POV

The energy you carry can either lift a mood, improve a person's outlook, or darken the brightest day. You are your greatest support system and your authenticity is the gift you share with others. When you allow your perspective to broaden, you also allow the joy that surrounds you to seep in. It's in the little things, like a hello, a held door, an admired chuckle. It's contagious energy. What kind of energy are you choosing to carry today?

Ever found yourself a part of gossip and disappointed in your choices later? It happens to the best of us. I hope that the lesson is learned quickly and not repeated but hey, we humans sometimes need an extra dose of get right. But thank goodness that our God is patient and always ready to correct with a gentle hand. Remember, it's never too late to bridle your tongue. Your character depends on it.

The last few months of 2024 were a roller coaster ride for me and probably most.  Life changes, election results, downsizing, layoffs, and deaths all had their placement on many calendars. The gift is that tomorrow brings new beginnings and a rainbow after the rain if you choose to see it. Each year I give myself a motivational word or two so I have a focal point that propels me through the year. Join me in 2025 in discovering the More you desire and what you can do to create it or make room to receive it.

Our memories serve as time stamps of life's joyful moments and challenging triumphs. Today's guest Dorian Jackson shares how a memory from the age of four made her a proponent for change, personal integrity, and living on purpose. 
 In today's episode, Dorian shares how the Lord's whisper prepared her for her second career in the political realm. The memory of a prophetic word at the age of 17 shifted her awareness and motivated her to be a voice for the people with a strong message of equal opportunities and community awareness. 
 I hope your takeaway from Dorian's episode provokes you to be intentional in your life's purpose and choices as you too may one day be led to be a voice for the voiceless.

Want to connect?
www.jackson4weho.poliengine.com
IG: dorian4weho

"If you want to make God laugh, man plans." Oh, how often have I heard that saying? I'm a planner. I love creating to-do lists and checking them off once accomplished, but life has a way of stopping me dead in my tracks. Sometimes it's someone else's emergency or work or the weather. Either way, I've learned how important it is to stop and pay attention to the change. I connect everything to a lesson and the Lord. I've noticed, more often than not, that protection followed that change of plans. I couldn't see it right away, sometimes it's taken years but oh the power of patience and stillness. The gift of learning to listen to the spoken and unspoken has probably saved my life. So if you find yourself with a shift in your daily routine or an unexpected pivot of plans, rest in the fact that that hiccup could be a redirection that's covered in blessings.

Life has a way of making you wait. Sometimes we have to wait to hear difficult news or fantastic news. Sometimes we have to wait our turn in line to purchase something or be refused an opportunity. Either way, waiting can be hard. What I'm learning in my own waiting spaces is that the discomfort serves a purpose. It's not always comfortable, welcomed, or presently rewarding...but the gifts that will follow, the life lessons and relationships, the quiet talks, and occasional reassurances keep me focused and faithful to God's word. This part of the journey is the section my flesh would omit but my character is built in. If you find yourself in the waiting room, rest assured that you're in good company for it's the place of preparation.

Life gets loud and time keeps on ticking. It's in those moments that I run to catch it or try to hold on for dear life all while feeling it's slipping away. The control of all situations I crave reminds me that that is a false belief. I will run myself down before I get quiet so I can hear the Lord. Don't let this be you. The gift of stillness is rejuvenation and restoration. It's a true reminder that we don't walk alone or exist in our own strength. Lean into the quiet and rest in the peace that surrounds you in the loudest of spaces....and sometimes the loudest space is your mind. Gift yourself the time to be still. Nothing that's attached to you will miss you.

Life's rejection is God's protection. I say this often. I remind myself that the Lord is all-seeing and all-knowing and there are times when I want things like relationships, jobs, and connections and the outcome doesn't match my prayer.  I then remind myself that Jesus said no for a reason that's beyond my vision or comprehension. I trust his choice and thank him for what's to come in his perfect time. The gift of aging is wisdom and life experience. I'm learning daily to wait, trust, and thank him in the in-between. 

Moving around the world and having to adjust isn't for the faint of heart but change and challenge can strengthen a muscle.  Elizabeth Narciso is a New York-based actor, writer, and filmmaker who enjoys life, laughter, and dancing to the beat of her own drum. In this episode, my guest shares her journey in the business of show in front of and behind the scenes. The gifts she's learned along the way lean into self-worth, femininity, confidence, and trust. 
  I hope this episode helps you find your definition of success and what makes your heart smile.



Want to connect:
www.elizabethnarciso.com

I've been purging. It wasn't planned. It was in God's time and through his direction. It's been challenging, cathartic, painful, and peaceful. So many seasons, reasons, people, and times have brought me to this place. So many prayers for more clarity, the now and the wait have had to happen to get me here and now I see the reason for many things and still have unanswered questions for others. What I've learned is that what I need will always arrive and what no longer serves me will flow freely away and make room for my next answered prayer, in God's timing. I just have to trust it. Are you listening, welcoming, and making yourself available to release and receive? If not, what's stopping you besides you? You are a moment's thought away from an answered prayer if you just trust the process and allow the Lord to work in, around, and through you for the betterment of you. Remove your idea of what should be and allow the Lord to clean  house. You deserve the more you seek.