Tag: Tyler Perry

Good Deeds Make For Even Greater Rewards

jcladyluv

“Real generosity is doing something nice for someone who will never find out.” 

~Frank A. Clark 

So I finally got around to going to the movies to see Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds today (okay I wanted to see it when it opened but it was not financially possible).  It was hands down the BEST Tyler Perry movie he has made thus far, and that is coming from someone who is a die hard fan of any and all things Tyler Perry.  I’m not going to go into detail about the movie because I don’t want to give anything away to anyone who hasn’t seen it yet but I really took a lot away from this movie and I believe that everyone who sees it will be moved by it as well.  

Tyler Perry’s character did some really good things for the single mother in the movie (played by Thandie Newton) and you really just don’t see that kind of generosity and pure goodness in the world these days.  But there are people out there like that; people who just give from their heart and don’t expect anything in return.  Tyler Perry is one of those people along with many other celebrities and even those who are not wealthy that give their own money to things like the Haiti Relief efforts, or for the rebuilding of Hurricane Katrina, and for many other social issues that you never even hear about because they’re not doing it for notoriety and for accolades, simply for the love of giving to others in need because they have it to give.  

I didn’t really realize until Tyler Perry came along and shared his story of his humble beginnings that his success got bigger and bigger as he continued to do his many good deeds without even telling anyone he was doing them.  In the movieTyler’s character gave the gift of stability and security to this single mother, not just for her child but for her as well.  However, the reward that he got was in a sense freedom from all of the things people expected of him and the feeling of what happiness is.  

There is a saying that I hear often when someone does something good for someone and somehow gets screwed over in the process.  It’s ‘No good deed goes unpunished’ and for a long time I really believed that to be true.  In watching this movie I realized that those good deeds were not true and done from a place of pure kindness.  They were done in order for something to be received.  True good deeds come with the greatest rewards because they are something that you get more out of then what you put in.  They are something in which you don’t expect to get anything in return.  I wish there were more people in the world like Tyler Perry’s character, Wesley Deeds.  It’s nice to think that there are people who still do good things for people just for the sake of doing a good deed.        

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

Seeing the Blessing in the Responsibilities that God Gives Us

jcladyluv

I spent a lot of time when I was little planning out my life and what I was going to do and be.  I even had time frames for certain things such as when I was going to become a New York Times staff writer and when I was going to get married and have children.  But I wasn’t always so optimistic about how my life would turn out.  

I grew up in an abusive home with a mother who was physically, mentally, and emotionally abusive and there were honestly days when I just didn’t want to wake up the next morning.  I will even admit that I tried to make it so I wouldn’t wake up multiple times and would get angry with God when it didn’t work.  I wondered why I was still here to go through the nightmare that I had to endure on a daily basis.  

Now that I am at the stage I am at in my life, which admittedly is not where I had hoped to be at this age, I can see exactly why it never worked.  God gave me a responsibility and a purpose.  The purpose was to influence and empower people with my words and the responsibility was my beautiful and wonderfully intelligent daughter who I just know is here to change the world in big ways that I can’t even begin to see yet.  

I was watching an episode of Tyler Perry’s House of Payne last week and it was something said that really struck a chord with me.  The father was telling his son (who after being shot and almost killed wished that he had just died) that God sometimes gives us responsibilities just to keep you moving.  He gives you those responsibilities along with the strength you need to achieve, and the provisions you need to conquer your problems.  But you have to keep moving and keep fighting.  

All of these responsibilities that I am stressing and worrying over and sometimes falling apart about were given to me specifically because God clearly saw something in me and believed that I could handle them.  Now, looking at things from that perspective, I feel even more special because God must see more strength in me then I can see in myself.  If God is going to put faith in me like that then how can I keep questioning him and not put faith in him and trust in his plan and his path that he has laid out for me.  

I am writing this today because I felt compelled to.  I felt as if there might be someone else out there (besides me) who continues to have questions about why certain burdens were bestowed upon them.  It is all for a reason and there is a blessing in every burden, even if you don’t see it yet.  I hope that anyone out there going through a rough time right now will trust in God and his reasoning.  Until tomorrow…Keep moving forward and keep fighting through it. 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

Critics Are Everywhere

jcladyluv

“It doesn’t matter if a million people tell you what you can’t do, or if ten million tell you no. If you get one yes from God that’s all you need.”
~Tyler Perry 

There is negative energy everywhere.  People will try and tear others down simply because they are succeeding at something and they are envious.  There may be someone out there who doesn’t like the fact that someone else is hogging what they see as their spotlight.  There all critics in their own right and just like we can’t always rely on the negative word of a book or movie reviewer for the next book we will read or movie we will see, we can not rely on the critics who say that we will never become what we know we are destined to become.  

I got another Inspirational Corner message in my email from Tyler Perry today.  He shared with his fans a clip that was sent to him which, at first glance, looks like a barrage of negative comments hurled at him to discourage him.  But as you go on watching the clip, it phases out the negative comments and goes on to display and show all of the comments of encouragement for Tyler, both by his fans and the many actors and actresses he has worked with throughout the years.  

Just like that clip, Tyler Perry has managed to tune out all of the negative comments of people who just might not have gotten his vision, and focus in on the words of encouragement and empowerment for him.  There were so many people who told him no.  There were so many people who told him that there was just no place for him in the industry.  People told him that the world just wouldn’t buy what he was trying to sell.  He had been shut down so many times by so many negative critics but he never let that stop him.  Look at him now.  

My message today is to say that even the most successful people that you see today have been told no and have been told that they would never get to where they were trying to go.  They did it by letting the negative comments roll right off their back and putting their focus into the words of encouragement that helped fuel their desire.  They never gave up until they were right where they said they were going to be, at the top.  So to all of the future success stories out there that are climbing your way to the top, don’t let the critics slow down your rise.  Until tomorrow…Just press on and tune out anything that’s going to get in your way!    

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

Planting One Seed At a Time

jcladyluv

“Most of the time multitasking is an illusion. You think you are multitasking, but in reality you’re actually wasting time switching from one task to another.”

~ Bosco Tjan

There always seems to be a message of inspiration for me in some part of every day.  Whether it’s in the conversations that I have with Ms. L. (which frankly always hold some source of inspiration), or something that is being said by someone in the gym I go to or on TV, or even if it’s sent in an email.  Yesterday there so happened to be an email that I felt spoke directly to me.  It was one of Tyler Perry’s Inspirational Corner Messages that he sends out to everyone who is on his email listing.  It was a message on how to become successful.  It was right on the money and exactly what I needed to hear.  

He spoke about his success being due to the grace of God.  He spoke about narrowing your focus and planting your seeds.  He essentially said that when it comes to the success that we want out of life for ourselves, all we can do is plant the seed in the ground, water it, and believe.  He advised that to be successful one must narrow their focus and concentrate on one thing at a time, one idea.  That one idea, once made a success, will give birth to all of your other ideas.  If you spend time spreading water over too many seeds you don’t have as much water for one seed, that one seed that you feel is most important to bloom.  

I realized then the reason why I have been feeling so lost lately within my writing.  Ever since this year has started, I have felt so much pressure (that I placed on myself) to tackle everything on my goal list.  Trying to figure out how I am going to work on all of these different projects that I want to get done over the course of this year all essentially at one time.  The rational response is that of course I can’t work on all of my projects at once but the overachiever that lives inside of me wants so badly for it to be possible.  I’ve been wasting so much time trying to work out a plan in my head to make it happen which has resulted in me getting nothing done at all.  

I must narrow my focus.  I must take what is the most important thing to me and concentrate on how I can make that work and make that successful.  Once I thought about concentrating on that one thing, I didn’t feel so lost anymore.  My direction became a little clearer.  If I focus on becoming the well known author that I was meant to be and acquire the agent that I am seeking to find for my next novel, then all of my other ideas will come to fruition.  

I always thought that if I could be really good at multitasking than I could get everything accomplished relatively at once.  However, it hasn’t been working that way so I must shift my efforts to something different, something that is going to work.  Multitasking, I think works for those who have already reached that level of success that they strived to get to.  When you are just trying to get to that level of success you must narrow your focus.  I must narrow my focus and plant one seed at a time and give each individual seed a chance to bloom in their own time.  Until tomorrow…Focus on that one seed and the rest will eventually bloom!  

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

The Other Version of Me

jcladyluv

There is another side of me.  I would refer to her as my other personality but then people would get the wrong idea and suddenly think that I am crazy and need to be committed (some days they might be right).  Now while I do find myself communicating with my characters from one novel or another on a regular basis, I do not hear voices and speak to them and I don’t think that I have a twin version of myself that I talk to at night.  But there is another version of myself that I am referring to when I speak about my other self.  I am talking about the version of me that I feel that I should be by now, the version of me that I see myself becoming in the not so distant future.  

That version of me is already living inManhattan,New Yorkand is on the New York Times Bestseller’s list for three out of her four published novels.  She goes on at least eight book signing tours a year (and that would be a slow year).  She speaks to elementary, middle, and high schools on the importance of not bullying their peers and emphasizing the impact that the bullying has on the victims.  She also speaks at multiple writing seminars and networking events about nurturing the craft of writing.  She has two thriving online magazines, one of which comes out in print on a quarterly basis; both of which are produced and published through her publishing company.  

Her media empire would be continuously producing movies, television shows, and stage plays that promote self-confidence and self-esteem, empower women of all races, and emphasize the message of people being at peace with themselves and believing that they have the right to be (Write 2 Be) who they are; a Media empire that will eventually give Tyler Perry a run for his money.  She will finally get out of her own way and start singing back up for her best friend Ms. L as she goes on her many tours and perhaps will even sing solo in small venues around town.  She will be in the process of accumulating funding for her non-profit creativity camp for kids (Write 2 Be Creativity Camp) that will help promote and encourage the importance and development of the arts in children.  Last but certainly not least, she will be making moves to begin opening up her local bookstore that will be like no other bookstore.  Whew! This woman is busy!  

It sounds like a lot, I know, but this is the version of me that I am striving to be and who I believe that I was meant to be.  I know that it will take more than one year to get to that version of myself but 2012 is definitely going to be the year in which I begin to clear the path of all of the self-made obstacles that I have created over the years.  It is going to be the year in which I am going to take clear and calculated steps that will further me in my efforts to becoming that person.  The other version of myself (the one I want to be) is standing on the other side of a very long bridge and this year I am making my way over to her.  What a journey I am sure it will be.  I guess when I reach her I will let you know.  What does your “other self” look like to you?  Until tomorrow…Are you who you always thought you would be?  If not, what’s stopping you?

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

Hidden on Purpose

jcladyluv

“The greatest thing about being hidden is that you can be underestimated.”

~Tyler Perry 

I admit that I am guilty of watching (probably what most writers would consider) way too much T.V.  I am a soap opera junky and I love movies (mostly suspense and drama), and yes I love my drama TV shows as well, such as Law and Order SVU and Unforgettable and many others.  I know the saying is that if you want to carve out more time to write and be an all around better writer then you need to cut out the unnecessary time wasters, which most would (arguably) consider television to be one of them.  But I have my reasons for watching so much television.  

I watch it not so much for the entertainment value (okay I will admit soap operas are entertaining to me) but from the standpoint of a writer.  I watch with the knowledge that I would love to write for a lot of these shows and quite frankly in terms of soap operas I think that being a lifetime watcher of a lot of them I would be a great asset as a writer because they change writers so often I think that the new writers don’t research the show and its history very well.  Some of the inconsistencies are really just ridiculous.  

I sit back and look at some of these shows and movies thinking I could write stuff like that, hell I can write some things better than that.  And then I find myself being a tad bit (okay maybe a lot) envious.  I wonder, why is my talent going unnoticed?  Why are there so-called writers (you know the ones, those with good story but bad writing technique) who are making millions of dollars off a book, and then movie when I not only have good stories but I can actually convey them well in written form.  Why am I going unnoticed? 

Every time I get this feeling of envy (which I know that it is wrong to be even somewhat envious of others successes) I remind myself of something I came across on Tyler Perry’s website in his inspirational corner.  He does these motivational segments via video and sends out emails of them every so often.  There was one particular video segment that made me see things a little differently.  He spoke about a friend of his who also wondered why his talents and his hard work continued to go unnoticed and he couldn’t seem to get to where he was trying to get to.  That he would get close but then it just wouldn’t pan out somehow.  

Tyler’s words of wisdom to his friend, was that maybe he was being hidden on purpose.  He told him that it just wasn’t his time to be seen yet.  He said “sometimes in life, God wants your story to be such a miracle that she shuts down every avenue, so that you can only go to him for the answer.”  He pointed out that there is an appointed time for everything and that everything that is supposed to happen in your life will happen.  

The best thing that he said that really stuck with me was that “if you walk in the path that you are supposed to at this point in time, then at the right time, God will reveal you, your talents, and everything you’ve done to the world.”  So when I am sitting back and wondering what all of my hard work and good writing is for when it continues to go unnoticed, I just have to keep thinking to myself, it’s not my time to be seen yet. 

I am going to continue to walk in the path in which I am supposed to walk, carrying out the purpose that God put me on this earth for, knowing that when God feels it is my time to be seen then I will shine the brightest that I could ever possibly shine.  Of course I have to keep reminding myself of this constantly when I am feeling a little envious of those writers who are already where I feel I should be right now.  I suppose I should just feel pure joy for those who are shining and being seen right now because they are paving the way for me to be seen when it is my time and when it is my time I will certainly be ready.  Until tomorrow…Get ready, your time is coming too! 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress