Tag: encouragement

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Beauty After Breast Cancer

Beauty After Breast Cancer!  Sometimes beauty is described by our physical body rather than our mindset.  I discovered my beauty from within after being diagnosed with breast cancer at age thirty.  What could have been a devastating moment for me turned into the best thing that has ever happened. Although breast cancer does not define me, it did create in me a desire to live life to the fullest while searching for my purpose here on earth, to make sure that God got all the glory for every day that I lived past my diagnosis.  My whole world changed the minute I heard those words, “You have breast cancer!”  Rather than see this as a death threat I took that diagnosis and created a platform to share my story of survival through my business, “Geri Speak.”  I started with one speaking engagement and after thirty-five years the speeches and events that I have attended and planned are too numerous to count.  Every day that I wake up I thank God for another opportunity to be a light in a dark world.  I ask Him to guide my thoughts, my deeds, my words, my efforts and my every move.

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You See my Light Not my Light Bill

When I think about where I started from as a sixteen year old wife and mother, and becoming a single parent at age seventeen, there is no way that I could have visualized the life that I’m living today. In my prayer and meditation room there is a picture of my two daughters and my two grandchildren, which reminds me of the amazing job that I did as a single mom to both my children.  I may not have been able to give them the latest fashions or the favorite gadgets that other kids had, but I did give them love and I taught them tenacity, and how to survive in a world that judges you by your current circumstances.  I thank God that my daughters have truly grown up to be beautiful women, who are doing an amazing job with their own child.  I must say that I have no regrets.

There are times in life when we look at people who have made it, or made it to the top as some would say, and we tend to see their “halo” and not the struggle that it took to get there. We place people on a pedestal based on their accomplishments or their notoriety.  Nobody is going to tell you the whole story of how they got to the top.  There will always be a secret or two that remains untold no matter how close a friend you may be.  Even husband and wives have secrets because no one needs to know everything that you have gone through.  As you watch me do what I do you are only seeing my light not my light bill.  Don’t allow anyone to dictate what is possible in your life.  Only you know what it takes to light up your world.

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How Full is Your Basket

Ashes Sitoula @awesome

How full is your basket? Recently I was having one of my low moments and I realized that all the things I was concerned about does not identify who I am.  Therefore, I decided to put my thoughts in a mental basket and allow myself to see that what’s in the basket does not define who I am, but it’s a part of who I am.  We need to stop making hasty decisions based on one feeling, one incident, or one wrong turn.  A lot of what we are experiencing is caused by our anxiety, our failures, our hopes and dreams, or our past mistakes.  It’s okay to allow those feelings to go through your body as long as you don’t stay in that place.

With the excitement and the pressure that the New Year brings most of us feel that this is a great time to start new projects.  But not necessarily!  Don’t get caught up in the New Year, New You phenomenon. For most people this should be a time of reflection on what worked, what did not work, and the changes we need to make moving forward.  When you look at your basket you need to be able to see it as something outside of you and not see it as you.  When I gathered my thoughts and concerns and put them in my basket, I must say that my basket was full.  However the great thing about that was, I was able to separate the basket from me.  I could look at it when I needed to or felt like looking at it.  I could also leave it sitting there altogether.  I could add items as they came to mind, and that in itself removed the thought or concern from the immediate forefront of my mind.  It’s almost like writing down what needs to get done.  Once you release it on paper you are no longer bound by your thoughts.  So, is your basket full?  If it is then that’s a good thing. It simply means that you have transferred your thoughts to a place outside yourself where you can deal with them at your leisure.

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The Fire Starter

Phone pics 907

How many times have you neglected to get something done because you were either dragging your feet or you didn’t think that you were capable? I know that has happened to me numerous times.  There have been days when I thought, “Why even give it another shot?”  And those are the days that brought about the necessary change that I did not know I was seeking.

Are you a fire starter or the person who needs someone to set a fire under you? I have been on both sides of the fence.  However, most of the time I have been the person who gets set on fire.  I am thankful for the people in my life who see beyond my belief in myself.  This year has shown me that the fire starters in your life can create confidence and give you that much needed push to imagine the unimaginable.  Because of the choices that I made to better myself in one area, I received the push I needed to accomplish much more in another area.  Thanks to my fire starter, I now have a presence on four social media sites, and I share daily on all of them.  Not only that, I learned how to schedule my posts in advance so my time and energy is better utilized.  In addition, I am more comfortable with Facebook Live, which has opened another window of opportunity for me to share my messages of inspiration and encouragement.  So, your fire starter may be there for a reason other than what you intended, or YOU may be the fire starter in someone else’s life.