Out with the old…

Well, thank God that’s over! 2012 was one of the most difficult years I’ve had in my life and in truth, I’m surprised I was able to accomplish anything with all of the chaos that surrounded me for most of the year.  But, with God’s help, I finished a degree in Religion and my sixth book in the Rona Shively Stories series.  So, there was some productivity tucked in there, though it was often difficult to discern from the outside.  In any case, I’m looking forward to 2013 and I’ve already got several ideas for projects I’d like to finish by this time next year.  With the release of Thy Will Be Done just around the corner, I’m already working on the next Rona book and I’m loving this storyline already.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.  Rona has some exciting things happening in Thy Will Be Done and the fun won’t stop there.  I’m also working on a couple of other writing projects that I’m not yet ready to talk about, but will share soon.

One thing I’m going to concentrate more on next year is having more speaking events.  I’ve got a great new workshop planned that I’m hoping to launch after the first of the year.  I’ll be approaching libraries to see who would like to host a workshop, so keep watching for upcoming events!  Aside from that, I still want to find more ways to help women overcome barriers to personal growth.  I’ll be looking for opportunities to work with women to help them achieve success and all proceeds from the Rona Shively books go toward Higher Ground Ministries efforts to promote women’s empowerment.  More information about the activities planned for Higher Ground will be posted on the Higher Ground website later this week.

I sincerely appreciate those of you who support me in these efforts and those who actually enjoy reading the Rona Shively series.  She’s still got a few adventures to experience and I’m hoping you enjoy every one of them.  If you’re out tonight, please be safe and have a Happy New Year.  May 2013 bring you many blessings and a spirit of peace and abundance.  God bless!

Until next time…

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Long time, no post…

It’s been almost a month since my last post and I’m really forcing myself to sit down and write this one. You see, it’s been a rough month. On May 1st, I moved out of my husband’s home and set out to live on my own. I took my daughter, my cats, and my stuff and that was that. The move had been a long time coming and didn’t seem to make sense to some people who thought that everything in our marriage was just peachy. But in so many ways, it was clear that we had become two people who were moving along on very different paths and in directions opposite one another.

Why write this now? Well, because I’m sitting here and I’m wondering what to do with myself and writing seemed like a good option. I’m not going to go into great detail about our differences here. The point I’m trying to make with this post is that sometimes, things just aren’t meant to be. Like for instance, I have been trying and trying and trying to write this book on Women’s Self-Esteem for the last three years or so. Every time I got started on it, I would stall. I couldn’t get past the fact that I was feeling so unempowered in my own relationships that I had no business writing anything to empower anyone else.

I’m not sure if the changes I have made in my life will make a difference in my ability to go back and finish that book or not, but I’m sure they will play a huge role in my decision to keep or scrap the whole thing. And who knows? Maybe I just liked the idea of writing something like that because I needed to feel empowered. Maybe that isn’t the book I’m supposed to write. Maybe I’m meant to write something altogether different from what I once thought I needed to say. I know one thing; forcing the issue doesn’t make it any easier to write the words. Just like forcing myself to stay married didn’t make it any easier to love my husband.

There are things we hold onto, for whatever reason, that sometimes only serve to give us a good excuse not to be what we are meant to be. If we allow ourselves to remain stuck in the belief that the idea we had about ourselves years ago is still the best idea even after years of changes, triumphs, defeats, achievements, failures, ups, downs, losses and gains, then we will never move any further along our paths than where we once stood. And we’ll stand there, gazing longingly into the great beyond wondering what the hell we’re doing still standing there.

I for one, hate standing still. I try to be a good person and do what makes others happy. Sometimes, though, it isn’t possible to make everyone happy no matter how many ways you twist yourself up. Sometimes, you just have to let it all unravel and see what you can make from the pieces once it’s all been disassembled. I figure I’ll approach it like the guy on Airplane! who looks at his newspaper and says, “I can make a hat. I can make a brooch…” Seems like an optimistic way to go and a hell of a lot more fun that what I’ve been having lately.

Hanging in there until next time. 😉

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Rihanna has lost her damned mind…

It was recently announced that Rihanna has decided to go back to Chris Brown. All I can say is that this is not OK. If these two want to fade into the distance with their ridiculous behavior, that’s fine but they shouldn’t expect society at large to support their reconciliation. Ladies, it is never ok to go back to a man who has been abusive. I don’t care what the situation is, a man who will beat you is no man at all.

If you want to read the full story, you can find it here.

Whether they know it or not, these two pop stars have had a huge impact on our youth and all they are doing now is teaching the kids who idolize them that it is okay to beat up on the one you love. They’ll forgive you. This is what I like to call irresponsible bullshit. I hope that radio stations and other media outlets will not try to play up some stupid romantic angle on this story. That would be a real shame.

Until next time…

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