Author: SharRon Jamison

It’s June. Half of 2021 is over. So now what?

What are you going to do?

The world is opening up, so what are you doing to live a bigger, bolder, and more satisfying life?

What are you doing to ensure that you don’t get back on the hamster wheel and forget all the lessons you learned during the COVID quarantine?

What are you doing to create space for new people, new opportunities, and new awakenings so you don’t return to a life that was dishonest, restrictive, or chaotic?

How are you now stepping out and taking some risks because you realize that death is real and those small things like viruses can have life-changing consequences?

What are you doing to ensure that you are acting in ways that are compatible with your desired success and happiness so you don’t stay in an unfulfilling job or relationship?

What are you doing to learn more about your country’s history so you can be a change agent, an ally, or a more courageous social justice advocate?

What are you doing to interrupt your old patterns and disrupt your default beliefs so you can open yourself up to new perspectives?

What are you doing to re-think your relationships so that you are surrounded by people who want and expect you to win?

How are you stretching your mind, reevaluating how you work, and reimagining how you live so you can thrive with ease?

Good questions? Yes!

I know that some of you will be working with me during the next six months to delve deeper into what it means to live a self-aware, liberated life. I am so excited about our journey, and I know that your life will be forever changed as you DARE TO BE YOU in profound, healing ways.

But since this is a time of personal and societal rebuilding, I will be offering other options for us to work together as we all are being challenged to reimagine our lives. So, stay tuned. I have a few resources that will support you, especially if you are ready to see yourself with fresh eyes and live outside of the status quo.

In the meantime, I started a private podcast just for our community. It is not perfect, but I wanted to share some timely insights, journal prompts, and some healing resources that may support you. If you find them valuable, invite others to the Dare To Soar Higher community. They can join by clicking here.

As the world reopens, please remember to pace yourself, rest, and don’t settle for “what was” when “what can be” is so much for thrilling, fulfilling, and edifying!

Blessings!

SharRon

I have often struggled with depression. Some years it was just a low grade, couldn’t-get-my-groove-back type of feeling. And at other times, it was a debilitating feeling of dread and desperation.

Of course, I explained my feelings away by convincing myself that my extreme sadness was due only to work stress, or that it was the result of being a single mom, or it was due to the daily microaggressions that I faced at work. And we all know that any one of those issues alone can wreak havoc on your mental health.

But even though ALL of that was true, I was still reluctant to NAME what I suspected it really was —depression. Why? Church and culture had convinced me that being depressed was a sign of weakness and a sign of being faithless. And so, I was admonished to pray more. But what I really needed was some prayer, a therapist, and a little bit of Prozac. Let the church say amen!

But instead of finally naming my depression, I numbed it. I worked harder, exercised more, ate more, prayed more, and nagged my son more. I did more of everything but tell the truth. I did everything but NAME the hope-depleting, joy-sucking feeling which I knew was depression.

Thank God I am liberated from those toxic beliefs. I now know that we MUST normalize talking about mental health, therapy, and trauma. We must also talk about the ways that racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, poverty, health inequity, toxic religion, systemic oppression, white-washing, gaslighting, suffocating norms, and toxic individualism compound the need for being more intentional about our mental health and about seeking support. And we must normalize that finding the RIGHT therapist, coach, or counselor may take time. Yes, it may take a few months and a few failed attempts to find the person or group that most resonates with you. So, please don’t stop going to therapy or seeking help because the first therapist could not resonate with you or your lived experience.

My friend, we live in a society where over 17 million people have experienced at least one major depressive episode. Because of COVID, civil unrest, past trauma, and so many other gut-wrenching losses, some people have experienced chronic depression and struggle every day.

Because of its prevalence, discussions about mental health must be normalized and talked about in the home, in schools, on our jobs, and in our faith-based organizations. It is dangerous to be silent about depression, and it is irresponsible to stigmatize people when they need support, community, and compassion.

In Deciding To Soar 2, I talk about my bouts with depression, and I will keep talking about it because it is important for people to know that depression can be treated and healing can be trusted. Never forget that your mental health matters because you matter. (Chapter 7)

I am cheering for you!

You can heal!

Blessings,

SharRon

Have you lost your voice?

Not your physical voice, but the sound of your truth?

Why does losing your voice matter?

Losing your voice is how you gradually lose yourself.

How?

Losing your voice is when you fail to own your truth and stand up for what you believe in or trust.

It’s when you swallow your words, abandon your truth, and suppress your opinions to make others happy.

Losing your voice is when you downplay your beliefs in exchange for fake respect, shiny objects, and conditional acceptance.

What I know for sure: Your voice is unique, and it’s yours. You may not have developed it, refined it, or acknowledged it yet, but you have a voice. You have opinions and perspectives that guide and govern your life.

You have something to say! And it’s important that you say it because you have something to say that only you can say. Nobody else in the world has your unique perspective or lived experience.

Why?

You have a voice that creates, connects, and comforts in a distinctive way.

You have an incredible, inimitable sound that summons greatness, shares insight, and serves a bigger purpose.

You have a voice that carries, moves, and inspires people to take life-altering action.

You!

Just so you know…. some people will not like you using your voice especially if your voice clashes or competes with the status quo or pushes people beyond their comfort zones.

But despite the risks and repercussions, and there will be many, I encourage you to FIND YOUR OWN VOICE and speak as loud as you can. 

Speak so loud that you rattle the cages of conformity and complacency to inspire change.

Speak so loud that you pull down strongholds of wickedness in high places so integrity can be restored.

Speak so loud that you drown out your haters, doubters, and manipulators who try to confuse, control, and confine you!

Speak so loud that you empower and embolden people to live beyond their circumstances and rise beyond their trauma.

Speak so loud that people feel the winds of challenge, change, and progress in their lives.

Speak so loud that the mental chains of oppression fall from the minds, hands, and hearts of leaders, influencers, and change agents.

SPEAK with intention and conviction!

The world needs your voice.

Why?

Justice is waiting, Truth is waiting. Peace is waiting. Your Creator is waiting.

So, SPEAK!

Ask yourself:

• What do I need to say to myself and to others to live honestly and with integrity?
• What do I need to share to support my mission, vision, and truth to others?
• What do I need to demand to keep myself safe, sane, and striving in my personal life?
• What do I need to express to release old wounds, address old trauma, and forgive old debtors so I can move forward with joy and peace?

Speak!

Your voice needs to be heard and witnessed.

Are YOU ready?

You were BORN WITH extreme wealth; you are rich. You have abilities, innate gifts, supernatural wisdom, and God-inspired uniqueness. You came to the world loaded and encoded – divinely equipped to shift the atmosphere, challenge paradigms, correct what was broken, and to create what was missing. You were BORN WITH everything you needed to fulfill your God-given assignment, your sacred agenda, your dharma, or your calling.

You were also BORN IN an environment that shaped you. Your environment, which consisted of your family, culture, teachers, caregivers, systemic barriers, ideologies, TV shows, faith traditions, and anything else that you were exposed to or affected by as a child, influenced you. My friend, your environment informed your worldview, and most importantly, it shaped how you SEE YOURSELF.

Just think about it. Your environment provided financial privileges, adequate resources, or/and extreme poverty. Spiritual growth, intellectual freedom, or/and emotional prisons. Great opportunities, a few options, or/and insurmountable obstacles. Unfettered access, historical barriers, or/and systemic difficulties. Heart-stopping beauty or/and hope-depleting burdens. Breath-taking gardens or dilapidated ghettos. If you are like most people, your environment provided a few extremes, some common events, and some humdrum experiences. Yes, you and I were born in a society filled with complexity, contradictions, craziness, and chaos.

The truth is that we were all reared in environments that included a little bit of this and a little bit of that, which deeply affected and molded us. (But we are focusing and centering YOU in this blog)

Your environment was not neutral; environments never are. Your environment could have enhanced your self-worth and self-awareness or stripped you of your self-confidence, self-value, and your self-esteem. It could have muted your voice, prevented you from seeing your amazingness, and strengthened your ability to hear and know an all-loving God. It could have infected you with doubt, injected you with fear, or ignited you to pursue your passion. Trust me, your environment shielded you and shaped you in ways that you cannot always identify. And all the messages, myths, and “shoulds” you learned and absorbed could have undermined or magnified what you were BORN WITH.

Here’s the truth: To live a value-directed, purpose-driven, joy-infused authentic life, you MUST discern and understand what you were BORN WITH vs BORN IN.

The good news is….what you were BORN WITH is more powerful than anything that you were BORN IN, but you must believe that!

You must believe that you are a treasure chest of unlimited possibilities, unspeakable creativity, and unreplaceable genius.

You MUST believe that you can SOAR beyond anything you have been taught, told, or terrorized to do or think.

You must hold tight to your own deep sense of truth and find your own way, follow your path, and heed that quiet, but undeniable inner call.

You must muster the courage to chase what calls you and leave what no longer fulfills you.

You must resist conformity and embrace awe, adventure, and exploration.

You must lean into what feels aligned and lean away from what feels awry.

You must excavate your truth, activate your power, and liberate your mind from narratives that strip you of your agency and dignity to create anew.

My friend, it won’t be easy! But don’t worry. You have everything you need because you were BORN WITH everything that your God-inspired journey will require. It may be just a seed now, but you can cultivate it to succeed as YOU, not the curated compliant you.

Don’t worry about your background, family drama, historical oppression, or your missteps. What you were BORN In can’t cancel what you divinely know or disqualify you from doing what you were created to do, if you don’t let it.

So, lean into who YOU know yourself to be.

Aspire to live a life you love and not settle for a life you learned to live.

No more “supposed to” living; obligated living is beneath you. Only inspired, God-directed, value-driven, purpose-informed, liberated living can honor your divine call.

And if you suspect you are living a limiting BORN IN life, and you want to explore what a full, bold, aligned BORN WITH life looks like and feels like, join me.

Join hands with other heart-centered leaders, trailblazers, and visionaries as we embark on a journey to amplify what we were BORN WITH so we can DARE to SOAR HIGHER in every aspect of our lives.

COVID was disruptive, yet it also revealed that you had shrunk your ability to experience joy and dream down to your reality. But it’s time to get back on track and live fully and authentically. No more suppressing who you are or abandoning your dreams.

If this speaks to you, drop me an email and I will send you information about the life-changing journey called “I Dare To Be Me.” You can learn more about the program by clicking the Programs Tab, too.

**If you want to learn more about living freely and joyfully, please grab a copy of my newest book, Deciding To Soar 2: Deciding To Soar. 

As always, blessings to you as you Dare To SOAR HIGHER than you have ever SOARED before!

SharRon

(excerpt from my upcoming book, Deciding To Soar 3)

Do you have people in your life who look out for you? People who help you navigate social and political situations? People who support your mission, expand your movement, and help you make money? People who encourage you to showcase and optimize your talents and gifts?

People who are confident enough to help you shine and SOAR?

If so, you have great “roommates.” 

Roommates!

Roommates are, of course, people you live with. But roommates are much more, especially for women who are leaders, visionaries, creatives, and truth-tellers who are breaking glass ceilings and challenging the status quo.

In fact, roommates are essential for your success. They help you advance your mission and extend your reach so you can accomplish your goals faster and with ease.

Roommates can also help you protect yourself from microaggressions, interruptions, disappointments, and mansplaining as you navigate in rooms where you are different, “othered”, or less respected. They can help you establish authority and creditability so you make boss moves, speak your truth, and finance your dreams.

Most of all, roommates can offer support so you can take bigger risks in your life, withstand attacks when you have a dissenting view, or stand firm amid political pressure.

Trust me, when you DARE to do something that you have never done before or when you DARE to be who you truly are, you need a team of like-minded women to encourage you and cheer you on. 

Roommates, people who help you in meeting rooms, boardrooms, and rooms where decisions are made – are extremely valuable. They are game-changers especially for high-powered, heart-centered women like you!

A few days ago, I shared the power of roommates with the “I Dare To Be Me” mastermind, and it was so well received that I shared the information on IG. Click here to listen.

Look at the list below and determine if you have a few “roommates” in your life. If not, set an intention to expand your circle. Why? You need and DESERVE support if you are going to live a life of purpose, contribution, abundance, and joy.

Also, if you know you want to change your life and you crave the support of a powerful group of like-minded women, please reply to this message. I will personally send your information about “I Dare To Be Me.” You don’t want to miss out on this opportunity because it may be the last cohort for the year.

Roommates

• Roommates invite you into rooms that increase your access to resources and information.
• Roommates ensure you are in the room and that you are introduced to the powerbrokers because they know that proximity affects power.
•  Roommates amplify your voice in the room so that your suggestions and ideas are heard and reinforced.
• Roommates help you shine and take up space in the room so your gifts are witnessed, showcased, and celebrated.
• Roommates help you “read” the room so you can effectively strategize to support your cause, connect with other influencers, and ensure that you don’t make career-limiting mistakes when the stakes are high.
• Roommates protect and promote your reputation when you are not in the room, so you don’t miss out on opportunities or experience sabotage.
• Roommates ensure that you and your accomplishments are visible in the world so that you are not overlooked and undervalued.

Which one of these most resonate with you? Let me know your thoughts.

Also, join me on Sunday at 3 pm EST for a deep-dive discussion on Chapter 29 from Deciding To Soar 2. On Sunday, we are talking about friendships….. real friendships.

You don’t have to register. Just click here to join.

Topic: Deciding To Soar – Friendship
Time: May 2, 2021 03:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88287525821?pwd=M3oxb0VZRlNVaGNzL0kzVWVhbmJvdz09

Meeting ID: 882 8752 5821
Passcode: SOAR

I hope to see some of you on Sunday as we discuss the power and art of healthy connections.

I hope you are well and find the silver linings amid the craziness in the world.

I usually do not do this, but I had to share a conversation that I had with a friend yesterday.

Friend: What are you doing?

Me: I am studying. I have to speak tomorrow, and I want to say something that reminds people that they can make a difference in the world.

Friend: The world is never going to change. You need to accept that.

Me: Huh? I don’t believe that. I believe we all have gifts, skills, and a purpose. We all can do something to make the world a better place.

Friend: You think too highly of yourself.

Me: No, I think honestly about myself. I realize that we all have gifts, and we all have the responsibility to create the world that we desire. Even though I don’t have the same privilege and power of others, I have something special, and I going to use what I have.

The rest of the conversation did not go well because I don’t “do” powerless. I refuse to accept that I am impotent and ill-equipped to affect change. I hope you don’t either.

The truth: WE ARE NOT POWERLESS! We are strong! We are masterful and equipped! We are armed with goodness, gifts, and grit. And most of all, GOD sustains us!

I am not naïve; I realize the world is not fair. There are issues, ideologies, and practices that advantage some and hurt others.

But I refuse to stand by and do nothing. You and I, we, can GRAB our gifts and influence culture, dismantle oppression, and change the ethos of the world.

What does G.R.A.B. mean?

• GROW your innate gifts, knowledge, and networks.
• REACH out to assist others and also get help for yourself.
• ADVANCE forward while accepting occasional failure, acknowledging risk, and overcoming occasional disappointment.
• BUILD your resilience, your strengths, and your community to push beyond the soul-sucking status quo.

This week GRAB hold to what you desire and GO for it!

Of course, REST, too!

But don’t succumb to despair when the answers to the world’s problems are in your head, hands, and heart!

Let’s Dare To Soar Higher!

Let’s claim our stake in the world.

And if you need a reminder of your power, value, and worth, please head over to Amazon and get my new book, Deciding To Soar 2. Click here.

Our elders faced tough times too, and they were still able to affect change.

If our elders were able to survive with less support and resources, WE CAN TOO!

Imagination!

Imagination is so important!

When I young, my elders would say, “sometimes you see better with your eyes closed.”

If I was tired, sad, or frustrated, they would remind me to close my eyes so I could SEE visions and dreams. They knew I would feel better, happier, safer, and more powerful if I could SEE beyond my reality.

Imagination!

So, what’s imagination. According to the dictionary, “the faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images, or concepts of external objects not present to the senses.”

Family, right now, our world needs to use its imagination. We need to see something different because what we are seeing is hurting our souls.

Mass killings, violence, vitriol.

Domination, aggression, anger.

Death, rising COVID numbers, and reluctance to follow safety measures.

Toxic masculinity, white supremacy, plots of revenge.

Unemployment, underemployment, divisive work cultures.

Voter disenfranchisement, degrading social media posts, selfishness.

Whitewashed narratives, spiritual bypassing, racial gaslighting.

Fear-mongering, police brutality, civil unrest.

Loneliness, despair, physical abuse.

Our world is living in fear, and our collective anxiety is swallowing us up into an abyss of madness, misery, and mayhem.

We are being strangled by our collective grief, and we are becoming numb to pain. We are living fragmented lives, and many of us struggling. The increase in mental illness and abuse proves we are living in perilous times – times which we are not psychologically equipped to endure.

Though emotionally exhausted and spiritually depleted, we are doing our best to survive in a harmful environment that toxic individualism, systemic oppression, and unbridled greed created.

Yes, our harmful culture was man-made and perpetuated by laws, policies, and practices designed by the powerful, reinforced by the greedy, and co-signed by the silent and apathetic.

My friend, we need to imagine something different if we are to heal our past, thrive in the future, and live together in peace. 

My elders were wise; imagination is the beginning of new possibilities and healing. And I believe that there are 4 types of imagination that can help us SEE bigger and better. All 4 types challenge us to reflect on critical questions that affect humanity.

Prophetic Imagination – What you can predict, hope or SEE for yourself and others to help the community weather the storm and build a better future?

Spiritual Imagination – What can you imagine your Creator doing for you and to you? And most of all, what can you imagine your Creator doing THROUGH you and AS you so you can contribute to the world?

Liberatory Imagination – What can you imagine doing and being if you were fully liberated from oppressive systems, white supremacy, social conditioning, need to please, old trauma, toxic traditions, the fear of rejection, the status quo, or any other factor that limits how you and others live?

Collaborative Imagination – What could you do if you could work, live and share with people who lived, loved, prayed, spoke, believed, voted, and talked differently than you do? How could you join hearts and hands to uplift those in need, speak for those who didn’t have a voice, or share with the poor? How could you work with others to dismantle systems that devalue others?

What I know for you sure: When you can imagine something better than your current reality, you can hope, dream, and work for a better life. You can reclaim your hope, reignite your courage, and mobilize for change.

Click here to listen to the IG Live.  Click here to listen on YouTube.

As we continue to face many complex problems and challenging times, please close your eyes and imagine something safer, better, bolder, and fairer.

And then determine how you can support yourself and others to transform the ethos and the policies of the world.

I am praying and thinking of you.

Please share this message with those who need hope.

After 30 years of working with people, one thing I know for sure is that most people really know the truth.

They may deny it, dilute it, denounce it, devalue it, distance themselves for it, but they KNOW.

And it is the KNOWING that creates the crisis.

It is the KNOWING that something no longer serves their highest good that causes the dis-ease, the disruption, and the disconnection in their families, careers, and their relationships.

It is the KNOWING that their current circumstance or their current choice contradicts their calling or their character.

It is the KNOWING that causes anxiety and misalignment.

The truth: Living in that “I know but I don’t want to know place” is acutally dangerous to the soul and psyche.

In fact, if you decide to live in this toxic place for too long, you suffer; your health, happiness, and wholeness are comprised. Most of all, you sacrifice living a life that supports, sustains, and satisfies you.

So, what do you really know that you are trying NOT to know? Take a few minutes and answer these questions.

• Do you know what relationships contradict your values?
• Do you know how your chosen career is preventing you from pursuing your divine calling?
• Do you know why you are investing your time and money in everything except your own development?
• Do you know why you keep walking into dead-end jobs and joining toxic organizations?
• Do you know why you are blaming others for your unhappiness instead of cultivating a life that inspires you?
• Do you know why you are conflating your income with your identity?

What do you know that you are trying NOT to know?

Once you answer those questions, you will be free to create a life that honors you and the God in you!

As I stated in Deciding to Soar 1….”Living a lie will make you die,” and the death will be slow, subtle, and painful.

You don’t want that!

You deserve better!

You deserve to live a life of peace and joy!

We all do.

Let’s Dare To Soar Higher Together!

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