Lest We Forget

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and I’d like to take less than a thousand words to describe the image.

The image inset to this page shows where we are as a nation. It is the picture of life. The experience of the society that we live in.

Everyone wants to feel safe and secure, but how can you feel safe and secure given all of the violence, senseless killings, and unjust realities moving through our nation?

It’s not just about getting up daily to follow the day’s rituals. It is about getting up every day and feeling secure enough to trust that you can do the same and not be in the crossways of other people’s manic behaviors.

When I think about the beauty of life and the heinous disregard for it, my heart is touched with compassion because I know this was not the way the world was intended.

Security means different things to different people. It ends up being the totality of reassurance through the multiple encounters of the day. Whether you are in school, at work at the grocery market, or just sitting in the privacy of your own home, you want to feel the security wrap you snug like a blanket.

I’m trying my best not to be political. I want to be transparent and share the heart of the matter without cross-referencing, pointing fingers in all directions, pointing up, pointing down, pointing at somebody to push the blame. I believe it’s a conscious decision when behaviors are reeled with hate.

I want everyone looking at this blog’s content to take a few moments of introspection. To have self-reflection and awareness and take time to be thankful if you can read this blog. Grateful that you are counted on this day. Thankful when you see your family, your loved ones. Thankful when you can go to work. Grateful that you have food on your table. Thankful that you were able to rest your head on a pillow last night.

We get short-sighted; we forget the things that matter; we forget that today is the day to make a change. Today is the day to do better. Today is the day to release yesterday’s hatred and hurtful actions. Open up and embrace the multitude of blessings you see around you, lest we forget.

The Year of RE-

This is the time of the year when everyone decides to take charge again.

To take time to get another opportunity to correct the areas of our lives where we previously missed our goals (RE-).

I’d like to think that, as we move forward since it is the start of 2022 that we want to embrace the newness of the New Year, which aligns itself paradoxically with wanting to do something different.

Hence the year of RE- (do it again and again).

To this I want everyone reading this post to take charge of 2022 as you learn to –

Refocus – Change your mind and change your life. You must refocus in order to create where you want to be.

Restart – Go back and do it again. Take the lessons learned and create a new opportunity.

Reacquaint – Yourself with who you are. We often forget to do that as we travel this journey of life wearing multiple hats. When is the last time you took the time to know you?

Renew -Your life, initiate an exercise plan for health; try something new, a hobby or food.

Reenergize – What can you do to recenter? What if you start by getting up an hour early to pray, meditate or simply remove the rush that comes from hitting the snooze button one too many times.

Redetermination – No matter who told you that it was impossible; no matter how many times you quit, start again.

Responsibility – The choice is yours always. Only you are accountable for your life and its outcomes. Take charge and see greater manifestation of your desires.

Recover – In life we get knocked down, disappointed, and discouraged. Pause, reflect and recover. Take your place in life and go for what you desire.

Resilience – Is of course the ability to recover quickly from challenges; to spring back into shape. Go for it and when an obstacle appears overcome it.

Remember – That you and only you have the power to make it happen. Do not allow fear or past failures to limit you. Take a stand and reengage towards your dreams.

This Moment

The day starts with an opportunity for you to move past yesterday.

It gives you an opportunity to set the intention of what you want. In this Moment, right now, that intention can focused on a future plan (self-development, increase).

Life has a way of reflecting-you of your past, the hurts, the trauma, the experiences, the encounters, the joys as well as the disappointments. But it also can reflect the opportunities that await.

What you decide in terms of how you will live, whether it is in the past; in the present and hopeful for the future depends on the activities, the actions, the intentions that you push, not anyone else but you, today.

You are the captain; you are the navigator; you are the creator; you are the motivator; you are the one who has every capability embedded within to set the trajectory of your life.

There are no limitations, only self-limitations that you create in your mind. Now understand that the mind is the battlefield and to win your must have a made-up mind to win.

Know that work is work and if you are working and you are diligent, you are trying, and you are effortlessly putting forth the effort you will manifest the intention that you set.

So, if your intentions are to be unmotivated, lacking, lazy, shiftless, not trying, always blaming, always creating another excuse, well that is what you’re going to manifest. But if your intentions are directed towards excelling and you are motivated; increasing; prosperous; activating joy, increasing in strength and always in a place of positivity that is what you are going to manifest.

What ends up happening is that you get set in a barrier mentally (the mind as mentioned earlier) where you adapt to the nothingness mindset, and nothing is an empty spot. It’s dark, it’s dense, it’s no movement and emptiness and when you find yourself staggering at that place you have to be the one to push through the fear to get to the light. You have to be that one to remove all barriers. To look past the normalcy of what your day-to-day encounters would be and try to see an opportunity for you to self-invent, to reinvent, to reestablish, to be renewed every day.

So, I am going to offer you steps that you can take towards the highest intention that is within:

  1. Know what you want. When you know what you want that becomes the jumping board towards establishing your intention.
  2. Take the intention and build your draft around that intention. Then write the steps that it will take for implementation.
  3. Activate the intention by following the steps that you have written one by one. Make the contacts, visit the building that you may want to buy, claim it, speak life to it; align the people that you may need to support your vision. But be careful not everyone will want you to succeed.
  4. Once you have created that plan (which is also known as the business plan) execution is necessary.
  5. Execution is an action word so all I’m saying is you must be doing something. You must work your vision. You must work your dream into fruition.
  6. Once the work has started don’t stop; keep pushing. Check the box for all completed actions that you’ve written down.
  7. Continue to PUSH (perfect until something happens).

Wishing you joy, peace, and consistency in the pursuit of your dream.

Money Matters

You know there’s a lot of talk these days about money matters, finances, how to build your legacy.

People showcase what they did at twenty-five, they speak to how they retire and set sail around the world.  They entice you with intriguing words that usually sound like “RICH” and boom, you are hooked.

I mean come on, who doesn’t need a little extra green face value in their pockets. Who doesn’t want to retire with more than enough to live, to survive and even enough to help others?  But then they say pay $300.00 for the next steps.  And you are like what!! If I had an extra $300.00 to pay for a class, I wouldn’t be online with words prefaced and italicized as “FREE.” 

Well, these next few blog post are going to be focused on FREE financial advice.  Oh no, I am not an expert and I do not have seven figures (yet) that I can show you. What I do have is experience in being in a place financially that was not favorable, and I am still learning how to not go back there. All of what I will share will be elementary for some, but that is often where one needs to be when trying to start something.

Finances are like water, its flowing or a drought.  You sometimes win, and sometimes you lose. But I can offer you these steps to start saving that I am using to kick start your savings plan.

  1. Don’t let the bigger picture stop you – Yes, the end goal can be disabling to establishing the beginning. All you can see is what you want to attain say in the end. Most people people’s first financial goal is to have six months income in reserve at a bank. So, let’s say for you that looks like $1,200.00 and in your mind it’s completely out of reach. But if you stretch it and say that is two hundred dollars a month, or fifty dollars a week, it sounds better, right? But don’t stop there, that fifty a week can become say $7.00 (rounded down) a day. In your mind you think it’s impossible to save 1,200.00 in six months (free and clear), but can you save $7.00 a day? That may mean no more Starbucks, or eating lunch with the crew at work, but if your goal is clear and you are ready to make that move, it is in your will so just do it.
  2. Determine supplemental opportunities – there are so many moonlighting opportunities, or contingencies that you can take to get that $7.00 a day. Keep in mind, you want to save two hundred a month (now of course if your goal is larger reconfigure) or seven dollars a day.  If you look at sites like DoorDash.com, Instacart.com, GoPuff.com, you can work an extra hour and get that covered with no problem. If you want more, work more, right. This an jump start your plan (or even help pay off some bills).
  3. Be-come Disciplined – You see I didn’t say be disciplined, because for many it is hard to say NO to self.  We want what we want and often feel that it is deserved.  Don’t get me wrong you do deserve it, but you must be willing to be disciplined to attain your goal. You must Be-come (begin to be) which means each day you try, each day you have a made-up mind, and each day you come into alignment with your goals.

Come back for the remaining three steps to as we build together a better financial footprint for our lives. We are in this journey together and will become better money managers.

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Making it happen, day by day.

Venting ( From Inside My Head)

The days are filled with questions, way too many to find the answers often times.

What is it that we seek to define this life?

Every day it is a new awareness to what you did not know, something else to add to the many thoughts that cover the day. Something else to fill the mind of how short this time is on earth. Something else that can make you feel that you are the best (or maybe not so much) that you can be my mind wonders.

Why is it that the world only accepts us by the number of likes we have or the number of zero’s that we have in our financial portfolio?  Why can’t we just love because we are to?

I mean even for myself I want to share my life on social media almost by force because not doing so you cannot market to the masses. I mean admittedly our world has grown to million-dollar status’s by subscribing and liking a person’s post. Not even thinking that the rarest and truest post are not made public. And if by chance they, are it aligns to abnormalcy (we are after all human with faults).

I am lost in the game of post (for all social media forms) and honestly prefer the life of simplicity that is private and unassuming. But how am I to share my story? To share who I am becoming; or even just to position myself for the viral overnight success story if the vehicle to get me there is the same one, I don’t want to ride? Talking about an oxymoron.

And I gravitate to the why of it all.

My conclusion is that I want the advantage of notoriety but not the public exposure that can lead to judgement of me not being perfect. You know exactly what I mean, I know you do.

To live up to the expectation of others ladders whereby inevitably you do not measure up. Just let me stay behind the scenes and trust the process of work so that in due season I will reap.

Can I get an Amen?

Life’s Curve Ball

Simply put, life can throw you a curve ball and you are not sure how to catch it.

Moreover, where did it come from?

What does your curve ball look like, what did you do when it came out of the field and caught you by surprise?

Well, let’s talk about where the origin of curve balls come.

I believe that curve balls come from disappointments, from expecting one thing and getting another.

They come from investing into others and being left empty because they never invested back into you.

Life throws a myriad of curves that when you are not in the right position you can miss what was intended for you to catch.

Were you supposed to catch understanding of the why?

Were you supposed to catch creativity when all resources were dried up?

Were you supposed to see that love is more than a convenience for personal need, it is the breath of life?

Maybe you were supposed to learn that difficulties come to reveal the character within.

As we journey through life we are seen in the crossroads for generational deposits. That which comes from those before us and that which we leave for those after us.

Every person has a choice, every person has a conscious to effect and affect their lives.

No one should say that the curve ball made me distance myself from home base because it was not expected, life is lived each day under uncertain expectancy. Yes, we can plan, and we can schedule for things to happen, but the unexpected will always create an opportunity for your creativeness, for your quick response (your hang-time); for you too see what you are truly made of.

These are a few steps that I have tested true for how to adjust in life when the curve balls come:

  1. Grab hold of it – It is here, grab the ball. You now determine what your next steps are.
  2. Move – something has to change. Often, we look outside for change, but it is within you.
  3. Challenge your fear – It is difficult walking in the unexpected, but if you stand still nothing changes.
  4. Embrace the change – What ways can you project this defining moment of opportunity?
  5. Elevate – You must rise to the momentum of where this change moves you.

What has happened, has happened. Do not allow it to diminish your light. Your plan.

Reorientate yourself to what you know and take every challenge to be-come the overcomer.

Life is not a bed of roses, but you can handle the pressures by adjusting your expectancy and catch the curve ball to new heights.

The Value of the Moment

Well, this would be the first blog entry that I’ve written from a place where I am transitioning to a higher plane of accepting that I control nothing.  We are in the life, sent for a purpose and no matter how much we think we are orchestrating our daily lives we really are not. Oh yes, we must make choices, but what happens when life just does what it does?

No matter how well defined we are towards becoming, everyday we be come what the universe sends. I mean really no one wants negative energy or bad things to happen, but it is the way of life on either spectrum, right. I mean if we could control the outcomes EVERYTHING would be spectacular, just as we want it, right.

It’s not common for me to share my day-to-day activities but at this moment I really hope that my words can give inspiration to someone to value the moment. You see I had a situation happen two weeks ago that literally PAUSED my life from the plans I had overnight.  No, I didn’t lose anyone; I didn’t lose my job; I didn’t have a major relationship break up but had a physical temporary impairment (4-6 weeks projected) that cause me to stop, reflect and change my view.

I mean literally overnight, I went from being this vibrant, functioning, highly motivated individual to being a highly functioning, not as vibrant because of the excruciating pain that I was in. I transferred my thoughts of myself as an individual who was independent to a dependent on all for everything. And of course, I questioned my own purpose and the obvious thought of WHY me, and why now?

Right at that moment I had to shift my thinking to “heal thyself” as I fought to remove every dart and negative thought that tried to end my life (it does start in the mind). The battles became real, way into the midnight hour, and I could not win every battle, but thank God for being a very present help in time of need. And while I am questioning everything and reshaping the value of me, this too will work together for my good.

If you are reading my blog and you know my vibe, I am a pursuer of life, creating the space I live in void of negativity and now this situation has me fighting to keep the “good energy” I need to fully restored. Cause even in this I am still “rooted for purpose “and in this I will still inspire, to give light to others. To know that this situation has allowed me to see my greater need for this light (divine) to shine towards me.

This temporary setback is a set up for me, this I must believe as I will be more victorious over obstacles that come my way.  It has allowed to receive that “agape” love in a tangible way from my family and to open my heart, eyes, and mind to receive the love that they are displaying, around the clock care, support, and laughter. It is a blessing to have my family. So beautiful.

Humility, gratefulness and absolutely submission to the life that I no longer control. It is by His grace, His love, and His mercy that I live and only through my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ can the power of God have complete control. To know that within a moment, your mobility, your life can just change is an awakening. Something that we often times take for granted. I never thought I did, but clearly, I can say being here, I will do better.

Love your life, love your family, love the health that you live under and above all never take anything or anyone for granted. In the flash of second it can all change.

Be blessed and trust the process.

Silent Yet Strong

Do you hear it?

is it loud or is it silently taking you to a place of remembrance?

what is it that you feel?

What is it that you sense?

Why is it that it moves you to a different place unspoken?

Or even makes you stop in your tracks?

Silent, but yet controlling every step of your life.

And when left uncontrolled can become very explosive?

I creep up on you and you wonder where I came from

I often catch you by surprise with amazement and cheer.

And I never shut off, not designed to do so.

How you manage me it is up to you

But when you harness that power to know what to do

Always keep in mind

Your THOUGHTS are what you do and trust me, I will follow you.

And do what you say everyday and in every way.

Control me or I will control you!

What do you think – after all it’s up to you!

Seasons

You know, here in Michigan, we have four seasons, and while the spring, summer and fall are welcomed with open arms, the winter months can be quite the challenge.

But it is the picture we create as we remember what is to come, not where we are.

Remembering the walks on the lakes, the time at the park, the walks at dark.

Even we are now awakened to roads covered in snow it is just a season and we are here for a reason.

But isn’t that life?

I’d like to think that even as the seasons change for reason so do the seasons of our life.

Think about it!

It’s never the same.

It’s always changing.

There’s different levels up enjoyment and different levels of pain.

Just like the seasons I would reason so are the seasons of our life.

Sometimes it’s difficult to understand the plight but oftentimes they bring us to new heights.

Heights of awareness of self

Heights of awareness of others

Heights of understanding those things that seemed so questionable.

I don’t know maybe the weather externally provides an indication of the internal and how we reside.

Think on that, what is your stride?

What season of life are you’re in?

I guess if we equate our lives to seasons, Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall

We will know that whatever the season it will pass.

It may be a blistery storm right now, but you have to believe that the sunshine will come.

Maybe it’s the fall where every leaf of life has fallen to the ground, but even the leaves do grow again to the trees.

Think about that life brings forth creation not just when we’re born but every day that we live.

A time to create.

A time to celebrate.

What season are you in, I ask again, that you may know it is temporary.

As the seasons change may you know that through it all it’s your time to grow, let nothing stop you.

It is your time –

To glow

To win!

Is it Just Me?

If you are reading this blog today can we just have a little mental conversation?

Some blog time, with your mind.

There are some things that I think about, unspoken.

What about you?

And of course, we all wonder if these thoughts are just our own (where did that come from?).

Do you ever wonder if you have what it takes?

Wonder if you will complete your goals before the end date?

Or even if you are doing what you were placed – on this earth to do?

Maybe my thoughts cycle around because my spirit is curious or

Maybe because I am genuinely wanting to find purpose in life.

Maybe you have felt the same, maybe I am not the only one in this game (of life).

Piercing thoughts without answers, some may say why does it matter

Yet as we live, we must find something more to give

From within ourselves

Over to someone else

If you can relate, let’s celebrate

Leave a comment as we create

Each day a way to be/come more and more

Of WHO we are meant to be!

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