Begin.

It has been said that the hardest part of any task is getting started. I have found this to be universally true. Looking back on my own life, no matter the obstacle that had been placed before me,  I realize that a stalled start could have either delayed or aborted the entire journey. In fact, stagnant feet don't have a journey, instead they maintain a solitary position, transfixed in time. Therefore, the art of beginning is necessary to our evolutionary development as human beings.

When we are already in the midst of a challenging task, enduring and completing seem to be the most arduous and important facets of the journey. But, if we'd allow our minds to reflect on the beginning, we'd realize that the most difficult portion of the assignment is already done. To begin, requires us to choose courage, discipline, and drive when we could very well settle upon being cowardly, reckless, and unmotivated.

So, if you have chosen to begin when everything within you is fighting, know that you are already en route to whatever is divinely and victoriously yours.

If you have yet to begin the pursuit of your dreams, put away all fearful notions and make the first move. Fear will stifle and misdirect you without fail, but faith will freely release you in  the direction of all things possible!
Start the work today, no matter how hard it seems. Breathe out, breathe in...BEGIN!---Love, BLJ

The Mountaintop

Today we celebrate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. What a remarkable life of service and sacrifice he lived so that our own freedom would ring a song of  sweet, melodic liberty. In his very last speech, he prophetically proclaimed:
 "I don't know what will happen now. We have some difficult days ahead, but it really doesn't matter with me now...I just wanna' do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain, and I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you, but...we as a people will get to the Promised Land."

Dr. King paid the ultimate price so that we would have the opportunity to live freely in an America that has fulfilled her promise of democracy and human equality. He climbed the mountain, ascending all the time with each  peaceful demonstration met with violence, each mobilizing speech met with overnight accommodations in a jail cell, each step of faith and love met with degradation and hatred. Dr. King made it to the mountaintop, looked over and caught a redeeming glimpse of a time when the right to vote did not equal a Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama. He peered over the peak into a horizon of equal opportunity whether gained through affirmative action legislation or peaceful protest. Perhaps he saw the glorious sun rising on a  day  when Barack Obama would be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. I don't know exactly what Dr. King saw when he went up to that mountaintop of freedom before he would be called home for an eternal rest. But, I can tell you that the climbing is not done.

It is up to those of us who are reaping the benefits of Dr. King's relentless dream and sacrificial service to humanity, to continue the hike. We must keep climbing up the mountain of equality, clutching the coarse terrain with bloodied fingertips, walking in the scorching heat of opposition with sweltering feet until we have too made it to the mountaintop. See, Dr. King wasn't worried about what was to come because he knew that he was leaving enough people behind to take up the fight, to persistently climb the necessary hike to freedom.

Let us honor him with a life of service. In all of our lives, we must mobilize and inspire those who are behind us on the mountain. Inspire that brother or sister to keep climbing. As Dr. King said, "don't let no injunction turn us around!" And so, when you get to the top of the mountain, you won't be worried either about the fate of your cause. For, whatever you have dedicated your life's work to shall be left in the hands of able-bodied climbers with their eyes on the mountaintop. ---Love, BLJ

V + A+ G + S = Purpose-Driven Action

"What you value frames your perspective on life and shapes your aspirations. Aspirations become goals, and goals merged with strategy become purpose-driven action. So, if you check your values, you will know what it is you aspire to. When you identify your aspirations, your goals will be clarified. And, when you devise a strategy to attain your goals, you  will find that you are moving in the direction of purpose."---Baria Leshea Jennings

Ripened Fruit

It is said that one's success can be measured by the fruit they bear. At the beginning of last year, I had a conversation with my mother where I summed up my feelings of spiritual development and maturation using this analogy. It was at the top of 2010 that I began to feel like "ripened fruit." Sounds strange right? My mother listened intensely as I elaborated on this simile. I explained that it is in seed form that all of our existences are founded, developing in the mother's womb until we are ready to sprout, announcing our arrival in this world.

As we grow, beyond the nurturing confines of the womb, there are several external conditions that we must face that either stunt or stimulate our growth. But, if we can weather the stormy days, we will look up and find that we are still standing, strong and fertile. While standing firmly, with feet planted deep within the earth's core is necessary for survival, what then signifies success. At some point in our spiritual and natural development, we must become more than solid trunked trees. We must bear fruit. So, what  happens to your fruit when it is your divine season?

The very fruit of our gifting, talents, and purpose was never intended for the tree itself. Sure, it is pretty to look upon, some even adorned with flowers. But, there comes a time, as I would explain to mom that our fruit becomes too ripe for the very tree that yielded it. It was last year this time that I began to feel like ripened fruit, ready for the picking. By this I mean, there was a knowing that the divine season to begin sharing my fruits of gifting, talents, and purpose with the world was at hand. When ripened fruit is picked or even falls from the tree, it is nature's way of saying "You are ready to be shared, to bring some other creation sustenance, or nourishment."

Now, we all know what happens to ripened fruit that is never picked or eaten in its divine season; it rots. The beautiful thing is the cyclical nature of the Creator allows for it to  decompose right back down to the seed and begin again within the Earth. But, that seed must patiently wait for that divine season of ripened fruit to come around once again. So, where are you on the tree of life? Are you the seed, the sprout, the deeply rooted tree beginning to bear fruit? Or, are you as I realized I was a year ago: "ripened fruit, ready for the picking?" 

Don't miss your divine season if it is indeed upon you. Seize it, for someone else is waiting to be nourished by your ripened fruit.---Love, Baria Leshea Jennings

2011: Climb, baby Climb!!!!!

If this year were a ladder and each of your goals were a rung on it, then which rung would  you be standing on in relation to your goals? If you ponder this image, you might visualize yourself at the very top of the ladder with much accomplished this past year. Or, maybe you are somewhere in the middle with some of your goals for 2010 lingering on to become a rung on the ladder of 2011. Still, there are some who may find yourselves on the very first rung with all of the distractions and foggy complications of life blurring your vision so that all you were able to see this year was the rung before you with the rest of the ladder obscured by life's circumstances. Even still, there are some who were content this year to simply watch others ascend their ladder of goals but never took the time to step on their own.

However, all hope is not lost. In fact, tomorrow is the day that you can firmly place your brand new ladder against the wall of life and begin to climb fearlessly towards your destiny. Take the time today to write down your goals for the new year. In this way, your rungs will be positioned for your eminent success in 2011 and beyond. After you have constructed your ladder with goals, go ahead and get a head start. Place one foot before the other and begin to surmount your greatest fears, rise to the occasion of your deepest desires until you breathe in the crisp air at the altitude of your wildest dreams!Climb, baby climb!! Keep rising my friends,as I will, and this time next year we shall meet each other at the top!!
---Live with Love, and Love like your Life depends upon it.----Baria Leshea Jennings