Pause. Pray. Forgive. Heal.

January 21, 2021

Great Morninggggg!!!!! Happy Happy Happpyyyyyyy Thursday Beautifuls!!! 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 😁😁😁🌟❤️

If you’re anything like most of the rest of the world, you woke this morning with a deep sigh of relief. Probably thinking to yourself, “...ahhhh it’s finally over, we can breathe again. Thank you God.” 😊🙏🏼

I’ll admit it myself, I sure did.

I was thinking to myself “..did this just happen yesterday? Did we really, finally shift the trajectory of our country more in line with the foundational principles upon that which it was built?” I’d say that’s pretty darned remarkable. 🤔😊

If you’re like many Americans you also probably asked yourself, “what’s next? What do we do from here? Where do we go from here? And, how do we get there?”

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As I listened to the joy AND relief in my mother’s voice yesterday afternoon, there were so many emotions going through my mind. Hearing the conviction and sincerity in her voice about how the inauguration was really warmed my heart. Hearing Mama say she’s glad to have lived to see the day when the first black president of the United States, President Barack Obama, was in office. And, now to have witnessed not only the diversity in the inauguration platform yesterday, but to also witness the first female in the second most powerful position in the country (and arguably in the world)! My mother was so full of joy and gratitude, so full of pride and resilience. It made me proud to listen. 😊💯

And I have to admit as happy as I was listening to Mama recant the euphoria of the day yesterday, I was also selfishly thinking of how much I would have loved to be there with her during that moment. How much I wish I could have hugged her neck and just held her during her excitement. But the reality was and still is, there is a barrier that still separates us. 😞

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We are not free to come and go or to move about as we’d like to just yet. BUT ITS COMING! 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 So until then, we wait. Patiently. We celebrate the victory. And, we wait...

What shall we do while we’re waiting? What shall we do now that the 46 administration is in place?

I mean we’ve already seen action! President Joe Biden signed at least 17 executive orders on his first day in position! YES! We’re moving in the right direction!

🗣🗣🗣 BUTTTTTT WAAAIIIIITTTTT (Inserts, picture me screaming running in slow motion after the train)!

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Us: “Action!? Already?”

God: “Yep.”

Us: “But I wasn’t ready!”

God: “Too late! GET READY.”

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Whew!!! 😳 Is this what that person meant when they said, “stay ready so you don’t have to get ready?” 🤔

What does “get ready” mean and do I still have time?

💡 Yes, you do. We all have time. The caveat is the time is NOW. Not tomorrow or not next week. The time is now to get ready and stay ready.

How do we get ready and what are we getting ready for?

As we navigate chasing this quickly moving train, it is not only critical, but imperative to do the following:

✅ Pause. So many of us have been moving so quickly recently that we haven’t taken (enough) time to simply stop and reflect. Reflecting on how the last decade has impacted us. Not just from a political perspective, but also from a familial, community, and societal perspective.

How have the last four years impacted how YOU show up in life? 🤔

✅ Pray. Prayer (to address a solemn request or expression of thanks to a deity or other object of worship) is something we heard a lot of during yesterdays inauguration. Be it in the form of a traditional prayer or the form of a master poet. Prayer is what we heard and experienced. Have you prayed about how you now show up in the world from this day forward as it relates to the political and social changes?

✅ Forgive. If you’re anything like me, you felt really good and maybe were even cheering as 45 took his last presidential ride when leaving the White House. You may have even shed a tear. 😊 If you did either, that’s ok. The question to ponder is “How do I forgive not just 45, but the collective consciousness that vibrated us as a world to the point of the last four years?” 🤔

It’s important that as we navigate how we got to where we did collectively, we must also evaluate ourselves individually. Is there anything in the outgoing administration or the people who climbed the wall at the capital that’s reflective of something, and I mean anything within me?

💯 Do I harbor anger (internally or externally)?

💯 Do I have narcissistic traits?

💯 Do I have hate for religions, races, or creeds that are not like mine and what I believe in?

If there is even a hint of “yes” (which there undoubtedly is) then there is reason to not only pause to forgive others but it’s also cause to pause and forgive yourself. #thinkaboutit 🤔

****That’s another writing for another day, but just know that what we see and experience on a collective level is a reflection of each of us individually. Ponder that for a bit today. 🤔 ****

I digress.

✅ Heal. The final suggestion I have as we navigate the moving train is that we MUST take time to heal. Heal. Heal. Heal. 💯

❤️🌟As fast as things are moving right now, it’s easy to chase the train, jump on the train, and start going for the ride. But if we don’t take the time to do the necessary healing, we will get bounced off at the first stop.

❤️🌟I want to be able to show up in the world as a healed version of me, not as a bruised and battered version of me. Healing allows the process for identifying the wound, caring for the wound, nurturing the wound, and then creating a long term plan for protecting ourselves from “re-injuring” the wound.

We’ve been wounded as a nation.

We’ve been battered as a nation.

We’ve been neglected as a nation.

❤️🌟 Chances are, each of us have also experienced being wounded, battered, and neglected on and individual level as well. We’ve GOT to take the time to address those wounds. Take time to heal from the wounds. Take time to pray about the wounds. Take time to allow yourself to forgive yourself and to forgive others so the wound heals properly and gives you longterm results and not “short-term bandage dressing” healed wounds.

💡💡It’s ok to pause. It’s ok to pray, it’s imperative to forgive. It’s critical to heal. Doing these things will impact how you show up in the world. It will also impact where we go as a nation. Remember, the collective consciousness is a mere reflection of a compilation of individual consciousness. Let’s heal wisely so we can move wisely. This is the way we discern what’s next and how we get there.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” -Jeremiah 29:11

💡💡It’s difficult if not impossible to discern, “hear, and execute the plans God has for us if we aren’t navigating from a healed space. Possible? Yes. Painful? Likely.

💡💡Know that it’s ok got to Pause, Pray, Forgive, and Heal, both individually and collectively. It’ll make you a better person. It’ll free you. It’ll help you discern how to show up in the word AND how catch the moving train!

🌟ACTION🌟: Identify one trait within yourself that you’ve seen exhibited in the outgoing presidential administration. Pause and then reflect on it. Pray and ask God to show you how to navigate it. Forgive yourself for exhibiting the trait and possibly hurting others. Schedule an appointment with a therapist, counselor, or coach and begin (continue) your healing journey. 😊

Remember, I Love ❤️ You. God Loves ❤️ You. Now You, go Love on You.

Heal. And Be Set Free Beloveds. 😊

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Namaste (The Divine in Me Honors The Divine in You) ~Dr. Elijah 🤗😘