Priorities ✍🏾

Let’s do a mini challenge. No, I can’t promise that it’ll be fun but it’ll open your eyes a bit. Make a list of the top five most important areas of your life right now. What matters to you most? Prioritize this list from highest to lowest priority. Mine are:

1. God/relationship with God/my spirituality/being centered

2. My well being (mental/emotional/physical) health

3. Close family and friends

4. Securing my future (wealth, financial security)

5. Relationships/Betterment of others

Let me give you a little insight about my list. I had a silent season back in 2014 that allowed me to have a testimony in 2015. I knew for a fact that God was working in my life. I acknowledged it, and also allowed Him to take the reigns. I wasn't in control. So for me to act like He is not the author of my life wouldn't even make sense. Therefore, God is at the top of my list. I've also realized, that if I am not at my best, I have no energy for myself or anyone else around me. TMI! I was at work yesterday with full blown PMS. Now while my insides were ripping apart, I knew that I couldn't allow my patients to feel the wrath of my uterus. I had to pull from the core of my being to deliver (reason number 1 why you need to work on yourself in this season to become the best you possible). Imagine if I pull up to my patient's room with a nasty attitude, that'll just be a recipe for disaster. Now, my family has been the basis of my support system; and there are friends who have become family that want to see me win. I promise you that if I'm winning (not just financially but in all aspects), so will they. I've also been keen on my future. My bag needs to be secured. Why? Because I don't like the idea of being dependent on others to build MY DREAM. I need to be able to educate and seek ways to do for myself so that when 'Mr. Right' pulls up I just need him to be my purpose mate and not a source of financial security. Last but most definitely not least in importance, I understand that I can be the most secure person in the world, but if I'm not giving to others in some fashion or form, then what really is my life? This blog alone is the epitome of bettering others. Even though it is in the initial phases of my brand, I've heard that my posts have been hitting home and "reading" people. That makes me happy, because it means that the purpose that I so kindly shied away from is manifesting. I digress...

I promise you that once you make this list, some things will shift in your life. This list helped me weed out some things that I unknowingly gave way too much attention. Let’s say you claim family is important to you, but then you’re always busy working (even when you have the choice not to), how important is family to you after all? I can’t say that I’m a Christian, but I don’t even spend time in communion with God (and not for the gram; I want that when I walk into a room people can see me for whose I am). Otherwise the contradictions will have me out here looking crazy; and sometimes I do. See, I've been in a little fight with the devil with this tongue because if you catch me on the highway in front of a BMW 3 Series that's skipping and bopping between lanes, I guarantee you that I will not look nor sound like an angel (this is my truth). I'M WORKING ON IT! I promise.

One day my little sister came to me to ask if I wanted to ride with her to the store to get cookie dough (she’s 8). My initial reaction was “🤨 whet?” LOL!

I was so engaged in a workshop that I wanted to brush her off. After two minutes, I went to her and began to negotiate. Then I realized, that (even though she might’ve been influenced by her parents) we hadn’t ridden together since she first mastered bike riding. It wasn’t before long that I was putting on my hot orange leggings (I said what I said) and on the sidewalk. Had I been so focused on myself in that moment, I would’ve missed the opportunity. Time flies and we miss out on so many things. Eight years ago I was in the delivery room patiently waiting on her arrival (while lowkey freaking out because my stepmom was half asleep/awake speaking gibberish). Now she's riding her bicycle and talking with hand gestures (like me 🙄), and I have to enjoy these moments when I get them because in ten years, she'll be eighteen.

I urge you to prioritize the priorities on your list and pay attention to them. I truly believe once I redirected my focus to being centered, I was pushed into purpose. I’d wanted to ‘build a brand’ last year but my spirit of discernment needed improvement. By the way, you can build or do anything you want just as long as your remember that the BRAND is YOU. Pray over your priorities and act on them. You’ll see God’s hand in everything when you remove your hand from some things.