Process Yields Preparation
Girlfriend, “I been goin’ thru some thangs!” When I wrote When Fighting Is All You Know…A Journey From Grief to Victory I didn’t truly anticipate the magnitude that reflection would bring to my healing. I knew that it was necessary for my journey as God called me to look into the rearview, but He also insisted that I not dwell there long. We have to understand that facing our past is a major step in healing. I shared with you my trauma and how I’ve spent my life thus far suppressing it. I gained so much freedom by pushing through those tears as I wrote that post. I felt such a relief and lessened burden when I published it. There’s beauty in looking back and dealing with your trauma, but you can’t reside there. You mustn’t wallow in it. You can’t allow it to consume you. You can analyze it. You can allow yourself to actually feel the emotions of it, but once that work is done it’s onward and upward. Your vision is required for the new direction you are moving in. If you receive nothing else from me today, take that as your message!
In weight training, you don’t increase your strength by repetitively lifting the same weight. If you wish to increase your strength then you must increase your weight load. Sometimes God has to strengthen us by carrying us through heavier storms. Though appreciated, at the time I believed that this message was still pertaining to my journey through past experiences. I thanked God for his greatness and rejoiced for the opportunity to be a living testimony. As I stand now with the earth beneath my feet crumbling I know that instruction was to prepare me for such a time as this.
For the last few years, I’ve poured so selflessly into my family that I stopped showing up in my business. Eventually, the clients started to dwindle and my business finally began to match my effort by giving me what little I had given it over the years. For the last year, it’s produced merely enough to sustain itself. Sadly, I knew what was being demanded of me from the early signs. I knew that I needed to show up. I knew that I needed to demonstrate my commitment. I simply didn’t feel like it. At the moment I didn’t want anything else demanding shit from me. I wanted the freedom and flexibility to behave like an employee. I wanted to show up only when there were clients on my books. I wanted to clock out and mentally check out at the same damn time. I didn’t want to carry salon business home. I wanted my home life to be family time. I was very aware that I lacked balance, but I wasn’t committed enough to implement any. If you aren’t careful, your storm will find you in your complacency.
Here’s what I’ve learned:
You can either choose to move in obedience or you’ll be forced to move out of survival. Nonetheless when God says “move” you will move!
Up until this sentence, this blog was written back in November. I couldn’t have imagined the global COVID-19 pandemic. I would have never anticipated that my salon would be under a mandated shut down for over a month. I would not have guessed that the business that I worked so hard to start would be lessened to nothing at all. Yet here we are.
Back in February God placed it on my spirit to curate a virtual self-care summit for women. I sat on it for months without taking any action. As we approached the third week of “social distancing” I had a greater understanding of the need for such an event. I chose to walk in God’s will and in a matter of one week I developed a 51-page self-care guide and launched a full virtual 7-day summit. The Self-Care Experience highlighted over 25 amazing women and covered a diverse range of topics as they pertain to women’s wellness, mental health, and self-care. In a single week, we reached over 15,000 women in a time in which they needed support and encouragement the most.
I share this with you as a testament to the power of walking in purpose. I don’t even know 25 women well enough to have planned the execution of The Self-Care Experience on that level. What you witnessed was the power of God and His constant provision for His people. I ended last week with a huge sense of accomplishment. Once Monday rolled around I was right back to the reality of my circumstances. I’m still going through some things y’all! Due to the time we spent pouring into each other last week I’m able to acknowledge that the process yields preparation. As Jessica Hill taught us, we can get through it without going through it! I know with all of my being that we will indeed come out of this storm on top!
If you weren’t able to be in attendance for The Self-Care Experience last week please take some time to go back and catch the replays of the sessions. They were all amazing and each featured a different perspective to get us through this unfamiliar time. The full experience is still available within our Woman Wife Mom Facebook community.
As always please share with me in the comments. If you participated in The Self-Care Experience let us know what you thought of it. If you’ve purchased the Level Up! The Self-Care Experience Workbook, tell me how it’s assisted you with your self-care routines. I love hearing your opinions, stories, and advice! Let’s cultivate a community that prunes us for our destinies!