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Tag: Attitude

The More We Know Community Show: Conversations Cultivating Change

Something magical happens when two Black women discuss the power of purpose.

Why?

We understand that following purpose is not easy in a culture that undervalues who we are.

In a culture that constantly bombards us with messages aimed at undermining our self-worth, self-value, and our sense of dignity, we know it takes courage and tenacity to believe in ourselves.

It takes a steadfast belief in our brilliance, sovereignty, and inner wisdom to defy that status quo and to confront the narrow, demeaning paradigms used to keep us informed, in debt, and in fear.

It takes deep self-trust, faith, optimism, and a community of other powerful women to hold space, to cheer us on, and to share their collective wisdom to break glass ceilings, challenge oppressive cultures, and disconnect from toxic religion.

Sylvia Bartley and I talk about these issues and more because we are committed to helping people, especially Black Women, fulfill their purpose, celebrate their gifts, and create legacies.

Please listen, share your thoughts, share the podcast with your friends, and write a review. We would love your support.

Thank you, Dr. Bartley, for offering such an inspirational gift to the world.

I SEE you, and I honor you.

Click here to listen.

A Few HUGS Can Help You Win!

HUGS will help you win!

When you are trying something new, you need plenty of HUGS!

Even though there is great power and comfort in a warm embrace, I am talking about different types of HUGS.

What are HUGS?

HUGS are essential ingredients for your success.

H.U.G.S. stands for:

H = You must understand your history.
When pursuing a goal or dream, it’s important to review your history because your past always leaves clues about your future. For example, understanding your cultural and social histories provides valuable insight into what shaped your beliefs and behaviors. When you understand your history, you can challenge inherited assumptions, so you can choose between who society wants you to be and who you want to become.

U =  You need to be undergirded.

Undergirding is not a word you hear a lot, but it means “to bolster, brace, strengthen and sustain.” It means possessing and accessing the internal and external infrastructures YOU need to build what you desire in your life. I will share more about the importance of infrastructure on Saturday during Soar 2022. You can register here.

G =  You need to give yourself grace.

When starting something new, you must give yourself the grace to learn and experiment with new skills, abilities, and perspectives. You must allow space for learning, relearning, and unlearning without judging yourself. Remember, everything in life is a big experiment that gives you the outcomes you want OR the lesson you need. So, give yourself grace to experiment so you can gain the wisdom you need.

S = You need support.

Success is always a team sport. Sometimes you need advice, skills, and mentors to assist you. When you identify the types of support you need, you can enlist and invest in the training, people, and resources you need to SOAR.

So, as you are considering your 2022 goals, think about giving yourself lots of H.U.G.S. because hugs have a way of providing the unique leverage, energy, and perspectives you need to:

  1. Ask yourself life-enhancing questions
  2. Awaken your buried gifts
  3. Attuned to your inner knowing
  4. Accept the highs of success without arrogance and the lows of growth without shame
  5. Allow people to help you without judging yourself
  6. Accomplish goals that are meaningful to you

If you’re interested in learning more about the power of hugs, I invite you to join me this Saturday for SOAR 2022.  Click here.

In the comfort of your home, you can gather with other heart-centered, values-driven people to talk about how you can achieve meaningful goals with joy and ease.

 

Hurray For New Beginnings!

It’s benediction time!

When you think of the word benediction, you probably think of religious rituals.

But benedictions are not only for religion; they are also expressions of appreciation and respect delivered at significant endings to signify the beginning of another sacred journey.

Benedictions are holy and cherished because they allow us to acknowledge all the pain and trials we have endured and the triumphs and successes we have enjoyed.

And as we reflect and review all we have experienced, we celebrate and offer praise. We open our hearts and minds with great anticipation, knowing that whatever is being birthed in us and through us will catapult us into a higher dimension of destiny.

A few days ago, I offered a few benedictions in my life. I offered prayers of gratitude and said a few goodbyes over several identities that served the old me. I thanked those identities for helping me navigate some tumultuous times in my life and honored the power, perspective, and promotions that those identities helped me achieve.

I also offered benedictions over a few relationships that had run their course so I could SOAR unencumbered by the weight of performing, proving, and people-pleasing.

I said some farewells to some outdated beliefs that I needed to retire because they no longer offered guidance, truth, or illumination.

I also gave some Holy Ghost sendoffs to some old wounds that kept me triggered, hypervigilant, and constantly agitated so that I could enjoy more peace.

Offering those benedictions was a powerful “spiritual shedding” that commemorated a rebirth, called for spiritual reclamation, and served as a sacred closure.

And now I feel more empowered to dare to soar higher, fortified by a new awareness, a fresh spiritual anointing, and a bolder inner advocate to make my dreams come true.

So this weekend, look at your life and identify what needs a benediction, a sacred closing.

Determine if your career, job, relationship, identity, belief, or faith tradition no longer serves you, and say goodbye for good.

By offering words of thanksgiving and sincere gratitude for what went right, what went wrong, and what didn’t go as planned, you can release the past and walk into your future EMPTY, waiting and willing to be filled and fulfilled with goodness, greatness, and grace.

The good news is, when you offer heartfelt benedictions, they don’t need to be deep or complicated.

You can say something like….Thank you for what you taught me, brought me, and gave me. Or……May the strength of God sustain me as I go forth with the lessons I gained, the wisdom I earned, and the power I reclaimed.

Whatever you say from your heart is enough because benedictions are deeply personal.

A few days ago, after I gave my benedictions, I was inspired to create a workshop to address the power of fresh beginnings.

This workshop, Creating A Path to More Freedom, Fulfillment & Flow with Ease, is definitely for you if you know you need to say goodbye to a few things but need help discerning what needs to be released so you can soar. Click here.

During the workshop, I will share seven key questions that will help you determine what needs a benediction so you can welcome all the life-nourishing opportunities that God has in store just for you!

Click here to register.

Remember, offer a benediction so you can walk through 2022 with great expectations of peace, joy, love, ease, and abundance.

Blessings,

SharRon

Liminal Space

Daring to soar higher is the willingness to go through the liminal spaces so you can taste the sweetness of liberation, fulfillment, and meaning.

And even though journeying through the liminal space is needed for your evolution, it can feel extremely destabilizing.

Why?

It’s a place and time for re-thinking, reimagining, rekindling, reckoning, and reassessing.

It’s a sacred passage —-

  •  Of deconstruction and reconstruction.
  •  Of disorientation and re-orientation.
  •  Of knowing and unknowing.
  •  Of learning and unlearning.
  •  Of reclaiming and releasing.
  •  Of gaining and giving

It’s a purposeful, pregnant, prophetic space of divine potential and enormous possibility.

It’s a journey to your promised land.

When you go through the luminal space, you will feel as if you are between and betwixt…. not here and not there.

So, let your inner compass guide you because you may not SEE your next best step; you may only be able to sense it. That’s why you must let the Spirit direct you.

If you bravely go through this space, you will evolve. You will know yourself beyond your resume, cultural conditioning, and embedded mandates.

Remember, your old identities, beliefs, and patterns will not serve you in this glorious space, so let them go!

Allow yourself to ascend to a higher dimension of destiny, knowing that you have been equipped to Soar!

So, here’s the question: what passageway must you enter/exit in order to live your fullest, most honest life?

What needs a benediction so you can embark on a new beginning?

If you want to explore these vital questions in a safe, courageous community, I Dare To Me is starting again soon.

In I Dare To Be Me, we welcome your ambition, brilliance, complexity, and “becoming.”

And most of all, we would love to have you join us.

Click here to learn more.

You Can Depend On You

How would your life change if you KNEW you could depend on yourself to make value-inspired, destiny-driven decisions?

I know it’s hard to imagine, but just think about the power and the joy of finally following your own heart.

When you believe in yourself and trust your inner wisdom, you can “vote” for yourself by making decisions that honor your dreams, goals, and vision, even if nobody else supports you!

You can stop settling for the status quo, finally understand what’s holding you back, unapologetically own your desires, and get to work on your dreams.

What I know for sure…..Depending ON YOURSELF is liberating. It’s a deep inner-knowing and a sense of freedom that most people only wish for, but only the most courageous enjoy.

But no more!

With the support of a courageous community and by using tools that you already have inside of you, you can:

  • start a new year with a new awareness of who you are and who you are destined to be
  • renew your commitment to embrace your genuine desires and pursue your most audacious dreams
  • celebrate your gifts, cultivate your talents, and activate your superpowers to build a life that gives your meaning
  • break old patterns that sabotage you and fill you with feelings of unworthiness
  • structure your life so that it supports and aligns with who are becoming
  • own and follow your truth, despite the naysayers, and create a more fulfilling life

YOU can become a powerful advocate for yourself like never before and break down the inner barriers that keep you safe BUT NOT satisfied.

Yes, YOU CAN DEPEND ON YOU!

You Can Depend On You to reclaim your power and restore your true identity so you can thrive again.

You can honor your real values, acknowledge your unspoken needs, and pursue your unrealized goals without shame, guilt, or fear and finally live a life that makes your heart sing.

The Welcome Session is on 12/30 and I hope to see you there.

Click here to learn more.

Wine, Weed & Waffles

A couple of days ago, I posed this question to my coaching community.

What do you do to cope when your soul KNOWS that you are not fulfilling your dreams, pursuing your divine call, or living up to your potential?

One person said: “Every day, I come home and drink a bottle of wine because I know I am settling in my career. My manager is crazy, and I know I should leave the job, but I have invested 25 years at the company, and I only need a few more years to get my full benefits. I hate it but am stuck.”

The second person said: “When I come home, I smoke weed. I want to leave my job, but my family relies on me for money; they need my income. I am the only financially responsible person in my family, and I don’t want to end up like my siblings….broke.”

The third person said:  “When I feel sad, I make waffles, and I put lots of syrup on them, and the sweetness helps me feel better.”

The fourth person said: “When I feel upset, I sing, dance, and worship and try to connect with God. Praise makes me feel better.”

The last person said: “I am scared, and I always worry that time will run out before I ever get to really enjoy my life. I fear I will die before I see my dreams come true.”

After everyone courageously shared, it became apparent that everybody was suffering because they were not living the life they wanted or hoped to live. They were coping, sleep walking, compromising, or just surviving, but no one was fully enjoying their lives.

Honestly, their experiences resonated with me because there have been many times in my life when I was merely existing, not boldly living. I was often weary, sad, and totally disconnected from my higher self throughout my twenties and early thirties.

Have you ever felt that way?

What I know for sure …. There is nothing that can assuage the painful feelings of self-doubt, desperation, and demoralization.

No amount of wine can lift the heaviness of feeling like you are settling for crumbs or selling your soul.

No amount of weed can get you high enough to silence the inner demons that try to convince you that you are unwanted, unworthy, and unwelcomed.

Not even the tastiest waffles can remove the bitter taste of regret, resentment, and resignation that results from not honoring your God-given gifts or following your unique path.

And even though I believe in worship, I know that the euphoria of praise is not enough to radically change your life if you won’t take courageous action toward your dreams.

Finally, I can testify that worrying is futile. Worrying fixes nothing! All that worry does is make you feel exhausted, disempowered, and hopeless.

What I have learned in my sometimes painful, zigzagging life journey is that ONLY addressing your unspoken wounds, admitting your unacknowledged dreams, and owning your unmet needs will help you and heal you.

That’s the truth. Honesty is the only antidote to healing, emotional health, and hope.

Let’s be candid….some people reading this message will judge these courageous women because it’s easy to criticize and condemn people when they are honest about the ways they manage their spiritual and emotional pain.

But what is more difficult is looking in the mirror and honestly assessing how you are quieting your fears, silencing your doubts, delaying your dreams, and numbing your discontent.

Granted, it might not be wine, weed, and waffles that soothe you, but it is something that quiets those voices that admonish you to try harder, live bolder, and strive further.

Or, it might not even be worry, worship, and work that anesthetizes your feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, or despair. But it is something that helps you endure your feelings of abandonment, marginalization, and desperation.

But trust me, whatever helps you manage and endure your toxic feelings, especially your feelings of mediocrity and misery, prevents you from living a fulfilling life full of joy, deep peace, or true meaning.

So, as 2021 comes to a close, I encourage you to think critically about your life. I urge you to dream again and imagine what genuine connection, meaningful work, and unspeakable joy could feel like in your life. I beg you to look within and search your heart so you can remember how incredibly gifted, how needed, and deeply loved you are.

My friend, you don’t have to just cope with your painful feelings, because you have the power to change whatever needs to be changed in your life, so you can have peace, joy, and hope.

Remember, you are powerful, and you have what it takes to recreate and recalibrate your life.

All you need to do is remember, reclaim, and revive your ability to SOAR!

Wine, weed, and waffles!

I have not tried to ease my emotional suffering with any of those. But I have been guilty of coping with my pain by drowning myself in work, engaging in empty “wishing,” and jeopardizing my health with endless worry. Sometimes I still struggle because I am always a work in progress, and you probably are too. Am I right?

Please let me know your thoughts.

I hope to work with you soon.

Never forget….it’s time for you to DARE TO SOAR HIGHER and take your rightful place in the world so you can experience a new level of life, joy, prosperity, and belonging.

To listen to a few more thoughts about the subject, click here.

Blessings!

SharRon

You can’t choose where you are chained

My elders used to tell me that you can’t choose when you are chained.”

This message still resonates with me today and I constantly ask myself — “what am I unknowingly chained to that is compromising my values, voice, and vision.”

Not only do I vigorously interrogate my life, in my work with leaders, visionaries, healers, and entrepreneurs, I help them question their lives too.

I help them identify the mental, social, spiritual, emotional, systemic, and cultural chains that unconsciously block them from pursuing their desires and dreams.

I also help them see ways that old and invisible chains are shrinking, compromising, and sabotaging their lives in ways that bring unnecessary struggle, endless sacrifices, and mind-numbing box-checking.

The work I do with people is life-changing because, honestly, people rarely realize how they are chained to careers, identities, traditions, beliefs, and relationships that rob them of peace, power, and purpose.

The unfortunate truth is, some folks have lived with their “chains” for so long that they have normalized scarcity, boredom, mediocrity, and people-pleasing.

Some have even idolized some of their “chains” and endlessly condemn, judge, and harm people, sometimes in the name of God.

Of course, it’s difficult to see our own chains, but it is not impossible.

So, this week, reflect on your life.

Identify what may be “chaining” you and preventing you from living a life that embodies your values, honors your purpose, and addresses your deepest needs.

Identify what small shifts can liberate you from standards, protocols, and a few people, so you can metaphorically breathe new air, build new relationships, break unhealthy habits, and bury toxic traditions.

And if you need support, please email me. Having a fresh perspective can help you see what’s blocking you from soaring in every dimension of your life.

Listen to the message on YouTube.

You can’t choose if you are chained, so GET FREE!

 

 

Appropriate vs. Alignment

The other day, someone told me that my desires and dreams were inappropriate.

 

Not appropriate?

 

What she really meant was that I should behave in ways that society deemed and defined as “suitable” for a person like me. Since I am a Black middle-aged woman who plays basketball, challenges religious views, travels alone, makes her own rules, and encourages other women to confront social rules, to her, my actions were inappropriate.

 

My so-called “friend” and mentor thought she was offering me sage advice. But I reminded her I was the ONLY person who could determine what was appropriate for me because I was the ONLY one who knew my heart, mind, and soul.

 

Of course, my response didn’t land well. But what my friend didn’t understand was that I NEVER planned or aspired to be appropriate; that was NEVER my goal or intention.

 

My guiding principle is to ALWAYS follow my heart and heed my own inner compass.

 

And when you follow your own conscience, convictions, and compass, you may not be appropriate. But you will be in alignment.

 

Just for the record: alignment is always more relevant, more powerful, and more authentic than being “appropriate.”

 

Why? Alignment ensures that you honor your unique wisdom, talents, strengths, wisdom, personality, and all the other attributes that your Creator gave you to do your divine work, mission, or purpose.


So be leery of people telling you what’s appropriate for you based on your color, your size, your age, your sexual orientation, your faith, your educational level, or whatever factor they use to confine you to a specific context, paradigm, lifestyle, or label. Be YOU, all of you, and live in alignment with your divine destiny and beyond the suffocating status quo.

 

Next week, I will offer some tips to help you discern what’s in alignment for you. 

 

But for now, don’t forget that being appropriate will only make you settle and limit you to outdated rules and identities that will rob you of your joy, agency, and truth. So, be sure to strive for alignment.

 

Thank you so much for reading this message, and I hope you have a very inappropriate day! (smile)

 

Let Your Imagination Guide You To Success

I hope this message finds you well, safe, and committed to being YOU, the real you.

And as you are being YOU, I wanted to share something that is stretching me to take more radical action in my life. I hope it inspires you, too.

So here it goes….

My parents were teenage parents. By the time they were 18, there were 2 of us, me and my older sister, so I literally grew up with my parents.

Though young and financially poor, I watched my parents complete college, struggle to make ends meet, serve in the community, challenge convention, work for equality, and pastor churches. Of course, creating a life for themselves and a growing family wasn’t easy. They endured racism, sexism, and lots of other isms that almost derailed their progress. Yet, they persevered.

Survival made our lives a bit unpredictable. Sometimes we had heat, food, and a phone, and sometimes we didn’t. Still, we endured.

Of course, I periodically complained about not having the basics and a few luxuries. But when I complained about wearing thrift store clothes, eating government cheese, and chewing on day-old bread, my parents didn’t reprimand me; they encouraged me. They told me I was investing in my future, and they reminded me that the sacrifices I make as a child would pay off when I was an adult.

My father said, “Hang in there and use your imagination so you can see what’s possible for your life.”

Imagination? I wondered how imagination could bring me nice clothes, new shoes, popcorn at the movies, and hot fried chicken. Of course, my childhood desires wanted immediate gratification.

My father explained that my imagination was a gift and that it would guide me to success if I used it daily. And you know, my father was right. My imagination helped me see possibilities and opportunities that cleared my eyes and stirred my heart. It helped me see way beyond my conditions, expertise, and circumstances; it filled me with hope. Even today, I look at my life and wonder how a poor little Black girl like me could grow up to live in such a beautiful home, get to do meaningful work, and have such loving relationships.

I am grateful that I used my imagination.

So, here is what I want you to do.

Close your eyes and release your imagination. Let your imagination run wild so you can see what you truly desire. Let your imagination room to a new realm beyond mere reality.

Let your imagination show you and grow you.

Let it show you how to create new beginnings from painful endings, big opportunities from big obstacles, unlimited potential from unimaginable pain, great advantages from great adversity, and endless love from crippling loss.

IMAGINE!!!!

Imagine what you can do and be if you widen your vision and take one small step forward to what you really desire.

Imagine what you could do if you worried less about making people happy or fitting into norms, labels, and closets.

Imagine what you could try if you trusted yourself to seek, fail, rebound, pivot, shift, and reimagine your life.

Imagine what you could do if you used your education, training, and lived wisdom to create a life that feels more honest, harmonious, and whole.

Imagine how living in peace and joy could extend your life, rest your mind, and heal your body.

Imagine!

Let your vision guide you to victory!

Let your insight spur your initiative.

Let your wisdom help you win.

Let your longing inform your legacy.

IMAGINE!!

My parents had few resources, but they imagined that their life could be different for their children…. for me.

Today, as you are daring to SOAR higher than your circumstances, conditioning, and the anxiety caused by the craziness in the world, remember to imagine.

IMAGINE what’s possible, believe the inconceivable, and trust that you can do the unbelievable.

You can do it! And most of all, you don’t have to do it alone. I can help.

Blessings!

SharRon

Your Values are Personal, But They Are Not Private.

The other day, somebody mentioned that her values were important to her.

I said, “Really. What are your values.”

She shared them, and I was shocked. She said she valued diversity, inclusion, openness, and authenticity.

I was floored because she constantly made statements that were racist, homophobic, Islamophobic, and elitist.

She constantly shared her opinion about who “exhibited leadership qualities” and who had gravitas.

She was quick to talk about “those people” and why something wasn’t fair to people who “really worked hard.”  Code: white entitlement.

Thankfully, I was on zoom call. I turned off my camera because I know my face showed that I was not only perplexed but incredulous. It was too comical to be angry.

I didn’t have the energy to engage her or discuss her thoughts, even though she did her best to get my feedback.

For my mental health, I no longer participate in conversations about DEIJ when I don’t feel like it or when there is limited ROI. I no longer sign up for emotional labor unless I feel called to it.

The truth is, our values are personal, but they should NOT be private. People close to you or people who work with you should be able to identify what you stand for and what matters to you.

In other words, you should live in such a way that everybody can see what guides and governs your life.

My elders should use to say, ” I should be able to know a few things by how you do a few things.” Hmmmm…..

So today, ask yourself how you are demonstrating, modeling, expressing, or supporting your values?

If you are not representing what you believe or what you support, what can you do to make your personal values come alive so that you are a change agent or a role model for what you espouse?

Just a thought!

What do you think?

I can’t wait to hear from you.

 

Blessings, SharRon