August Quotes

History Alive

So it's a great time to be alive and see history being made with our own eyes. Many people that don't like a person will try and diminish or minimize their accomplishments. I've seen this happening all around social media and it's pretty disgusting. 

Hilary Clinton is in fact the FIRST woman nominated by a MAJOR political party for the office of the President of the United States. It's doesn't mean others before her have not attempted or even tried to be considered for President, but it does mean a major politically party has done it NOW, TODAY. 

*BTW Major equals or means Democrat and Republican. 

President Obama wasn't the first Black man to run for president of the United States of America.

I ain't sorry

https://www.facebook.com/darrell.barnes/videos/10207090433160753/

There were a few comments that resonated with me based on this post:

"Now we have a bank to get loans."

"Is he going to provide loans to AA's?"

I'm happy to see a community of people supporting other's in a community that look like them. I'm all for Unity and the movement to support Black-owned businesses. What I don't have the patience for is anyone looking for preferential treatment because of their skin color in an institution that's set-up just like ALL other institutions. I ain't sorry, but if you couldn't get a "loan" at Chase, Bank of America, or any other banking institution of your choosing; you can not and should NOT expect that just because this is a Black-owned bank; now all of a sudden you can get money out of it that you don't have!! 

As long as you're qualified to receive a loan...YES you can get a loan! If you are NOT qualified...'Ill answer that question for you and say NO!

Life Gems #26

"...Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. 

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? 

Actually, who are you not to be? 

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. 

We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. 

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." 

~Marianne Williamson

After seeing so many nasty, inappropriate, down-right crude posts and discussions come across social media this past week I feel somebody needs to be reminded that they are WORTHY. They are a descendant of the King! They are a child of God! It is not cute, or smart, to allow someone to diminish you or your worth then; you remain unbothered, underdeveloped, unmotivated to speak, create, or cause CHANGE in your life. Let your light be a brilliant indication of your power and strength, not a black (or other colored) light that presents a facade to the true pain you may be experiencing. That light, although fun and alluring, sexy and wanted, masks the real you behind phony pictures that diminish your worth and reduce you to something merely disposable. Don't give people permission to abuse you by sitting idle and not taking total control over your life. No one determines your worth! Make your own decisions, call your own shots, and set your own path. 

Social media can be entertaining. It can give us the overindulgence of tea we need to get through the day.  Social media can also be uplifting and encouraging, and in the same breathe it can be depressing, sad, and depriving. Social media is not always indicative of someone's REAL life, but, then again; WHY wouldn't it be? It should! Your life shouldn't always be about the "wow" factor. That's not how you live in the privacy of your own home, not even socially in a setting. Every performer takes off the costume, washes the makeup off, removes the wig... eventually. 

Social media is a new way of life and for someone to say they don't "do social media" is absurd because now a days that's how the majority of information (true or false) is passed. Lives are being changed by social media, money is made through social media, ideas are birthed through social media. Social media is big business! Check the stocks. Check what it's selling for! Check yourself don't take my word for it!

Every now and again we just need a gentle reminder. I think Marianne Williamson's words do just that. They were good enough for Nelson Mandela to use, so they're great enough to be heard over and over again.

#StayWoke

xoxo,

When You Can't Run Any Longer

You can run as long and as far as your body will allow...then you can rest up, catch your breathe, and start running again until your legs give out, your heart races, and you begin to see spots in the sky in front of you. That's what I did! I ran. I ran marathons...and I hate running unless I'm being chased. Ironically; I could say God was chasing me. His spirit of giving, or service, could have been chasing me. I. Was. Hunted. Or haunted, whichever way you choose to view the glass. 

The first person that ever told me to take teaching, being an educator, or working in education seriously and all the way to the top was my daddy. He's a hard worker and doesn't believe in just "getting into" something. "If you're going to do it, why not be at the top? Be the best in the business. That's what I would do if I were you." He told me. I told him then, "No way! I'm not going to be in education that long. This is just something."

That was twelve years ago. Twelve years later; I'm STILL in education. Still teaching, training, caring for, and administering to middle school-age students. 

In my ninth year, I think: I want out of the classroom. I can't continue doing the same thing year after year: 1st day, meet the teacher, get to know you, almost identical curriculum in the same order year after year, followed by a brutal testing season that no one looks forward to. End of the year activities and bridge work... I'll go to school to be a diagnostician. I teach special needs students and there are so many students sitting in classrooms every day that are left undiagnosed. I can begin a career there.

Again, once I begin classes, my daddy has another conversation with me and says, "If I were you I'd be a principal or superintendent; what about a job in education on a national level? You should look into being the Secretary of Education." 😳

Me being a child of "obedience" I begin researching then put my special education studies on hold. I continue holding because; I'll be real with myself and say I got too comfortable, too common, too adjusted. I. Was. Content. 

Until I wasn't. I hate being common. I'm uncomfortable being too comfortable. Too regular. I re-enroll in school. Still studying special education. I don't like it. I feel like I'm studying what I already do daily. The monotony is disturbing. Depressing. I want more! I want out of the classroom. I feel claustrophobic. Suffocated. I dread going to work. I dread discussing work. I dread thinking about work. Suddenly Sunday's, which are my favorite day of the week, sickens me to my stomach because I dread Monday's...At. Work. I feel stuck...in a rut...I get multiple certifications to teach what I like: dance, all subjects 4th-8th, ESL...but it's not good enough. I have a "thirst" and it's not quenched with being contained in a classroom. All the while God has been placing me in positions that I was naive to. Team leader as a first year teacher, which I held throughout my entire teaching career, committee chairs (which I complained adamantly about under my breathe, of course) leading initiatives, writing curriculum, attending conferences, etc. Things I wouldn't have ever "posted" or discussed because I was ignorant to their value.

It took me speaking with university advisors about career options with Special Education versus Education Administration, even then, about another four conversations with my Cookie Monster for me to finally agree to study educational administration. "Now, tell me again why aren't you going to school to be a principal?" "How long will it take you?" "I don't understand why you wouldn't want to be a principal," I'd get asked anytime we discussed our day😳

He has the same mentality as my daddy, if I didn't get a chance to say that before. So now I have it double duty...and heavy! As coocoo for Cocoa Puffs as I am; my internal motivation may just have been to get them to shut up about it. Lol. 

Never the less; I'm studying administration and it's everything I've been doing and not getting the pay for so the work load comes easy for me. Tedious, yet simplistic, and relevant to the job I already do everyday as an academic coach. 

I say all this to say: I'd been running. Around and around (a track) wasting time. Or if I look at the glass as half full, as I tend to do; I'll say I've been in "training". It took a slight push...ok, kick from Coach Daddy and Coach Cookie Monster, much support from my (greatest cheerleader) mommy but I'm completing it! August 20th is near. I'd rush it if I wasn't so self-absorbed about my vacation time. I've now passed the certification test, I'm in my last class, going into completing the final internship hours, then all this hassle will definitely be worth the tassel! ...new goals will be established! Another race will begin.

Runners on your mark...

Transformation Season

Weddings, engagements, graduations, certifications, births, showers, announcements, etc. This is the season for them ALL. June is the season of blessings and multiple correspondences for various life-changing events! It's also, what I like to think of as, the season of TRANSFORMATION! Whether it's your event, announcement, or not; it's the season of dramatic change. You have options of transformation: are you transforming to new thoughts, ideas, goals, etc.? Are you transforming your old way of thinking, doing, or completing tasks? Have you transformed from last year to the new year? Have you spotted someone else's transformation and now you're self-reflecting? I ask, not to judge or rebuke, but, because it's all relative...and...relevant.

The season of transformation is a powerful season when you don't get self-absorbed into the negative aspects of life and once you realize that without change...there is no growth...no progression...no productivity! Transformation is key to success and recognition. 

Pleasantries *Summer Edition

*Courtesy of expensivetastecatering Instagram post*

A thirteenth would be 

13. Don't pack plates. There needs to be food available for all invited guests that ATTEND, not your boo, cousin, or self for later.