Day 4: 31 Days to Reset Your Life

I posted my Day 1 and then I kept 2 and 3 a little more private. I am back again to post Day 4. I found this exercise interesting, and I honestly don't believe that my list is complete. I think that it's just as complete as it's gonna get for tonight/this morning. So here goes.

Part 1: Make a list of the things that you value:

Love, serving, mentoring, teaching, giving, caring for others, encouraging, Jesus, adventure, faith, learning, friendship, family, being carefree, truth, integrity, genuineness, having my own family, missions, community, children, fulfillment, purpose, wealth, health, creativity, laughter, fun, freedom, travel

Part 2: Create a Reset 10 of your Top 10 values from the previous list. (I listed mine in no particular order outside of Jesus truly being first.)

Jesus

Teaching

Genuineness

Purpose

Faith

Love

Serving

Learning

Community

Friendship

This was definitely an interesting assignment and it really got me thinking. I think I'm going to end up adding more to the list as the week goes on. I guess, we'll see what happens.

If you're interested in learning more about this assignment and the actual #31daystoreset program that it's a part of, go here: http://happyblackwoman.com/identify-your-values/#comment-66261

Happy Resetting Folks!

Love,

K. Denise

New Year's Resolutions

New Year’s Resolutions

Soooooooooo, this is that time of year when people start thinking of all of the stuff that didn’t go right last year and that they want to change for the year to come. They reflect on all of the major situations and they talk about how they want to grow or where they want to go and they make a short or long list depending on the person of how they’re going to get there. I am switching things up this year. I am going to focus on one thing and let it be the driving force behind all of my decisions to the events in my life for the year to come. My resolution is to make each minute better than the last one that I had.

For me it’s just that simple. When you really think about it all you have is the minute that you’re in. The next one may never come. People die in an instant and all of the plans that they had for the year to come will mean nothing. The moment after death is irrelevant. The moment right before though, that is a moment that you can do something with. You can share a little more love, laugh if you feel like, smile for no reason, or cry if you want to. You can pray, praise, or perfect! You can encourage, inspire, and enable. You can do so much with the moment that’s present. Unfortunately, so many people forsake the moment that they’re in for a moment that may never come. They lose all of the possibility of the now, hoping in a future that may be expiring sooner than they think. I don’t want to be that person. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a planner by nature. I will always have some sort of multi-step process in play to get things done. There’s always a method for getting from the point that I’m at the next one on the list. I just don’t want to get so caught up in the plans that the current moment is never lived. That would be a total waste of all of the moments that I am given if I spend all of the current in anticipation of the next. I want to live now, love now, laugh now, enjoy now, work now, grow now, be fully me at my best right now. And if I get another moment, cool. There’s an opportunity to be better.

So that’s the theme for 2011. Make each moment better than the last. I don’t know how many I’ve got. I can’t count the number that I’ve wasted. I vow to make each one count. This is my resolution from here on out!

Words from the Heart Part 1

So I absolutely adore India.Arie! Her music really speaks to me. It's like she's taken all of my thoughts and turned them into some of the tightest songs with the most beautiful melodies. I can find an India song for everything that I deal with. I pick a theme song off of each of her albums based upon where I'm at in life in the moment. I've never had an artist that I could identify with on this level. As a result she would have to definitely be considered one of my favorites, if not my absolute favorite artist! So I took a couple of my most favoritist (I know that's not a word, but I refuse to explain it any other way) lines from some of her songs and I figured that I would share them with you! Happy Reading!

I choose to be the best that I can be
I choose to be authentic in everything I do
My past don’t dictate who I am
I choose
"I Choose" Testimony

Even the day after tomorrow will one day be yesterday
"This To Shall Pass" Testimony

I want to go to a place where I am nothing and everything
That exist between here and no where
I want to go to a place where
Time has no consequence
And oh yeah
The sky opens to my prayer
Please understand that it’s not that I don’t care
But right now these walls are closing in on me
I love you more than I love life itself
But I need to find a place where I can breathe
I wanna go to a place where I can hold the intangible
And let go of the pain that’s on my mind
I wanna go to place where I’m suspended in ectasy
Somewhere between dark and light
Where wrong becomes right.
***Please note that these aren't all of the lyrics for this song.
"Beautiful" Acoustic Soul

Early in the morning it’s the dawn of a new day
New hopes, new dreams, new ways
I open up my eyes and I open up my mind
I wonder how life will surprise me today
Early in the morning in it’s the dawn of a new day
New hopes, new dreams, new ways,
I open up my heart and
I’m gonna do my part and
Make this a positively beautiful day
"Beautiful Day" Testimony Vol 2 Love and Politics


I know that you don’t know me at all
But if you know yourself
Well then you know me very well
I wonder if you really knew
That I see the God in you
And I wonder if you can see
How much you mean to me
I know you cannot read my mind
But I know you feel the vibe
But I think it’s time to let you know that
I see the God in you
"God In You" Acoustic Soul

There will be more to come soon!

K. Denise

Reality Check

So, I used to write poems and perfomr them on a fairly regular basis. I stopped doing that many, many moons ago. Well with the encouragement of some friends and a worthwhile cause I made it back to the stage. I performed this piece at a benefit for Haiti on February 28th. It was an amazing time. I thank God for the opportunity. Don't know that I'm ready to do it again, but I will at some point I'm sure. Happy reading folks!

What do you see when you look at me?
Is the sum total of my worth now equal to your pity.
At the end of the day I don’t need your charity
I don’t need you to sit back and feel sorry for the current situation in my city.
We had problems before January
And you didn’t care then
So don’t let a bunch of famous people who didn’t care all that much either
Convince you now that you should give
I’m not saying that we don’t need help
Because Lord knows that we do
But not because it makes you feel bad
Or in some instances makes you feel good
To say that you helped little ole Haiti.
Do it because you know that we are brothers and sisters
And you recognize that one day you might need help from me.
Yes, you might need me.
You see we are a strong people
Always have been
Always will be
Before you knew you could have your freedom
We kicked the French out of our country.
We may have been living in what you consider extreme poverty
But you weren’t doing too much better as far as our eyes could see
This statement might confuse you
Because of what you’ve seen on TV
But know that financial wealth is not the only thing that determines
The value of our country
Do you really know the joy of laughing so hard that your face hurts with friends?
The love that comes from sharing the little that you have with others
The bonds that are built when someone that is not your family
Takes you in and those people decide to become your Mom and Dad
These things are valuable beyond what you could possibly imagine
Greater worth than you can ever see
But it’s a part of the wealth that has always been present in the country of Haiti
So please remember, don’t pity me!
Some of you say that we deserve what happened to us
It was a curse because of some pact that we apparently made with Satan
Were you there when it happened?
Do you know that it’s true?
Or are you spreading 2nd, 3rd, and 4th hand information
About something of which you have no clue.
If this is the reason that we’ve had these experiences
Instead of pointing fingers you might want to be getting ready
Because the US may be next on the hit list.
Over 100,000 children caught up in child sex trafficking
Corruption in corporate America from sea to shining sea
Legal prostitution with brothels included located in these United States
The thousands of folks who can’t handle your Black President
Praying prayers of hate
Him + Him or Her + Her equal marriage in your state
Sounds to me like you have the perfect mix of sin
For the next catastrophic Earthquake
Or Tsunami
Or Hurricane
Or whatever form of punishment might be next on the list
Will you be so quick to point out the sins of the people
When it’s your child’s face on the television.
Or your mother crying
Or your brother dying
Or you’re the one carrying the bodies of those that you loved
Hoping and praying to find a friendly face or helping hand in the midst of the destruction.
Will God’s supposed judgment seem just and fair
When your life is the one that has been laid bare
And tomorrow holds no promise of anything that you believed would be there today.
Will you believe that God was just trying to make a way to get your attention.
Or will you just be praying that he has an ear that will listen
To your cries and do something to take away your pain
Hoping that no self righteous Christians have something judgmental to say
I am sure that you would pray for a kind face
A helping hand
Someone to help your rebuild everything that is no longer in place
Not caring if they were black or white because in moments of disaster there is only one race
Human
Please tell me that you have a solution
Of some kind
Words to help ease my mind
Even while knowing that all of my problems won’t go away over night
I really just want to know that you honestly care about my current plight.
That you love me unconditionally
That when the chips are down I can count on you to be there for me
Not just sit back and stare at me
Shaking your head
I want you to acknowledge that the blood the flows through my veins is just like yours RED
And that is all that really matters
If God truly created us all in his image
Made us neighbors in this worldwide village
Shouldn’t it make sense for you to shut your mouth and just help
Not pity me, but help me rebuild my sense of self
At the end of the day
Whether your decide to judge me or give
Justify my death or enable me to live
When you look at pictures of Haiti I want you to remember what you see
And hear the voice of Jesus say, “Whatever you do for the one of the least of these brothers of mine, you do for me.”

Kristin Denise

Thank Your Haters Today

So I have come to realize that in life there will always be people that don’t agree with us, there will be those that don’t like us, there will never be a lack of people that don’t understand us, and at the worst there will be those that spend a lot of time, energy, and focus on trying to derail us from the path that we’re on. Unfortunately, some of these major haters will be those that you let into your closest circles. They will be the people that you’ve entrusted with your dreams and goals. The folks that you felt comfortable being most vulnerable with and that you gave your all for could potentially be the main people that are plotting against you. At the end of the day that really sucks. It doesn’t make dealing with their betrayal hurt any less knowing that up front, and you still experience a moment of shell shock when you’re forced to deal with these types of situations.
When we experience these types of situations we often times want to default to one of two options. We either shut down and it takes a whole lot for us to trust and open up again, or we go off. We tell these people how crappy they are, how they better not ever speak to us again, and how they deserve every thing that comes their way. In fact we are praying for said evil things to come to them because they deserve it for what they’ve done to us. I’m asking you to consider a third option, one that will probably seem crazy to most, but may be the most beneficial one in the end. I am suggesting that when people hate on you, disagree with you, and even plot to destroy you that you respond with the most gracious, sincere, and heart felt thank you that you have.
You see haters are inevitable when you are walking in your purpose. They don’t understand how or why you are doing what you are doing. They don’t feel that you’re educated enough, talented enough, outgoing enough, beautiful enough, or whatever enough you can think of. Even if they do think that you have enough, they feel like they have more of it and should be in the position that you’re in, but they’re not. The great thing about it is that their hatred of where you are and what you’re doing, isn’t enough to derail God’s plan for your life. Actually, often times God will use it to propel you to the next level.
I have had haters in so many different areas of my life. People have tried to get me fired from jobs, destroy my self perception, they’ve taken my friendship for granted, betrayed me, lied on me, talked about me behind my back, excluded me, and they’ve tried to convince me that I was worthless and for a time it looked like they were going to be successful with their schemes. However, God still had a plan and all that they did at the end of the day was open the door for God to move in my life and promote me to the next level. You see I was comfortable in a lot of these situations and usually when you’re comfortable you’re not pursuing the next thing that God has for you. When you’re happy or even just okay with where you’re at why deal with potential stress that is involved with moving forward. At that point God allows agitators into your life. This causes discomfort and usually discomfort turns into motivation for you to take action. He will use whatever it takes, and if that’s someone hating on you, then so be it.
You’re comfort isn’t a priority, but His purposes are, and if it takes you being a little uncomfortable to get it done then so be it. Get ready to go to the next level and thank your haters today. Without them you might never be motivated to move forward into what God really has for you!

Just Stop It!

I am so bothered right now, and I really just want people to stop it. “Stop what?” you might ask. Well let me tell you. I want people to stop claiming that they are “Christians” while displaying anything but the love of Jesus Christ. Christian by definition means that you are a follower or disciple of Jesus Christ. A student of Jesus Christ. To be a student of Jesus Christ means that you study his life and how he handled people and situations. Well when we look at the behavior of Christ in comparison to the behavior of people that are claiming to be followers of him we find a major disconnect.

You see one of the main things that Jesus was known for during his time on earth was his love and compassion. You see many times in the gospels Jesus is called compassionate. Compassion doesn’t involve being judgmental. Compassion doesn’t involve damning people to hell. Compassion doesn’t involve turning your back on those in need. Compassion doesn’t involve putting other people down to feel better about yourselves. There are so many things that compassion doesn’t involve, but we as “Christians” are known for doing them.

Now that we’ve established what compassion is not let’s talk about some great examples of what compassion is. Compassion is giving sacrificially so that those who are in need around you won’t be without. Compassion involves looking out for the needs of others and not solely focusing on your own. You might not get all of the sleep that you need, you might not buy all of the stuff that you want, you may not get to lay around chilling as much as you like. But that’s the life of a person that shows compassion. It’s not all about you or what you want!

When truly living the life of a Christian you recognize that Jesus lived a life of sacrifice and you are supposed to emulate. As his disciple you study what he did and then you make it a point to do it. He didn’t judge those that were in need when he met them, he took those opportunities to meet their needs. He didn’t condemn those in sin, he spoke a word to them to help them get out of it. In every situation Jesus did all that he could with what he had to change the lives of the people that God brought into contact with him! As his disciple you should purpose to do the same! And if you feel like you can’t or you just won’t maybe you should reconsider what it means to truly be a Christian and whether or not you’re up to the challenge!