Category: Inspirations

Give me a seed and I will make it grow.  No, I’m not talking about planting a seed in a flower pot or the ground.  I’m talking about a seed of hope, a seed of love, or a seed of joy.  We have all been given seeds from God.  What we choose to do with them is up to us.  But don’t eat your seed!  Life should not always be about me, me, and me.  When God blesses you He can always make it go further than you could ever dream.  It may seem like you barely have enough for yourself, but I have come to realize that the minute I give to someone else, I watch more come back to me.

A seed does not come alive until it dies.  We need to be dead to some of our ways, dead to our thinking at times and even dead to others.  Yes!  If you know for a fact that someone means you no good, don’t answer the call or text.  They will eventually stop calling.  I read somewhere the other day that if you are not losing friends, then you are not growing.  That’s interesting.  I have a new appreciation for the friends that I have lost.

Then there are seeds that we see in others.  We have to be careful how we allow those seeds to be sewn into our lives.  Don’t plant someone else’s opinion of you in your mind.  Don’t operate in your gifts based on the belief system of another.  Why would you make a major decision that you will have to live with the rest of your life, based on what someone else thinks?  That just doesn’t make sense.  Of course, we have to consider others if we are married or in relationships.  I’m not suggesting that you do whatever you want to do regardless of your partners’ ideas. But be careful that you do not lose sight of you in striving to please another.  We all have important seeds to sow and grow.

 

 

 

WARNING:  This blog is morbid and totally out of character for me.  For those of you who read the first paragraph and decide whether to continue, I’m starting right where my thoughts begin.  As I was flipping the channels I came across one of the “Housewives” shows and decided to linger awhile.  A couple was talking with a counselor about saving their marriage, and I found it to be quite interesting.  During the session the counselor asked each spouse to write their own eulogy and have the other person read it.  Not only did they have to read it, but the opposite spouse had to lie on the floor as though they were dead while the other one read their eulogy.  There was even a fake headstone with the writing, “Here lies  …”   Although I would never consider writing my own eulogy, I have given serious thought to writing the program for my home going service.  And this week I thought about it more than I have in the past.

As I watched a video that was posted on Facebook this week about detoxing your body, I was moved by the additional statements about toxic relationships and prioritizing the people in your life.  Then there was the horrible massacre at the church in Charleston, SC, where I live, and three days later I just happened to flip to this program where a husband and wife pretended to be dead, while the other read their eulogy.  The combination of these events in one week just took me to a place of heaviness that I didn’t know I had until I walked into my church service on Sunday morning.  I’m beginning to take a serious evaluation of what really matters in the end.

 

I remember being poor and wondered what people meant when they said, “You pay for atmosphere.”  My thought was you pay for food, so why spend extra money for something called “atmosphere?”  Well, needless to say, my thoughts have changed.  Not that I’m rich, but I’m no longer poor, and I know the value of atmosphere.  When you look at these two pictures, which view would you prefer?

I won’t give details and hope no one recognizes the two restaurants.  Recently I had to make a decision.  Either I remain at a place that met none of my expectations, based on my internet research and recommendations from friends, or I could go to another place that I knew would give a better vibe.  Sometimes we make choices and think that we are stuck in them.  You can always change your mind.  Even though I was dissatisfied with the atmosphere, not to mention the heat, and the fact that the complimentary items were already on the table, I did not just walk out.  I made a small purchase and left a fairly decent tip.  But my heart so welcomed my second choice.  I spent two hours looking out on the water and enjoyed every moment.  Now I know you can’t put a price on “atmosphere!”

We all have days and sometimes weeks when it seems like a huge animal called fear is chasing us around.  No matter how fast you run it keeps gaining on you.  As soon as you get up the nerve to tackle one thing another thing pops up.  You find yourself back on that treadmill with fear chasing you again.  You look at your goals that you wrote down and realize that you haven’t even come close to starting some of them, much less completing them.  And then there are things that you want to do simply because you have never done them before.  Either you keep telling yourself, or someone else keeps telling you, that it can’t be done.  In the back of your mind you still want to at least make an effort.  But, once again, that huge animal called fear is on your trail.

Recently I faced a fear that I have had for four years.  When I moved to Charleston, South Carolina the only time I would travel to Virginia was with family members.  I had always told myself that I am not able to drive that distance because of pain and discomfort from a surgery many years ago.  As my financial situation changed and I started to desire more control of my traveling situation, God changed the way I looked at that fear.  I started to see myself enjoying the ride rather than dreading it.  Needless to say, once I visualized it in my mind, I was able to do it.  So I finally traveled to Virginia to be with my children and grandchildren for a week.  I was able to do this because I looked fear in the face and said, “No, you will not sabotage my desire to see my children.  Yes, I can drive to Virginia and I will!”  I split the trip in half and spent a night in a hotel going and coming.  God took me safely all the way to Virginia and back to South Carolina.  I enjoyed the views along the way.  I took myself shopping and out to dinner.  It was nice to be in control of my time.  I was able to visit whomever I wanted to when it was convenient for me, rather than have someone take me to see people.  It was such a joy and a blessed trip that I am looking forward to doing it again next year.  When I arrived at my daughter’s house, I was so filled with the spirit that I almost danced a hole in her grass.  I praised the Lord so much that her neighbors started coming to their doors to see what was going on.  I told my daughter, “That’s okay.  They don’t know how far the Lord has brought me.  They will understand when they see the tags on my car.”  She said, “Mama you scaring my neighbors.  But that’s alright.  Do you!”

So in closing I say, “Do you!”  Don’t let fear keep you from trying something that you may be telling yourself that you cannot do.  With God all things are possible.

 

We all have things in life that we want to achieve.  I’ve heard that luck is when preparation meets opportunity.  Never believed in luck, so I constantly work on being prepared for whatever life sends my way.  None of us can determine the outcome of all our decisions, but we can strive to stay one step ahead of the game.  I always believed in being in the right place at the right time, especially when it comes to living my dreams.

As far back as I can remember, I loved being on stage.  Maybe it was a play at school, singing in the choir, or a talent show.  There was something about having people sit there and watch what you are doing.  It was not so much about the fame as it was the desire to feel important.  Coming from a dysfunctional family, there was not much at home to inspire me.  My teachers always saw more in me than I saw in myself.  That played a pivotal role in me becoming the inspirational speaker and author that I am today.  As I embark upon a new venture I am thankful that I never gave up on my dream.  It is exciting and scary to finally be putting things in place that I saw myself doing twenty-five years ago.  Do I have all my “Is” dotted and all my “Ts” crossed?  Of course not!  It’s a day by day process of lining up people and ideas to bring the vision into fruition.  What I do know is this; I have enough wisdom, courage, and faith to start the conversation.  We all have dreams, but not all of us are willing to put in the effort and do the waiting.  We live in a microwave society.  If it doesn’t happen right now, we stop believing and working on our dreams. You always have to prepare for the prize!

 

I have heard that people buy from those they know, trust, and have a relationship with.  Never really gave it much thought until I became an author.  I was always good at selling myself and my story through motivational speaking.  However, once I became an author I had to approach sales much differently.

Recently I mentioned to a new friend that I had an upcoming speaking engagement and would be selling my books as well.  Her reply was, “Wow! You are a writer!  I am an avid reader.  I love this, and I can’t wait to read your books.  This is exciting.”  She also said she has another engagement on that date, but would try to stop by to catch whatever part of my talk that she could, because she wanted to get the books.  We talked a little further about how my speaking and writing is NOT the first topic of conversation when I meet people, because I am not trying to sell them something.  I am simply making friends, and should the conversation lead to my speaking and writing, so be it.

A quick back story:  This young lady is someone I met at a crowded restaurant while waiting to be seated.  When I got my buzzer and walked around the bar area to browse while waiting on my table, she spoke to me and we struck up a conversation about the restaurant.  She had been there before, and it was my first time.  We talked about how crowded it was and how it would be nice if those who have space at their table, would offer to share a meal together rather than keep people waiting so long.  She indicated that she was waiting on another girlfriend, and I told her that I was alone.  We chatted some more, and eventually she asked why don’t we share a table, and said she knows her friend would not have a problem with that either.  Needless to say, dinner went very well, and I now have two new friends because we were willing to eat with strangers.  Networking is so much more than passing out business cards.  You won’t sell nothing until you sell who you are!

As a person who lives alone it can be quite lonely sometimes having no one to talk to.  However after numerous years you learn to enjoy and appreciate the silence and independence.  Then there are the days when you wish you had someone to share your thoughts and anxieties with.  Although you know that God always listen, you still wonder sometimes where He is.  Especially when your world is falling apart and it takes every ounce of energy that you have to keep smiling.  There is no one outside your doors who will understand, because they don’t know the whole story.  If you had a significant other, or even a roommate, they would have been along for some of the journey, and you wouldn’t have to catch them up on the sequence of events that led to your latest fiasco.

When you look around and wonder where God is, remember the teacher is always quiet during the test.  While you stumble around in the dark trying to find your way, God is silent because He knows that you have the answers in your head.  Your recall ability is at optimum function.  As long as you can silence the noise around you there will be a quickening of the spirit that will snap you back to your senses.  Before you know it you will be back on your feet stronger than ever before.  Think about the times where you had to take a test.  Did it bother you when others in the room were talking?  Did you find it hard to focus?  Did you use the process of elimination for several of the multiple choice questions?  Our tests in life are the same.  The teacher will be quiet.  There will be others around you who want to give the answers, rather than have you find the answers for yourself.  And then there is the process of elimination, where you know that choice number one just doesn’t make sense, and choice number two you have already used before, so naturally choice number three is the only logical answer.  Never give up on yourself, because you are the one who has to live with the decisions that you make.  Whatever you decide, make sure that it’s the best decision for YOUR life at that particular time.  If you fall down get back up and try again.  At least you will have learned a way that won’t work.  Don’t be so hard on yourself.  The journey is just as important as the destination.  You can’t get there without it.  So, enjoy the journey!  God’s going to be with you no matter what you do.

 

 

I’m not sure whether I am overly curious or just nosey; probably a whole lot of both.  Lately I have noticed that people are so involved in their own little world that they rarely take the time to look up or even look you in the face.  It’s as though everyone has somewhere to go and they don’t want anybody to obstruct their agenda in the least bit.  Not even long enough to give you a smile or simply notice and acknowledge you as a human being.  Today at lunchtime I walked down a very popular street in the downtown area of my city.  I watched people talking on their phones, riding their bikes, walking alone and talking or texting, and some people actually talking to each other.  However, the majority of the people were in their own little world, oblivious of anyone else other than themselves.

As I was headed back to my destination, I noticed an elderly lady who was cursing someone out.  When I walked pass her I assumed that she was talking on her phone.  To my surprise there was no phone, or an ear piece to signify that she was having a conversation with someone.  After realizing that she was obviously in some type of confused state, I looked around to see if maybe someone was coming out of a store nearby to join her.  No one showed up.  We continued to walk in the same direction, while she continued to talk to this imaginary person.  Occasionally I would look back hoping someone would notice her and attempt to determine what was wrong.  Numerous people walked pass her, but no one noticed the lady with the black jacket that had “Jets” written on the back, carrying a pocketbook, and talking to herself extremely loud.  At one point she turned around and headed back in the opposite direction.  That’s when I decided to do something.  I asked someone on the street, “What is the non-emergency number for “911?”  They did not know, but tried to use “voice” on their phone to call the police, with no success.  They wanted to move on, and suggested that I go ahead and call 911 and let them know.  So I did.  I spent about ten minutes on the phone with 911, while following this lady until they got her description and location and promised to send someone out.  That was somebody’s mother, grandmother, or maybe wife.  I don’t know.  What I do know is, we need to be more observant of our surroundings and less focused on getting to the next stop.  That could have been me or your mother.

 

As human beings we hate to admit when we are wrong, or that we made a wrong choice.  Especially when we shared our good news with such excitement and got everyone else all hyped up.  Well, a mistake is only a mistake if you don’t learn from it.  When I say learn, I don’t necessarily mean that you would never do that again.  If you are the type of person who takes risks, then you will definitely do something similar the next time.  So what!  I’m talking about learning to move on in faith knowing that every thing happens for a reason, and most of the time things happen to move you to a place you would have never gone on your own.

When I gave up a full-time job with good benefits only to learn that the job I was getting is part-time, of course, I was devastated.  I even tried to go back to the prior employer, but chose not to go through the whole application/interview process again.  Instead I chose to return to my first love (senior care), which affords me the opportunity to have more control over my schedule, thereby allowing me the freedom to accept speaking engagements that I previously couldn’t even consider.  So what I thought was going to be a tremendous loss of income and a stress producer has turned out to be the best decision that I could have made.  I have always believed that life is an adventure not a worry, and if we want to pursue our dreams, then stumbling blocks must become our stepping-stones.  I’m happy!  I get to do what I love at work, and live my dream of becoming a full-time motivational speaker.

We all have our wish lists and we update them from time to time.  I have lived in Charleston, South Carolina for four years, and my list hasn’t gotten much smaller.  Matter of fact it keeps changing every time I hear about some new experience that someone else has enjoyed.  When I first arrived to Charleston, all I wanted to do was visit a few historical sites and eat at every restaurant possible.  Over time I have expanded my horizons to places beyond South Carolina.  Not that I have seen everything there is to see in Charleston, but I choose to enjoy life more in line with my vision, rather than simply check things off my “Bucket List.”

So many times we ask God for something and when it doesn’t arrive in the package that we expected, we feel like our prayers have not been answered.  I say that because recently I asked God to give me a 32-hour work week, which would allow me more time for writing and speaking.  With my monthly newspaper articles, my weekly blogs, promoting my books and speaking engagements, there never seems to be enough time to properly prepare, not to mention asking for time off from work.

While sitting here today providing care for the elderly, (as a 3-day live-in) I realized that I have exactly what I asked for and more.  Who wouldn’t want to work three days a week and earn what others get for five days?  Although I have no TV in my room, (I’m learning it’s highly overrated) I have my computer and I’m able to pen this post, in addition to working on my third book.  Most of all I have every weekend off.  Bring on the speaking engagements Lord!   Yes!  This is what I asked for!