Guarding Your Heart By: Donna Jackson

Growing up, I was very sweet as you know from my previous blog post. I would give so much of myself and would expect nothing in return. Of course this was taken advantage of. I eventually came to the place where I am now where I am selective in who I give my heart to when it comes to a significant other. I often find myself giving people numerous times to redeem themselves just as God gives us. But as a human there is only so much I can take. I love myself enough to give people a few chances, then after that to just let it go. Of course that doesn't mean I don't still care or love them BUT I love myself more.

Sometimes we feel because we aren't perfect that that gives people the right to run over our heart numerous times or play with our emotions. "We cannot make anyone else happy if we don't first love ourselves." I love myself to be selfish when it comes to my heart, I know my worth and I know it deserves to be treated with the utmost respect and care. When it comes to a man if he can't see my worth, he will treat me like I'm worthless. So I must make myself of worth through confidence , self respect, self love and keeping God first.

Of course we are all from different walks of life, but whether your significant other is a guy or a girl, REALIZE your worth. Realize you are priceless and in all cases you should be treated as such. If you are at a place in your life where you can't see your worth. TAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF AND GET TO KNOW YOURSELF. In doing so you will see what really makes you tick. In doing this you will be better for yourself and for others. Just wanted to encourage you all to LOVE yourself enough to KNOW what you deserve and to NOT allow ANYONE who DOESN'T deserve your heart take it away!

Written By: Donna Jackson

WHO CARES???? By Donna L J

I often find myself having a million things on my plate and wondering how in the world I will accomplish everything. Sometimes I get frustrated, sometimes I am even more determined, sometimes I don't care and just want it all to go away, sometimes I just do the best I can. But at the end of the day these are task I have to complete. We all go through being overwhelmed and we often try to do everything ourselves with out asking for help. We take on the impossible as if we have super powers, I know I do that often.

But we HAVE to find a positive outlet. This is a must to maintain sanity. Whether it is a trustworthy friend, a pastor, a mentor, a older family member or GOD, we have to have a way to get things off of our chest and relieve ourselves of mental enslavement. This is the key to being able to handle the situations that come our way. NO..everyone isn't going to care but I assure you there is ONE person who genuinely cares about your well being and wants what is best for you. So your job is to find that person, just as they are a help to you..you can be a help to them.

There is one person that I know I can tell ANYTHING too and I know they truly care about my well being, and that is Kash. She also knows that I am here for her too. We both have been through similar things and relate on so many levels. She helps me just by listening or letting me know I am not alone because she has been there too. Having her... helps my sanity! Last but NOT least I know I can take EVERYTHING to God in prayer. He asks us to cast all our burdens on Him so I do that often. So when I am sad I know I won't be sad long because God is there to take on my daily burdens.

PLEASE FIND YOUR POSITIVE OUTLET, WE CAN'T HELP WHAT LIFE BRINGS BUT WE CAN HELP HOW WE HANDLE IT!!!

- Donna L J

What Pushes your Button???? By Donna Jackson

Everyone has the point of no return, where common sense leaves and anger takes over. We often see people dangling the line of insanity, yet we don't know what exactly they will do. Truthfully speaking, they don't know either. We all were taught to turn the other cheek, or to exercise patience. Some of us were taught to use our mouth instead of our fist, or to REALLY think about what we are about to do. But what causes you to go off?? Well lets take a deeper look.

Everyone is different, We all come from different walks off life. We all were taught different ways to handle situations. Some of us can endure more pain than others, some of us have NO patience. Everything comes down to the person, and what happened hours before the incident, and how close to their limit they are.

So, with these things in mind, we get different reactions from different people. You may accidentally cut someone off in traffic, and they shoot you the middle finger. They could have done it just because it is Monday and they hate Mondays, or maybe they were in an argument early that day, or even late for work. Another incident could be a silly argument that blows up into a fist fight. Outsiders may wonder why someone would resort to violence over something so silly but one of the two parties could have had a bad day. The other party maybe going through some hard times and just needing to get stuff off their chest by any means necessary.

The point I am trying to make is we don't know what people are going through, and we never know how much or little it takes to drive them over the edge. But what we can do, is keep in mind that people die over "silly things" everyday. Innocent children are shot and killed over "silly things", families are turned away from each other over "SILLY things", Someone won't make it home to their family tonight over "silly things". Please lets be responsible enough to REALLY think before we act because one silly thing can lead to one pointless death.

By Donna L J

What's your PASSION??? By Donna L J

When we were younger, we were often asked the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" We usually answered with the career titles that seemed "cool" such as fireman, Doctor, Nurse, Superstar, Athlete...etc. We loved playing office and trying our best to imitate what we saw on TV or in our households. Once we get to high school and indulge ourselves in various activities that interest us.. we begin the process to slowly narrow down what we want to become in our futures.

My mind often changed a zillion times when making life decisions. I always knew that I never wanted to limit myself and that I always wanted to be supremely happy at what ever career I found myself locked into as an adult. So I challenged myself to go after anything I felt I wanted to do, even if that meant having more than one job. I knew I would have to find the formula to being super busy and STILL being happy.

I stepped out and started my radio career in college, then I managed my dad's art business, also I wanted to get serious about my songwriting so I pursued a music career. So now I'm doing them ALL at once. It may not seem like a lot but it definitely is a challenge. I made sure not to commit myself to anything that wouldn't fulfill my happiness, because then I wouldn't give my ALL. I realized the only way I would be happy in my career life is if I pursued things that I was passionate about.

What are you passionate about, is it cooking, eating, singing, making people laugh, teaching, computers...whatever it may be, are you taking the steps to pursue your passions?? Or are you stuck being unhappy?? It is NEVER to late to do what you love to do, nothing or no one can stop you. BUT you definitely can stop yourself. I CHALLENGE YOU to take the steps to pursue your passion and do what you LOVE to do!!

-Donna L J

The POWER of YOUR VOICE By:Donna L J

We all have a voice, we all have a opportunity to take advantage of the various ways we can use our voice. Some people use their voices for good, and other people for bad. Some people make you think with their voice, others make you laugh. Its really up to the person how they decide to use their voice.

Through out everything I have been through in my life I decided I have a choice in how I use my voice. As a black female I find it disturbing that my fellow sisters insist on tearing each other down. Whether it is through degrading each other because of a man, or talking about each other through gossip, putting down each other because of career decisions or simply jealousy. I, for one am tired of this sad repetitive process and I plan to step out and stand up against this vicious cycle that is tearing down MY community!

HEAR ME : We are beautiful black women carved and created by God Himself! We are intelligent and we have the opportunity to enlighten our minds with knowledge to further educate ourselves and better ourselves. We have pride because of our past and we hold our heads up high. We walk with confidence because we know where we our going. We MUST uplift each other with LOVE and kind words. We MUST encourage each other with the strength we have from our turbulent triumphs in our past. We MUST realize our value and our worth and carry ourselves in such a way that others inquire of our vigilance and poise. We MUST hold hands together and press forward to a brighter future. We MUST keep our eyes on God because He will always lead the way. We MUST never give up hope for our off spring. We MUST be the examples our young black princesses can follow. We MUST set the standards high for our community. We MUST change the way things were so there will be a POSITIVE future filled with the beautiful sisterhood of the way things will be. SISTERS it starts with ME AND ENDS WITH YOU...TOGETHER LETS BE THE VOICE THAT CHANGES OUR CULTURE TO THE GREAT CULTURE WE KNOW WE CAN BE! AND LETS DO IT IN LOVE!!

I dedicate this to Jetara S... WHO INSPIRED me to post this blog post! God bless!

WITH LOVE,

DONNA LJ

artwork by: Chidi Okoye

SELFISH or SELFLESS...By: Donna L J

Since I was a child I was always unselfish. I found it delightful to give something that I had to someone else. Maybe it is because I cherish everything everyone gives me, So maybe i feel they will do the same. Being unselfish or selfless is something that seems to get old with time. More people are concerned about themselves and less concerned about the welfare of others.

Some people find that my acts of kindness are weird, they feel I am TOO nice. Which is very awkward because you would THINK that being nice was a GOOD thing. But often times I am criticized for my kind gestures and caring heart. Which in retrospect hurts my feelings which further more shows my "emotional" side.

So I have been thinking and I have come to some conclusions! I know A LOT of people that are SELFISH. They are inconsiderate of others, they look out for themselves, they forget important things if it doesn't concern them, they LOVE attention, they have no problem putting others down if it means making them "look" better, they judge people to no end, they will use other people as stepping stones to get themselves to where they want to be, they do things with out considering how it will effect other people.

In my pondering, I realized those aren't characteristics that I want to portray. My character is all I have to present in this life. I want to make sure that being loving, kind, thoughtful, caring, sweet, selfless, and happy are all character traits that I display daily. At the end of the day it makes me feel awesome knowing that I brightened someone else's day from being unselfish.

WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD INSIDE BEING SELFISH....OR SELFLESS?????

-DONNA L J

Goals....the wish i woulda edition... By KASH

Today i woke up and realized that i am 25 years and countless days old thus that much closer to 26. Wow, time sure does FLY when ur having fun. Or procrastinating. Both at which I am an expert at. ;-) With my realization of age, also came the harsh, unnerving reality that time is slipping thru my hands. Each wasted day is a missed opportunity to do SOMETHING, anything. By now I am well aware that i am what you would call a dreamer, although my intentions are great, my mind runs much too rampant with ideas to ever really focus on just one. Over the years, I've dreamed of being a gymnast, I dreamed of finishing school, I've dreamed of opening a spa, I've dreamed of being an A&R, all of these dreams (goals) and not one complete?!?!?! WTH have i been doing?? lol.... its a great question to ask and honestly the answer would prob be a whole lot of nothing. The truth is its Great to have a goal, a dream, but without a PLAN its just a whole lot of "I wish I woulda's". The last thing any of us want is to wake up one day older, fatter, uglier (not me ;-0), and useless singing the terrible "when i was younger i coulda been " or "if i had only done xxxxx Different". DO IT NOW!!!! U only live once so u might as well live great and leave a legacy!!!!! MAKE 2010 ur year and STOP BEING ORDINARY!!!!!! ......OK enough of the inspiration on to the silly ;-)****kisses**** KASH