Get Up From This Place

Hello to you all!  I pray you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and that you were reminded of what you are thankful for.  As we approach a new year, we approach  a new start.  I know there are many of us struggling and dealing with many battles, some financial, some heart matters, for some of us, life is just beating us down and we can not see the light at the end of the tunnel, we can't get our focus off of our problems, it appears that it is just one thing after another.  Well, I am hear to tell you that joy does come in the morning, and it is not as bad as it seems!!!

We all have those moments of despair, wondering why, why, why is this happening to me, why am I here in this place.  For some of us, its the driest season we have ever seen.  But, I have realized the longer you focus on "it", the harder "it" becomes.  Take a moment to reflect on your past, that time when things were really bad before, and reflect on how you ended up on top...it will happen again, but you most do something different.  Its hard to move forward with your plans, dreams and aspirations if you have no tangible plan.  I know this has been a reoccurring theme in my writings lately, but it is so true.  Although the plan you write will be altered, it gives you something to see, to meditate on, to create visible time-lines and actions to complete it all, and it works.  When we keep our plans in our minds, they get lost and tangled up in all the mental clutter and chatter of our everyday lives.

If you want to see things manifest differently in your lives, ask yourself, "What am I doing differently?".  You must do what scares you to death!!!  You must be passionate about whatever it is you want, and you must learn to give, especially to yourself.  Time, resources money, even a smile or a kind word.  You think you got it bad?  Go visit one of your local shelter's and see how bad they got it.  Go visit a mother whose child is missing, hit the streets and try to talk to that young girl who has been tricked into prostitution while her pimp keeps a watchful eye, imagine you were her for just a moment.  Switch your focus, change your circle of friends, get with folks who are doing what you would like to do.  There is so much life to live on this earth, there is so much awaiting to spring forth from your soul to assist another person, there are so many people that are awaiting you, you can't even imagine.  We are to live in heaven on earth, fully, abundantly, prosperously, purposefully.  You can be down, discouraged, but only for a moment, so don't become defeated, change your mindset and renew your mind daily with the thoughts and plans that will help you to arrive at your new destination, which I will call L-O-V-E.  Loving your tests and trials, loving who your are, loving how far you've come, loving the love you give to others.  Operate from that love within and your situation will turnaround immediately...try it and see.

So with this being said, this month I will leave you with a poem by Langston Hughes.

Love, peace, and many blessings,
Shamina

Mother to Son
by Langston Hughes

Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

Hughes, Langston, http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/177021, Web. 29 Nov. 2011.

How Bad Do You Want It

Hello good people. I apologize for not writing last month, but there were so many thoughts running through my mind; I simply could not focus on a topic. Even still this month, there are some reoccurring thoughts lingering from last month, I’m not sure of a topic, but I am simply going to piece something together here. My spirit has been heavy with thoughts of obedience, discipline, finishing the things I start, simply being accountable and responsible for the things that occur in my life, even the lives of my children.

I realize now, more than ever, that I will never yield the results that I want if I can’t focus long enough to finish the things that I have started. I’ve shared this with my 13 year old as well, as she is struggling with maintaining good grades. I have found that the past few years I have become lazy, in every sense of the word. I don’t want to push myself; I simply expect things to happen for me magically. But I have been reminded all too well that faith without works is dead.

It’s been hard to admit that I have become lazy, that my desire to walk into my full potential does not match my will to do so. So I’ve been asking myself, “How bad do you want it”? I know that I have been given a voice and I finally recognize that I have a talent. These things I didn’t always know. I also recognize that my talents and the many things that I have endured and overcome are not simply for my benefit.

I’ve been wondering what happen to the girl inside of me that had all these dreams and would do anything to position herself for the best. I know she still resides in me, I know that I am that girl, that woman. So what am I going to do? A dear friend reminded me last year of the importance of writing a plan, doesn’t have to be five written pages or anything elaborate, but simply something you have written down and something to follow, to hold yourself accountable, and it works! The past few months I haven’t written anything down; I haven’t pushed myself to do some of the things that I wanted to have done by this month. Well, there is no more waiting, planning and writing is what I’m doing, writing the vision and making it plain.

Michael Jordon didn’t become Michael Jordan because he wished it to be, but he practiced, he WORKED and perfected his skill, and it didn’t happen for him overnight. Talk is cheap…and I ask, am I a doer, are you a doer? Do you want it? As Bill Cosby stated before “Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it”. Great responsibility comes when you are walking, living, breathing, operating on and within PURPOSE. Maybe I have been afraid of what will occur in my life once I have my BA, then my MA, maybe I have been afraid of my book being published and becoming nationally recognized and subsequent books, especially children’s books, to follow. Maybe I am afraid of the opportunities that will arise out of my volunteer efforts with the women that are going through what I survived.

You know, most of us grew up in an era of, do as I say, not what I do, but we should actually be the examples to our children. I know I have not been the best example to my 13 year old. My work ethic has not been what it should be, and I have to show her that you can do and be anything you want. But I have to show her how this principle is manifesting in my own life.

So, my challenge is becoming disciplined enough and obedient enough to yield the results that I want, spiritually, financially, and educationally, showing my daughter’s a living example of this.

Peace, blessings, affectionately yours,

Shamina


He Walks With Me
I know He walks with me…has been with me since my conception...here for all eternityThe devil knows this, which is why he tries to trick me, get me to believe some of my insanity

I know he only comes to still, kill and destroy, but my Father has shown me what He has in store for me

My world has become the thoughts inside my head, which I have not fully protected and the devil has tried to come and infect it with lies and sins from my past

I know He walks with me, he’s grace and mercy evident with every picture I see, every moment that He has kept and saved me

There are times when my soul cries and He has been the only to console me

My days will be spent in prosperity and my years in pleasure, as long as I obey and serve Him

I know He walks with me, although there may be times I forget, I know He never has

The blessings on my life, so many I can’t count…I know I can be obedient to His word, and I know what my life is like when I doubt

He shows His face to me continuously, even during the times when I didn’t want to see

I know He walks with me and will continuously keep me, no matter the space I sometimes find me

He walks with me

Living Courageously

Recently, I have written about a few topics that have motivated me.  I am always positive and uplifting, but this month, I have been challenged to stay positive, I started to forget who keeps me.  This month it seemed that everything that could possibly come against me and attack me has, and within the past few days I have felt defeated.  But I know, the devil is a liar, and he is already defeated in my life.  I know first hand that God has kept me during all of my trials, even when it appeared I was faint at heart.  I know I am a strong woman, but greater is He that is in me, then he that is in this world.

So with all this being said, I have really had to seek God this month, for many things.  There have been quite a few days where I couldn't pray, didn't know where to begin to pray, nor did I know what to pray for.  What has been a constant in my mind the past few days is the question, "Where is your courage"?  Am I continuously focusing and looking down on the circumstances that are plaguing me, or I am rejoicing for where I am and what I have, looking up with expectation for the breakthrough that God is working on?

Faith is a tricky concept for a lot of us, especially those of us who claim to be sold out for Christ.  We forget His word and allow our thinking, and not the Holy Ghost to operate and work for us.  I forget I have that power sometimes, I forget how to walk by faith and not by sight.  I didn't want to get too spiritual this month, as all of my readers may not be saved, but I know that what I am dealing with is more spiritual and far from natural.  What I'm dealing with is testing my courage, my faith, my will, truly believing that when I can't, He will. Knowing that I have exhausted all possibilities, but His supplies and resources are unlimited.

Today, I am better, I know that I am a Kingdom Heir and that wealth and riches are in my house, I know that I lend and not borrow, I know if God is for me, who can be against me, I know that His word is life to those that find it and peace to all their flesh.  I am preaching to myself here, not anyone else.

I am courageous, I can face any obstacle and not be consumed by any circumstance.  So, I challenge you today to live boldly and courageously.  To continue to push, no matter what it looks like.  Don't allow your circumstance to dictate your expectancy, don't allow them to derail you any longer.

I know that I have not come this far to stop.  I know that God has planted many visions and dreams inside me, none of which had been a dream until He revealed them, so I know a greater power operates in me and that the best is yet to come. So today, I am courageous in Him and looking up at the heavens where blessings are continuously released.  Today, I give my angels charge over me and I will not punk out!!!

So, let's get it, no matter what it looks like, start living courageously.

Peace and blessings,
Shamina