Embracing Change & Getting Things Done...

“I have changed over the years because I have struggled to understand and change the world. People who question change cannot really be trying to do this. How can you be in the world and your ideas over the years remain the same?” – Amiri Baraka

As we enter and welcome a new year, I felt that it was appropriate to write about change. Everything must change. It’s the only constant in our life. Sometimes facing the inevitable change, you listen to the small voice inside you, your intuition, which is plugged into the wavelength of God. Like most folks, change can take you by surprise and is not usually welcomed. However, if you embrace the arrival of change, you can always ride it out and grow through the temporary challenge of it, unafraid and resourceful. As the noted poet Baraka says, change can transform your life in thought and deed. Open your heart to change and let it seep into your being deeper and deeper for a true overhaul. The old things feel comfortable to us like a favorite jacket. But it may be time to give it up. Change can be stressful, yet the transition to the new and fresh can be very rewarding and positive.

As the year progresses do not procrastinate and fall victim to laziness. If something needs to get done, just do it! Everyone has an excuse for putting things off. Life happens. Events such as gossiping with friends, shopping, or watching one of your “stories” in the afternoon can prevent you from doing something necessary or crucial. It’s not the achievement of a task or project that could make you laugh or fill you with pride, but the process of doing it, going into action, that can make your day worthwhile. As the elders used to say, “Don’t put off something until tomorrow that you could do today.” In a life, when the work gets done, achievements and accomplishments mount up and the value of your time on earth only gets better and better.

I've learned that getting things done is really not that complicated, it takes the simple will inside you to basically just get up and do it. It may be something small but it's a contribution, if you see a piece of trash in the middle of your room on the floor, you can choose to pick it up, or leave it where it is, but the same changing power you have over that piece of trash, in the little environment that is your room, is the same power you have over the massive environment we call this world. You can choose to make a plan, come up with steps to reach that plan, and watch your plan unfold, or you can stay a crumpled up piece of trash in the center of a room.

Marcus Garvey once said: "I repeat that God created you masters of your own destiny. I trust that you will so live today as to realize that you are masters of your own destiny, masters of your fate; if there is anything you want in this world, it is for you to strike out with confidence and faith in self and reach for it, because God has created it for your happiness wheresoever you may find it in nature. Nature is bountiful, nature is resourceful and nature is willing to obey the command of man, man is the sovereign lord, man who is supposed to hold dominion and take possession of this great world of ours." Welcome 2009 with open arms and make it your mission to achieve your goals, dreams, and the impossible.

Jah Bless.