Simply be Happy

Simply
be happy

If you want to be helpful,
be happy. If you want to be successful, be happy.

Happiness is not the result of a life well lived. Happiness is the fuel for a
life well lived.

If you won’t let yourself be happy, you can’t be happy. Yet when you simply
allow happiness, nothing can keep it from you.

But isn’t it naive to be happy when there are problems and tragedies,
disappointments and obstacles throughout life? Actually, it is a sense of
happiness and positive self worth that will push you successfully through even
the most difficult challenges.

You don’t have to justify your happiness, or explain it or be ashamed of it.
Just let it be, and let its power create real, meaningful value in your world.

In fact, there’s nothing you must be happy about. Simply be happy, and let your
authentic joy lift your whole world higher.

— Ralph Marston

Ups and downs

You won’t ever really feel good if feeling good is the only thing you seek. A life with only the ups and no downs is not only impossible, it is undesirable.

You won’t achieve anything of value unless you’re willing to work your way through some difficult and demanding challenges. Value is built through effort, and there is no way around that.

To become skilled, you must practice, and to learn, you must study. There are always new techniques that can make you more effective, yet there are no shortcuts when it comes to true achievement.

The pains, the disappointments, the frustrations and the trepidations hurt. Because they feel so bad, you have the opportunity to authentically feel good by working your way beyond them.

Life is necessarily difficult, and that’s what makes it possible for life to be so good. For it is in dealing with the difficulties that the power of life’s goodness is fully experienced.

Live life fully, enjoying the good times and growing stronger by working through the difficult times. Savor the richness that is to be found in it all.

— Ralph Marston

The Giving in Thanksgiving Double Play

I haven't been honest with myself and my few followers (something that will be changing next year because I plan to follow my own advice). However, since it is Thanksgiving Eve, we need to be be thankful but also give since this is the season of THANKSGIVING. Have you gave of yourself lately? Have you given your clients and/or co-workers or even your boss your 110% in your daily activities? Have you given your spouse (or significant other) or your children 110% of yourself and your thoughts? Have you actually given your business 125% of yourself, your time, your talents, your passion? If not, you're not alone, for I am guilty of those same things as well. So in the season of giving thanks or having the giving in Thanksgiving, I want to leave you with a few words by Bishop E. Earl Jenkins. I would like to thank Mr. Greg Brown for passing this passage to me and now I want to pay it forward by giving it to you all. Here it goes:

Are You Ready For Bigger Things?By Bishop E. Earl Jenkins

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him." - James 1:5
Did you know that the hermit crab looks for a shell that fits him, then lives in it till he outgrows it? At that point he has to scurry along the ocean floor and find a bigger one; it's a process that repeats itself throughout his entire life. Are you clinging to something that no longer fits you, just because it's easy and familiar? In Psalm 4:1 David says,
"You...freed me when I was hemmed in and enlarged me when I was in distress." To develop and grow spiritually you must be willing to move out of your comfort zone and deal with a little 'distress.'
What worked for you yesterday may not work today. Maybe it's a job you've outgrown, a relationship you need to reexamine or a behavior you need to change. Regardless of what it is, never become so 'settled' that you can't let go and move on when you need to.
Patience and persistence are admirable, but they won't work in situations you've outgrown. Instead of hanging in and trying harder, at certain points you have to stop and ask yourself, "Is this situation good for me?" If you're not sure, ask God for "an understanding mind [to]...know the difference between...right and...wrong" (1Ki 3:9 TLB). His Word says, "If you need wisdom...ask [him], and he will [gladly] give it to you" (Jas 1:5 NLT).
When God says it's time to move on, it's because there's another shell out there that will fit you even better. But you can't take occupancy until you vacate the old one. So how about it -- are you ready for bigger things?

If you are ready for bigger things in 2011 and beyond and have a need for an event and marketing professional, please send us an email at info@nov8iveevents.com. Happy Holidays!!

Motivational Corner: "Haters" by Maya Angelou

Again, I fell off of the wagon, but I'm human, and unfortunately us human's fall short, despite the fact we seek perfection. This poem, "Haters" by Maya Angelou was recited on WHUR.com- Howard University's Radio Station, I fell in love with it and its meaning. This will be our motivational corner for the week- I hope it inspires you to shake the haters off as it did for me.

Haters
By Maya Angelou

A hater is someone who is jealous and envious and spends all their time trying to make you look small so they can look tall.
They are very negative people to say the least. Nothing is ever good enough!
When you make your mark, you will always attract some haters…
That’s why you have to be careful with whom you share your blessings and your dreams, because some folk can’t handle seeing you blessed…
It’s dangerous to be like somebody else… If God wanted you to be like somebody else, He would have given you what He gave them! Right?
You never know what people have gone through to get what they have…
The problem I have with haters is that they see my glory, but they don’t know my story…
If the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, you can rest assured that the water bill is higher there too!
We’ve all got some haters among us!
Some people envy you because you can:
a) Have a relationship with Godb) Light up a room when you walk inc) Start your own businessd) Tell a man/woman to hit the curb (if he/she isn’t about the right thing)e) Raise your children without both parents being in the home
Haters can’t stand to see you happy.Haters will never want to see you succeed.Most of our haters are people who are supposed to be on our side.
How do you handle your undercover haters?
You can handle these haters by:
1. Knowing who you are & who your true friends are *(VERY IMPORTANT!!)
2. Having a purpose to your life: Purpose does not mean having a job. You can have a job and still be unfulfilled. A purpose is having a clear sense of what God has called you to be. Your purpose is not defined by what others think about you.
3. By remembering what you have is by divine prerogative and not human manipulation.
Fulfill your dreams! You only have one life to live…when its your time to leave this earth, you want to be able to say, ‘I’ve lived my life and fulfilled my dreams, Now I’m ready to go HOME!
When God gives you favor, you can tell your haters, ‘Don’t look at me…Look at who is in charge of me…’
Don’t worry about it, it’s not your problem, it’s theirs.
Just pray for them, that their life can be as fulfilled as yours! Watch out for Haters…BUT most of all don’t become a HATER!
‘A woman’s heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man should have to seek Him first to find her.’

Maya Angelou

Motivation Corner: Making your dreams come true with a Dream Board

I wrote this as I was listening to a show on BlogTalkRadio.com –excellent website full of tips for people sitting at their desk on the computer. It’s an excellent topic- discussing being fearless. So once again, with my pen in hand, I write about the Fear Factor and why is the fear of the unknown keeping you from reaching your full potential? This can be in achieving personal goals that you set for yourself, getting out of debt, going for that job you deserve, or creating the wealth that you desire. All of these things can inhibit someone from achieving their full potential, and most of it stems from fear.

I read in a recent Black Enterprise article that many successful people have what they call a “Dream Board” that they place pictures of objects and words that describe goals they wish to achieve in life. The article did not go into detail as to whether or not it’s a virtual board or an actual board that can be live. So I took this concept and creating my own idea of creating a board on my computer using images from Google and other search engines. It took me awhile to choose and configure the pictures especially since I like everything to be in place, but I was able to complete the task within 2 hours. It was a labor of love and I take great pride in my dream board. I can break down each thing that is on the board and it explains perfectly where I want to be and how I plan on getting there.

If you look at it, you will see many items reflecting about debt, entrepreneurship, how to become rich and marketing. As you may have guessed, these are things that are important to me financially. In turn, if I am able to achieve these goals, I can eventually move onto get those dream items that I would like to purchase such as the mansion on the hill, the platinum grey Lexus ES400, and Bentley Phantom Coupe- black (of course). My dream board also has motivational words such as faith, leadership, mentoring, persistence, thinking big and being a winner.

My dream board an everyday reminder that I need to work hard to achieve these goals such as doing more volunteer work, mentoring young students, and finally learning Spanish!! As the article insists, you must post your dream board- no matter how you create it, in a space that you can see it everyday. I spent the money to reproduce the actual file, and it was an investment in myself well spent. I can look at this board on my computer, my wall in my cubicle, as well as the wall in my bedroom. I can view it everywhere I go, and eventually, you may see more dream boards as this journey goes along.

I encourage everyone who is serious about achieving their goals in life, family, professionally, and otherwise to create a dream board. How will you know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been or how you’re going to get on your next destination? A dream board is your first step in achieving these goals- who knows, this self-motivation may create a fire that may create another business venture. It moves us a step closer to making progress- and remember the following: Progress must come- we must accept the constant hand of change (Annette Howard) Stay tuned as we make our progress towards change!!

This is all for our motivational corner, I hope this provides you some tools you can use. For more tips, stay tuned next week as we provide other tips on how to save your event and your sanity. If you are looking for an event planner to assist you in creating an awesome event, please visit our website at http://www.nov8iveevents.com/.

Are you changing the game or are you allowing the game to change you?

This is a very special blog that is near and dear to my heart. I haven’t blogged in well over a year and in the year of 2010- the year of reinvention and change, I felt it best to return with a bang. I want to take a few moments to thank Melissa Dawn Johnson, my mentor from afar, and a person that I think has one of the strongest brands and businesses in the game. On her show on Blog Talk Radio entitled, Make it Happen with Melissa Dawn Johnson, her show this week was called “Get in the Game.” Recently, I’ve dealt with a lot of setbacks and things that normally would take people out of the game and would tell the world a hearty “F You!”, but I chose to take the higher road, fix my face, or rather pick my face up from the floor and move on to the next one. So I had to go back and remember who I am, what I’ve gone through, and what I came here to do, in other words, I had to regain my focus.

Therefore, I am in the process of rebranding myself, my corporate strategy and my life, so changing the game or at least being part of changing the game is my overall strategy for success. So this is my inspirational piece, not only for you, but for me as well. Since my last piece, “What’s in a name?” a lot has changed and a lot of growth has taken place. So in a personal effort to move with lightening speed past the haters and those who seem to be destined for looserville, I want to leave you with a few thoughts. I’m making a personal promise to begin blogging more often, I have a lot of thoughts, many of them are already written, I just need to post them- so here we go.

Have you ever been a part of the crowd and feel as if you are being swept in the latest trend or the current because of the crowd (also known as groupthink)? Has that current ever taken you over the edge and you feel as if you’re beginning to drown? Do you ever feel that you’re not reaching your full potential due to outside influences? Or do you feel exactly the opposite, where you feel like you’re an individual who is a trailblazer and a trendsetter? If you’ve ever felt either of these emotions, you are either changing the game or you’re allowing the game to change you.

So ask yourself, am I changing the game, or am I allowing the game to change me? I had to ask myself that question this week with some of the interactions that have been transpiring at work as well as in organizations that I volunteer with on a regular basis. After being talked about, lied to, lied about, yelled at, screamed at, and just overall ostracized, I noticed my attitude and demeanor take an enormous shift to the right. I began to notice that my outlook on life and on people in general turned very negative and cold and I had to take a moment to self-reflect and say, am I a game changer or am I allowing the game to change me? At that time, I admit that I was allowing the game to change me.

I was allowing the games of corporate America, the games women play, and the games of jealous hearted and envious individuals affect my personal thoughts and beliefs and these thoughts began to consume so much of my time. I found myself entering a light depression and not becoming as productive as I once was.

I always considered myself a game changer by being innovative (notice I threw that in there), along with setting the trends for others to follow. I had to take back the creative control and power and enter back into the zone where I became laser-beam focused. I had to remember that consistence and persistence wins the race and to be a leader, sometimes you have to be a good follower as well. I also had to regain my self-respect and dignity to remember that no matter what title a person has or the power they perceive to have, to remember that we are all individuals (hopefully professionals) and respect is due when it is given. And finally, and most importantly, I had to remember- hey they talked about Jesus, so what do you think they’re going to say about you?

So take a few seconds to complete your self-evaluation and figure out, am I changing the game or am I allowing the game to change me? Just a tip, if you have the opportunity, please begin to listen to Blog Talk Radio, there are some excellent shows and they’re free. If you feel inspired and motivated to do so, you can start your own show. I will blog in the near future some of my favorite inspirational shows on Blog Talk Radio as well so that you can be moved to action and to aspire for the greatness you deserve.

This is all for our motivational corner, I hope this provides you some tools you can use. For more tips, stay tuned next week (and I promise it will be next week) as we provide other tips on how to save your event and your sanity. If you are looking for an event planner to assist you in creating an awesome event, please visit our website at http://www.nov8iveevents.com/. Please stay tuned, I am regaining my will to be focused and plan on re-launching our website in an effort to create a stronger brand!!