Let's Deal With This Now

Okay Ladies, the one stigma we don't want to have is one of creating a cultish gathering of bashing, bitterness and hating. For the single woman, we don't want to seem desperate or hopeless. For the mother, we don't want to seem clueless about our own life's dreams. For the single mother, we don't want to look victimized or abandoned. And for EVERY woman, we don't want to have another defeating year due to procrastination, insecurity or repeated failures to go after the things we so crave and desire.

I often share with people that the time is always now, tomorrow never comes. Maybe your "now" lacks a strategic plan. Maybe your "now" needs mentoring or support. Maybe your "now" is void of inspiration or direction. Maybe your "now" is being arrested by fear.

Before sitting into the driver's seat of fulfilling your destiny, you must first deal with who you are.







As an artist, one of the first images that pops in my head is from the scene of The Wizard of Oz. The revelation that Glenda the Good Witch shares with Dorothy, "...you had it all along"





Now, that's either perplexing or enlightening. It depends on how you look at it. One of the major reasons that we fail ourselves in many of our endeavors is simply because we DON'T truly know who we are. Sure, you may not be or have all you want or intend to, but who are you?


Take 1 minute, pause from reading and ask yourself who you are. Watch the adjectives that you define yourself with.


Pause...Pause...Pause...Pause...Pause...Pause...Pause...Pause...Pause...Pause...Pause...Pause...





Some of the greatest people I know have cut their lives short because, regardless of their gift, they didn't realize who they were. Billie Holliday, Marilyn Monroe, Karen Carpenter, Phyllis Hyman, Donnie Hathaway, Dorothy Dandridge and countless others!





I'm not talking about what fortune, accolades, position or people have defined you to be, but who you have TRULY realized you are. The precious commodity that lies inside of you that makes up who the world sees. Not the comments, compliments or even insults that you've heard about yourself be it yesterday or since your childhood. I'm talking about knowing who you are whether you have a good day or bad day. Knowing who you are whether you succeed or fail at something. Knowing who you are whether you've stayed on track or veered drastically. Who are YOU? It's time to Know who you are.

?HOW?

• From within, meaning revisiting the purpose of your existence. (You were created by Infinite Wisdom, God. He never makes a mistake and your life was truly not an afterthought.)

• Revisiting your strengths (They are what really sustain you thru all of life's rollercoasters)

• Your contributions (Your natural abilities, gifts and talents, your expertise, the very things that people find complimenting about you. )

You are needed in various components of life. You need to find the area that needs you. You need to find the audience that needs you. Your purpose cannot be achieved until you have tapped into the right environment and position that you are to be functioning in. THAT brings fulfillment. At the end of the day you ought to have yourself fully in tact (your mind, your dignity, your faith, your pride) and that is what keeps you going. Realizing those core things. So, whether you fail at a business idea, a relationship doesn't go exactly the way you planned or your child just doesn't seem to understand your decisions you must lie in your bed at night and realize that you are content with who you are because you understand who you are. Understanding who you are will make sense of why you do what you do.

Even though I grew up in a home with both of my parents full of values and skills, it still took me some time to truly tap into who LaShanna was.

Now I realize my importance and necessity to myself and the world. I believe that everything I create grows. What I establish flourishes and I cannot be denied of any good thing that is coming my way because I know who I am.

That is not to say that I don't have my mornings, afternoons, evenings or midnights of slothfulness or darkness. They are just shortlived because I do not allow myself to stay in that place for very long. First of all what happens to me is that the true me from within rises up and overrides the part of me that wants to slum, mope and be distracted.

Why? Because I had to develop the conviction of who I am. I had to change my mindset repeatedly until it became second nature. I had to contantly revisit the 3 bullets from above and allow them to be downloaded into my mind, heart and spirit until I truly knew who I was. As a result, there was no more room for negativity, self-bashing and insecurity.

SO! "Now" is a new moment. What will you do with it? This is not a blog to set you on a competitive path, rather to create a perpetual tide of everything that's RIGHT about you.

Let's deal with this now so that it does not get in your way again of fulfilling your promises and being who you truly are!