Living Life Abundantly

“Academic qualifications are important and so is financial education. They’re both important and schools are forgetting one of them.”
—Robert Kiyosaki

“Face your fears and doubts, and new worlds will open to you.”
—Robert Kiyosaki

“Money is kind of a base subject. Like water, food, air and housing, it affects everything yet for some reason the world of academics thinks it’s a subject below their social standing.”
—Robert Kiyosaki Read the full story

Our third meeting of U Grow Girl was awesome!

It gets even better with each meeting.

This month we gained a new member, we are now 5 strong!

We each gave a progress report on our goals, recapped our 1st two meetings, and welcomed and embraced our new member.

We learned about a contest which provides women interested in starting a business with $50,000 in seed money and encouraged each other to participate.

Our growth in our U Grow Girl! Circle of Thought involves changing our thinking to change our lives and life long learning.

Some of our goals include enhancing our finances. So we are proactively changing our thoughts and attitudes about finances and increasing our knowledge and understanding as it relates to financial matters.

We talked about financial empowerment and concepts from Robert Kiyoski’s books. We explored the definitions of:

 

• Asset

• Budget

• Business Owner

• Cash Flow

• Consumerism

• Earned income

• Employee

We also discussed the importance of avoiding cynicism and learning to find the good not just in every situation but in others as well.

In our discussion we also explored:

ASK and it shall be given.

SEEK and you shall find.

KNOCK and the door will be opened.

Our next meeting is December 2nd. Our plan is to continue our discussion about financial empowerment and explore the importance of Sisters and maintaining relationships with girlfriends, daughters, granddaughters, daughters-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law, mothers, grandmothers, aunts, nieces, cousins, and extended family.

With each meeting we grow and after each meeting we are all always looking forward to the next. It is a blessing to be in the company of such amazing women.
Team work truly makes the dream work!

Doing the same things over and over expecting different results is insanity. The only way to get different results is to change what we do. The process of change begins in our minds. Our thoughts help shape and create our circumstances in life. “As A Man Thinketh, So Is He.” When we change our thinking we change our lives.

What does it mean to change?

Change = to transform or convert

When we find ourselves stuck in a rut or not quite where we want to be in life, it is time for change. Old habits, old thoughts, and old ways of thinking must go. We literally have to cleanse our minds of negativity, scars, conditioning, and mental blocks.

Living life abundantly is a continuous process of training and transforming our minds to achieve optimal living. There are many ways to begin the process of changing the way we think. Here are two time tested and approved methods for changing your thinking to change your life:

1. Brain Food

2. Meditation

What we feed our minds affect how and what we think. When we bombard the mind with negative images, fears, bad news, violence, pain, and suffering etc…our mind responds by conjuring up matching thoughts. When we feed our minds with positive images, good news, peace, happiness, and prosperity …our mind responds accordingly.

Our mind will produce thoughts based on the information we provide it with. The thoughts that our mind produces set a wheel of events in motion. Thoughts are creative and whatever thoughts we find ourselves preoccupied with always manifest in our lives.

By now everyone has seen or heard of The Secret and the law of attraction. The mind is like a magnet, we attract into our lives what we think about. This is why it is important that we guard our thoughts and be careful of what we feed our brains.

med·i·ta·tion

med·i·tate

Meditation enables a clearing of the mind and has a wide range of benefits. According to studies and research meditation:

• Improves mental abilities

• Increases intelligence

• Increases creativity

• Improves learning ability

• Improves memory

• Increases levels of moral reasoning

• Improves academic achievement

• Increases self-actualization

• Reduces stress and anxiety

• Reduces incidence of disease

• Reduces use of alcohol and drugs

• Improves cardiovascular health

• Reduces physical complaints

• Increases longevity

• Improves social behavior

• Improves self-confidence

• Improves family life

• Improves relationships at home and work

• Increases tolerance

• Improves job performance

• Increases job satisfaction

When we train and condition our minds with the right brain food and meditation we are taking proactive steps in changing our thinking. As our thinking changes so will our lives. We must feed our brains and meditate on things that are in agreement with our goals, hopes, and plans. We must make sure our thoughts are in alignment with peace, wellness, and happiness.

By changing our thinking we take control of our lives and stop living by default…we enter the realm of living life abundantly.

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things.” —Philippians 4:8

ed·u·ca·tion:
the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life. —dictionary

A prerequisite to living life abundantly is making a commitment to life long learning, you must be a student of life. Education is the key that unlocks the doors of endless opportunities. When we think of education we often think of schools or college. A formal or conventional education is one way of acquiring knowledge… but learning should not simply begin or end there.

There are thousands of people walking around with degrees, certificates, and diplomas that are clueless. This is not to say that there is anything wrong with a formal education, the point is true education is obtained by those with a passion for learning and growing.

Every day represents a new lesson. To experience life abundantly we must strive to learn something new every day. How do we learn something new every day?

Look at your life and your daily experiences…the good, the bad, and the ugly. There is a learning opportunity in every situation and/or event that occurs in our lives. Living life abundantly means being proactive in improving your life… this means being self motivated, self determined, self disciplined, and oftentimes self taught.

“None of the world’s problems will have a solution until the world’s individuals become thoroughly self-educated.” — Richard Buckminster

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” —Alvin Toffler

“Only the educated are free.” — Epictetus

The Law of Integrative Complexity

The person with the widest variety of knowledge and skill in any area will have the most luck in that area. Expanded knowledge and skill intensify awareness and expand opportunity. —Brian Tracy

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

Education is the key to living life abundantly.

This is one of my favorite email forwards that makes its rounds a couple times of year. My friend Shonda sent it to me this morning enjoy
LET IT GO by T. D. Jakes

There are people who can walk away from you.
And hear me when I tell you this!
When people can walk away from you: let them walk.

I don’t want you to try to talk another person into staying with you,
Loving you, calling you, caring about you, coming to see you,
Staying attached to you.
I mean hang up the phone.

When people can walk away from you let them walk.
Your destiny is never tied to anybody that left.

People leave you because Read the full story

Should African Americans Get Reparations for Slavery?

When the topic of reparations comes up people get very heated and opinionated… oftentimes without even knowing the facts or history behind reparations. Read the full story

On Saturday 17 year old Laterian Tasby was shot and killed at a Halloween party after a fight broke out. Laterian was an athlete and student leader at San Pedro High School.

He was not a gang member although police say his death maybe gang related. School staff, team mates, and family members are adamant that Laterian Tasby was not involved with gangs. He was known as a hard worker, a mediator, and a peacemaker with a warm personality. Laterian Tasby was trying to make something of himself. He understood the importance of education and took his school work and athletics seriously. He had dreams and goals…but on Saturday his life was taken.

What happened at the party is still unclear and the shooter has not been identified.

According to Read the full story

In the words of Marvin Gaye: “What’s Going On?” Do you care?

I saw this video on BlackHandSide of an all star remix of Marvin Gaye’s timeless classic and was moved. Enjoy

What’s Going On (Dupri Original Mix)
Co-producer – Wyclef Jean
Featuring – NSYNC , Aaron Lewis , Alicia Keys , Backstreet Boys , Bono , Britney Spears , Christina Aguilera , Darren Hayes , Destiny’s Child , Eve, Fred Durst , Gwen Stefani , Ja Rule, Jennifer Lopez , Jermaine Dupri , Mary J. Blige , Michael Stipe , Nas , Nelly , Nelly Furtado , Nona Gaye , and P. Diddy

What’s Going On All Star Re-Mix Lyrics:

Read the full story

Everyone is familiar with the saying “it is better to give than receive,” but few understand the meaning behind this powerful principle.

Why is it better to give than it is to receive? The more you give, the more you receive. Success and living life abundantly are rewards granted to unconditional givers.

An unconditional giver is someone who gives from the heart because they want to, not because they have to, or because they feel obligated to do so.

When people think of giving they often think money. You do not have to give money to be an unconditional giver.

When you give of your time, energy, resources, knowledge, skills, and/or talents, with no strings attached, you instantaneously set the Law of Giving and Receiving in motion. You become a magnet, attracting success and abundance.

The universal Law of Giving and Receiving is both spiritual and scientific.

The Spiritual basis of The Law of Giving and Receiving:
Whatever you sow (meaning whatever you plant, disseminate, scatter, disperse, or put out), you will also reap (meaning you will also receive, gain, harvest, accumulate, or get back). —Galatians 6:7

The Scientific basis of The Law of Giving and Receiving:
For every action (meaning for everything you do, every act, effort, or transaction), there will always be an equal or even opposite reaction (meaning there will be consequences and/or repercussions). —Isaac Newton’s Law of Motion.

Reasons People Resist Giving:
People often decide not to give because they think Read the full story

Thoughts for Life:

Faith is the ability to not panic.

If you worry, you didn’t pray. If you prayed, don’t worry.

As a child of God, prayer is kinda like calling home every day.

Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.

When we get tangled up in our problems, be still. God wants us to be still
so He can untangle the knot.

Do the math. Count your blessings.

God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.

Dear God: I have a problem. It’s me.

Silence is often misinterpreted, but never misquoted.

Laugh every day – it’s like inner jogging.

The most important things in your home are the people.

Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional. (Preach it!)

There is no key to happiness. The door is always open. Come on in.

A grudge is a heavy thing to carry.

He who dies with the most toys is still dead.

We do not remember days but moments. Life moves too fast so enjoy your
precious moments.

Nothing is real to you until you experience it; otherwise it’s just hearsay.

It’s all right to sit on your pity pot every now and again. Just be sure to
flush when you are done.

Surviving and living your life successfully requires courage. The goals and
dreams you’re seeking require courage and risk-taking. Learn from the turtle,
it only makes progress when it sticks out its neck.

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. Your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

No matter the storm, when you are with God, there’s always a rainbow
waiting.

Leave gentle fingerprints on the soul of another for the angels to read. I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.
—Author Unknown

The victory is not what shapes us, but adversity. ~ Bishop David G. Evans

There is a spirit and a need and a man at the beginning of every great human advance. Every one of these must be right at that particular moment in history, or nothing happens. ~ Coretta Scott King

Life is 10% of what happens to you. The other 90% is how you react to it.
~ Charles Swindoll

Marenda says: another great email forward