I Can't Say Thank You Enough

I Can’t Say Thank You Enough

Melody Beattie said, “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow”.

Gratitude continues to be a life lesson for me. It’s not because I am not grateful. I learned as a child to tell people “thank you”. I learned as a Christian to thank God for everything that comes into my life. But I didn’t realize, and I sometimes still don’t, how much saying “thanks” impacts my view of my daily life.

One day I heard Oprah talking about a gratitude journal. Admittedly, I am not the most focused person to do something like keeping a journal. I tend to work on multiple things at once and they all eventually are completed. (Not the most effective work method by the way, and it's getting better.) Oprah went on to say that feeling gratitude makes life take on a new appreciation. She also said that the more grateful you are, the more things you will draw to be grateful for. I didn’t have much understanding about spiritual laws, so this truly made no sense to me. But because I found myself in a complaining, frustrated place, I decided that I would begin to keep a gratitude journal.

Each morning I would get up, I began to write down three things I was grateful for in my life. Doing this daily seemed to make things to be grateful for skim. My journal started out looking like, “Lord, thank you for breath. Thank you for life.” About a week later it looked life, “Lord, thankful for this tablet. Thank you for lights”. At first it seemed silly to be thankful for such things. I thought, “Someone looking from the outside may think that these things are trivial to be thankful for.” Yet I continued anyway.

Not long after I started writing my very first book, Fearless Prayer, our laptop decided to take a vacation.  My tablet was all that I had. Under usual circumstances this would have caused me to give up. Writing a book was not the easiest feat from a tablet. However, from doing my gratitude journal, I began to understand that things could be worse. I continued to be thankful, and soon a book was born.

Take a look around you and see what you can be grateful for. Sure you could use a bigger place to stay, but thank God there is a place to stay! Sure, your significant other can be annoying, but there are those dying to have a significant other. (Besides, it is a high likelihood that you are just as annoying). Soon you will find that the things that seemed to be annoyances will become things that you are grateful to have. Not only that, you will find that you are more open to creating a way to get the things you truly desire. Being grateful doesn’t mean you settle. It means that you appreciate what is, and look forward to what is to come.

I encourage you to start a gratitude journal. During the times I find myself complaining, I reach for my journal. You can always find things that will seemingly make life better. However, it is very likely someone else will rejoice in what you have. Be grateful.

Peace.

 Here's a beautiful gospel song, Grateful by Hezekiah Walker, that brings me to gratitude every time I hear it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE0W-kQyz6A

 If you have any comments, questions, or prayer requests, please contact me at: faithfrfr2014@gmail.com. Also,you can go to my website SherondaLBarksdale.com  , follow me on Facebook at Sheronda L. Barksdale, Entrepreneur and Life Empowerment Coach, Instagram at: sheronda_l_barksdale, and Twitter at: @SherondaGB.

Empowering your Vision

Empowering your Vision

 

On this week’s blog I would like to share more about who I am and my work, a.k.a. my passion.

My name is Sheronda Barksdale and I am a life empowerment coach, motivational speaker, author, and entrepreneur. I hold a Bachelor's degree in Counseling and Human Services and I am a certified life coach. I am also an associate member of the Women Speakers Association. My purpose in life is to empower women and teens to find the path that leads to the realization of their visions. So often we are unaware of the power God has given us as creators because of multiple negative sources ( i.e. family, media, friends, etc.). Your God-given vision is just that - YOURS! You just need the tools to help you move forward in it. My job is to help you seek the power within yourself in order to see every vision you have come to life.

As stated before, my ultimate goal as a woman, a mother, a life empowerment coach, a speaker, an author, and a retreat facilitator is to empower people’s vision to their path. I almost can’t help being this the majority of my day. My friends know that if they call me with a problem, they are going to leave with a solution. It would probably make my life a little easier to allow people to walk blindly into every decision they make, slowly nodding my head and smiling, but it simply isn’t who I am. It excites me to see that moment in people’s eyes when they “get it”. So I have accepted my call and am now beginning to share it with the world.

Many of us have goals that we have set for our lives, and many visions of how we would like our lives to look. However, we are sometimes too fearful, unknowledgeable, or believe we have too little time to see these things come into fruition. Also, we carry around a lot of baggage from our past that affects what we think about ourselves and hinders our ability to take the first steps to having what we want. Here is where my work comes in.

One of the first things I like to do on a one-on-one basis and in group settings is to create a vision board. A vision board is used to create a visual depiction of what we want our lives to be. After creating the board, you would then display it somewhere, or in multiple places, you will see it daily so that it is a constant reminder to keep your sights on what you want for your life.

Next, I like to delve into any negative mindsets my client’s may have about the different goals they have placed on their board. Sometimes people believe they don’t have enough time, enough resources, or have the “smarts” to make things happen.  I challenge you to believe that if it is a desire in your heart, then you have the ability to make it happen.

Finally, I like to meld the vision board with positive affirmations that will allow clients to center their mind on the God-given power and gifts they have within them. Receiving your power empowers you to believe that you can achieve whatever goal lies ahead.

I mostly work with women and teens. I like to call the women I work with “Vision Warriors”. Vision Warriors are women who are willing to fight through frustrations, disappointments, and any other distractions that may come to delay their vision. It can absolutely be a fight. There are some people who are fortunate enough to have resources readily available to see their dreams realized. Then there is the rest of us. Through my work, I help Vision Warriors identify the resources currently available to them, dispel all negative thoughts, and go forward in seeing their visions manifested.  I enjoy doing this most through weekend retreats. (Please visit www.visionwarriors.weebly.com to book a weekend retreat for your group.)

I like to call the teens I work with “Vision Smashers”. I also work with them one-on-one or in group settings with the same intention to empower them to see their visions come into fruition. The beauty of working with teens is that they usually haven’t experienced all of the hardships adults have that skews their view of being successful. As teenagers, we still believe in becoming successful. They haven’t been tainted by the woes of the world: bills, jobs, children, responsibilities, etc. These virgin minds latch on to what they want their lives’ to be, and can have an early start at attaining them. Sometimes my Vision Smashers have mental strongholds that have to be broken for many reasons such as being told they aren’t good enough. However, I love working with this group because they are much more willing to shed some of their trained belief systems to see their future clearly.

Ultimately, my mission remains the same. I am here to empower your vision. I will be officially launching my official website soon. Follow me at any of the links below to find out about the launch and any other upcoming events. I look forward to communicating and working with you soon!

Peace.



If you have any comments, questions, or prayer requests, please contact me at: faithfrfr2014@gmail.com. Also, follow me on Facebook at Sheronda L. Barksdale, Entrepreneur and Life Empowerment Coach, Instagram at: sheronda_l_barksdale, and Twitter at: @SherondaGB.
 

More Than Words

More Than Words

One of my favorite songs of all-time is a song from the 1990s, More Than Words by Extreme. In essence, this song talks about saying “I love you” but it being more than just words. This duo says that showing your love is more important than simply saying it. Beyond their beautiful harmony lies a great lesson.

            While listening to this song for I’m sure the 100^th time, I came to understand the conviction of the Holy Spirit. As I grew in my relationship with God, I had to come to grips with feeling guilty about almost everything I did: having impure thoughts, harboring unforgiveness, disliking a person. The list goes on...trust me. But then I learned the difference between condemnation and conviction. Condemnation is feeling guilty about something. Conviction is allowing God to make you aware of your unhealthy and displeasing behaviors so you can begin to check the behavior and change.

            I wanted to please God, but at the same time, I didn't want to continuously badger myself when I felt I did something wrong. If I truly wanted to please Him, I had to show Him. Not just with empty promises, but with actions that acknowledged my true repentance.

            Now herein lies the journey. God understands that we are fallible. Just when we take two steps forward, it seems that we take two more steps back. Yet, God sees this as progress. Effort was made! There is a reason why Jesus tells us to forgive our brethren 70x7 times (Matt.18:22 NLT). He forgives us just as many! There’s a reason why the father opens his arms to his son that squandered away his inheritance and lived a “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” type of lifestyle (Luke 15:11-32). Because our Father stands with arms open wide, rejoicing in our return! Our sinfulness can be beyond our control, which is why we have Christ.

            While on this journey called life, it is important to show God how much we adore Him. If you are an argumentative person, instead of getting into an argument with someone today, walk away. Now tomorrow may not bring the same results, but you’ve consciously put in the effort you put in, and the more you do, the more you will see results. Just take baby steps forward.

            A few words to the wise: The majority of things that are laid out in the Bible as sinful or displeasing behaviors are not just there to make God happy with us. They’re also there to make us happy. Avoiding arguments can bring great peace into your life. Most often, the dispute wasn't even necessary to get the results you wanted. And who couldn't stand to have normal blood pressure rather than high pressure that came from being fuming mad?

            My encouragement to you is to allow your actions to speak louder than your words. Continuously doing and saying things to hurt others and yourself is contrary to telling God you love Him. Make daily attempts to do better at showing your love, and you will find that you will reap blessings you were never aware could exist.

Peace.

If you have any comments, questions, or prayer requests, please contact me at: faithfrfr2014@gmail.com. Also, follow me on Facebook at Sheronda L. Barksdale, Entrepreneur and Life Empowerment Coach, Instagram at: sheronda_l_barksdale, and Twitter at: @SherondaGB.