Positivity: Muting the Case of the Mondays

So, as I build my life as a writer and speaker, I work full-time as an "Assistant Production Coordinator" for a production company here in Hampton. In other words, I'm a receptionist. :-)

Some wouldn't think this job very glamorous, and they'd think right but I must say, I love my job and the people I work with. Besides having the freedom to write and work on my creative life freely, I am constantly supporting a company and individuals who work directly with the likes of Harpo Productions, Discovery Communications and Sony Records to name a few.

In other words, I'm cool by association, even as a measly receptionist.

Truth is, I have over 10 years of experience in administrative support and my heart for serving people helps me to keep things in perspective when I think about the careers that my peers have as full-time artists, educators, etc...

Over the years, God has shown me that my position, wherever I am, goes well beyond answering phones, keeping the calendars of executives and distributing mail. I have embraced my position recognizing the opportunity that I have daily to enhance the lives of those I work with. By simply being ME I am able to meet simple needs of stressed out producers, editors and researchers both in house and around the country.

Prime example: When I answer the phone at work declare, "Happy Monday! Thank you for calling...this is Nina. How may I help you?" *BEAM*

"Happy Monday!" normally catches people off guard. After giving pause, many callers express their appreciation for my enthusiasm!

Every day I seek to make someone's day brighter in whatever way I can, even if that means helping them to get over their "case of the Mondays"! Those who question my energy on Mondays will see that if they call on Tuesday, Wednesday or any other day, I generally share this same energy every morning even though I'm not a "morning person".

My thinking: Why be miserable JUST because it's Monday?

Monday is just ONE of seven days that we get and is a day wasted if we allow it to be. So, we've been told that THIS is how we are to treat Mondays...or how we should let it treat us. Mondays are a part of time which is continuous & out of our control. What we DO with this time is up to us!

How we FEEL about time, in this case, Mondays, is up to US! So, with that being said, HAPPY MONDAY!

Make the most out of every day that you're blessed to live and every task given to your hands!

BE{AM} BE inspired as iAM inspired! #iShineYouShine

The Desire to "Just Be...Me"

I remember being in that place—In love with the person I'd come to know and despising her all at the same time. I recall how it feels to teeter between loving myself just the way I was and longing to be like every girl I saw that wasn’t like me.

I was a lucky one…

…early in life, I had people telling me I was beautiful. Some teachers, my mother, my father…and perhaps at that point in life, it was simply a positive affirmation, repeated in an attempt to, “…speak those things that are not, as though they were…” And I thank them for that. I am grateful for them telling me how beautiful my smile and eyes were but I must admit, like most people during their ‘tweens, my head was too big for my body, my legs were lanky and my hair was, well, a HOT, NAPPY MESS to say the least…
But all the while, I’ve known myself to be beautiful and even though I endured years of torment on playgrounds and during various neighborhood antics, at times, led by my older brother, by age 12, I KNEW I was beautiful, even in my “ugly duckling” stage.

Last week I was visiting with a friend of mine who has a daughter on the edge of 15 and “OMG...” she’s “…fat…” as I watch her hold her “belly” which is nothing more than a finger-full of skin that she has pulled from her small frame in an attempt to find something, anything wrong with her long slender body.

Then again, last night, the same child spoke about being too thin and trying to gain weight, which we told her she didn’t need to do that age would handle that for her in due time…don’t rush it.

This showed me that we, women specifically, have a difficult time early in life learning to love ourselves just the way we are. That we don’t understand our developmental process and that no one is destined to look the EXACT same way through their whole life. We spend so many minutes within our days making excuses for why compliments given to us can’t be genuine or why we don’t deserve them because “…I need a relaxer/cut/color/need to lose weight…” instead of just appreciating who we are and thanking God that others might ever possibly see us the way God sees us…BEAUTIFUL.

The problem is, WE don’t see it so how can we possibly believe that someone else sees the beauty that we hold…?

“Nina…you know, you should grow your hair out really long and then straighten it…so that way you’ll look like a princess”, says the 14-year old. I smiled and replied, “But I like my hair just the way it is…and besides, why be a princess when you can be a queen…?” I went on to assure her that the look I have is what works best for me and that I stopped trying to look like everyone else years ago...and that she should stop now before she’s too far gone.

Love yourself.  You are the best you there could ever be...