Author: admin

Watching or Not?  It’s a Sunday evening before the 2020 Presidential Election and I’m sitting here preparing a speech for my monthly event, when I decided to check my emails and ran across a post from O’ Magazine.  The topic of discussion was, “Where do you plan to be on election night versus where you were in 2016?”  My God!  Do I remember where I was in 2016?  At the time I had Cable TV and I was glued to CNN until the final verdict was reached.  This was nothing new to me, since I had been watching CNN for the past eight years while President Obama was in office, but this night I was up til 4:00am.  However, a week after the 2016 election I cancelled my cable because from that day forward I refused to allow the media, in any form, to take up that much space in my mind, especially with such a drastic outcome.  I have to admit that I was devastated and living alone did not help.

So what about this November 3rd?  Where will I be?  Will I watch the Election?  Yes I will.  However, I did take the following day off just to detox and not have to talk to anyone about the outcome no matter what happens.  Will I be devastated if my party doesn’t win?  Of course not!  This time around I did not allow myself to become so invested in the political process to the point where my ability to function is based on the outcome.  For the past four years I have depended on God and He has not failed me yet!  I will continue to put my sole trust in Him and Him alone.  So no matter what happens on Tuesday, November 3rd I’ll be alright and so will you.

 

 

I’ve been a caregiver for over twenty years and recently I was sitting with my client who has a bird feeder at his window.  On this particular day the birds kept going to the empty holes at the top of the feeder rather than the last hole at the bottom where the food was located.  My client says to me as we are watching, “They keep going to the top because they don’t realize that the food is at the bottom.”  Immediately a light bulb went off in my head and I thought to myself, the birds are so accustomed to going to the top where the food is overflowing, that when it moves to the bottom they get confused.  As human beings we are the exact same way.  God has told us and has shown us that a lot of times what we need is at the bottom, and sometimes we might have to go to “rock bottom” to get what He has for us and to perform at the level that He wants us to perform.  When you look at the way society is right now, the people at the top are the ones who are hurting the most because they have more to lose.  For people like me and others, we know what it’s like to hit “rock bottom.”  We know how to switch gears when things are not always going and rocking and rolling at the top level, so we don’t suffer as bad.  The pain that we feel is different than the pain of the people at the top, because they have gotten accustomed to going to the top, being at the top, and recognized at the top for who they are and what they have.

Sometimes we are like that little bird who doesn’t know how to go to the bottom where the food has fallen because we are familiar with getting our food from the top!  But what happens when it’s all gone at the top?  You do like those little birds and eventually realize that you need to go to the bottom to get fed.  So don’t feel bad if you are at the bottom right now because God is preparing you to feed where He has the food. Don’t lose faith while we are in this pandemic! God will propel you back to the top.

Who’s responsible for getting back to you?  If you can’t sell it why should I buy it?  Every “No” that you get is bringing you closer to your “Yes.”  Never give up until you have exhausted all avenues that are available to you for closing the deal.  A “No” is a “No” until it’s a “Yes!”

As business owners sometimes it can be hard to determine when to stop asking.  But the most important question I find myself dealing with is, “Who’s responsible for the ‘I’ll get back to you’?”  Recently I expressed an interest in a product/service that was offered on a Zoom call and I promised to get back to the person once I returned from my weekend trip.  Well, as life would have it when I returned on the following Monday, everything that I had scheduled for the week needed to be updated because of a work situation that completely changed.  Naturally, I did not get back with that person!  I saw my note but it was no longer a priority and I soon forgot about it as the week went along.  By Friday, I noticed a post on Facebook by them about something totally unrelated to our conversation, but then I remembered that I had failed to get back to them.  That’s when the question became, “Who’s responsible for the ‘I’ll get back to you’?”  The bottom line I decided is the person who’s selling the product/service!

 

Homemade Media on Unsplash

I was already in Pivot mode before the word became a household conversation and God put everyone else there. In March 2020 I knew that Geri Speak would no longer be what it used to be and I would be showing up on social media and in person differently. I had no idea how different that would end up being as I put plans and people in place for the “Geri You Don’t Know!” Once Covid-19 hit everyone found themselves tied to their devices and adapting to a new normal, something I also spoke about in 2019 without knowing what was about to hit us.

I have been sharing my personal stories of triumph for over thirty years, and is really good at bringing others together in the process. Recently I realized that the one thing we all counted on in the past, which was face-to-face events, had suddenly disappeared. Although I am very comfortable with social media and going live occasionally I was not looking forward to this new endeavor, because I depended on face-to-face audiences to fuel my passion. Nevertheless, I jumped right in and before long I was going live every day for over two months, doing what I called, “Purpose Positivity.” This became overwhelming with not enough time for preparation, in addition to trying to find something positive to say every day during such a sad occasion for the world. So I dropped everything and decided to go silent for awhile and seek God for advice. During my silence “Out The Box,” my current monthly show on Facebook LIVE every second Saturday of the month was birthed. It initially started because I wanted to share the message that God had given me from the 2020 Annual Conference, which was cancelled because of Covid. “Out The Box” ended up being such a huge success that it has become a monthly, Raw, Real, and Unique Facebook LIVE experience from my Geri Speak Studio, or wherever I happen to be on the second Saturday of each month. There will always be surprises along the way.  Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and I am a 35-yr breast cancer survivor, this third episode on October 10, 2020, will highlight Intimacy, Breast Cancer, and Celibacy.

Do you realize that you are in control of your peace?  How many times  have you knowingly allowed another person’s energy to sap your energy?  We say little things like, “If so and so hadn’t done this or that, then I wouldn’t have done or acted like such and such.”  No, so and so had nothing to do with disturbing your peace.  Your mindset is what allowed your peace to be disturbed.  Yeah, of course there are times when we answer the call without knowing exactly what’s on the other end of the line.  But we DO chose how we respond to what we hear or see at any given moment.  Nobody can steal your peace!  I understand there are many things that we cannot change or remove from our lives, but if something continues to happen [on a regular basis, then you need to examine yourself and maybe change the way that you allow interferences to enter into your life.  Over the years I have changed the way I experience my morning time.  People laugh at me when I say, “I don’t want to talk to anyone before 11am.”  That’s a choice that I made for myself and since I’m retired and not working a 9 – 5, then I can do that!  I do social media, and I check messages in the morning, however there were times when I didn’t even look at my phone until 11am.  After awhile I realized that people do business before 11 o’clock, so if I want to get with the program, then I have to check my phone before 11am.  I still don’t turn the volume on until 11am.  Recently I stopped checking my phone before my morning meditation because it created a serious shift in my energy, and I found myself losing focus and allowing the outside world to dictate my thoughts before I even left out my door.  I took my power back because peace is prime real estate!  It’s expensive and worth every dime that you pay.

We know that the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy your ideas, dreams, your visions and your goals.  He comes to steal and kill everything that God has put in your heart and your mind.  Recently I stopped paying attention to my goals, which I always update every year, because of Covid.  What a mistake that was because God gave me a subtle reminder that everything works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.  He showed me how to return to my passion for writing and speaking according to the “New Normal!”

I realized that unless I continue to be passionate about my dreams then He will continue to hover above like an airplane on autopilot until I believe and clear the runway so that He can land.  Our runway is so full of all the other crap that we have going on in our lives, all the other stuff that’s taking our attention, all the distractions of this world that is created to keep us from putting the word out, to keep us from doing what God asks us to do.  We just stop praising Him because things don’t look the way we want it to look.  But that’s not how it goes.  We need to clear all that stuff out the way and welcome God to the landing field so that He can come in and give us what we need.  But you won’t receive it unless you believe it.  He’s waiting to unload all the new stuff that He has on board for you.  Make room for more!  We need to get serious about what God is trying to do in our lives and stop all this foolishness.  Give the enemy a black eye!

There will always be doors opening and closing in your life.  It is your job to decide how much emphasis you will place on the closed door versus the new one that is opening.  If you continue to look back and wish that things were different or second guess yourself on why things happened the way they did, please know that the new door cannot swing open as wide.  When you look for someone or something to place the blame, the universe cannot give you what you really need.  It is not good to take the negative energy of what didn’t work out into the new door that is about to open.  This is the hardest principle to follow in life, but it is a necessary one.  As you watch a door come to a close you will be so tempted to ask questions, because as women we want closure.  We want someone to tell us what went wrong so we don’t make the same mistake again.  This goes for any area of our lives, not just in relationships.  Please know that you didn’t make a mistake.  Life is opening you to a new possibility by way of someone else not accepting who you are.  Even if you had done things differently, you would still be preparing to step through another door.  So don’t beat yourself up!  Of course it’s hard to remain calm when it always seem that you are the problem.  Sometimes you ask God, why can’t another door open because of something someone else did?  Why does it always seem to be about what I did or did not do?  You get comfortable in places and show your real self and the relationships change.  Don’t get mad with the other person.  Be thankful that God sees the future and your move may be His way of avoiding a disaster, because there is something more in line with your character.  It will be hard to see this while you are trying to leave a crack in the door.  You are hoping that something can be done to change the circumstances so you can go back.  God is moving you forward, so stop looking back.  Focus all your attention and positive energy on the new door that is looking you in the face.

Photo by James Healy on Unsplash

During my reading a few days ago I came across a statement that suggests we have a fear of fear.  My first thought was how can you fear, fear?  That just doesn’t make sense.  After giving it some serious thought I realized what that means.  It’s almost like having a double fear.  Not only do you fear what you sense is coming but you also fear how you will react once it comes.  So in essence you start to fear what you already fear.  Let me give you an example.  You have a meeting scheduled for Wednesday, and today is Monday.  Although everything was set in place for you several weeks ago, you always get nervous in these type of settings.  It doesn’t matter that you have scored highly and is at the top of your game when it comes to presenting yourself in a successful manner.  As the time draws closer you find yourself anxious and reciting your response to the questions that you feel you may be asked on Wednesday.  What you are doing in this moment is practicing  “The Fear of Fear!”  In doing so you can easily lose sight of Monday and Tuesday by projecting your fears of Wednesday into these two days.  God has not given us a spirit of fear, therefore we should not practice it any time.  It is understandable that anxiety may creep in, but don’t let fear pack a bag and move in for three or four days. Try not to give it any space at all in your world!

Photo by Марьян Блан | @marjanblan

TheThree C’s of Covid – Confidence, Creativity, and Curiosity!  There are so many good things that have come out of Covid-19 and I truly understand that this statement is relative, therefore I only speak for myself.  At the onset I felt like the world was coming to an end with no turnaround in sight.  As an Author and Motivational Speaker I did not see how it would be possible to put a positive spin on such a tragic turn of events in everyone’s life, not just mine.  Thanks be to God, I found my way.  Confidence – This crisis has taught us that we definitely need confidence in God, ourselves, and in our products or services that we provide to our fellowman.  If you can’t sell it, then why should I buy it!  I’ve seen so many people pivot time and again whenever it became necessary.   Creativity –  I had no idea of my abilities to create outside the box and sometimes under pressure and extreme scrutiny, since most of my work is done based on my personal experiences.  As an Author and Speaker, I wasn’t experiencing anything that the rest of world wasn’t experiencing, so why would they want to hear from me?  Curiosity –  In the midst of this pandemic I found myself curious about how others were handling the situation and what they were doing differently.  I watched more videos than ever before, I learned new technology in order to keep up with the way the world was changing, and most of all I found my niche by simply being authentically myself.  I wasted no time in making social media my newfound game changer.

As the world changed we realized that we had to do the same.  Not sure if you noticed, but within a few days after Covid-19 became a reality for the world, the major companies immediately put in place new ads that included customers and clients wearing face masks, as they promoted why you needed their product now more than ever before

Photo by Drew Hays on Unsplash

No matter what you are experiencing during these troubling times at some point you will simply have to S.T.O.P. As much as we would like to fill every empty space and not waste this valuable free time, that is not a realistic option. Here is a nice little suggestion for the acronym, S.T.O.P. (S) – Silence the noise in the world, in your head, your home, from family and friends, on social media and television. (T) – Take an inventory of everything in your life. Find out what’s working and what’s not working. What type of adjustments can you make? What can you do more of? If it’s not working find out why it’s not working and what you can do different to make it work better? (O) – Open your mind to new technology and new things to read, or things outside your comfort zone, because therein might lie your realization of how God is in the situation. He loves to show up outside the box! (P) – Pray and then Plan. Make sure you do this in the proper order. A lot of times we plan first and then we ask God to fix our mess, and make our agenda come true. Life is much more fulfilling if you pray then plan.