I was that girl that just loved the action cartoons from my childhood.  Some of my favorites were Defenders of the Earth, Thunder Cats, and of course The Transformers.  Every time Optimus Prime’s voice came through the television something on the inside of me would leap.  He was the father figure for what was good and right on that show and he was always the voice of wisdom and the glue to their unity and teamwork (and he could kit butt too).  When I saw the modern day Transformers movie with Shia Labeouf as the leading character I was so excited to “hear” Optimus Prime’s voice after all these years that I leaped out of my seat with one hand in the air like i was ready for battle.  After I realized that only me and my youngest sister were standing up, I sat back down and dove into the movie.  But since that time I have been wondering about my own voice.

1. Am I living the kind of life, being the kind of example, speaking the kind of words that will stand the test of time?
2. Do I have a voice that draws a passionate and favorable response out of people?
3. Does what I do reach hearts and is it real and powerful enough to reach across time and still be relevant?  And if not,
4. What am I going to do about it?

Well, after all those questions, it occurred to me that with all that I am and all that I do, I could still do more, be more, and give more.  But it’s not just about me.

There are people who need what God has placed on the inside of us.  They will need us to show up in their lives for different reasons in different seasons.  In the meantime (because God will set up the appointment and not us) we can prepare so that we constantly bring the best of ourselves to the table. For example, we can stop destroying and ripping things apart by becoming better workers.  Besides the Word says, “he who is loose and slack in his work is brother to him who is a destroyer (PRO 18:9).”  And we choose to be builders and developers on purpose, shaping the world around us into something beautiful and powerful, finding problems that need to be solved by us and putting our heart and our best into it.  In fact, that’s how we become timeless, by showing up for other people in small, sincere and consistent ways.

Learn to be a Transformer, changing from the weaker you to the stronger you, moving away from the self-centered you to the giving and considerate you, adjusting from the “me first” you to the “what can I do to help?” you.  By giving, we become more than we ever were in the first place.  By giving more, we become more than we ever imagined we could be.  We are beautiful and there is more to us than meets the eye.

MizJAI…transforming into the rest of me

Often times life stretches out in front of us like a long winding road that we have yet to travel.  It looks interesting and frightening at the same time.  Going around that corner is unknown, and the unknown excites one person and scares another.

I love driving back country roads with hills and curves and changing scenery.  I think it’s the impact of riding through the Asheville Mountains when I was a little girl “lost” on the open highway with my mother and two sisters.  We stopped to touch waterfalls and to daydream out loud.  For my mother the adventure was a requirement, and she birth that same desire on the inside of me.  Now, I look for the changes in life, even the scary ones.

In fact the need for change feels like a quiet rumble in my chest.  It’s a simple desire to create something new & alive, now; to shape something powerful into existence, now; to make impact, now; to live more than I have been living, right now; to captivate that best of me and change the world around me or at least to just change for the better, now.  Besides, the best version of ourselves, serves others far better than the left overs from over-extending, under-living, and ignoring dreams for new air and adventure.

It’s time to live more, right now!  I want to encourage you to take that curve and enjoy what you discover on the other side.  Find something simple, new and different in your world like a Zumba Aerobics Class, Salsa night on Saturdays, Painting in the Park, Photography Lessons, and/or a long beautiful ride that ends in a lakeside lunch.  Remember, adventure doesn’t have a price tag on it.  Many times the less expensive moments hold the more valuable memories.

MizJAI . . . getting ready for a new bend in the road, hoping you join me!

Our minds control where we are. If I think that I have to do this “all by myself” then I do. If I believe, however, that God has sent an army to help me, then He has. It’ not that the army wasn’t there before but the difference is my mind now goes to work to identify and prepare this “army” of people, my team, to help me reach my goal.

When our minds shift we discover that our team often consist of some people that where always very close to us. They where always there but our minds changed and we began to see with the eyes of a leader and a dreamer. What makes the dreamer so special is that he conceives of a different kind of future. What makes the leader so priceless is she conceives of how to make that future a reality now.

Change your mind, so that you can change your future, today.

-MizJAI-

You know what? Today is a great day for a little excitement. Let’s check ourselves, if you find that you have been waking up too many days in a row with that blah feeling, then it’s time to move a little different. Yesterday, you were supposed to take some hours for yourself (of course, you stopped everything to do it). I’m back again with the same point, it takes me a minute to get on board some times, I figured you may be the same. The goal is by Valentine’s Day, you should be feeling the love, starting with yourself.

So maybe you were not able to take a whole vacation day or even three hours. Here is something even more simple. That thing that you have been meaning to do–do it. If it’s an art exhibit you have been meaning to see, go today. Is there a park you have been meaning to walk through or a patch of grass that you have meaning to sit on or a new restaurant you have been meaning to try? Walk it, sit on it, and try it.

Today, do something that stands out from what you normally do. Bring the new things back to life (and that goes for me too)..

-MizJAI-

• L is for Love
• O is for Outstanding
• V is for Very, Very Extraordinary
• E is for Everlasting

CHANGE. Another highly important sign that you are waiting effectively is the reality that you will be growing and changing in the meantime. You will not stay the same and it won’t be a forced action, but a natural one. As you begin to walk in Expectation and live a Renewed life that is saturated in word daily, your heart will become stronger, your thoughts will become clearer, and your actions will change to match the actions of a Person on Fire with Faith.

You play another part in this change. You decide. You decide to read the word. You decide to deal with the real you, the good, the ugly and everything in between. You decide to change one simple step at a time. Your special brand of attitude will fall off of you. Your unique way of attempting to control everyone around you will lessen. Your litany of fears that adorned your conversation will shed like dead leaves. And your life will prepare to flourish like a tree in spring budding new life.

But don’t just take my word for it. Here is scripture . . .

. . . those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired Isaiah 40:31

It is in the expectation that we become willing to change and renew our lives in the first place. It is in the renewing that allows us to run and not be weary, walk and not faint. It is in the changing that we draw closer to God. I’ll catch you in the air.

-MizJAI-

Balance is my issue. I’m not the only one, but I am certain it’s my issue. The challenge of learning how to work and play, build the dream and address the right now, possess a vision and to see the present; is the test of my life.

I was wondering this week, “Why is this lesson so important?” And this is what I discovered:

If I don’t learn to balance my life in pain, then I can’t trust myself to balance my life in pleasure. What I mean by this is, despite my work load and my dedication to what I do, I am finally learning when to rest and to laugh and to take a lunch and to change my scenery and to find the joy in the simple things now in the midst of the hard days. Why? because like my spirit, my soul and my body can reach a place daily where they need to be renewed with a nap or a free moment with no expectations and no work or a good honest laugh or a great dance or a day away or daily escapes inside the creative process (make a collage, write a poem, rearrange a song . . .). And then go back to work.

I find that if I give too much of myself away, then I become off centered and overwhelmed with one sided emotions; and I have less to give as the days go by. Anthony Robbins touches on this. He believes that we can organize all of our lives into categories. And when we find ourselves out of wack then it usually means that we have neglected some part of us. In other words, we’ve been spending too much time on the business development and not enough on the spirit that lives in this body of ours or we have been working double time on mastering our money but haven’t been addressing our creative side (for me it’s writing). And for one more example, it’s like spending a tremendous amount of time on keeping the house looking great but not enough on the family that lives in the house (so our relationships suffer).

Whatever it is, balance requires that we don’t get stuck in one place or another. Every time I loose my balance the kickboxing coach at the gym yells, “stay light on our feet, don’t get stuck in one position, that’s how you get knocked down.” He yelled it so much on Tuesday that I want to say it to you, “…lay aside every weight and the pain (because sin is a pain, sooner or later) which clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us (Heb. 12:1).” In other words, don’t get stuck. Keep running the race and the landscape of our lives will change.

The picture above is a black and white of a coffee shop that I go to from time to time for a scenery change. A strong cup of peppermint later and I am ready to save the world for another hour or two (hey, at least I’m in motion). P.S. my computer is well again

-MizJAI-

sometimes more than others
I just have to do things that get me out
of my comfort zone
out of my ‘normal’
shakes up my status quo
wakes up my senses
and sets afire the dream burning on the inside of me

I just have to do things that remind me just
how alive, how free, how real I am

and then I can think again
clarity comes back to me
and I am reminded
that I really am…
a writer
a singer
an artist
a business woman
a visionary
whatever it is that I am trying be, I am reminded that she is me, naturally
and all I have to do is walk in it

remember
writers write
designers design
singers sing
dancers dance
business women conduct business
teachers teach
and doers do
so get to it!

I took a artist class to learn to see life the way a drawer or a painter does,
I still am not very good at this art form, and I have an enormous canvas with an artistic mess hiding in storage to show for it, but I gained a new perspective
and recaptured my sense of freedom all over again because I remembered
that like a child I can do or be anything that I want

I took a photography class to learn to hold a moment in time with my camera.
It still takes me forever to frame a beautiful shot, but to this day I still become
some one else behind the lens, a photographer extraordinaire because I want to be
at least for the moment

I think I’ll take a guitar class, a piano class, horse back riding lessons and learn to swim;
whatever I want, maybe some acting classes, just for fun and freedom. who knows what else I will become. but one thing is certain for me, diversity and changing it up sometimes (or often) makes me more of a writer and more alive.

(c) Jamillah Warner, gospelnerve.com, I got the nerve to say . . .

Wisdom circles around us daily.

But do we respond to her?

Or do we continue to do our ‘own thing’, even though our ‘own thing’ hasn’t produced our dream.

It’s not so much about doing it my way any more. It’s about being effective and getting to the emotional & physical places that I truly want to be. Now I realize more than ever before that my life is about growth and I have learned that I cannot do that on my own. So in that vein, thank God for God, for a Pastor that I can trust (I could tell you stories about the flip side of that), for friends & family filled with moments of great Wisdom and patience.

I make a decision right now.

When somebody tells me something that echos the voice of God, I declare that I will respond to it. I will change or enhance my routine to make ‘that word’ a reality in my life.

Make the same decision and we can grow and change together.

MizJAI . . . growing and changing