success!

S TART WITH A DREAM, THEN START WORKING....

U NDERSTAND FIRST, THEM BE UNDERSTOOD.

C REATE YOUR OWN OPPORTUNITIES

C OURAGE, CHARACTER, CARING, COMMUNICATIONS

E XPECT NO LESS THAN YOUR BEST

S IMPLIFY AND MAINTAIN FOCUS

S UCCESS IS NOT THE KEY TO HAPPINESS

HAPPINESS IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS!!!!!

DIAMONDGURL

Iyanla Returns! A Message, Are You Listening?

LIFE WILL WORK FOR ME WHEN I REALIZE
LIFE IS ALWAYS ACCOMODATING MY REQUESTS!


Life will accommodate you in any way that you choose. Life is always listening to the silent requests of your heart and mind. Life is always surveying the landscape of your heart, gathering the bits and pieces of the emotions buried there. Life is always monitoring the activity of your tongue, checking for ruins and sacred elements. Life knows that your mind, heart and mouth will produce the requests of your consciousness even when you were not aware of it.

Life can be an open book through which you can learn about great mysteries and wonders. Or life can be a mysterious and fightening pit through which you can fear to tread. Or life can be an open basket into which you can place your treasures, in which you can carry out abundant blessings. Or life can be a locked trunk from which you can retrieve or receive nothing. Life can be a journey or a struggle. A paradise or a prison. A calm sea or a turbulent ocean. It's all up to you. Life will accomodate whatever you choose, exactly the way you choose. And, whether you believe it or not, what you have in your life right now is a fucntion of your own requests! Some of those requests you made openly. Others you made silently. Doesn't matter! Life is very accomodating, and the minute your requests change, your life will follow suit.

Until today, you may not have realized that life is answering your requests. You may not have believed that you have the power and the right to ask life for more than you already have right now. Just for today, be devoted to creating a list of positive, joyful requests. Create them first in your mind. Next, create them in your heart. Then speak them into existence. Be sure to remember what you have created. If it does not show up, check your counterrequests.


Today I am devoted to creating and requesting what I truly desire to experience in life.

Iyanla Vanzant
Until Today

IYANLA VANZANT PRESENTS............

HELLO FRIENDS: I AM GOING TO SHARE WITH YOU THIS WEEK A FEW OF IYANLA'S LESSONS FROM HER "Faith In the Valley" book which was published by Simon and Schuster. This book was dedicated in memory of the Great, Grand Diva Miss Phyllis Hyman and Her Sisters Butterfly McQueen, Rosalind Cash, Roxie Roker, Madge Sinclair and her Sister-Friend Dorothea Lois Dowell.

there is a lily in the valley

1. Why me?

Bad things are going to happen. Painful, ugly, frustrating events are going to take place. There is no way around getting your feelings hurt, having your ego bruised, your trust weighed, your heart broken. Life has its ups and downs. If you are living, you are bound to trip and fall every now and then. There is not much you can do while you are going through your challenges and difficulties, but there is something you can remember that will make it a bit easier to bear.

The same God that was good to you yesterday is good today. The same God that loved you last week , loves you today. The same powerful, almighty, all-knowing God that saved you, comforted you, guided you the last time you needed it, will save, comfort, and guide you today. Right where you are, in the midst of trouble, take a moment to be loved, comforted, guided, by the good God who knows exactly what you need. God is present. God's presence is called GRACE.
LIVE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD'S GRACE.


2. I Don't want to go through this anymore!

The rent is due and you have no cash on hand. You are hopelessly, desperately, foolishly in love, and he doesn't know your name. You have lost some important papers at work, and your supervisor is asking for them. You cleverly embellished your expenses for the year, and the IRS is auditing you. You squeezed that new pair of shoes onto your charge account, and now the bill is due, along with the rent. What do you do? NOTHING!

No matter what is going on in your life, the planets are still moving around the sun. Seeds are turning into flowers. Embryos are turning into babies. The moon is becoming full. The sun is rising. Things are going to happen, and you have a choice: you can be a witness or a participant. A witness observes and learns. A participant creates drama and stress.

No matter what it looks like, the truth is simple: there is something you are learning or unlearning. There is some part of you that must be refined. Not fixed! Not changed! BUT FINE-TUNED IN ORDER TO OPERATE AT A HIGHER LEVEL OF EFFICIENCY. You may not like what is going on, but you will live through it, if you give up the need to fix it. Surrender control with a deep breath. Forgive yourself for any poor choices. Make a commitment to work on your weak areas. Trust yourself that you will know exactly what to do when the time comes to do it. In the meantime, go pick a flower, hug a baby, or salute the sun.
ONLY GOOD CAN COME OUT OF THIS.

3. Great googa mooga! What happened to ya!!

Are you living your life or are you living your mother's life? Perhaps you are living the life that your father told you to live. Maybe your life was custom-built for you by your husband, your sister, or the "system." Does your life suit your needs? Is it too big for you? Is it too small for you? Is your life satisfactory? Do you live in your life or around it? Do you dare do what you want to do. or are you consumed doing what you are told you have to do?

It is very easy to get stuck living your life for others, doing what they want you to do in order for them to get what they need. There is a very delicate balance between my life, our lives, and your life. When you are not clear about what you are, what you need, and what you want, the balance can be tipped against your favor. If you need to reclaim your life and live it, be sure to do it! You can accomplish this by taking time for yourself to take care of yourself. You must also be sure to let people know what you need, and to be willing to say no to what they need without feeling guilty about it.
I HAVE A LIFE THAT I WANT TO LIVE.

4. What are you waiting for?!!

Can we just be blessed right now? Can we find something, some one thing to be happy about, satisfied with, excited over? It won't cost us anything to smile and pat ourselves on the back for what we have already done and overcome. If we really understood that right where we are is exactly where we need be, we would find the joy we convince ourselves we are missing.

Life is so much smarter than we are, it never moves too quickly, nor does it skip steps. Life always shows up on time and in time to bless, teach, reward, heal, protect or guide us. Life always knows exactly what we need, what we are ready for, and when we are prepared to receive it. We are usually so busy looking behind or ahead, we miss the flow of life passing right before our eyes. Fear, anxiety, guilt, and shame fog our vision and cause us to miss the point, the lesson, and the blessings that are present right now. Let us remember that right now is a blessing. When we understand that, we stop second-guessing life.
IN THE PRESENCE OF NOW, I AM.


POWER-PACKED LESSONS FOR ALL OF US. JUST EXPERIENCE THE PRESENT, TRY NOT TO BE OVERLY CONCERNED WITH THE FUTURE EXCESSIVELY. TOMORROW IS NOT PROMISED TO US.

THE LILIES IN THE FIELD ARE CLOTHED AND ARRAYED WITH BEAUTY. DON'T YOU KNOW THAT OUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS LOOKING AFTER US RIGHT THIS VERY MOMENT? WE HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT.


ALL OF US ARE WRITERS, POETS AND ARTISTS. ALL OF US ARE WORKING ON ONE OR MORE PROJECTS AT THE SAME TIME. IT IS NICE TO PLAN AND LOOK FORWARD TO OUR OUTCOMES. HOWEVER RIGHT NOW IS ALL WE HAVE.

red rose, crimson beauty

****i am scheduling the times that i am working on my poetry. the publisher sent me an email last night inquiring about my continuing interests. i was very happy to hear from them. however, i see other opportunites that i have in the event that the publisher does not work out for me. i was just beginning to get SERIOUS when that email came through.

all i want to do is to have a book of 80-100 poems in that first collection. i want to do well in having enough copies for everyone in this town and beyond. persons here and there are inquiring about my book. it is going to become a reality for this is the year. 2006 will not leave here until i have that book published in whatever form. hasta luego amigos...

Ernie Barnes-from Pads to Pallette-His Autobiography

alrighty now...the perfectionist at work. here is the autobiography... It chronicles his childhood in segregated Durham NC through his successful pro football career, to his debut solo exhibition at a prestigious gallery in NYC. please go to www.erniebarnes.com for more information. He is quite impressive. Now speaking of being impressive, let me take a break, return and impress myself with my future book.

Ernie Barnes-Legendary Artist/Painter(Conclusion)

hi there...we are at the conclusion of his wonderful works. i am going to try and tune in to listen to him i need to find out the station and how i can listen in by way of the internet. ok, here goes it!

there he is, in living color, none other than the legendary Ernie Barnes. the look of contentment of an artist's face. look at that smile! let's look at his concluding art......

1. Singing Sistahs

2. The Big Lineman

3. Tete a Tete

4. Soft Power

5. Sam and Sydney

Ernie Barnes has an autobiography and it is enti tled from Pads to Palette. His life from being on the football field to being an artist. I will highlight that book on a separate post for it is important for you to see and it will not fit here.

mizz diamond

Ernie Barnes-Legendary Artist/Painter (Part 2)

Here are some more pieces of art by our legendary painter, Ernie Barnes! 1. His effort 2. Ring around the Rosie 3. Room ful of Sistahs 4. Ninety-nine, one hunered 5. Late nite DJ 6. Coffebreak 7. Girlfriends 8. Window wishing 9. Springboard

Ernie Barnes-Legendary Artist/Painter

This week on (Greatness by Design) with Blanche Williams, Ernie Barnes, the legendary painter will be on her talk show on July 4th. See her newsletter this week for times and stations. In the meantime, I am just amazed at his art and I will not do another blog for Black Art. I simply don't have the time. I am still working on my first book, at my pace. I wanted to do this segment on him though for his art is beau-ti-full!

Ernie Barnes was born on July 15, 1938 in Durham NC. He had a normal childhood and he went off to college playing football. That was his life until one day this is what he noticed:

"One day on the playing field, I looked up and the sun was breaking through the clouds, hitting the unmuddled areas on the uniforms, and I said, 'That's beautiful!'. I then knew that it was all over being a player. I was more interested in art. So I traded my cleats for canvas, my bruises for brushes, and put all the violence and power I had felt on the field into my paintings."

Let me put some of his work here. Some of his work will have sports scenes in them for that was his past. It seems that there is a restriction of pictures that will go on one post.

1. The Homecoming
2. Sugar Shack
3. The Anniversary
4. A Life Restored
5. In Remebrance

Those five are above. All of his art tells a story and leaves more to be desired. go to www.erniebarnes.com please for his wonderful site. You will be impressed at the biograpy.

mizz diamond

You Find What You Look For! OPTIMISM

He who earnestly seeks good find favor, but trouble will come to him who seeks evil. Proverbs 11:27

Life has its ups and downs. We love the up times, but oh, how we hate the down times. After many disappointments and difficult times, it's sometimes hard to believe for the best. We become cynical and jaded, ashamed to be vulnerable and childlike, afraid that our hopes and dreams are foolish in the "real world" that often seems to reward cold calculation. Yet when we close our hearts to optimism and faith, we close the door on making our dreams come true in this world. By choosing an optimistic attitude, however, we open ourselves to the possibility that God can turn our negative situations into something positive.

You can choose to be optimistic. Optimism is a learned attitude of faith. Faith is a choice, not an argument. It is an inner conviction, an unshakable assurance. You make a decision to choose optimism, choosing to believe that God will truly work all things together for good.

Focusing on the negatives in any situation is counterproductive. You concentrate on what's wrong and soon that's the only thing you can see. Here are some of the negative thoughts that hold us back: I can't, I won't, That's a problem, It's not fair, It won't work, Stupid, Imposssible, Hopeless, It's too hard, I'm not good enough, What a drag, and We never did it that way before.

Positive thoughts help us to make positive choices. Choose to replace negative patterns with positive, empowering thoughts like these: I can, It's possible, I'll give it a try, Lets go, Yes, I will, It will work, I am able to do this and It will be fun. (i am adding this one: yes, i can write, publish and promote my book and have fun doing it, and yes, it is going to get done.) and so will you!

Learn to look for the silver lining in the dark clouds of your life. Expect God to bring you good or to bring good out of a bad situation. (ok, Diamond, did you read that? then apply it baby girl! Focus on the positives. See the glass as half-full instead of half-empty. Wash the windows of your soul by asking God to cleanse your thoughts every day, replacing negative defeatest thoughts with positive affirmations of faith and hope.

The book of Hebrews talks about running the race, leaving those things behind that would encumber you and drag you down. Let go of those negative thoughts, and train yourself to foocus on a positive outcome instead of looking for potential disaster. Learn to see that every stumbling block can be a stepping stone. You will find what you look for, see what you want to see. If you want to reach the goal of a life well lived, learn to look with optimism and faith.

I WILL

Have faith in God.

Expect God to bring good even in negative situations. (okaayyyy)

See every stumbling block as a stepping stone. (allrriggghhttt)

Be optimistic about outcomes.

Choose a positive attitude.

Focus on the positive instead of the negative.

Be open to new possibilities.

Things to Do

1. In your journal write about an unexpected blessing that came at a difficult time in your life.

2. For just one day, replace every negative word or comment with a positive word or comment.

3. Make a personal affirmation from a Bible verse (perhaps Psalm 118:24) and say it first thing in the morning every week for the next week.

4. Develop a friendship with someone new.

5. Write your worries in the sand at the beach.

6. Plant a flower or vegetable garden.

7. List ten "impossible" things you would like to do or try. Do one.

Things to Remember

Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. Hebrews 10:35

This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. Matthew 6:22

Two Quotes

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. helen keller

As you travel through life, whatever be your goal, keep your eye in the doughnut and not upon the hole. author unknown

have a great week!

CHARLES BIBBS- ARTIST IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD

I do recall a friend of mine going to a show-an art show of Charles Bibbs. Mind you, I have never heard of Charles Bibbs. However, knowing this particular friend and her taste, he had to be some wonderful kind of artist, for she seems to know only the best. I was curious about Charles Bibbs, so I did my little research. I am interested in learning about more African American artists that I did not learn about in my class. I wanted to see his art on the web and I wanted to know his background. Here we go:

Charles Bibbs' artwork fuses African, African American and Native American cultural themes, to make powerful cross cultural statements. His renderings convey a deep sense of spirituality, majestu, dignity, strength and grace. Bibbs has always believed that "We are the keepers of our culture", and as such, has spent much of his time working towards developing a cohesive, energized African American community. Born in Harbor City, California Charles first expressed himself artistically in elementary school. He credits his parents with recognizing and encouraging him to develop his talents. He is also an entrepreneur and philanthropist who resides in Southern California. His work is thought provoking and capable of arousing strong emotions regardless of ethnic, gender and generational affiliation. Although he may have an idea or vision in mind when painting a particular piece, Charles prefers each individual who views his work to gain a personal vision from his artwork. It is sufficient to say however his works are viewed, whatever individual emotions they may evoke, they remain characteristically and recognizably Bibbs. His works have been collected and displayed in museums and private collecions around the world.

What insight I have learned about this wonderful artist! I hope one day to own one or two of his works...but ONLY, yes ONLY after my poetic collection is published and I am making the DOUGH! I just luv, his works, I mean I absolutely luv his works!!!!

Now, here is to the art of it!

Friends, bear with me, it may be two to three posts! I should have downloaded the pics first!

please go to the following blog for pics, please!

TREASURES IN THE DARKNESS

I WILL GIVE YOU THE TREASURES OF DARKNESS AND HIDDEN RICHES OF SECRET PLACES, THAT YOU MAY KNOW THAT I, THE LORD, WHO CALL YOU BY YOUR NAME, AM THE GOD OF ISRAEL. ISAIAH 45:3

Troubles come in all shapes and sizes. Trouble can be as small as a run in your stocking or as big as an emergency trip to the hospital. The same flat tire that made you a few minutes late for the grand opening sale at the department store could also be the few minutes that kept you from harm on the highway. When troubles come, you have a choice-to let troubles destroy you or transform you. A diamond is just a piece of coal that has undergone pressure. When you are handed a lump of coal in the form of trouble, it's an opportunity to see how God can transform it into spiritual treasure. Ugly things can become jewels relecting the light of God; if you are willing to go into the darkness with Him and find the hidden treasure.

First, acknowledge that the trouble is real and needs to be faced. You can't ask God for help if you keep denying you have a problem. Admit that you are hurt or disappointed or angry. God can take it. He is not afraid of your honest questions, and He doesn't expect you to gloss over the problem in the name of being spiritual. Read the book of Psalms and you will see that anger and sorrow are expressed as well as praise and thankfulness. If you can be real with God, then He can really help you.

Next, assess the situation. Ask God for wisdom and guidance. Take responsibility for what you can do in the situation. Do you need to admit a fault or ask someone for forgiveness? Do you need to make a wrong right? Is there a positive action you can take to ease the situation, relieve the trouble, or make things better? Avoid complaining. Instead, do what is in your power to do.

Perhaps there is nothing you can do right now to make things better. You may need to wait for the right timing. Or maybe something else must happen first or someone else needs to do his or her part. Sometimes a broken thing is broken and can't be fixed. Acknowledge what is out of your hands and put it into God's hands.

In the darkness, out of sight, God will use the pressures and problems to create the lovely jewel of a quiet spirit, a strengthened character, and a wiser heart. One day you will see-whether in this life or in the shining, glorious crown of glory you will behold in the next life. There are treasures to be discovered in the darkness, and troubles can be transformed into glorious victories if you can walk through them trusting God.

I WILL!

TRUST GOD WITH MY TROUBLES.

BE POSITIVE WHEN I'M TEMPTED TO
COMPLAIN.

LOOK FOR THE LESSONS MY TROUBLES CAN
TEACH ME.

REMEMBER THT TROUBLES ARE TEMPORARY
AND THAT MY TRUE HOPE RESTS IN ETERNAL
THINGS.

BE WILLING TO TAKE EXTRA EFFORT WITH MY
APPEARANCE WHEN I'M FEELING DOWNHEARTED.

BE GRATEFUL FOR THE SMALL THINGS THAT I
NORMALLY TAKE FOR GRANTED.

THINGS TO DO!

THE NEXT TIME YOU ARE TEMPTED TO COMPLAIN,
QUICKLY LIST FIVE THINGS YOU ARE GRATEFUL FOR.

READ PSALM 42.

DO ONE KIND DEED WITHOUT BEING DISCOVERED.

WRITE IN YOUR JOURNAL ABOUT THREE THINGS THAT
TROUBLE YOU AND HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THEM.

HAVE A QUIET HALF-HOUR BY YOURSELF AND
RELAX.

DRESS AS BECOMINGLY AS POSSIBLE TODAY-YOU
WILL FEEL BETTER AND MAKE OTHERS FEEL BETTER, TOO.


(OUOTES)

IN TIMES OF TROUBLE, REMEMBER THAT GOD IS TOO
KIND TO BE CRUEL, TOO WISE TO MAKE A MISTAKE,
AND TOO DEEP TO EXPLAIN HIMSELF. (author unknown)

I WOULD RATHER WALK WITH GOD IN THE DARK THAN
GO ALONE IN THE LIGHT. mary gardiner brainard




checklist for life for women...timeless wisdom and foolproof strategies.
thomas nelson publishers.
www.thomasnelson.com