Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Grey blessings: Living and loving life after age 50


I don't know about you but I am embracing my Third Chapter.  That next 25 years after age 50. I am in love with my grey hair, my wrinkles in weird places, my body size, my smile AND my teeth "replacements".  I am loving all that I am, especially my womanliness...my blackness.  

It is a marvelous thing to be this age as we look forward to the many adventures that are left to be experienced. All of those crazy life experiences of yesterday and today just might help somebody make it through.  All of those life experiences have shaped our opinions and have given us reason to support a cause, an agenda that may not always be popular or in that traditional way of thinking.  We dare to be different and can say that we are honestly glad that we are.

Loving the skin we are in and having the freedom to grow and learn and say within our heart of hearts that our faith is just that - OUR faith.  We know that we have a direct connection with God who hears our prayers and sees to our every need.  We know when we are living according to His divine plan for our lives and when we are not. Even if sometimes we don't understand why things gotta be a certain way, we know at the end of the day "...all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 KJV

Blessed beyond measure, we have so much left to give to the world. The word "success" has a whole new definition.  

10 Best Traits of people living rich and "successful" lives (Excerpt from PBS Next Avenue - Daily Roadmap, http://bit.ly/15qhifE )

1. They’ve mastered a lot of life lessons and they want to pass them on. So they look for opportunities to teach and mentor others.2. They’ve pinpointed a few causes they really care about, work at developing deep insights about them and donate their time and energy to them in the belief that they can help change things for the better. They don’t worry about whether they’re impacting a single individual or the world.
3. They are grateful for what they have and take steps to share it.
4. They are seekers and doers who are enthusiastic participants in life — they are fully engagedin work, play and relationships. 
5. They have a hunger to keep learning — information, skills, fresh practices — to foster brain health and become better equipped to stay employed and contribute to society in fresh ways.
6. They have an open heart, build communities around them, forge and cherish connections with people of all ages and help others create nourishing bonds. 
7. They try to learn from their mistakes and take action to heal old wounds, smooth out past relationships and resolve regrets.
8. They think about life’s big questions, focus on being open-eyed and taking action to become more emotionally insightful.
9. They acknowledge difficulty but choose to believe in the possibility of positive outcomes and try to spread the happiness they cultivate.
10. They respect and take care of themselves. They are conscientious about making healthy food choices, exercising regularly and taking measures to reduce stress. They accept that they have a responsibility to cultivate physical and mental well-being and to protect and honor their bodies. Why? To make the most of their own lives and to ease the prospective future burdens on their loved ones.

Nuff said.  

Saturday, September 14, 2013


Featured painting:   The Dance by Becky Kinkaid


Just For Today             

Just for today I am going to take faith by the horns and live my life in freedom without worry of what I should eat, what I should wear or how am I going to get from point A to point B.  Just for today.

Just for today I am going to live in the moment. I will not project into a future that has not yet happened and re-live a past that is already gone. I am going to trust His faithfulness and live and breathe confidently that what He says is true….”I will never leave you or forsake you”.  Just for today.

Just for today I am going to believe that I have all the money I need in my bank account.  I am going to sincerely believe that God is indeed the supplier of all my needs. As He clothes the lilies of the field in fine arraignment so does He clothe me!  Just for today.

Just for today I am going to believe that I am on assignment as directed by God and not directed by my own wishes and desires. I am believing that I am anointed and divinely inspired to uplift and encourage the downtrodden. I have the words in my mouth that will lose the chains of the captive and give sight to those blinded by the cares of this world.  Just for today.

Just for today I am going to fully understand and appreciate His love, His grace, His mercy. Because of these things I am able to give Him honor and give Him all of the glory fore I am nothing without Him. Just for today.

Just for today I am going to look at things through the spirit and not through my flesh.  I will be grateful for the power of the Holy Ghost. I understand that FEAR is indeed false evidence appearing real.  Just for today.

And maybe tomorrow I will say it again …
Just for today.
The day after that I will say it again …
Just for today.
Then the day after that I will sweetly repeat
All that I have is
Just for today.

Living Out Loud for Jesus.
©2013, USA
Debi Mason, Spoken Word Ministries, 7/11/2013 



Thursday, September 5, 2013


"So You Want to Be a Writer"
Here is a poem by a prolific and powerful writer, Charles Bukowski.  “His poem is sharp, caustic, merciless. All that, and yet it manages to get down to what it really means to be a writer.”  So, if you read this poem and can honestly say after, “yep!” you have given yourself permission to be what you have probably always known you are, a writer.  Write on? Write on.

So You Want to Be a Writer
By Charles Bukowski

if it doesn't come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don't do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don't do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don't do it.
if you're doing it for money or
fame,
don't do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don't do it.
if it's hard work just thinking about doing it,
don't do it.
if you're trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.
if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.

if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you're not ready.

don't be like so many writers,
don't be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don't be dull and boring and
pretentious, don't be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don't add to that.
don't do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don't do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don't do it.

when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.

there is no other way.

and there never was.