, specializing in Language, Literacy and Culture.

“This is an exciting time to be in higher education,” he says. “The 19th century model of education that we currently follow in the United States is outdated and has no place in the 21st century. Through my PhD research, I intend to answer critical questions that assert my theories about which direction educational leaders need to take American education.”

Ron’s personal philosophy is “NONE of us is stronger than ALL of us.”





He and Shondelle travel often to their second home in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (This is where they got engaged.) Because of his language skills, Ron always has been a world traveler and now considers himself a resident of Florida but a “citizen of the world.”

Today, the Miles’ Personal Training business, Synergize!, (http://synergizeweightloss.com), is housed in a 6,000-square-foot facility in Hollywood, Florida. It has a current membership of a few hundred people and employs six personal trainers and three other part-time workers. Voted the “Best Place to Work out in Hollywood, Florida” for three consecutive years, Synergize !, offers semi-private training classes, boot camp and group classes that include Spinning, *Cardio Dance, Kickboxing, Mat Pilates and Yoga. Shondelle states that since 2004 when she had her first gym, she must have trained some 800 people.

“It is a great sense of accomplishment to know that you were involved in getting someone to feel better about himself,”she says. “I have had one client who lost 90 pounds and has kept it off for more than five years. We offer our clients much more than a weight loss and exercise program. We offer them a new way of looking at life and doing life for successful results."

Shondelle gives all the glory for the success to Spirit.

“I feel so aligned to Spirit that sometimes I feel unstoppable because of the connection. Once I align with my Spirit, I know I can fulfill any goal, because I know I am not walking alone.

“Even when I’m in my human moments, and feel fear, I act in spite of that fear, anyway. I feel the fear and keep acting anyway...because I know it’s all going to be okay.”

Despite his involvement in Education, Ron has not missed on sharing Shondelle’s passion for fitness. He serves Synergize! as a Group Fitness Instructor and Manager. Drawing on his love of dance, he created a group fitness exercise class that explores traditional dance movements from the Caribbean and Latin American carnival celebrations. *Cardio P.A. R. A. D.E (Pan- African Rhythms and Danceable Exercises) fuses standard aerobic movements set to Soca, Samba, Merengue, Salsa, Konpa and Hip Hop music.

He says, “This is real life synergy in its best form as Shondelle and I continually work to combine our personal strengths and professional interests! What a blessing!”

Shondelle and Ron attend Ft. Lauderdale-based, Universal Truth Center, led by Rev. Dr. Mary Pumpkin. In April 2008, the couple welcomed their second child, a girl, Senaya.



Beautiful young people each realizing their dreams by following the guidance of Spirit.

Namaste’,

Che’

NOTE: Shondelle is my niece, daughter of my sister, Merlyn Vyfhuis Solomon. Ron is the nephew of my heart. I also knew and loved his mom, Kathy Miles.
In 2006, Shondelle published, “The Ultimate Fat Loss Guide: 18 Strategies for Blasting Away Stubborn Body Fat.” This is available for purchase through her Website: http://www.synergizeweightloss.com.

He Has Spoken! It is Done! Barack Hussein Obama Becomes President of the United States!

GOD HAS SPOKEN! He Always Has the FINAL word! Barack Hussein Obama becomes the 44th President of the United States, because it was GOD'S WILL! IT IS DONE!








Text of President Barack Obama's inaugural address on Tuesday, as prepared for delivery and released by the Presidential Inaugural Committee, follows below.



OBAMA said on this January 20th Day of 2009:

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it)."

America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Nice Guys DO finish First: The Inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama, the First Black President of the United States

He seemed too nice.

He was so nice, I underestimated him.

I didn't support him....at...first!

Nice guys don't finish FIRST!

"What is he THINKING?"


I chose his opponent in the Democratic primary instead!

I attacked him with a ferociousness that surprised even me!
It wasn't because I wasn't BLACK enough, as so many accused me.
In some part of my Consciousness, I feared for him!

"Don't waste my time! Don't waste people's time! These are
critical times, we don't have TIME to WASTE with nice guys. We need a pit bull...
a bull dog who knows how to BITE BACK when 'they' unleash their attack dogs! We want someone who can FIGHT DAMMIT. Get out of the way, nice guy!

What are you THINKING! Those Republicans are gonna EAT YOU ALIVE?"

This nice guy proved he had staying power and stamina and a lot more
too! He was elected with a landslide!


When the final tally was in, he'd won more than 53 percent of the popular
vote and more than two to one the electoral votes.

This nice guy was a WINNER!

This week, we celebrate two important events in American History, and we can only wonder about the immensity of the power of our God!

Today, Monday, January 19, 2009, we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. Then tomorrow, on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, we will be witnesses to a first in U.S. history: the inauguration of the first black president in the United States. We will witness Barack Hussein Obama take leadership of these 50 United States and the District of Columbia to become the 44th President of the country!


January 19 & 20 2009 are powerful days for Americans of all colors, but mostly for Americans of African descent!
(Enjoy this technology created image!)



On Tuesday, the dream of Martin Luther King, Jr. takes form and shape in the body of the man known as Barack Hussein Obama!

On Tuesday, God's word will become LAW in our LAND!





We will witness the hands, the unseen hands, that were at work throughout the entire history of the United States...We know unequivocally now that there was a DIVINE ORDER AT WORK ...through the enslavement of African Americans... through the Civil Rights War and the deaths of the many men and women, both black and white, who died... through the emancipation of African Americans... through the enactment of Equal Rights and Voting Rights laws to protect African American... through the Affirmation Action Laws to aid African American where unfairness prevailed... through the growth in consciousness of ALL Americans... through the nomination of Barack Hussein Obama... through the election of Barack Hussein Obama to become president of the United States of America.

Only a silent force ... call it Cosmic Consciousness... that does not cater to the whims of the world could have executed such a perfect blow to those who would have injustice and inequality and unfairness continue in our world!


Only one of immense power could have shut up all the naysayers, like me, and others and SHOW us that we can have faith, we can believe, we can dream, we can DARE TO WIN!



Nice guys DO FINISH FIRST, sometimes.


Nice guys who are walking in the ways of our God!

Nice guys who are appointed and anointed by our God!

Nice guys who appoint their former opponent to the best job for her, Secretary of State, where she can do what she does best and who truly lives JFK's: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country!"


On Tuesday as you watch Barack Hussein Obama, CELEBRATE GOD'S HANDIWORK!!!

May God continue to bless Barack Obama in the days, months and years ahead!




May God Bless us ALL as Americans!

May you ALL continue to walk in faith, even as your lamps of hope
seem to be flickering, your steps faltering in despair and your
strength faint by the burdens you may have had to bear and are bearing.

God is ALIVE and WELL in the World! There is a Divine Order
still at work...ONLY Believe!


Namaste',

Che'