The yellow brick road…

Sometimes I feel like Dorothy, off to see the wizard…the wonderful wizard of Oz Hollywood.  I am scared.  I’m alone…I’m clueless.    And even though Dorothy skipped along happily, hand-in-hand with her co-dependent trio, we know that the journey was not always joyful.  If only a good witch of the South would lend her magical wand, tap some pink, sparkly Christian Louboutin’s onto my feet, this trip wouldn’t seem so lions, tigers, and bears…oh my!

As I walk down a path that it seems a GPS can’t even detect, I’m forced to rely on antiquated senses, like faith……hope…and love.  I’m forever interrupted by my own disruptions…a scarecrow (my mind), a tinman (self-love), and a lion (fearlessness).  While it feels like baggage trying to continue to walk with these things pulling at my strength to go forward, I must endure the growing pains in order to fulfill the desires of my heart.  I guess it’s true when they say, only the strong survive.  The last I checked…my back was strong.  I’m brown, a female, a mother, gifted, blessed, and determined.  But honestly, sometimes I have no idea what I’m doing and I even have a more difficult time explaining how I got here.  Whether it be God, the Universe, Destiny, Fate, or dumb-luck…I know that it’s certainly on purpose. 

I’ll ease on down the road, whether it be trudging, hastily, apprehensively, or certainly…lions, tigers, and bears can never be avoided.  But I have to remind myself of the goal, believing that what I seek is only a yellow brick road away.  And I must stay grounded in the roots of where I’m from.  Dorothy never lost sight of the fact that she wanted to be home and that’s where her heart would always be.  She didn’t get caught up in the world of mysticism, magic, and make-believe that surrounded her.  She could have easily opened her eyes to how grand things were in this new world and said to hell with Kansas.  But she didn’t.  And even though she ended up going back home, she went back with a livelier spirit, more hope, and an appetite for adventure. 

Do I want nice things? Yes, I do.  Do I want to be famous? For the right reasons.  Do I want to make a difference in this world? Everyday.  But, in all that I do…home is at the core.  I will never lose sight of who I am…who I’ve always been…who I was before the world knew me…in order to achieve the desires of my heart.  I am not for sale.  I am not easily persuaded.  I will always be me, a girl from a small town with big dreams.  When this journey gets crazy, I may click my heels to remind me of who I am and to whom I belong.  Hollywood is dope, but there’s no place like home! =)

Right now matters?

If we live in the past or live in the future, we keep the present hostage.

Today’s message came wrapped in unconventional packaging.  Unexpectedly, it arrived with the few clicks of a button.  I toggled here, there, and BAM!  It hit me.  Hard.  So hard, I cried.  The above message was the equivalent of receiving a life sentence.  Talk about conviction!  After reading it, I quickly shared the message with my Facebook community.  Regardless of how many liked, or commented, I knew that it was a special delivery.  I was the intended recipient and after opening it,  I was destined to handle it with care.  

The present.  It’s not as simple as today’s date or raising your hand for attendance.  No, it’s more.  It’s right now.  What you’re doing.  Not, what you haven’t done or what you can’t wait to do.  Yesterday is gone and tomorrow, well…in the blink of an eye, it’s here and gone.  But there is a nowness that ticks, tocks, every move, every deal closed, every workout, every attempt, every forgiveness, every bill payment, every exit.  Every thing we do right now, defines our past and shapes our future. 

So why do we continue to make deals with tomorrow and leave the tab open for yesterday?  Let’s face it…for some of us, the present is scary.  It’s too in your face and open to your craftmanship.  We’re too afraid to put our hands in it because the risk of taking a chance may result in failure. Some of us would rather wait for someone else to come along and make it happen.  This laissez-faire attitude, passes the responsibility of your destiny in the hands of someone else, who may or may not have your best interest at heart.  While others may sulk, pout, and make excuses as to why it can’t happen because of what happened in his or her past.  Holding on to either principle, will never make any dream a reality.  The business will not matriculate, the move won’t happen, the venture won’t materialize, the pounds will not decrease, until you do something right now that promotes its existence or non-existence.

I charge all of you to get more acquainted with your present.  Apologize for your lack of attention and work harder to make right now a permanent priority.  Do not allow fear, laziness, and others to control your present.  Your present is a gift to you and ill-managed when pushed aside and ignored.  Tomorrow will always look like a dream and your past will always be the saddest story ever told.  Whatever the goal is, it starts in this moment.  The little steps that will take you into bigger strides happens tomorrow right now! Get ready, get set…go!