Flying With the Eagles

It is necessary to associate yourself with like minded people so that you stay sharpened in your field. The greatest T-shirt I ever read (okay maybe not the greatest, but certainly the most meaningful) said "It's hard to soar with the eagles when I'm surrounded by turkeys." Follow me for a second. In Ice Age The Meltdown (go watch it if you haven't already seen it). A mammoth who is raised by possums believes she is a possum and often attempts to climb trees and hang upside down from her tail. She also plays dead when eagles fly overhead, in fear they will carry her off like they have done in the past to one of her possum uncles. Are you shaking your head realizing how ridicules that sounds, well imagine how ridicules you look attempting to fulfill your purpose surrounding yourself with people who have no interest in helping you reach your full potential.

Although I'm only 25 (with 8 years experience come May 3), I am a huge fan of Nikki Giovanni (the poet, I certainly hope you knew who I was talking about). In one of her poems she reminds us that some believe we are responsible for those we love, but those who are wise know that we are responsible for those who love us. People who truly support you will pour into not only you, but your vision. They will never become so consumed with their own agendas that you are not important. The concept of "irons sharpening irons" means you are to build one another, this should not be a one-sided relationship. If you find yourself without the ability to think regarding your own purpose after conversing with someone and assisting them in becoming a better version of themselves, then it is time to disconnect and cut ties with the relationship. This doesn't mean you should call your mother and tell her to jump off a cliff because she never supported your dream of becoming the first 6'7" overweight ballerina at 45 years old, I'm simply saying now is the season to move yourself into position of fully walking in your purpose and not allowing others (or yourself) to detour you from the vision. Set a goal, and set milestones along the way, and get there. You don't need to reinvent the wheel, grab others to mentor you. There is a difference between a mentor and an idol. A mentor will hold you by the hand and share information, resources and energy with you to reach your potential.

Don't be afraid of moving beyond your current circle of influence. Call that person whose card you received at that business luncheon you went to six months ago. Make yourself known within certain circles. Stop volunteering all your time and request money for your time, you are worth every dime. When I first started Orangeview Family Services my consultation fee to speak one-on-one with families was $100/hr. Because I stopped believing I was worth it along the way I stopped charging. My time spent in meetings became longer, and my income declined. Say it with me! NO MORE FREEBIES!!! As I refocus on personal business ventures, I'm excited about what lies ahead. My new motto is "ask with a straight face." The only thing someone can tell you is no. It's a small two letter word, it doesn't physically cause damage when said, and you will survive it. Eagles rise above it all and soar where the air is clear, above the smog and fog and reach their full purpose and potential. Make the decision today to be an eagle.

Promotion by Demotion

While I have always been taught that "promotion comes from the Lord" something that I recently struggled with was demotion. Our minds immediately begin to race towards the opposite, it must then be a negative and evil event. My personal prayer has always been to gain wisdom from each experience in life, and something I have come to recently understand is promotion doesn't always come in the form we believe it should come in. Sometimes elimination of extra work, projects and responsibilities (which I now see is not always a demotion) is necessary to position us for greatness. As Jennifer Hudson accepted her Academy Award for the role she played in Dream Girls, the most noted point of her speech was she would have never been able to accomplish such greatness without having lost the American Idol competition.
Before conceiving Dorian, I suffered a miscarriage. It was a surreal moment. In the same breath I found out I was pregnant and losing the baby all at once. Several months after the lost I conceived Dorian. After discussing it with my doctor, he began to tell me how I was more fertile due to the loss of the previous pregnancy. I did not feel the loss of the first pregnancy because I was unaware of it, however I am extremely grateful for my soon to be 7 year old who daily redefines my life.
You may have been the most qualified on your job, or had great visions for your business or organization, and suffered great loss. Great setbacks make for even great set ups for an even greater come back. Following your dreams and passions sometimes requires you to eliminate all that you feel is necessary to get you there. This is not always a pretty process, nor painless one. Sometimes you have to close the doors to your business, allow foreclosure to take place on your house so that you can develop a better business and purchase/build your dream home. Sometimes dropping unhealthy relationships is not an option. Everyone (including relatives) is not in your life to help build you, some are sent to attempt to tear you down and help sharpen you. Some people are only sent for a season, and not meant to be lifelong relationships. The only way to get clarity on your direction in life is you must stay connected to the one who has ordered your path. It's easier to get to where you are going when you know which roads to take. We often become comfortable with the familiar faces around us, the daily activities in our schedules and are paralyzed by the mundane.
Take a different perspective when you lose positions, job opportunities, businesses, and relationships. If you were never liberated from that job at McDonald's, you would never found time to build your vision of owning your own business. Sometimes demotion positions your for promotion.

The Midas Touch

Perhaps you are not familiar with the story of King Midas. Allow me to briefly explain. King Midas had the ability to turn everything into gold simply by touching it. While his special ability may seem to be a valuable skill to possess, it presented a challenge when touching loved ones and things he didn't want to turn to gold. What we can take from the story is the ability to make success of what we put our hands to. If you decide to walk in your God given authority (understand the only way to do this is to have an intimate relationship with him) you will possess the Midas Touch. Being a success doesn't mean not having obstacles, it simply means you overcome them to get to where you want to go.

It is only the 6th day into 2010, and yet I have already been faced with setback in moving forward and accomplishing the three tasks George and I have decided to focus on the first quarter of this year. We will not be detoured in our course of action, we just have to readjust our game plan and realize God is still good, and we are still blessed no matter what. We discovered today that there will be a slight delay in accomplishing one of our goals (7 month delay) as we switch our health coverage from one plan to another and be placed on a waiting list for services needed. At least we have medical coverage, and the needed services will still be provided, just at a later date.

I have had a few setback the last quarter of 2009 in marketing my business the way I wanted to, one because of a transportation dilemma, and second because of minor health issues. There was something wrong with the front tires on my Land Rover and I was not comfortable driving it until George had the opportunity to find the problem. Now that he has done that and repaired the problem, I can begin hitting the streets and networking with businesses one on one. A severe cold and acute tonsillitis put me in bed for four weeks straight, two weeks of which I couldn't speak or eat. Now that all is behind me, I am excited about what is ahead of me in 2010. As I stay focus, I am reminded that I have the Midas Touch, and everything I touch will turn to gold this year, that is, I will make a success out of whatever I put my hands to.

Complaining Cancels the Promises

As I've been taking a historical/biblical  journey through those who have had successful families, businesses and lives in general there is one thing that these individuals did not do, complain. If we look at the children of Israel as they left Egypt headed to "The Promise Land", they argued, bickered, fought and complained. Their unruly outward displays of dissatisfaction prevailed over the vision to reach the land they were promised. The revisited old habits they had acquired during their period of captivity that prevented them from walking into the promises of God. If we exegete from this scriptural lesson complaining cancels the promises then it is easy to understand why individually we may not be where we should be. Clinging to old habits that do not work to promote success (notice I said habits that do not work), will not get us any closer to whatever vision you are pregnant with.

While George and I have decided on what three items we will focus on the first quarter of 2010, we both have come to the conclusion that our perspective of things around us must stay positive. We cannot murmur, complain, be disgruntled in the process of getting to where we are striving to get to. While it is great to have a husband/partner that is focused on the same items, not having someone can present a challenge of another kind. Not because you are alone in your pursuit, but because there will always be haters who will attempt to prevent you from reaching your goals. Reading further into Numbers chapters 13 &14, you will find that at one point Moses sent twelve spies to search out the land and find out if going into the land was possible. Though I've read this passage several times, something that stood out this last time was the spies dwelled in the land of "milk & honey" and returned after 40 days. They saw the evidence of the land being fruitful yet they returned and gave a bad report because there were a few obstacles to overcome. How many times have we encountered a hater who didn't see the vision like we saw it, and they said it couldn't be done? People who when presented with the same opportunity allowed the vision to die because it would have required them to shake the dust from their feet and move out of their comfort zone.

Sure it sounds crazy! Most great ideas are. Without sounding crazy we would have never made as many advances as we've done in medicine, science and technology. Out of 12 spies sent to spy out the land, only 2 returned and said it is doable, let's go in and possess the land. We've been getting water from rocks, and food from the sky in the wilderness, it is all possible! While you and I may not have experienced a miracle such as getting water from a rock, you can look back in your life in certain situations and it's comparable. There are certain challenges that I escaped from without real damage and I know that was my water from a rock. If you have gotten through something, you can get to something. If you've survived the desert season in your life then you can continue a little further on your journey to get to the oasis season.

Certainly we all lose heart. I'll admit, I've recently had feelings of inadequacy which has caused me to stop moving forward altogether. I've lost countless nights of sleep worrying about things that didn't deserve my worry. I've gone in circles working on tasks that I've allowed my haters or distractors to throw at me that prevent me from reaching my goals. I've learned to disconnect from people that are simply sent to tear me down. I spend less time talking to people who only have negative reports. I stay away from people who are doing great things only for the satisfaction of themselves, because when they cease to be satisfied (which is quite often) they spill their poison into the lives of those around them. People who never find satisfaction will have a different request of you every week. They will often confuse pursuing greatness with complaints about where they currently reside and want to skip steps in the process to expedite the expected outcome. The process of making you, helps you stay on top when you get there, never underestimate its importance. So today I refuse to complain! I don't want to miss any steps of the process and not know how to handle success (however you define it) when I get there. The process is rough, but lets learn the lessons the first time so that we don't have to repeat them.... or so we don't have to wander around in the wilderness for 40 years until we "get it."