Leave Your Best As Your Legacy

It has been a minute since I have taken the time to sit and write. I guess you can say that I haven’t been motivated, but I would rather skip the excuses and keep moving forward. My spirit has been moved by a few conversations and many thoughts. The other day I met with a fellow teacher who is about to return to the states as she has completed her year contract. We met to discuss my poetry, or at least that is why the meeting was called. However, once we sat down the conversation quickly changed, and like water, I began to flow.

Anyone who knows me knows that I have the gift to speak, and when I start who knows when I will stop. I don’t like meaningless conversations, ignorance, and people who show up in life, but never seem to perform or in other words, the spectators. Now, I will say that from time to time I have participated in one or all of the above for one reason or another, but I refuse to make it a daily habit and/or a disposition cause life is much too short and I have something I came here to give. So, with that being said I will begin my word for the day.

As I reflect on the things I have been blessed to do and be involved with in my brief life span, I am thankful. I am thankful for the triumphs and failures, for the time alone or the time in the midst of great thinkers. I am encouraged by those who move to do great things with nothing but thought.

Yesterday, I watched Mo’Nique’s “I Could Be Your Cellmate,” and not only is she too funny, but she was really encouraging. When she finished she had me in tears as she brought up one of the inmates from the audience to sing a song. Honey, when I say that woman SANG that song and tears came from way-way back, she sang that song.

So, I began to think about how so much talent was given to one individual and how it was being wasted in a place like prison. I thought about how gifted this young African American woman was and how she has been tossed away by herself and society. Although, her gift could easily be helping the inmates that she communes with daily, I tend to believe that it could be used in ways to prevent people from turning to things that get them placed in prison vs helping them maintain while they are there.

I have no idea what this woman was incarcerated for, but I know that the gift that God gave her has been confined to prison walls, but then I realized that so many people who are free confine their dreams without the boundaries of a prison. At what point do you begin to fully live the life that you were placed here on Earth to live? When do you stop making excuses for living beneath your dreams? When do find the courage to move from ordinary to extraordinary? How do you find the faith to be a butterfly instead of a caterpillar?

Well, I am not really sure if there is a defined time all those answers come, but there is a quote that I try to focus on every chance I get, “When faced in the right direction continue to walk.” However, many people have no direction and so they end up with huge amounts of talent in places like prison, or even worse in my opinion, self inflicted mazes wandering hopelessly in life.

Today, is the best day to change what you don’t like and start living the best life you could ever live, and you don’t have to have a master plan all you need to know is that you no longer want to live like you are currently living. All it takes is one step in the right direction and you are well on your way because remember, that once faced in the right direction all you have to do is continue to walk.

So, today I refuse to make another excuse about why I can’t do something, why I have not finished something, and I refuse to allow myself to get in my own way. I will not be imprisoned by my inability to know and trust in a God that I believe still performs miraculously every day in many different ways. I believe that if the idea was placed into thought you have the ability to bring it into reality, and with that I know that everything you need is provided. I know that the words are much easier than the action, but if it were easy then no one would have an excuse in the first place. However, we all owe it to ourselves to leave this plain empty, meaning that you have given everything you got to the cause of being everything you desire to be. I encourage you not to take your best with you, but rather to leave your best here as your legacy.

Living In the Present

The world may be known without leaving the house ... Loa Tzu Verse 47: Toa Te ChingVerse 47: Toa Te Ching
The world may be knownWithout leaving the house; The Way may be seen Apart from the windows.The further you go,The less you will know.
Accordingly, the Wise ManKnows without going, Sees without seeing,

Today, I did stayed home and get some rest. Resting is a wonderful thing. When the mind is restless it wonders about things that it should not. It plans too far in advance and makes up a reality that doesn’t exist. In the past I have meditated and without rest meditation is almost impossible. I also find that if I am constantly on the go I can’t stay focused because I am not as connected as I should be.

Loa Tzu was simply stating in the 47th verse of the Toa Te Ching that everything we need to know is within ourselves. I believe that when we take time to reflect on life and turn down all the things that are calling for our attention we can actually see the path in which need to follow. So, with proper rest and time to reflect on the here and now we can actually know ourselves, and the world in which we live without ever forcing ourselves to be in it. The bible says,” To be in the world and not of the world,” and I believe that is actually the point of verse 47.

When we are striving or looking for things to satisfy us we are looking outside of ourselves for the answer and the answer is so much closer to home, home being your temple. In meditation there is silence and in the silence you must learn to control the chatter, but once you have done that you are open to hear what God is guiding you to do. You can see without seeing as Loa Tzu suggest.

As I think about all the recent deaths and how some of them have been very tragic I think about life in general. In life we all come to this place that we call Earth and we are here for a brief moment, but in that brief moment we have the opportunity to have a great impact. So, in my rest I thought about my impact and the legacy that I would like to be able to leave when it is time for me to depart. I want to be known for my honesty, peacefulness, love, affection, ability to write, and to speech truth. I want to change the world without becoming part of the world. I want to know that my greatest virtue is my ability to capture the attention of men and speak into their hearts while guiding them to their true center.

So, today as I reflect on where I am, I am thankful for the things I have seen today without stepping outside my home. I haven’t even turned on the television, and I feel like I am so much more connected to the world at this moment then I would be watching a news broadcast on the current evens of the world.

Today, I am simply living. I am in the presence of life, and I am thankful for having another day to change what I may have failed to change yesterday. As I look at my life I am happy to be happy and I have no need to force my thoughts, actions, and/or options because I am present. In the present, doing anything with force defeats the purpose of being present. It takes away from the current moment because when you live to force anything you are living in the next moment where you are projecting what you want your outcome to be. My new motto is,”Do things differently,” and with that I am learning to be present and allow things to happen as they should happen. I am really learning to write without trying to control the lines, but rather allow the line to turn out just how they desire to be.

Just My Thoughts….

It’s been some time since I last wrote on my blog. I guess you could say I’ve been speechless, although I am sure that is not the case at all. I have had things on my mind, but nothing that I felt was worthy of space out on a website for the world to see.

I normally give my advice or thoughts of encouragement, but I thought that I would try something new. So, I am writing about what I am thinking in this very moment. I actually just read a friend’s narrative and I was amazed how this young lady was willing to be so transparent. I am still working on that one. Actually, I am making an effort to become more transparent in all that I do.

In just a few short weeks I will be thirty-three years of age and I am both excited and a little weary at the same time. I am excited because I believe that thirty-three will be the age of authentic revelation. However, I am weary because I am about go abroad, get a little older, find out things I thought were once true are no longer true, and I am going to have to expand in some way shape or form.

Wow, that weary aspect is looking to be a bit overwhelming. Naw, I am just kidding. I actually think that this will be one of my most powerful birthdays ever. I know that I will have some challenges before me, but nothing I feel I can’t handle.

Life is good. I am happy. I have peace in many ways I have never had peace before. I will not sit here and lie about being where I would love to be, but I am so far from where I use to be and that is a major start. I think that in life it is all what you make it. Today, I just want to know that I can, and from there I know I will. I am inspired to move. Smile, you should be inspired to move also. If you aren’t inspired that’s ok too, but remember nothing happens until something moves.

These are just my thoughts today.

Comparing Your Worse to Everybody Else’s Best

“When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.”-Loa Tzu

I am an original masterpiece unique in every way imaginable. However, there were times when I looked at my worst and compared it to someone else’s perceived best. I believe we all fight the fight of comparing ourselves amongst ourselves, but the problem is that looks can be deceiving. We all have faults and failures that we would care not to speak of. There isn’t a person alive that is perfect. Yet, for so many people it is difficult to be content with being authentically who God made them to be.

Even in my most imperfect moments I am perfect. I don’t always look like I stepped out of a salon, or feel like I am on top of the world. However, I am always the best “me” I can possible be. I make mistakes and sometimes they cost me major setbacks, but hey I always seem to be right where I need to be for the moment. For many people they don’t realize the setbacks, failures, and what most call mistakes are just opportunities to perfect themselves or what they are doing.

Today, many people are facing very difficult times, but it is not time to give up. It’s time to find your own calling, the thing that makes you feel alive and ready to move forward. Setbacks are a setup for a comeback, a new way of doing the things you have always done. However, in this time you can’t have your eyes on what someone else is doing and how they are doing what they do. You must find the strength to look within and find the things that make you the best at who you are. Everything looks good when you can’t see what it takes to actually make it work. Have you ever been to Disney World? The whole park looks wonderful. You walk through the park in amazement, but what you don’t think about is all the work being done behind the scenes to make it look so beautiful.

“Every tub must stand on its own bottom.”-unknown

You and I are great masterpieces created by the greatest artist of all time, and to compare one masterpiece to another is insane, because each piece of art had its own inspiration.

Today, I look at where I am in life, and who I am becoming and I realize no one else could have ever made it walking a mile in my shoes. See, my shoes where created just for me. Everything I have gone through was for me. I had to experience the things I have experienced and l learned the things I have learned, so I could be me. So, this is my life. These are my wounds, and even when I don’t feel my greatest I remind myself that I am great. I am great with a pimp on my face, a few extra pounds on my waist, and I am great even when I feel like I am displaced. I realize that I am right where I need to be experiencing just what I need to experience, so that I can be my authentic self. Remember, you owe it to the artist to be your very best at who you are, and not compare yourself to something you could never be for you were meant to be you.

Don’t Lose the Focus

It's not what's happening to you now or what has happened in your past that determines who you become. Rather, it's your decisions about what to focus on, what things mean to you, and what you're going to do about them that will determine your ultimate destiny.” – Anthony Robins

Is there more than one way to get where you’re going? Of course there is. However, many times we don’t get where we are going because we lose focus. Have you ever had a dream that you allowed someone to talk you out of? Did that someone tell you all the reasons your dream could not be reality? Have you allowed someone to you use your past to prevent you from moving forward? Have you ever had a certainty about something and then told someone else and walked away saying, “I must be crazy for thinking that?”

You are not crazy for thinking or saying what you desire. I will say it again. You are not crazy for thinking or saying what you desire. You are the captain of your life and you are empowered to think and say what you would like about your life. You are empowered to be as creative as you like, change your mind about what you like, and change what you believe about some of the things you have been taught. You have permission to be one person one day and another person another. Am I saying that you should be fickle? No, I am not, but I am saying that it is ok to set sail for one destination and change course because it is not what you desire it to be.

I believe that one of the most important things for you to do is to have focus, but not to allow anyone or anything to determine what that focus should be. Yes, we all have done things in our past that we are not happy about or proud of, but let me tell you something. It’s in your past. Isn’t that something, you have gotten over it. Let it go. Say goodbye and move on. You have the ability right now to change your own story and make life just what you desire for it to be.

What are you focused on? Are you driving your life or are you allowing others to lead you where they think you should go? What do you want your personal story to be? If your life was over today, what would they say about you? I want it to be written that I lived a life that was fulfilling and that I gave my all to my dreams and desires. I want people to say that I took risks, gave back, and that I lived a life that inspired others to do the same. Recently, someone told me that I inspired them to do something that they have never done before, to think differently. Wow, I am thankful that I could have someone say that to me, because it encourages me to move forward too.

Focus comes with having faith in what you believe to be true. I personally believe that you can’t have focus without having faith. I believe that when you have faith in your dreams and desires, your focus will guide you to where you need to be or to the people you need to have in your life. So, do you trust in your dreams? If so, then you should never allow anyone or anything to present something that makes you question your dreams. Remember, you can alter anything about your life that you want, but never lose focus in what you want.

Today, I am focused on things that most people would view as crazy. Some even deem as a loss of focus, but I am encouraged to move forward knowing that I know what I know. See you have to have a reservation about what you want for your life that no one can change. Remember, that you drive your own car. You are the creator of your life, so don’t lose the focus. It is what you focus on at this very moment that gets you to the place you desire to be.