Preparation...Trust and Believe

Over the course of the past week, God has truly showed me that He knows that plans that He has for me.  About a month ago, I received a change in the course that I was going to assist with this session.  In the change, I was introduced to another colleague that has provided great insight into the next stage of my professional identity development. In the short time that I have worked with this individual he has shared information that has required me to think deeply and introspectively.  During the time, I have heard from God regarding a possible dissertation topic which I am excited. 

The information shared has allowed me to look at the values that govern my life.  When your situation is not matching up with the values (principles on which you stand) , it may be time for your to make some changes. God has been speaking me about the next stage but I have been fighting fear.  I say that I trust and believe that He knows that plans that he has for me and these plans are to prosper me and give me an expected end (Jeremiah 29:11).  I must exercise my faith and believe that it will come to pass. 

God has showed me these plans and He has also opened the opportunity for me to teach. Lifelong learning is one of the values on my list and there are others that will continue to move me toward meaningful work.  My desire to be align with the plans God has for me and my value is intentional.  I will keep you posted on the next move.

Assignment

Make a list of your top 5 -  7 values and define each one to what it means to you. Also ask God what His plans are for your life by trusting and believing that He will bring them to pass.

Time Management or Not?

Over the past couple of weeks the concept of time has been pushed to the forefront of my mind.  I attended a funeral and one of the ministers broke down the timespan of the person's life by years, months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds.  How well did this person utilize the time that he had on earth?  Then I was reminded that time is not to be managed.  I was thinking that I needed to manage my time better. God quickly spoke to me and reminded me that I can not manage time but I could use my time more intentionally. 

How many times have you said, I need more hours in the day to get things accomplished?  I know that I have said that many times. The other day, while sitting in a meeting for upcoming practicum students they were reminded that we are all given 168 hours a week.  The students were asked to take into account all the things that use their times so that they could plan to have an additional 20 hours of activity in their life.  So let us think, how are you really using your time? 

The intentional use of time is key to accomplishing goals and living an empowered life.  If the goal is to exercise, intentionally schedule time each day to exercise.  If the goal is to start a business, schedule time to begin working on your busines plan for 15 minutes a day.  There are things in our lives that are time wasters such as watching mindless TV, social media for hours at a time, etc. This week look at your time and schedule what is priority to the intentional times you want to spend your time.

Redirection...Reposition...Revision

How many times have you been in your car using your GPS system and you had to be redirected because you missed your turn?  Redirection does not mean that you are not going to make it to your destination, it means that the route you were taking had to change.  Revisioning means that a change has been made in the original document or plan.  Repositioning is being placed in your rightful position again.  These three words are similar in nature but also offer hope to get to our destination.

Over the course of time, I have made plans of how I wanted things to work out or set goals for my destiny.  Sometimes it has happen as plan but other times I have been redirected to do it a different way.  I have been wrestling in making a decision regarding my next destination in my professional journey.  I have become overwhelmed and feeling like that I was running out of time when it came to making a decision that would have an impact on my destiny. 

After much contemplation, I realized that although the path has been redirected reaching the destination will be the same.  In the situations of when we want to change positions, we have to look at where we are and look for new opportunities until the time comes to move on.  The vision that God has given to us will come to pass...we just have to look at the minor adjustments to the plan as the opportunity to know about His will for our life. 

Live Your Best Life

This past weekend, I attended a women's retreat held by a colleague.  Our first assigment was to look through magazines and rip out pictures, words and statements that spoke to who we are, what we do and what we want more of in our lives.  The assignment was eye opening because the pictures that spoke to me where scenes of water, relaxation, travel and reading.  The words "Live Your Best Life" and the following quote spoke to me, "If you're ready to find real fulfillment, now is the time to start your journey." Over the weekend, I was constantly pulled to what needs to be done to live my best life. The exercises that we participated in spoke volumes. 

Also, yesterday was the 3rd anniversary of the death of Michael Jackson. It does not seem like it has been that long, which reminded me that time is moving swiftly.  So I asked myself again, what do I need to do to live my best life?  We only get one chance at life so we have to make the best of it by living our best life everyday.

So my assignment to you is to find what needs to be done to live your best life.  Pull out old-new magazines and rip out pictures, words and statements that speak to who you are, what you want and what you need to live your best life?  Create a collage of these pictures and words so that you can visualize your best life.

Lessons I Learned While In Europe

Last week was an experience of a lifetime for me because I took my first overseas vacation to Europe.  I have to say that I really enjoyed the experience because I got to see so many historical sights and also experience more of the beauty of God's creation.  Who would think to create such beauty out of stone and the blue of the Mediterranean Sea.  The opportunity to visit The Colosseum, St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, The City of Pomeit and the cruise down the Almafi Coast was amazing.  I was able to bask in the beauty of God.  I also learned some lessons that I would like to share:

1. The music of the 70's will make all nationalities dance and sing together.  They had a Dancing in the Streets 70's party on the cruise and everyone was dancing together to "Love Train", "YMCA" and "Brick House", etc.  The Wobble was played another night and so many people ran to the dance floor to Wobble together.

2. You are you wherever you are.....so regardless if you are at home in your comfort zone or outside your space...you will be you whereever. 

3.  Fear is a part of life but it doe not have to drive you.  While on the flight back home, God shared with me that it is okay for me to have some anxiety about the take off of the plane but I can not let it drive my experience of the plane ride.  Leading up to the trip, I experience dread about the long plane ride because I have anxiety about plane rides.  The actually ride was smooth.  If I had allowed fear to drive me I would have missed the beauty of the Almalfi Coast and the French Riveria.  Also, I would not have experience Nice and Florence whiteknuckled with my friends if I had played it safe.

I would like to share with you a picture of God's beauty>

Lessons I have learned....

The other way on my way to work, I was thinking about some of the lessons that I have learned over the course of these 45 years.  There are a few that I wished that I had learned earlier in life and really put them into practice. 

Lesson One:  I am Lacrecia Vernise Dangerfield and there will never be another one so I must be authentic in who I am.  This is a lesson that I wish young ladies would learn well before they are in their 40's and stop trying to be who someone else wants them to be.  A friend posted on Facebook that when we are not who we are called to be and do not do what we are called to do then the universe is not in alignment.  I did not get comfortable in my skin until I was 40 and it was true what Oprah said...you just don't give a damn what others think at 40. 'Somedays are better than others but I am a great person to know and if you don't take the time to find that out - your loss.

Lesson Two: Do what makes your heart sing.  When I started the journey to finding the calling on my life, I was in my 30's.  I majored in Business because that was where the money was and I thought I liked accounting. I know that I walked the journey for a reason because I have accepted that I was born to lead and that I had to expand my definition of leader.  I was working with my coach this week and she had me to list characteristics of leaders that I admire and then she asked my questions and it pointed back to who I am.  Also I would have started my own business a long time ago because I like to beat my own drum and use my spiritual gifting to get it done.

Lesson Three:  Life is short and I only will get this journey once.  God has truly showed me His favor in my life. I have seen those younger than me leave this earth.  I have to make the best out of this journey and live each day to the fullest and in purpose.  Dreams do come true and if you write it down it will come to you.  I get the opportunity to experience a vacation that was on my list of places I would love to visit.  God truly orchestrated the path and journey out of nowhere. 

These are just 3 of the lessons that I have learned...I will share more along the way.

What have you learned about life?

Passion: What Makes Your Heart Sing?

In my last post, I discussed Passion and Desire.  I finished reading "The Passion Test" and finally identified my top 5 passions for the present time.  The authors have you list 10-15 of things that you are passionate about and then go through the list to narrow them down to your top 5.  I must say that this was a challenging process for me because I have been trying to put it in the right words and context.  Also I had the belief that it had to be permanent, but as I continued reading the book, the authors suggest that you review your passions every 6 months to see if they have changed,  Another suggestion the authors offer is that when you have to make a decision choose in the way of your passion. 

Currently my top 5 passions are the following:

When my life is ideal, I am ________________________________:

1. living authenically in all areas of my life....spiritually, mentally, physically and financially.
2. spending quality time with family and friends.
3. owning my own business creating multiple streams of income, flexibility in schedule and variety of task.
4. providing enlightment and empowerment to others on how to live their passion and be their authentic self.
5. traveling to different places teaching and learning information to share with others.

Choosing opportunities that will get me closer to my passions are revealing themselves on a daily basis.  As I intentionally pay attention without working hard to create these opportunities mean that they are lining up with God's will.  These things make my heart sing when I am moving forward.

Live intentional and in purpose as you identify your passions and make choices toward your passion.  What do you do that make your heart sing? Pay attention to the opportunities to move and live in your passion.