goals – Page 18 – Write 2 Be

If I Knew Then What I Know Now

January 16, 2014 jcladyluv

I have been seeing a lot of Facebook posts and news stories about people making notes to their younger selves, asking what they would warn their younger selves about if they could. It got me to thinking about what I would say to the younger version of me if I could somehow warn her or prepare her for the journey she will have to endure to get where it is she wants to go. I would definitely clue her in on the difficulty that she would have along the way.

If I could go back and talk to my younger self I think that I would start by telling her that her childhood and how her mother treated her did not have to be a defining factor for how her life would end up. I would tell her that while she didn’t get the love and support from her mother that she deserved and longed for, that she was still worthy of being loved and deserving of being supported in all her endeavors. I would tell her that her mother was wrong about her never having anyone that would love her or care deeply about her and that she was wrong about her not having a good future.

I think I would make sure to tell her that if no one else ever told her that she was beautiful that she needed to look in that mirror every day and let herself know that she was because in the end her opinion and God’s were the only two that mattered. I probably would tell her that she was a unique and special person and unlike any other and that she needed to carry the knowledge of that with her throughout her journey because there will be people who will make her feel like her uniqueness is somehow wrong.

I would tell my younger self to not waste so much time planning everything out and trying to force everything to go by a specific routine because the best things in her life are going to be unplanned. I would tell her that her plans for her life are nothing compared to the plans that God has for her so don’t get too upset when what she planned didn’t pan out. I would tell her that her journey is going to be full of hurdles and obstacles along the way that even though these obstacles seem like signs for you to give up, they’re just the opposite. I would let her know the that the harder the struggle the more rewarding the payoff will be.

I would open her eyes to the reality that the things that she wants out of life are not just going to happen just like that and that life is going to throw more curveballs than she believes she can handle. Then I would tell her how strong she is to have already survived the childhood that she has been through and that that is only the beginning of her story. I will get it through to her that she cannot live in her past pain because if she does she will never experience the joy she has yet to come.

When I was younger I was so in fantasy land about how my life was supposed to turn out. I thought that if I just set a plan in motion that everything would work out EXACTLY the way that I said they would. I made no room in my plans for error and mistakes. I made no allowances for curveballs and mountains that would be placed directly in my path. I gave no thought to the fact that my plans were not as big as God’s plans for me and the fact that God’s plans, whatever they are, were always going to prevail. So I guess the most important thing I would have to say I would tell my younger self is to enjoy life, enjoy the journey, embrace the struggle, and to just let go and LET GOD!

Jimmetta Carpenter

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New Year, New Goals, New Deadlines

January 13, 2014 jcladyluv

It’s a New Year and I am a little late at getting started on my goals, one of them being returning back to my normal blogging style. It seems I was thrown a major obstacle in the first week of it being a new year. I had been anticipating this year and all of the things that I hope that it holds for me but I didn’t factor in that for great rewards there will more than likely be even greater struggles. It is so much easier said than done to just “get over it” and not let whatever the issues you are facing bother you. It’s particularly hard when you feel like every time you start being able to stay afloat some circumstance comes along to push you right back underwater again.

I have made plans for the New Year and set my expectations for myself and once again I am afraid that I might have been a bit too ambitious. However, I am going to do my best to make those goals happen and despite how this year is starting off I am going to try my hardest to make the most of it. This is my first blog post of the New Year and I am excited to see what this year has in store for me in my writing career and every other aspect of my life. Hope all of your New Year’s goals are set and that you aren’t as late getting started on them as I am.

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

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Thinking Out Loud

November 14, 2013 jcladyluv

I know that it is National Novel Writing Month and I am supposed to be participating. I had a plan, I signed up, and even tried to motivate myself to focus on doing it. Nevertheless, I have not written anything on the novel that I was supposed to be finishing (that truthfully should have been finished by now) and to add to the lack of production, I have not done a very good job lately of keeping up with this blog which I love.

I tried to pinpoint the reasons behind my recent lack of motivation towards writing in general, thinking that for some time it has been my focus and determination to finish up my degree that was enabling my laziness when it came to my writing. But now that I am finished with my Master’s degree (and have time to contemplate whether or not I want to enter the doctorate program) I thought for sure this would be the perfect time to get back into high gear with all of my writing efforts.

Sadly, that has not been how it was been working out. I have felt so un-motivated to write anything, and feeling a lot like what I say doesn’t matter. I’ve been mostly feeling a little depressed that my writing career hasn’t evolved into what I thought it would have already been by now. I even mentally entertained the idea that there could be a possibility, that somehow I was not cut out to be a writer like I had dreamed about since the age of 6 and that maybe all this time I thought that God was instructing me that this was my calling and maybe I was wrong, maybe I assumed what I wanted to assume and that wasn’t what my calling was at all. I even entertained the reasoning that my heart just wasn’t in it anymore, that maybe the amount of rejection for my (what I always thought was talented) writing had somehow hardened me and that I just couldn’t muster up the energy to try it anymore.

All of those thoughts have been running through my mind and life throwing other monumental curveballs at me in the interim has added its share of unproductiveness. But then I think of the fact that if that were truly the case, if it truly was not in me to do anymore, if this truly was not the calling that I had always perceived it to be, that I wouldn’t still have so many (good) ideas that flow through my mind and so many ways that I feel I can use my writing, my words to implement things that will not only change my life but the lives of the other people around me.

My whole message for Write 2 Be is to instill empowerment to people, in particular to children who are constantly told that they can never be what it is that they want to be, that there is nothing that they can’t do with the willpower and determination to make it happen. Sometimes I have to remind myself that even when it seems like what I am trying to do doesn’t matter, that it does, and not just to me, not just for my daughter, but for anyone who has ever felt discouraged and who has ever been overrun by their fears of never being able to be what it is they feel that they were truly meant to be. I can’t say why my motivation has dwindled these past several months, but I know that I am definitely not throwing in the towel on my dreams and on my purpose.

I feel like I needed to write this because I get the feeling that I am not the only one of you out there who has had these feelings and these doubts. I suppose the hardest part of feeling the fear and doubt in yourself is thinking that you are all alone in thinking what others are too afraid to say out loud. So this is me thinking out loud and hoping that it helps the rest of you who might be thinking the same thoughts and feeling the same way know that someone else gets it too.

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

https://write-2-be.com/

http://write2bemagazine.com/

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Friday Motivation

August 30, 2013 jcladyluv

Well it’s Friday and with a long weekend approaching it always makes me think about what I need to get accomplished in the week to come. However, during my blog vacation I realized that there are times when I just need to live in the moment and enjoy things as they come. That’s not saying that I won’t have my lists of goals and things that I need to check off to prepare for the next level of where I am going, but I am learning more about focusing on what is right in front of me, what is in my present.

The past is gone, and the future, while important, has not yet arrived. We have to start taking advantage of what we have now. Now is the moment that you can’t get back. So hopefully for this weekend you will find a way to balance your checklist with the moments that you have right in front of you.

Jimmetta Carpenter
Writer/Editor
The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)
Writing as “Jaycee Durant”
https://write-2-be.com/
http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

There are new things to be found in Write 2 Be Magazine so please go check it out at http://write2bemagazine.com/. Also please go and join the magazine on twitter https://twitter.com/write2bemag, join the email listing for the magazine or submit a request for an author interview at Write2bemagazine@yahoo.com, and also like the Write 2 Be Magazine fan page https://www.facebook.com/Write2BeMagazine. Please help support my endeavor and my new journey and help me spread the word about Write 2 Be and its meaning.

Ordered Footsteps

August 28, 2013 jcladyluv

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”
~Proverbs 16:9

When I saw the picture above it made me think about just how much we ask God for something, or we ask him to give us direction and then often times we completely ignore the direction he wants us to go in simply because it didn’t fit in with what we had been planning for our own lives. What we seem to have a hard time grasping is that when we plan, God laughs. Not because we shouldn’t have goals and things that we aspire to do, but because a lot of the times our goals and dreams are on such a smaller scale than God has mapped out for us.

In many cases we know when we are not on the path that we are supposed to be on. We can feel our direction being changed and redirected. However, we are so stubborn and set in our ways that we try to forcefully stay on that same path not even realizing when our steps are being guided in a different direction by someone who already knows the goal that we are destined to achieve. If you are going to ask God for an answer as to which way you should be going, then you have to be patient in waiting for his answer.

Don’t go off and make up in your mind what you think his answer is. Wait for it. While the answer that you are looking to receive may not come right away, it most certainly will come, but in his time, not yours. Don’t be so used to things being one way. If you keep trying to reach your goals by staying in that same mindset then you won’t be able to open yourself up to the change that God is steering you towards. It’s a struggle to be patient and not always do everything your way (trust me I know) but it is so worth it when you do things his way!

No Time Like the Present

July 17, 2013 jcladyluv

I’ve been feeling a little bit of writer’s block so I don’t have much to write about today. However, I wanted to encourage all of you out there to stop putting things off until tomorrow, or a week for now, or until you think that all of the stars are aligned. We know that nothing is promised to us and that everything is not going to go smoothly and perfectly with no stumbles and no falls. So if you have a novel that you’ve been meaning to start, a business that you are trying to start, or a goal that needs to be met, don’t wait until you think that everything is just right, don’t keep putting it off. Start today!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

Write 2 Be Magazine is now out so please go check it out at http://write2bemagazine.com/. Also please go and join the magazine on twitter https://twitter.com/write2bemag, join the email listing for the magazine or submit a request for an author interview at Write2bemagazine@yahoo.com, and also like the Write 2 Be Magazine fan page https://www.facebook.com/Write2BeMagazine. Please help support my endeavor and my new journey and help me spread the word about Write 2 Be and its meaning.

What Do You Expect When You Are Already Planning to Fail?

July 3, 2013 jcladyluv

“You can not expect victory and plan for defeat”

~Joel Osteen

I saw the above quote and in many ways I felt like it tied so well into what I wrote about yesterday. Something that living in the past causes us to do as well is to play things so safe that we end up planning for the worst that could happen instead of trusting in the best that God has for us.

As I read the quote I realized that when I am making back up plans and when I am cautioning myself for the other shoe to drop I am essentially expecting to be defeated and in turn planning for that defeat. I can’t believe that I never saw it that way. I just always thought I was just preparing for all of the possible scenarios, or for the inevitable pitfalls that can often times happen when we least expect it. Instead I have been discounting my future victory by having the attitude of one that has already been defeated. Yet another way that I have been sabotaging myself without even realizing that was what I was doing.

Why do we have so many back up plans when we claim that we know what it is we want out of our lives? When we already know the purpose that God has put us here for, why would we keep making plans for a different route then the one that he has already mapped out? God didn’t give us our gift so that we can serve his purpose only for us to question the direction that he wants us to take. Had he wanted us to go in the opposite direction he would have steered us that way to begin with.

As I realize the things that I am doing to work against myself and my own goals I make the very best attempts to get back on track and to keep walking in the right direction. I am still a work in progress on trying to conquer the many fears that I have and trying to maintain that unshakable faith in the direction that I am being steered in. When you feel like you are getting off track, don’t plan for what you can do once you’ve been defeated. Instead, plan for how you can get back on track to the purpose that you are destined for. I think that all we can do on our journey is to trust in the direction that God has us walking on enough to plan for our victories instead of preparing for our defeats.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

Sometimes You Have to Take a Step Back Just to Realize How Much You’ve Grown

June 13, 2013 jcladyluv

I realize that I have slacked off a lot lately in my writing. Or at least that is what I think until I realize that I have kept up pretty well with this blog and other articles that I am writing for other blogs and publications. Let’s not forget that I am still in school finishing up a Master’s degree so that is not to be taken lightly. I am really hard on myself. I am my own worst critic but then again I think most of us are highly critical of ourselves. But when do we ever stop to take a step back to really look at the progress that we have made.

I was talking to Ms. L. last night and we were talking about our journey’s and I was telling her that while I know that most people don’t understand certain choices that I have made, and if I am being honest some days it doesn’t make sense to me either, but I feel like the path I am walking is the one that I am meant to walk. It may be unconventional (that would be putting it mildly) and it may not be the most common sense choice (to other people who don’t have to walk in my shoes) but I just know that it is the right one.

I told Ms. L. last night that when I do reach my destiny, when I achieve the purpose that God has for me, it will all make sense and then everyone will wonder why they ever questioned my choices. Truthfully they weren’t solely my mine. They were what I was being guided to do. Knowing who I am and that what God has for me is nothing but good, I have to trust the path that I am on.

I am working on not being so harsh on myself and on the lack of productiveness that I feel is taking place within my work right now. I just have to remind myself to take a step back every once and a while. Survey everything I’ve accomplished, everything that I have been through and the person that I have grown into. I have to acknowledge that everything may not be the way I want it to be right now and I may not be in the position that I feel I should be in right now but I am right where I should be and everything is just as it should be. It’s the way God has designed it to be.

When you think you’re not doing enough, that you haven’t moved an inch, take a step back and just look at where you were compared to where you are now. I guarantee you that, even if it is small, you will see a difference!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

I’ve Never Fully Been Ready to Jump

May 30, 2013May 30, 2013 jcladyluv

I am one of those people who can prepare something to death. I mean I make a list, and then I check over it, I double check and sometimes even triple check. When it comes to writing a novel or an article, I outline, and then I research. I often end up with massive amounts of research in which only about half of it gets used and the rest gets tossed to the side and becomes a reminder of how much time I wasted over-preparing for something yet again.

I know that preparation is supposed to be a good thing and for most people it is but for those of us who can tend to use the preparation process as another stall tactic (procrastination) it can rob us of so much time that would be better spent just jumping into the project and getting started already. When am I going to learn that sometimes it really is better to just dive in (head first) and get it done. I spend so much time waiting for the right moment to come, for the right amount of money (or in most cases, any money), for the right person to partner with, for just the right amount of nerve to actually launch that business.

So much time I waste waiting and never actually doing any of the things I long to do. If I could go back and count how many accomplishments I could’ve been able to cross off my list had I not waited for some unknown right moment I would’ve already tackled most of that list by now and I would be much happier for it. If we could add up all of the countless hours that we have wasted on second guessing ourselves, and preparing everything to the point of exhaustion how many of our endeavors could we have already achieved?

You can never really prepare for everything, especially the curveballs that life throws you that you don’t even realize are coming. The best you can do is deal with things as they come and just go along for the ride. I think that is where I went wrong with this year’s plan. I over-plan and try to over-prepare everything, and worry so much about what money I don’t have to start this business that I have wanted to start for as long as I can remember. I am over-thinking everything, so much so that nothing is being done. I’ve got to just take a leap of faith and jump right in.

No one is every really 100% ready to begin the journey that will lead them into their destiny because the things that are most worth having are never really easy to attain. So if you are one of those people who over-prepares and stands on the edge of the curb waiting for all of the possible obstacles that could block your path before you actually cross the road leading to your destiny, stop waiting. If you stood by to let every obstacle pass you by before taking the chance to walk that road you may find yourself standing on that curb for a very long time. You may not be 100% ready, but what the hell, jump anyway!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

Waiting For All of the Right Ingredients to Come Together

May 28, 2013 jcladyluv

“I have pitched my tent in the land of hope.”

~Acts 2:26

I happened to tune into another Joel Osteen sermon (you can view it at the bottom of the post) on Sunday and once again it was exactly the right message at exactly the right time that I needed to hear it. He spoke to people who are having setbacks and feeling discouraged and who are, in a sense, questioning “why do these things keep happening to me” or “why isn’t what I’m doing enough”. It was how I have been feeling for the last week and a half now and I have to say that what Joel Osteen spoke about made a lot of sense.

He said that you can’t isolate all of the different moments in your life and dissect what was wrong in each moment because separately they will look unfair and they will look like some of the worst moments in your life. However, collectively, once all of the pieces have come together, it will all somehow make sense. He used the example of the different moments we go through, good or bad, being the ingredients in the overall recipe for our lives.

Just as with baking a cake or cookies, separately the ingredients are just plain ingredients that don’t seem like they would taste like much on their own, but once they are all mixed together, they make something wonderful. If you think about it, a cookie mix, without the baking soda to make it rise, just comes out flat because there is an ingredient missing that was necessary for everything to make sense. When I think of it like that it somehow makes all of the pieces fit. With all of the experiences that we go through in life, we have to know that they are somehow necessary in order for you to get to the next level of your destined path.

Osteen said “God is the master chef and the recipe for your life has already been established. God has planned your days for good from beginning to end and he knows exactly what to add and when to add it. He’s going to put in just the right amount at just the right time so that you can become everything that he has created you to be. God has ingredients coming your way that are going to thrusts you to a new level and he has ingredients that are going to cause everything to make sense.”

When he said that he referenced it to that bad childhood, that opportunity that didn’t come to fruition, that loved one that walked out of your life right when you needed them (or so you thought), that job you lost that you thought was going to be the answer to you prayers, that bad break-up that you are still not quite over, the money that you were counting on that didn’t come through at the time that you really needed it the most. All of these “bad breaks” don’t make sense on their own and they are down right frustrating, but once you do achieve the purpose that you are destined to fulfill, it will somehow all make sense.

I have this passion (aside from writing of course) to find a way to do something about the bullying epidemic that has gotten out of control in society over the last decade or so. But had I not gone through the bullying that I went through in school or even the bullying and abuse that I had to endure from my own mother at home, I might not find myself headed in that direction and feeling the need to be an agent of change in that area. It is because of those experiences that I went through that make me want to do so much to change this world and to be a part of making it better. They didn’t make sense at the time that I was going through them, but they are all starting to make much more sense now.

Each moment is like the ingredient to the recipe of our lives. They can often be discouraging and disheartening but that is because we keep isolating them instead of mixing them all together and looking at the dish as a whole. Some people are bitter on life because they have not waited for all of the ingredients to come together. Final word from Joel Osteen, “God always ends on all is well” so if all is not well in your life that means that it is not the end, keep moving forward, there’s another ingredient coming.