Songs: How I Feel Right Now

These two songs represent almost exactly what I am feeling right now this week. 

Stay tuned for a lists of Love Songs for your pleasure on Love Talks.

"Have you Ever" by Brandy

[Chorus]Have you ever loved somebody so much
It makes you cry
Have you ever needed something so bad
You can't sleep at night
Have you ever tried to find the words
But they don't come out right
Have you ever, have you ever

Have you ever been in love
Been in love so bad
You'd do anything to make them understand
Have you ever had someone steal your heart away
You'd give anything to make them feel the same
Have you ever searched for words to get you in their heart
But you don't know what to say
And you don't know where to start

[Chorus]

Have you ever found the one
You've dreamed of all of your life
You'd do just about anything to look into their eyes
Have you finally found the one you've given your heart to
Only to find that one won't give their heart to you
Have you ever closed your eyes and
Dreamed that they were there
And all you can do is wait for the day when they will care

[Chorus]

What do I gotta do to get you in my arms baby
What do I gotta say to get to your heart
To make you understand how I need you next to me
Gotta get you in my world
'Cuz baby I can't sleep

[Chorus]

"Love" by Kirk Franklin and God's Property

Patient love, kind love, sweet love, kind love [repeat 4 times]

[Verse 1]
Love a word that comes and goes
but few people really know what it means to really love somebody
love though the tears may fade away
i'm so glad your love will stay
'cause i love you and you show me
jesus what it really means to love

Patient love, kind love, sweet love, kind love [repeat twice]

[Repeat verse 1]

[Bridge]
The nights that i cry you love me
when i should have died you love me
i'll never know why you love me
its a mystery to me now that i can finally see jesus

When all was gone you love me
You gave me a song that you love me
now i can go on 'cause you love me
its a mystery to me now that i can finally see jesus

[Repeat Bridge]

What it really means
what it really means
what it really means
To love .............................................................

Patient Kind

That's love
To love...........................
Patient, Kind

That's love

Just Talking About Love

Love is amazing.

It is the way a mother looks at her child. It is the way a happily married couple looks at each other like the first time they met. It is the way a man holds the baby in his arms for the first time. It is the way a person can go through hell on Earth and still smile.  It is the way a conversation can go on for hours about everything and about nothing. It is the way somebody can sacrifice their life to save someone else. It is the way a person jumps into the open arms of the one they love, no matter how young or old. It is the way you stress and worry about those you love. It is the way you stand at the altar and stare into their face to say, "I Do".  It is the way you feel, the way you walk. It is the way you smile, the way you laugh.  It is the way your eyes sparkle when you see that one special person.  It is the way you feel when God comes in your heart and takes your pain away. 

It is the way that all these things make LOVE surface and fills the room with so much joy.

Love Scriptures I

Mark 12:30-31

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.

Matthew 5:44-46

But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even tax collectors do the same?

Romans 8:39

nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in inquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

Proverbs 27:5

Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed.

1 Timothy 1:5

Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith.

Taken from the New King James Version.  More to come.

Take a Love Poll...

Love is...God; a feeling; a way of life; a word; a manifestation of the heart; an attitude; seen & unseen; indescribable; a gift; possible through faith.

You can tell a lot about a person by the way they answered this question.

What would you say if you had to complete this sentence?

Sneak Peek into My Book

This is a small excerpt from my narrative/autobiography, in progress.  Still a rough copy.  It is called: Crushes, Young Men, Boys and Husband. Enjoy...

     After leaving the lonely visit to the doctor's office from the colposcopy appointment, I decided to trail home.  I backed into the garage in my silver Beetle like I always did.  I got out the car, walked to the door, press the red button to close the garage and opened the door into the house.  I walked up the small flight of stairs into the living room, stomach cramping and slight bleeding from the device that penetrated me. I glanced to the left and saw the gold, firm couch with its big, six pillows of the same fabric; it was small enough to only seat three people but big enough for me to stretch on.  I laid on it and looked over the armrest next to my head to look at the glass table filled with all my mother's pictures of family and me as a little girl. 
     I turned around and grabbed the remote control from the other shorter, matching glass table in the middle of the living room.  I turned on the television set that sat across the room next to the front door.  It sat on top of two strategically stacked four-legged IKEA tables big enough to fit the television on top but small enough not to hold much else. As I laid there rubbing my stomach, I waited for him to come and comfort me. It wasn't long before he rung my doorbell.  I rolled off the couch clutching my stomach as if that would stop the cramps and the uncomfortable tightness in my vaginal walls.  I reached the door.  Two locks turned to let him in. I reached my arms around him to give him a hug.  I walked him to the couch as he sat down, he put a pillow on top of his legs and I laid my head on his lap. 
     I turned to look at him in his eyes, and I thanked him for coming over. He told me he wanted to be there.  I turned back over to watch the television and he brushed my hair with his fingers and took turns rubbing my stomach with his other hand.  Soon the afternoon sun started fading away and no longer was the room illuminated by the porous cracks of the screen door or the double patio door on the left side of the television.  As it got darker and the pain started to go away, I turned to talk to him, I was now sitting in his lap with my arms wrapped around him with my head resting on his right arm. The only light shining on us was coming from the television set that was on low.  In the midst of our conversation...
     "I want to learn Spanish" I said.  "I know a little bit, like hair is pelo and hands are manos.  How do you say eyes?"
     "Ojos," he replied.
     "How do you say ears?"
     "Orejas" he said softly. "How do you say nose?"
     "I don't know," I replied.
     "Nariz"
     "Hmmm"
He pointed to his lips and said, "How do you say this?"
     "Lips," I said jokingly.
He chuckled and responded, "labios. Do you know what abraso means?"
     I shrugged my shoulders, "No clue."
     "Hugs."
Then he asked me, "what about beso?" And he pointed to his lips to give me a hint.
     I responded, "lips" in a questioning tone.
He answered, "It means kiss".  In that moment, I felt a heat emerge from my belly to my face.  I am sure that my face would have been red if my skin was any paler.  Have you ever felt that tingling feeling when you know something is about to happen but you're never really prepared for it.  Long pause, but nothing happened. The conversation continues.
     "How do you say heart?" I said.
     "Corazon."
     "Kiss me." I told him, the heat was swarming inside my body every second that passed by.  I was unable to focus on anything else.  He drew in near and I closed my eyes and came closer.  Soon our lips met.  I wrapped my hands tighter around his neck and he held me closer to his body.  Most of you know what it is like, butterflies in your stomach, tingling feeling all over. In that moment, in those few seconds, it felt like time stopped and no one or thing was around  but me and him.  And as I drew back to look in his eyes and the room came back into focus, a smile came across both of our faces.  And as I rested my head on his shoulder in the crook of his neck, I thought about many more kisses to come, and that moment to be the beginning of something magical...

Look out for the complete edition in the years to come. "A kiss is a lovely trait designed to stop speech when words become unnecessary." - Anonymous 

My Ideal Mate Checklist

So if I am going to go out into the dating world again.  I have come up with some requirements.  These are a must and non-negotiable.  Some of my guy friends want to "inquire within" but don't realize how much they fall short.  And if you cannot pass check point one, you might as well stop reading.

1.  God-fearing:  You must believe in God, fear God and have a relationship with God.  I'm sorry but I have come too far in my relationship with God to have some flesh-ridden man ruin it again.  So nope. If you cannot check this off, do not even bother reading the rest of this blog.  A man must understand that for any relationship to work, God has to be the third and most important cord alongside you and your mate.  It took me four relationships and broken heart to realize this, a lesson well learned. 

2. Confidence:  I've been asked over and over what is my type?  Do I like short, big, tall, skinny, handsome, ugly? All of these have come across in one conversation or another.  It does not matter!  It does not. As long as a person is confident with who he is.  He has to know who and what he is and love it and if he doesn't love it, he should be on the road to changing it instead of complaining about it.  God made us who we are and we need to be confident that we are his children, loved and cherished as we are. Be confident in yourself and have confidence that you are amazing because God made you.

3. Sense of humor: I am goofy, I have my moments.  I love to laugh.  A guy who is serious all the time or who cannot crack a joke will depress my joyous spirit.  So he must have the ability to laugh at me and laugh at himself sometimes.  A sense of humor does not mean crossing the line but it does mean having the ability to smile and laugh.

4. Appreciation for education:  I love school.  I am a teacher.  If I can't come home and talk to my man about the ins and outs of my day because he doesn't like school that is a problem.  You don't have to like math, (that's too far) but you must have a desire to always want to learn and grow in knowledge.  Not everybody is cut out for school, I can understand that but appreciate it for what it is.  If I want to go back to school, I need someone who is going to support me and support my goals.  He canNot get jealous about the amount of time I put in my schoolwork or work work (because I do spend a lot of time on it).

I know that I am not fully ready to love again.  But I do know that I am not going to settle once I am ready.  So if you don't fit the bill, please do NOT "inquire within".  Don't waste your time or mines.

People say...

People say, "Love hurts"
     but love is supposed to heal not cause pain.

People say, "Love stinks"
     but love is supposed to be the best thing in the world [and smells good too].

People say, "Love conquers all"
     but that depends on who is doing the loving.

People say, "Love is what you make it"
     but it is what God made and shares with us.

People say, "If you don't love yourself, how will you love someone else?"
     but if you don't love God how will you even know what love is?

People say, "Love is magical"
     but in fact it is spiritual and a gift from God.

People say, "Love is like glue between two people"
     but if God is not the maker of that glue you might as well be using a glue stick.


To be continued....

7 Deadly Sins vs 7 Heavenly Virtues

Talking about the 7 Deadly Sins, 7 Contrary Virtues and 7 Heavenly Virtues.  Why talk about this? Why address this topic on "Love Talks"?   Well, in order to fully appreciate the true love of God or to be let into the kingdom of heaven, we really need to grasp how to identify our sins and ask the Lord's forgiveness for each one.  Daily we are confronted with at least one of these sins (more than likely four or five) and we need to be conscious of it so we can live in Christ and become virtuous instead of dying in the pit of Hell.  Physical death is not all you should be afraid of because life does go on after, do you want to be above or below?

7 Heavenly Virtues
The 7 Heavenly Virtues are listed below, I didn't talk about them because your job will be to research them if you don't know what they mean.  Take the time to find a place for these virtues in your life and practice them everyday. Remember love encompasses all of these virtues.

FAITH       HOPE      CHARITY      FORTITUDE      JUSTICE      TEMPERANCE       PRUDENCE

7 Deadly Sins and the 7 Contrary Virtues
On the left is the list of the 7 deadly sins with a small explanation taken from http://www.deadlysins.com/ and on the right are the 7 contrary virtues to counter those deadly sins accordingly with explanations taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_virtues.

PRIDE:* excessive belief's in one's own abilities

modest behavior, selflessness and the giving of respect: HUMILITY

ENVY: the desire for others' traits, status, abilities or situation

charity, compassion & friendship for its own sake: KINDNESS

GLUTTONY: inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires

constant mindfulness of others and one's surroundings: ABSTINENCE/TEMPERANCE

LUST: an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body

abstaining from sexual conduct according to one's state in life: CHASTITY

ANGER: manifested in the individual who spurns love but insteads opts for fury

forbearance and endurance through moderation: PATIENCE

GREED: the desire for material wealth or gain

generosity and self-sacrifice: LIBERALITY/CHARITY

SLOTH: avoidance of physical or spiritual work

a zealous and careful nature in one's work and actions: DILIGENCE

*Note: pride is the sin from which all others arise, let your pride go!

A closer look at each sin with some Bible Scriptures:

http://www.allaboutgod.com/what-are-the-seven-deadly-sins-faq.htm



What the Bible says:

Proverbs 6 vs 16-19

These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.

Galatians 5 vs 19-26

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outburts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  Against such there is no law.  And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.  Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Gandhi's 7 Deadly Sins check them out

http://www.deadlysins.com/features/gandhi.htm 

Now there needs to be an open discussion about this: the sins may not seem deadly to you. They might now pose any real threat to your life immediately.  But they are destructive to your Spirit and they will NOT enter you in the kingdom of heaven.  So many of you are concerned with life here on Earth and think that physical death is the end but it isn't.  You have to understand that God promises you eternal life through Jesus and yes we are saved by Him but there are still consequences, there are still laws to be followed.  Do not destroy yourself by being proud, angry, greedy, envious, lazy, gluttonious and lustful, but uplift yourself by being patient, humble, kind, giving, diligent, temperant, pure and unselfish.  Basically, in a nutshell, LOVE and love deeply and the right way, God's way.

Strengths vs. Weaknesses

I dare everyone to take the challenge.  Create a list of 3 strengths and 3 weaknesses that are most prevalent in your life.  Take the time to think about these strengths and weaknesses and mold them into what you want them to be.  Change your outlook about your weaknesses and turn them into strengths. I will share mines.

Strengths

1. I can get along with most people.  I give everyone a chance and I try to see the potential in everyone.  Unfortunately, I am not good at reading liars, cheaters, etc but I do value people as humans and I believe everyone should be on the same playing field.

2. I am a good friend.  I try to be there for people when I can.  I try to my best to keep secrets, most of the time I write them down if I feel the desire to tell someone else.  God have blessed me with friendly qualities like: compassion, patience and gentleness.

3. I do not give up easily. I do fight and I fight hard. Once I set myself on a track to do a task I do not like to stray until I have finished.  If I do leave it, I come back to it in the future to finish it.  There are things that I have come back to years later to finish.

Weaknesses

1. My mind.  I tend to overthink, over analyze and cloud my mind with unnecessary nonsense.  The devil alwasy attacks my mind first because he knows that is my weakest link.  I tend to think about every "what-if" situation when I need to put it in God's hands and Be Still.

2.  My posture.  I walk and carry myself like I have a 10-ton weight on my shoulders.  It looks as though I am not confident when I am.  Some might say it's years of damage but it's how I feel.  For some reason, I feel like I need to take on the pain of others when I do not.  I need to pray for them, be there for them and put it in God's hand, stop worrying so much.

3. I am really hard on myself.  I take every wrong turn as a failure.  I always blame myself for some things that are not my fault and I feel guilty.  People say this is a strength because I will always strive to do better but I see it as a weakness in my faith because it makes it hard for me to forgive myself.  I stay fixed on a situation for too long.


The first part to turning your weaknesses into strengths is to recognize them.  Then think of the positive things that can come out of them and focus on that.  Yes we are not perfect but we can always think of ourselves as improving and working on ourselves to be more like God. For example, yes my mind is a weak point of attack but it can be a great defense mechanism once I fill it with pure thoughts and positivity.  I know that God is with me and when I remember that and think of good times as a blessing rather than a reminder of what I lost, I can defeat the devil.  My posture will change with my growth.  I will stand tall as I feel taller and I put on the full armor of God.  Being hard on myself has caused some good and bad things in my life, it shielded me from loving for a long time but it also got me to some good jobs and good places.  I just need to learn to be the right amount of tough on myself. Tough love is good but only if it doesn't cross over into bashing and trashing, there still needs to be some delicacy.  Starting today I don't want to see those three things as weaknesses but challenges that can be overcomed.


Working on me so I can be a better saint.  Your turn.

Love Quotes I

Something new I am trying here.  Picking up some Love Quotes and bringing them to you.

"Love is a gift; not an obligation."  - Fools Rush In

Letting a good woman [or man] go is your Mistake. Not fighting to get her [or him] back will be your Regret. Knowing another man [or woman] has her [or his] heart is your Misery. Thinking "what if" will become your Life. Settling for second best instead of your true love will be your Outcome. Losing her [or him] in the first place was your Pride. Decide Wisely! - Picked off a status on facebook.

 

This last one is so true. It is hard to have faith without love.  Some people try it but you have to love God in order to have strong faith. Loving God makes it easy to have so much faith. From my heart to yours, everyone...

Victory is Mine

"As you come to him, the living Stone - rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him - you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."  1 Peter 2 vs. 4-5

I have been rejected by the one I love.  But I have been chosen by God and reading this Scripture really amazed me how much the Lord loves me.  It's like he is telling me it's ok my child, I will take you in and love you while you go through this.  I am learning how to live in the Spirit and come to God when I am suffering or distressed.  To think that we always turn to our friends when we are hurting and sometimes we turn to our enemies but I turned to God and he brought me to this Scripture.  He knew what I was feeling and delivered me.  I shedded some tears tonight but then I smiled and I am going to praise the Lord because He has chosen me.  I just know that when I come out of my situation, I will have a testimony to share.  My spiritual house is going to be strong and it is going to keep out the devil.  Right now I'm throwing the Word of God at Satan who is trying to come in and take over my mind. He knows my weakness is my mind and my thoughts but I know how to defeat him.  I've learned how to break through his attacks.  Victory is Mine, yes it is.

"Spring Clean Your Life"

I read this awesome article in Essence April 2011 issue and I tried to see if the article was online so I could attach the link but that is not going to happen because it is not online :(. So I'm going to do a highlight recap for you because it was a very inspiring article that my women and men need to hear. Enjoy...

SPRING CLEAN YOUR LIFE

"I remember sitting on the beach one afternoon and whispering to God, 'Please send me a man who loves me more than anything'...I met a man I'll call Andrew. Deliciously handsome? Check. Gainfully employed? Check. Adored and desired me above all else? Double check...My internal GPS - what I call my God Placement System - said, Lisa, he isn't the One.  But I was too swept up in romance to listen...The end of the relationship with Andrew was the beginning of my breakthrough - a critical turnaround moment in the journey I'm still taking. I realized unconsciously called forth my own chaos when I begged God to send a man who would love me "more than anything" Andrew "loved" me so much he was willing to kill me to keep me.  I now understand why I should have made a different request."

THE SECRET YOU KNOW

"Being honest with yourself is a crucial first step in emotional housecleaning. Think of your life as having four quadrants: health and wellness, love and relationships, work and finances, and spirit and affirmation.  Each quadrant is like a room in your house, and when you spring clean, you honestly assess the condition of these four areas...Remember to be both clear and specific when outlining what you want for your life."

ROOM 1: HEALTH AND WELLNESS

"One of the greatest gifts that you can give yourself is someone in your corner.  Reach out to a coach, counselor, pastor or friend...A vision board can really inspire you as you redesign your health quadrant.  But rather than pulling out old photos of how you used to look put your current face on the kind of body you envision about having...Next write down three simple health goals for this quadrant. For each goal, write five action steps that will get you there...Goals without measurable action are wishful thinking, so set a "by when" date for every step...Finally enlist an accountability buddy, someone who provides a safe place for you to share your goals and fears.  Ask your partner to check in with you on each goal by the date you've chosen.

Me: As far as my heath and wellness is concerned, I need to make more frequent visits to the hospital to get my check-ups.  I don't really have someone in my corner yet whom I can trust and who will be there for me when I want to share my goals and my thoughts.  I have a few potentials but no one has quite shown me that they want to be there for me as I am for them.  I am pretty healthy but I do need to eat better so that I don't have cramps in my ankles, toes and legs. I need to drink more water and by the time I am 27 I want to be healthy enough to have a baby.

ROOM 2: LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS

"List ten relationships in your life. Include your closest relationships as well as people with whom you spend a lot of time.  Now rate each of those relationships on a scale from 1 to 10.  A "10" is someone who will go through the fire with you and will love you through your ugly - your rocket booster friend.  A "1" is someone whose world you can't rely on, and even being with that person is challenging...Now review every person you've rated less than a 10 - 9's, 7's, 5's and so on. Identify what you're willing to do to make each relationship a 10.  If you want to go beyond just dusting off a countertop to do a deep clean, you must talk to each person about your relationship...As you commit to improving your relationships, think deeply about each one...Now matter how hard you try to close the gap, some of your 1's will never be 10's, or even 5's. Not everyone in your life has the potential to reach rocket-booster status, but don't get caught up in playing the victim or pointing a finger...You may even need to remove yourself from the relationship entirely...Your goal is to build a safe-space community with people who celebrate the [person] you're becoming."

Me: This is something that I really need to work on because I have a lot of 7's in my life and there are some people that I have had to get rid of recently.  I understand that I have been focusing on only a few relationships, and I mean a very few.  I need to expand my horizon and think about the other people in my life.  I want people to know that I love them and I want them in my life but she is right, we need to be vocal about what we want and how we want the relationship to play out.  I blew my chance to talk to one of my friends because I hadn't really figured out if I wanted her in my life or not.  She does not know that and I am not being honest with her or myself. This room is going to be the most difficult room for me and the most exciting room once I have it all figured out.

ROOM 3: WORK & FINANCES

"When Black women talk about their money, I usually hear one refrain: "Girl, I'm getting by." But who wants to get by? To move toward we have to shift to a financially healthy mind-set. First identify the script you've been following. Maybe it's "I don't need to make a lot of money; I just need to find a man who makes a lot of money." Or maybe it's "The more money I make, the less spiritual I am." Once you've identified your underlying mind-set, you can develop a more empowering one. Your new script could be, "Financing abundance and prosperity are my birthright." Next begin looking beyond tomorrow. Wealthy people design their lives to three to five years ahead. Start by doing a financial forecast for the rest of this year. How much money will you earn? How can you up your number? How much do you owe? How much do you plan do you plan to spend? Be fiscally amountable to yourself to writing down the answers to all these questions.  What you're really doing is setting up a budget to take control of your money.  Think of it as the way to finance your dreams and pay for the fun in your life...Every two weeks I wrote myself a check, and in the memo line, I noted, 'funding my dream'.  The first check was for $110. Each time I increased the amount by a minimum of 5 percent."

Me: I spend a lot of money on food and more food thus increasing on my unhealthiness.  I really need to focus on making this quadrant better.  I am usually pretty good about money as I don't really believe in material things like clothes, shoes and big fancy things.  But I do blow it on food.  I need to practice cooking more and saving that extra money on myself and my goals.  I want to own a home in a couple of years.  I want to pay off my auto loans and my credit card debts in five years.  I want to own life insurance with a savings plan attached to it so that I can vacation every summer I am off for teaching.  I know I can do this but I gotta stay focused.  I have a list of expenses on my sticky notes on my laptop, I need to make at least 1500 a month to pay the bills off that I want to pay before I can start saving any money.  So I have to find a job that will do that for me.  I have already set the table now I need to put out the dishes and call everyone to dinner.

ROOM 4: SPIRIT & AFFIRMATION

"Sisters must accept that we cannot live off the prayer habits and faith of our mothers; we need to be our own praying women. Whatever your higher power - God, Allah, Buddha, spirit or something else - recognize that your daily actions must align with your spiritual beliefs. So many of us hold on to emotions that hinder our growth.  When you fill your inner cupboards with unresolved issues - be it shame, guilt, rage or resentment - you have far less space for love, joy, peace and contentment...To spring-clean your spiritual quadrant, find one meaningful phrase - whether that's a scripture, a quote or an affirmation.  For the remainder of 2011, focus on what it means to live those words...After just a bit of housecleaning in the 'rooms' of my life, something miraculous happened: I became a magnet for opportunity. Because I dusted off my emotions and intentions by getting nakedly honest with myself, my 50-watt bulb started burning with the brightness of 200 watts.  I was no longer invisible to those who may have dismissed me, and I opened up space for blessings to flow into my life.  The same will be true for you."

Me: I have recently done really good in this quadrant: God is the frontrunner in my life now and it feels good.  I pray to him every day, I read my Bible every night.  Love drives my life.  I guess if I have to say a scripture or quote I like to live by it would be 1 Corinthians 13 vs 4-8 because not only does it express the way God loves us, it expresses the way we should love others, our husbands/wives, our neighbors, family, friends.  I learned to forgive others, and most importantly, myself.  That is the hardest thing to do and when you have made mistakes like I have it is hard to tell yourself that it's alright and God loves you anyway.  Repent.  Another Bible scripture that is pretty good is Galatians 5 vs 19-26 because it talks about living in the flesh vs living in the Spirit. Thank you Lisa for your wisdom and thank you readers for taking the time out.

from Essence April 2011 issue. pg 154-158.  Article written by Lisa Nichols.  "Life coach Lisa Nichols is the author of No Matter What! 9 Steps to Living the Life You Love, out in paperback this month."