Category Archives: Transformation

Wings Or The Worm

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bfly_wing copy

 Hey, Hey, Hey!

Are you conscious of your behavior after a phone call or coffee date with a certain friend who brings out your weaknesses instead of your strengths? For example, you chat with a dear friend who is always complaining and venting her drama- complete with a few curse words for punctuation- and the rest of the day you are whining, focusing on your burdens instead of your blessings and cursing like a sailor. Trust me, I am no Miss Priss and have a fiery personality so a few curse words may fly out of my mouth when I get heated. Not proud of it- just keepin’ it real. As I always say- I’m a work in progress! My point is how interesting we are as humans to emulate and model those we hang around. We may be Spiritually-conscious and awake with our shelves filled with self-help books, but it is easy to get sucked in to the chicken coop instead of rising above and soaring like the eagle that we are.  

I love listening to T.D. Jakes during my power walks and a few days ago he said one simple phrase that struck a chord in me. He said, “Are you associating with people who bring out the wings in you or the worm in you?” Obviously, he’s referring to the beautiful idea of transformation through the butterfly. I posted this on Facebook, but wanted to elaborate and start the discussion here on the blog. We are always in a state of growth and transformation- at least I hope we are! I realize you have joined this community because you place your personal growth, development and empowerment as a priority. As an ‘instigator of change and an ‘agent of transformation’, I thrive on constant growth. The minute I feel stagnant in any area of my life- I’ve got to switch things up, change the behavior and expand a bit. 

We can always be a little bit better today than we were yesterday and I will keep that philosophy until I’m 85.

A vital aspect of our growth is who we surround ourselves with.  Are you associating with those who challenge you to come up higher & encourage you to fly?  A few of my girlfriends are gifted encouragers. They have the ability to hone in on someone’s strengths and lift that person up by pointing out and vocalizing these positive traits. They bring out the wings in that person! Don’t you love being around people like that?!  Often times, we are able to reveal a strength in someone that they didn’t even realize they had. By doing so, we open that person up to their full potential which puts them in a position to fly.

On the other hand, we must be mindful of those who try to bring out the worm in us. You know that friend that likes to include you when she’s talking about her own short comings. She says things like, “We have a hard time losing weight because WE are just lazy”. Then you start questioning yourself, “Am I fat? She’s right- I am lazy”. {Record Scratch} Counteract it by kindly not accepting those negative words over your life and respond with something like, “I’m happy with my weight and work out 4-5 times a week. ‘Lazy’ is not a title I care to wear, thank you”. Of course, then there’s the family member who tries to make you feel bad that you are a ‘driven dreamer’ who appreciates nice things. Misery loves company. It takes all kinds to make the world go round and we can love them and learn from them, but we can also limit our exposure to them. When you’re around the critical ones, stand firm in your beliefs and positivity.

Make sure you are rubbing off on them and not the other way around.   

ACTION STEP: Take a look around you. Who do you spend the most time with? Wing peeps or worm peeps? Make a conscious effort to spend more time with friends who are positive and living a life of excellence & purpose! Those who speak about life with enthusiasm. We all have a Destiny to fulfill so it’s crucial to associate with those who help you come up higher and stay on your path- and vice versa. 

We become like those we hang around. Surround yourself with those who like to soar. Be the wind beneath each other’s wings! 

As always, I love to hear your thoughts.

Comment, Tweet + Share the SOS love!

Love, Tiff

 

P.S. Don’t forget about the fun Summer Kickoff Giveaway happening! Details on the 7 Summer Drugstore Steals post. Ends June 6th. Win a few products below OR a Target gift card plus the new Aaron Hendra Project CD & T-shirt. 

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FEELING STUCK? {New Candid Video}

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Happy Sunday Sistas!

Transition.

New Chapter.

Change of Season.

These topics are being discussed quite a bit right now among my friends and colleagues. During a powerwalk yesterday, I was pondering why some people stay stuck and why other’s move toward change with boldness. I decided to share my thoughts in a Vlog…

  1. Make Up Your Mind: What do you really want? Make a decision and stop with the back & forth.
  2. Create A Strategy: What steps can you take every day, every week to making the change happen?
  3. Visualize The End Result: We are really searching for the “feeling” we get from attaining a goal/dream. See yourself already having made the change.

 

LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS.

Love, Tiff 

 

 

CHRYSALIS by Guest Author, Wendy Carter

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buttefly_girlinpinkdress

 

I am egg. I am goo. I am imaginal discs… the programming of spine, and masks, and wings with a dream of flying. 


Imaginal. 


Imagine.


Inside. 


I form. I hatch. I eat and shed my skin, and my masks come off, revealing the ever growing larval, child, and teenage faces.
I’m walking with wings beneath the skin of my growing body, and knowing, feeling the promise of them invisibly there, wondering, imagining, what will it be like to fly? 

I must try. 


The mask is tight. The skin must go. Go back to the goo.
So I coccoon. I form a chrysalis. Safe. Silken. Private. 


And I digest myself, and I rest from all of my eating, climbing, spinning and building. I liquidate into protein soup du’ imaginal discs. I am my own fuel for the rapid fire splitting and duplicating, triplicating, of cells I dream and sleep through. 


Then my antennae tingle, my legs, my eyes and genitals and wings… oh, my wings form as I dream of flying in the goo behind the mask in the glow of imagined sky in the imaginal disc of my brain.
And I dream myself together til the dreams and the wings take up too much space. The goo is gone, and I am hardening, and hungry, cramped, and bored. 


Cocooning stops here and now. It’s time. 


The chrysalis must go. This silken safe must go. There is only the memory of comfort here. 


It is time.


So I stretch, until there is hole, and the air is delicious. I stretch again. I stretch until I am baffled at my hugeness, and the beauty I have become. Wobbling and wet, clinging to the shell of my home.
My wings have eyes that see the sky. I must dry. 


I must rest. 


But there are others. I must know them. 


I must fly. 


It is time. 


So I exercise my wings, down, up down up down up… and adjust to the different lengths of my body. I remember… I remember so not being like this. I am shaped differently.

I am stronger. 


I climb. I hear and feel the call of the others. I see them on bushes beside me, and winging delightedly above. I too, am made for that impossibility.
A strong wind blows and I cling for dear life to the limb I’m considering letting go of, and feel I must be insane. Flying. I’d be oh so vulnerable. But oh so free. 

I climb.


And I reach the top, and my wobbling weight bows the upper leaves. My wings flutter a little and the leaf is relieved. My clinging feet are lifted.
When another wind blows and in a ripping screaming moment my home is gone. I am upside down and spinning, a blur of green and purple and broken home around me, flapping and flapping, and the flapping feels useless, until suddenly… 


it isn’t.


And I’m flying and the world looks different from up here and isn’t it wondrous this world? I am joy! I am lifted! I am life! I am young, and strong, and this final mask is mine, and I discover that I am beautiful.
And I am still hungry.

And I want company.

And I want love. 

And I can go anywhere. 

I am free!

Oh, God, I am light… thank you for this gift of making me 


A BUTTERFLY.

 

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