Pressing Pause

There are times in my life when I have come across something that is so important to me that it requires my undivided attention. For instance, I not so literally pressed the pause button for everything else in my life to graduate high school and then college. I pressed it again to plan a wedding and relocate to another state to be with my husband. Yet again, I pressed pause to assist my husband in building our music production company---and again to develop my business as a makeup artist.

I must say, however, none of those times were more significant than pressing pause to welcome the arrival of my baby girl. She rightfully planted herself right-smack- dab (whatever that actually means) in the middle of my life and occupied 99.9% of my time, energy, and undivided attention. Without hesitation I put everything else on hold to make sure that I gave her what she needed to grow into a healthy, responsible, respectful, and loving young toddler. I didn’t want distractions or opportunity for excuses to prevent me from living up to my responsibility as a mother, so I pressed pause until I could handle being the best mother I could be and then slowly added those things I put on hold back into my life.

Sometimes we can get so inundated with our to-do lists, success logs, and daily routines that we fail to focus on the one thing that will make all of the other things worth while. We suffer burn-outs, fail to achieve goals, and put off doing what’s important when all we really need to do is press pause. It is important to remember that what you pay attention to will grow---the object of your affection will be the object that defines your future.

As I prepare to press pause once again to welcome the arrival of my baby boy, I want you to consider using a pause button of your own. Ask yourself if it’s time for you to focus your undivided attention on something that you have been putting off, some place where you have not been getting the results you desire, or the one thing that will make all of the other things in your life worth while.

The next time you hear from me, I will be the proud mama of a brand new baby boy---talk to you in a few weeks!

To Blog…Nakeia

If The Truth Fits...

I spent most of my life fighting reality. The reality of who my parents were, who raised me, where I lived, how much money I had, my struggles to be successful--- and more reality and more reality---made me wish my life was different. As a child I would day dream about living in a big white house with a mom that baked cookies and a dad that spent his life fixing things. When I would open my eyes and see that I was still in my own little room in a little apartment in the projects, I would wonder why God would choose that life for me…

Now, years later, I have discovered the power to change some of those realities. I have also discovered the fact that no matter how hard I try, some realities just can’t be changed. My parents are who they are… My childhood was what it was… And the life God chose for me is the one that I am supposed to live.

Today is Friday and I have spent most of this week talking to some neighbors, friends, clients, and strangers about my reality. I do that often---sharing my reality and my truth, that is--- and I realize that my reality fits me... my truth fits me---and as I share them with others I am fulfilling my purpose to inspire, empower, and teach others to change what they can and accept what they can’t as part of what is needed for them to fulfill their own purpose.

What ever life you have been given is uniquely yours. Your reality is made for you and your truth is apart of a grander plan to give you the freedom to live the life you were born to live. Instead of fighting it, I encourage you to change the part of your reality that you have the power to change and embrace the truth that has made you uniquely you.

To Blog…Nakeia

What do you want to change about your life? What truth about your past has contributed, positively, to the person you are today? What’s in the story of your life that could help someone else?

Prepare For The Best

As I approach the last 3 weeks of my pregnancy, I realized something very significant about how parents prepare for the birth of a child. Typically, we prepare for the worst---which, when you really think about it, is a horrible way to welcome one of the most significant events in ones life.

We prepare ourselves for the pain of labor and delivery by attending birthing classes, studying up on pain medications, and listening to horror stories of other deliveries.

We prepare ourselves for sleepless nights with crying babies by attempting to get extra sleep before the baby is born and welcoming offers from the grandparents to attend to the baby during the day.

We prepare for diaper rashes by stocking up on creams. We prepare for fevers by stocking up on infant friendly medications. We prepare to fail at nursing by stocking up on formula.
In my preparation, I thought to myself what if the worst never happens…what if everything goes well. What will I do with all of the creams, medications, and grandparents?!?

Now of course every parent hopes for a healthy delivery and birth--- and in preparing we just want to make sure that we are not caught off guard. But I couldn’t help but think back to the delivery and birth of my first child. My husband and I were very strategic in our preparation. I asked God to give us a child that would sleep through the night, eat well, and never get sick. Well that is exactly what we received. My daughter was the best baby ever! No sleepless nights, diaper rashes, or fevers; and in six years she has never experienced more than a running nose. The worst never happened and that is exactly what we prepared for this time around!

How do you prepare for major events in your life? Do you prepare for the worst and just hope it never happens? No one wants to be caught off guard---but just think about how pleasant life would be if you prepared for the best possible outcome and that is exactly what you received. I am sure if you take the time to think back on your past experiences, you will find that the worst rarely ever happened---if it happened at all. I want you to adopt the belief that you get what you ask for and what you prepare for every time. When you prepare with that in mind, you create an atmosphere for the best possible outcome to happen.

Prepare for the best! When you prepare for the best, you leave no room for the worst to happen.

To Blog…Nakeia