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The other morning I found myself wrestling with how to better manage my life in this very demanding economic season. I am intrigued about the principle of seedtime and harvest. It was challenging to the point that I felt this insatiable desire to increase my giving in every area of my life. I found myself engaged in an intense time of reflection and mediation, asking myself difficult questions. I was so challenged to grow in the ministry of generosity. Generosity is a powerful lifestyle choice that exposes you to the abundant side of a Higher Power.

What is Generosity? Generosity is about opening your hand and allowing a Higher Power to give to others through you. It is about serving a Higher Power by letting him trust you with resources.  Notice it is a Higher Power trusting you with the resources and you willingly directing them where your Higher Power is most served through the ministry of people.

How do you enhance this area of your life?

1. Study your spiritual word in the area of Generosity.

2. Look for opportunities to give above and beyond what you are accustomed to.

3. On a daily basis, assess your response to others.  Allow the Spirit to show you how you respond to others when given the opportunity.

4. Take advantage of increase to increase your giving.

Generosity then is a set up for a Higher Power merciful response to you.  So learn to sell out to the principle. The principle of Seedtime and Harvest truly works. Discipline yourself to give abundantly in the form of kindness, mercy, compassion, and financial resources and watch your higher power prove to you in abundant ways. You empower your higher power to work through you & with you. Please do not miss this awesome revelation. Generosity is the key to every person who embraces a Higher Power.   So today and for the rest of your life, sell out to the Principle!! Have an awesome day!  Cheers!

We must do more than think pink this October.  The statistics can be very disheartening, while Black women are less likely to get breast cancer; they’re more likely to die from it. Obesity is the second leading contributing factor after tobacco. Some studies showed that women of 40 don’t even remember when their last mammogram was.  Some experts are now recommending women have their first mammogram before 40 and possibly as early as 33 this according to a recent study published in the Journal of American College of Surgeons. To find a center near you please visit Cancer.org.  If you haven’t schedule your first or next mammogram please take time to do so. 

Some small things that will help you stay healthy; walking one to two hours weekly cuts your breast cancer risk by 18 to 20 percent.  Eating smart, research shows that that the greater variety of fruits and vegetables you eat, the more phytonutrients you consume.  Remember to do monthly breast exams, for more information on this please visit ww5.komen.org.  For more information regarding Breast Cancer please visit www.BCRFCURE.ORG.

Cheers to staying healthy!

I  have come to see that loss, pain and sadness are as natural and important to our lives as are the rewards and the times of unthinkable joy!  But somehow we come to adulthood expecting painless deliverance or supernatural intervention as if someone will just appear and save us from ourselves and life.  Not!

It would be wonderful if we could snap our fingers and make everything challenging go away.  Who among us wouldn’t have chased the storms away with a word or blink of an eye?  The reality is that’s just not how things go!  We have to have a plan.  We have to do the work.  Now, here is the good news:  For every problem in our lives, there’s a solution.  We are the most powerful tool we have.  My example is that every week when I sit down to write my blog, it usually comes from the week I have had, something that happened that touched my spirit or maybe just one of my life experiences or just life.  Writing is my tool and way to my understanding, love & faith.  Without writing I don’t know what I would do or be at this point in my life.

Like many of you, I live in a world filled with heavy responsibilities: my family, work, travel, dear friends (I have a few ride or die), caring for myself, my Christian walk, because without him there would be no me, and let me not forget the major task of keeping my finances straight.  And while all these things are happening in my World I am still trying to find a way to make a difference in the lives of others.  We must give back or we cannot and will not be blessed.  The one thing I know is we must trust life, to renew our faith each moment, knowing that the loving and wise spirit within us, surrounding and sustaining us, is calling within us to be better and wiser.

Each day I am learning more how to trust the flow of life, to lean into the sharp points, relaxing into them, inviting them to poke me, and to see what they have come to teach me before they wound me, which is what we do to ourselves when we don’t listen, when we ignore all warning signs of the first poke.  Regardless of our insecurities, and hard lessons, remember there is always love!  Love wisely, love hard!  Cheers!

So many of us are on a mission to recover the part of ourselves we feel we’ve lost, or think we lost.  We want to reclaim our power, our passion, our purpose and, most of all our “joy”.  At times we find ourselves searching and wondering what happened.  We really want to find again the dreams we seem to have laid aside, and we want to feel the sureness of our earlier conviction.

Many times in society we are devalued and our voices dismissed, this can have tremendous impact on our confidence and self-esteem.  Through social policies and in popular culture, in the workplace and often in our communities we are treated with condescension and made to feel inferior.  In some ways this has hurt all women.  The World in which we live is in chaos, out of balance, in part because nothing can work well when half of humanity lives at half measure.  Despite this we are moving towards something new, and we want to have control of our lives and life decisions that impact us and our families. We must remember new ideas shake up things! 

Within us lives intelligence, intuition, creativity and the compassion of our heart.  We long to have love, peace and all the joy we can stand.  The legacy that our name carries is worth the pain of shaking things up in life.  Resisting life, not being who you are, not living what you know is far more painful.  We must release our fear; fear restricts the flow of life.  It can make us depressed and ill.  Faith is the counterbalance to fear.

We speak about faith, and now we must act on it.  Imagine the life you want, the life that does not say “getting by is good enough”.  Our soul seeks peace, balance, and true self-expression.  It should push us to reevaluate our dream, desires, our power and potential should force us to a magnificent, soul-satisfying life that we create and enjoy!  All that you need begins with you.  The life you desire awaits you.  It’s time to shake off the dust of limited thinking and step into our purpose.  Cheers!

Apologies are less about hearing the words “I’m sorry” than making sure someone understands the impact his or her actions.  Before you say anything acknowledge that the other person may not have meant to hurt or upset you.  If you are carrying some responsibility however small, that will put you in a better frame of mind when you approach the other person.

Email is off-limits if you are offering an apology; you should arrange a time for a real conversation, ideally in person, and if that’s absolutely not possible, over the phone.  As with most sticky subjects and situations, you want to avoid the word “you” in favor of “I”.

Remember that you may not hear the magic words “I’m sorry”.  And that’s okay.  Because what all of us really want in these situations is to be heard and understood and to close the conversation with some sort of plan for not repeating the incident or situation.  Cheers!

Imagine what your life would be like if you were free of doubt, free of feelings of insecurity.  Endless possibilities would be yours to explore and pursue, unhampered by limited thinking and anxiety over your shortcomings.  We all have them.

For every blessing we receive, some corner of our mind is whispering: This is what I want and I can have it.  Deep desires and a welcoming heart will open roads for grace to move us forward in life.  Our negative thoughts have equal power to block the way, if we allow it.

Thought is truly powerful and capable of manifesting itself in all its fullness.  Thoughts used wisely give use the wisdom to envision and tap into a higher dimension of intelligence.  Be present to yourself.  Know what’s going on in your mind.  Make it your business to glance inward and check on your thoughts and feelings for you are your true command center.

What we think and envision today is creating our tomorrow.  Expect the positive, focus deliberately on solutions and entertain only happy, wholesome thoughts.  Cheers!

It’s that time to clean and renew your financial future, I realize it’s not everyone fun topic.  But, at the same time I believe when we know better we should do better. We open windows to let in sunlight, clean the house and get the yard in shape. This is also a great time to review and tidy up your finances. Here are some ways to spruce up your personal portfolio and work out a budget before the end of the year that you can live with going in to 2013:

Gather your most recent statements. Get all of your paperwork in order – gather all of your bank statements, investment account statements, utility bills, cell phone bills etc… Be sure to include any miscellaneous expenses, such as parking tickets. This will give you the total number of your debt.

Record all sources of income. Whether you are self-employed or work for a corporation and earn a regular paycheck, take the number after taxes and then list of all the ways that you earn your income. Do not include any returns of investments or income that is influenced by your current allocation.

List all of your monthly expenses. Write down all the expected expenses you plan on incurring over the course of a month. This includes a mortgage/rent, car payments, auto insurance, groceries, utilities, entertainment, dry cleaning, auto insurance, retirement or college savings and essentially everything you spend money on.

Make adjustments to your current budget. The ultimate goal would be to have your income and expense columns to be equal. This means all of your income is accounted for and budgeted for a specific expense. If you are in a situation where expenses are higher than income you should look at your “variable expenses” to find areas to cut.  This could mean taking your lunch to work instead of eating at expensive restaurants every day or canceling the premium cable channels and ordering Netflix instead.

Review your current investments. Think about what investments or changes in your current situation you need to change so you aren’t influenced by your current allocation. Your risk tolerance may have changed, so some changes to your allocation may be needed. Or you may realize you need to revise your asset allocation to reach your financial goals.

List each investment and its current value. Total your investments by category — cash, bonds, and stocks — and asset class — large cap-stocks, international stocks, intermediate-term bonds. Then compare those percentages to your asset allocation plan. If you haven’t done this review in a while, you might find that your current allocation is off.

Run a credit check, know your current score. National credit bureau Transunion recommends using the spring-cleaning impulse to see what areas of your finances you can clean up as well. Are your files bulging with statements from past years? Get your credit score from one of the 3 major credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian and/or Transunion.

Set your financial goals. Your ultimate financial goal should be made with your realistic investing plan with your lifestyle choices and savings in mind. Remember, it’s your responsibility to make your earning work and grow for you.  Cheers!

Today I am reminded of all the blessing I have experienced in life.  There have been so many good times and some disappointing times but I made it through.  I recently went through a period when I had to face the reality that certain people I thought were close to me really didn’t have my best interest at hearts.  They did not support my growth or dreams they were just hanging around to see if I could reach the goals I set out for or to rejoice if I didn’t.  These types of people ultimately weight you down with negative energy and you gotta cut those ties.

There is one thing for certain about living this life, there will be transitions.  There are situation and circumstances that force you to grow, that growth forces you to a new place and higher level.  It’s getting through the process that’s hard but once you go through you should realize that you are stronger, wiser and better.  And that nothing can stop you now.  Cheers!

We were taught a lot by example, not sure what’s happening in this new age of living.  But over time we’ve fallen into forgetfulness.  We’ve forgotten our power, our passion and our place.  We should be working together in joy, love and celebration to create an agenda that serves our purpose in life, or purpose for being.

We must remember the great benefits we enjoy today don’t come from nothing.  They have grown out of a long glorious legacy of mutual love, faith and commitment, which gave our foremother the courage to stand strong together and if necessary fight for justice, fight for our children & families.  What’s happening right before our eyes today, we have forgotten how to stand.  We must stand for something or we will continue to fall for anything.  Cheers!

Peace is a state that we all want. It is a feeling of wellness deep within. As our society grows more and more complex, finding true peace becomes more like trying to find an oasis in the desert. My life is a busy one as well, as running a company and all of the stress & demands that comes with it, definitely takes its toll over time.

Accept what is

There is only so much we can affect. What we cannot change, what we cannot influence no matter what, should not be a concern to us. This is what I notice with so many people, in that we focus and linger on things which we have no control over. Why worry about something that all the worrying in the world will not change? Why care about what other people think of us when we’re not even sure what it is they are actually thinking? Once you open the blinds to this fact, and start accepting what is that you cannot change, you automatically relieve yourself of a mountain of stress and anxiety. It’s like a huge weight has been lifted from your shoulders. Taking this path is following a road towards peace.  Cheers!