Riding in a Whirlwinds!

Have you ever experienced a whirlwind?  That great gush of wind comes along and carries you off balance for just a bit?  As it meets you, it brings along leaves that found their place on the ground underneath their home trees, and maybe a small scrap of paper that someone lost along their way. 

On a hot summer day, the whirlwind's breeze is a welcome treat!  It cools you off and brings a smile to your face, as you enjoy the sudden coolness, as it squeezes your face, which was crackling from the heat.  The people who were inside, miss nature's attempt to bring them the simple joy of a summer's day wind.  Those who don't have modernized cooling mechanisms to keep them airy, must settle more rudimentary methods to bring their skin the breeze it needs to settle down.

Imagine the breezes of life as being the same as nature's world wind.  Swift and cool...Blowing through with the opportunity of a life time. Blessings that have been hidden sometimes- wrapped in the debris that the gush has accumulated on its travels.  When it passes by you, the whirlwind swoops you up too.  And a magnetic object passes by you.  You grab hold to it and land where it lands.  As you remove the dust from the object, you realize that the ball like object is your potential.  It has a place for a lock, but the area is broken and the lock is missing.  Once you open it, you realized that it has inside a seed of opportunity- that is waiting for you to nourish it until its reality.

I found my seed of opportunity this same way, you know.  I nourished it, and loved it.  Labored for it, with no complaint.  That seed has grown into God's greatest gift for me.  Its brought more to me than I ever would have had, if I had not looked for it in the whirlwind that picked me up! 

Open your mouth!

People often forget the promise that if we ask, we shall receive.  They could care about something very deeply, but fear will keep them from sharing their conviction.  People in general, are often considerate of what people think and how they will react to them.  For this reason many of them don't open their mouths when they need to.

Due to their fear of not feeling that they measure up, people will miss many opportunities which may come their way that have a huge potential to enhance their lives significantly.  There are a plethora of avenues available in the contemporary world, where people could make huge spiritual, financial, or health conscious shifts to something better, but they feel they can't do it.  People are afraid of the idea of selling!  They want to run a successful business or do something else that they dream of, but they never take a leap of faith because they feel they are not the sales type.

What exactly is the sales type anyway?  Is a good sales person not someone who simply demonstrates their expertise about a product or service in order to help a buyer to make a more informed decision?  Are they not people who enthusiastic about what they do?  Do they not greet you with a smile, and work often to get you exactly what you need?

I am here to tell you that sales people are all around you!  The nice waiter at your favorite restaurant tells you all he knows about the new entrees on the menu.  He tells you which one he likes best sometimes, and more often than not, people go with the waiters choice.  Doctors and Lawyers are sales people too.  They sell you their knowledge of the body or the law, to keep you well and out of jail!  In fact, YOU are also a sales person!  You sold your experience, education, and other qualifications to get your job (even if now you realize that you hate it)!  You sell your friends on why they should shop in a certain place, or why they should  not use a certain product or service. In fact, most successful businesses get their start via word of mouth advertising!

So really, the only difference between you and a successful sales person is that they open their mouths and tell others what they have to offer, more often!  Good sales people practice having charisma, they study the ins and outs of what they sell, so that they can help you make a more informed decision.  They practice using their charisma and charm.  They make mistakes along the way just like everyone else, but they have the faith to keep on going until they have perfected the skill.  Consequently, they change their lives as a result.  You can do the same thing!  Set a goal for yourself and keep working to achieve it, being happy in the work, until you reach the goal.  Have the faith to step out of your comfort zone.  Learn what works best for you and what doesn't.  Before you know it you will be on your way!  After all, if you don't use it, you lose it- and you'll be stuck wondering what could have been.  Start by simply saying hello to someone.  It may seem hard at first, but just like riding a bike, it gets easier and easier.  You can do it!  Find that thing you want to do more than anything...and regardless of how crazy it may seem, get to work on finding the best way to sell it and then do it!  You will be so glad in the end that you did...and the faith you develop as a result will take you a long, long way!

Everyone needs a good support system

Sometimes, people get angry and say, "I don't need you!"  And out of that anger, they sometimes push away someone that could really help them get to where they want to be in this life.  We sometimes say those words to a dear friend or family member, and because of our own selfishness, we lose the opportunity to reconcile with them, and cherish with them the last great moments that either they or we have on this precious earth.

Who are we to think that we need no one?  Who are we to believe that we can make in this world without asking someone for a favor, even if it's a stranger, and even worse, believe that we can get all that we want out of life without being of assistance to someone else. So many of us profess being Christians and doing our best to live by the example that Jesus set for us, but even Jesus couldn't fulfill all the tasks that our father laid out before him alone.  He needed 12 disciples to help him to get the job done.  Sure, he did do the biggest task on his own, which was to give his life so that we could have an everlasting one, but in Jesus' 32 short years on this earth, he was surely not going to be able to spread the gospel all over the world to the people present during his time, and most definitely, the task would have been impossible after life was removed from his physical body!

The same is true today.  Most of us wanted to do something special when we were children (and many of us still do as adults).  But without a good support system, its really almost impossible to accomplish a great feat.  Take Henry Ford for example, he had less than a sixth grade education, but he was able to revolutionize the automobile industry, and the foundation that he laid, still exists today in Ford Motor Company.  He didn't do it alone either!  He went out and found people who were more educated than he, and motivated them to get to work on his dream!  The same is true for Thomas Edison, who used a think tank to perfect many of his inventions.  When the founding fathers of the United States decided to become an independent nation, they called on regular citizens from the 13 colonies to hold back the British Army, and even though they were not skilled in the art of warfare, they defeated them and became an independent nation.  And there are countless others, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Ghandi, and Mother Teresa, just to name a few- who found people who believed in what they were trying to do enough to encourage them and even join them in their quest to accomplish great things.  

Your support system doesn't have to be just family, it can be friends, co-workers, and even strangers who believe enough in what you may be trying to do, that will want to encourage you, offer ideas, and in the best case join you!  The best thing is that you can seek out people in the same way, find out what they are passionate about and share your passion with them if you feel the same way about it.  Two heads are always better than one.  I encourage you to get started on that great feat that is rambling around inside of you, and keep searching until you find the people that will stand by you until you finish it!  You will be so happy that you did, and even happier to lend the same level of support to them!

Grab onto opportunity now!

When you think of the word opportunity, what you see? Is there something that you've always wanted to do, but the time wasn't right? Somewhere you wanted to go, or something you wanted to say to someone? What if I told you that you do have the opportunity to tell a person how you really feel, or go where you really wanted to go right now!? Would you take the opportunity, or would you say that something ELSE has to happen in order before you make your move?

I am a person who once thought this way, and most of the people around me do too!  I had a shift in my thinking, and now the opportunity for me to do something right is always perfect!  Now is the best time to tell a person you love them, now is the perfect time to say good job to someone, now is the perfect time to be truthful, encouraging, charismatic, uplifting, financially responsible and everything else that you can think of!

Do the things that you would never do, get outside of your comfort zone!  If you do it for a good reason and with GOOD intention good things will happen!  What's even better is that if you do GREAT things for the good of others (and yourself), then GREAT things will happen too.  The thing is, you have to TAKE the opportunity, that you've always had to do them. Forget about your current situation, don't worry about the money...sever your emotional attachment to things, and pursue all good opportunity from a place of love and faithfulness, and you can't go wrong!  

The thing to remember to is that taking opportunity and doing bad with it, will also yield bad results.  And sometimes the effects of a good opportunity may yield results that seem bad at first.  You need these experiences, so that they can teach you to be faithful and steadfast to the journey, more than anything else.  And even if you get bad results, opportunity is there to turn them around and MAKE them good!  

Finally, the only thing that keeps opportunity from working at all, is a person not even lifting up to grab a hold of it.  So let's make today about that.  Looking opportunity square in the face, and saying, "I am going to take you, and do great!"  Opportunity is the only way to live the life you want to live!  This link is a great way to do it!  So what are you waiting for!? Grab Your Success Now!

Let's Make Being Nice the way to be....AGAIN!

My sister and I were traveling to our local fitness club to work out.  We were making a right hand turn, but had to stop at the red light in front of us, as there was traffic zooming through the intersection during the mad evening dash home from work that so many Memphians participate in.  While we were sitting and waiting, another driver, a woman talking on her wireless phone decided that she was going to go around us and she almost hit us!  Instead of her apologizing to us for almost damaging our car, she instead yelled at us, calling us every obscene name that she could think of.  She was so busy yelling at us, that she ran  the red light that we were sitting at and almost hit another car.

I immediately pondered the question, "Why did the woman act that way toward us?"  We were following all the traffic rules and we were not being nasty towards her.  I thought to myself, maybe the woman was upset about something else and took it out on her.  Maybe she hadn't learned any manners growing up.  I was always raised to be polite to others and in my adult life I have been really focused on how I treat other people.  I try to go out of my way to be good to people and to help them out.  I thought, if the woman had simply honked and asked if we could let her by, then I would have happily obliged her and there would not have been an issue.

In contemporary society, where there is already so much negativity, it would be great to see more people be nice.  There are so many perks to having  a positive and pleasant attitude towards others.  Most people never get what they want in life because they don't want to ask for it.  Many young people that I have these pleasure of speaking with, say that being nice can get them accosted by their peers.  I am now asking the question, "When did it become taboo to show courtesy and respect towards another human being?"  When did we start allowing it to be okay for bullies to hurt people and get away with it?  At what point is it okay to spread rumors and lies about celebrities (without even considering how it will affect their children) for the sake of making a buck?  

Even though, there are some who don't think that being nice will take you far in this life, I am a firm believer that it can take you very far.  After all, employers are not going to hire an unpleasant person.  Unpleasant people can be arrested if they are less than cordial to the police.  Being mean spirited can make you lose your friends and loved ones very quickly as well.  We have all seen it happen, and we wish that we didn't have to deal with unpleasant people, regardless of the circumstances.  I call upon all of you to help me to make being nice hot again!  By being nice to someone you don't know, you could very well change their perspective on life.  Our being nice to someone, just may give them the will to keep on living.  But we will never know unless we try.  With that being said, I am going to set out tomorrow, being even more passionate about being even nicer to people.  As I do so, I hope to inspire you to do the same thing.  

The American Dream

Good afternoon readers,

I started this Saturday out as I usually have for the past few months, and that is by spending quality time with my daughter.  She's at that age now where she's learning how to drive, look for a part time job, and she's starting to think about what she wants her future to be like.  For some time now, I have been telling her that she can do anything that she wants to do in life, as long as she is not hurting herself or anyone else.  I also ask that she not break the law and to be a good person.  

My sweet daughter does not know exactly what she wants to do as of yet, but she does have many great talents and character traits.  She's musically and artistically inclined, athletic, intelligent, sensible, and honest (sometimes brutally)!  She also wants to enjoy being a kid as long as she can.  She sometimes feel caught in a tight spot when she discusses her future with her dad's side of the family.  They are all accomplished in what I like to call "typical" high-yield occupations.  There's a risk manager, a doctor, and a few federal workers.  They try to convince her that the only way to be happy in this life is to play it safe.  Get a "good paying job" with "benefits" and conform to the standard of living that was once thought to be the way to get the American dream.

I teach her differently, because I see differently.  If my daughter's dream is to become a pop sensation, why is that wrong?  If she dreams of being the best high school janitor she can be, why is that wrong?  Who did the original idea for what many believe is the American dream come from?  Who's ever really described what it is supposed to be?

I went to college and earned a masters degree.  I thought that getting a great job with "benefits" was going to help me fulfill the whole in my heart where happiness was supposed to be.  I worked so hard to get those pieces of paper, and I even found a few good  jobs.  I still was not happy and feeling like I had found my true purpose in life.  I have sense come to believe that I can be successful and filled fulfilled, by sharing a positive attitude and outlook in the world by sharing good information, my skills, and my life in hopes that it will inspire someone else to be the best that they can be.  In my quest to do that, I will in turn receive the best things that are needed for me in my life abundantly.  I will do that by blogging, writing, and using video to practice and perfect my craft, hoping that the world will enjoy my gift to them.  That is my American dream.  And I hope ultimately my daughter and all of you decide that by giving the best of yourself to the world is the only way that you will get the best from it.

Love,

Kaye

Giving in Order to Receive

Most of the time when we think about our life, we think of it in terms of what we do not have.  We consider things such as not having enough money to buy certain things.  Next, we may consider that we don't have the time to make a commitment to giving of ourselves in one way or another.  Well, I have been using myself as a guinea pig for quite a while now with regards to giving.  I was in a very bad place mentally a few years back.  It seemed that I had the problems that I previously mentioned, I didn't have enough time to do anything, let alone any extra cash to buy anything or support a cause, regardless of how important it was.  I was introduced to a video, that talked about how the universe works and how we can make it work for us. 

At first, I thought the information found on the video was just a bunch of hogwash.  So jokingly (but seriously at the same time), I asked the Universe to make it possible for me to give more....give more of my time and money to support worthy causes. And BOY did the universe respond!  It gave me all kinds of crazy time to lend myself to supporting charities (I did so much charitable work that I decided to start my own non profit organization)!  It also started sending a steady flow of extra cash my way, and of course I supported various charities and other notable causes.  It was very much an exhilarating and surprising experience.

But what was more surprising and inspiring was how the universe responded to my "giving"- I began to feel uplifted and joyous all the time.  I also began to receive "gifts" of great magnitude from the most unexpected people and at just the right time!  It excited me so much that I wanted to utilize all my skills, talents, and resources to keep on giving!  And the more I gave of myself to the world around me, the more the universe responded.  It responded with not just material resources but spiritual ones too.  I have a keener sense of discernment and loyalty.  I am more conscious about how I relate to others and how I make them feel.  I am more conscious about how I treat myself.  I thought it would be hard to change, but I realized that it wasn't hard to change my way of thinking, the hard part was keeping my changed mindset.  Even though I backslide here and there, it still makes me happy to know that in the morning, I have the chance to do it right again!  I take that chance seriously, and in return the Universe (or GOD as I so love to refer to it as) takes me seriously.

Why don't you try it today!?  You don't have to be rich or in a position of stature to give, and everyone doesn't need money.  Some people just need a smile, so that they have a reason to smile back.  Some people need a shoulder to cry on- some people may need some advice on something you know a lot about.  Some people just need a peson to sit quietly with.  Be on purpose about your giving to others, so that the universe can be on purpose about giving back to you!

If you're on purpose for doing great things, then great things will happen!

It's a great day to be alive and on purpose!  It is amazing how God works things out for you when you are on purpose for getting things done!   Being in business for yourself is very exciting, and it has been for me!  But you do have to have a plan, and you have to be willing to devote the same amount of time to building your business as you would to working for someone else!  We all must learn to work hard at the beginning so we can play hard later. . By intentionally setting aside time to get involved in spiritual activity, spending time with family and friends, working to make an income, feeding your brain with something positive, and then planning down time will make you happier beyond your wildest imagination!

Here's an idea for helping you to start designing the life of your dreams:

• Take a sheet of paper and write down all of the goals that you have for your life!  Imagine where you want to live, how much money you want to make, what kind of car you want to drive, etc.  Remember to THINK BIG!
• Think about when you want to have all of these things accomplished, and put a date on them
• Next consider what it is going to take for you to make your dreams a reality (revenues, opportunities, etc.).  Also consider the obstacles you might face, and determine how you can overcome them.
• Separate the goals into goals that you want to follow through with now and goals that you need to put off. Here's a tip for determining which category to put each goal into.  If you have a very clear vision about the outcome of the goal, then you can work on it now.  For each goal that you do not have absolute clarity on, put it aside.
• Based on your research and consideration of the aforementioned items, put a plan into place to accomplish the goal and stick to it!  Don't give up!  And no matter what, be faithful and let no one else rain on your parade! 

If you do these things then you are off to a good start towards changing your life for the better!  You should always ask yourself, "What would I do if I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I couldn't fail?"  Then help yourself to believe that you won't fail by telling yourself that, and then run like the wind to your finish line!  God will keep you and take care of you the entire way!