Minimum Wage Challenge

I think more people in charge of making these laws should have to bear the responsibility of understanding what we go through from day to day not being afforded luxuries that they have. They have stresses also, but is incomparable to the stresses of wondering where your next meal will come from or if you will have a place to stay the next day. Something needs to be done in America. It's supposed to be the land of opportunity but so many people are dying from no opportunity. That's backwards. Read the article.

This Congressman lived on the minimum wage:

http://www.cnn.com//2014/07/31/politics/minimum-wage-challenge/index.html

Canvas Art SALE!!!

Hey! Did I forget to mention that I am putting all of my canvas art on sale?! Yes!

Canvases are originally $25 including shipping but are now on sale for $18. 

The sale prices are good until the end of next week - July 31.  Visit the InspireABC Store at www.mkt.com/inspireabc and customize your canvas today! Check out some of the canvases below. Just let me know what you want done and I will let you know if I am able to get it done for you! Thanks!

Just e-mail inspireabetterconnection@gmail.com the photo or a description of what you want to be included on your canvas.

Below are pictures of some samples of the work that I have done.



Hanging Name Plate Canvas

Couple Canvas


 

Quote Canvas




Business Card Canvas
 

 



Photography Canvases (Color/Black&White)_

Bulldog

"The nose of the bulldog is slanted backwards so he can breathe without letting go." -Winston Churchill

You're probably reading this quote and wondering what it has to do with you...Simple answer! When we think about a bulldog, we think of a mean, ferocious, aggressive animal that will chase you down, bite you and won't let go until his master says so or until it has reached the intended goal. Let's face it, bulldogs have a bad reputation. We, as human beings can be like this sometimes. We terrorize others without even knowing people are running in the opposite direction because of our reputation.  However, some of the human beings who act like the bulldog turn out to be the successful, on top entrepreneurs, executives, and leaders the rest of us could only dream of being.  The successful people who stay on top, however, are the ones who respect others, are approachable, and respectable.  They set their eyes on a reasonable target, work hard, don't give up, and fight until the end all while knowing how to breathe through it all so that the task does not become suffocating.  Set healthy goals and work towards them.  Be gentle with people while remaining ferocious with your goal.  So, breathe deeply and employ the help, criticism, and direction of others while holding on to the task at hand...besides the bulldog had to learn from his owner also. Take constructive criticism and help along your journey. With good leadership, we can all achieve great things. Remaining focused helps us to maintain.

Image taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bulldog.

Black History is everyday...

I apologize for not keeping up with my blog in the past few months as I should. I have had many moments of reflection, change, and insight which have kept me quite busy. I know there are many people who thought I should have at least posted thoughts in honor of black history month. Instead I chose to get up and get out in an effort to support black businesses and matters relevant to the community. I couldn't make it to everything but I will definitely make a conscious effort to get out and about much more. Besides, we should celebrate the contributions of our Black people more than in the month of February and that is what I intend to do.

Just to highlight a few activities, I attended a book signing in support of a local author by the name of Kianna Alexander. I learned a lot just by listening to her process and journey! It was much more powerful than I imagined. I escorted a few mentees to a black-owned dentist office where they learned about not only oral hygienic care but about life choices and the power in respect! I viewed The Butler with a room full of mentees and had a deep conversation about the content.

Most importantly, I gave back to me! I have been working very diligently on my own business! My website has a new look and I hope that you enjoy all that you see. I even joined in on a company selling candles that I just adore. The scents are so satisfying in my home. Visit my site http://mysoylscents.com/ID/inspireabc or click on the tab Candle Therapy above. There will definitely be a candle post coming soon!

Please sign up to begin receiving updates about my blog. When I redesigned the site, I lost all subscribers. So please support me and continue to inspire me by giving me valuable feedback.

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Have you supported a small business lately?

Sometimes fixing the problem can be as simple as listening...

After looking at a YouTube video, I laughed...not because it was funny, but because I could totally relate. My husband and I have had numerous discussions about him just listening. There are times when I have to vent about a situation to help release tension and pressure to refrain from getting to the point of being annoyed.  He always tries to fix the problem and provides suggestions for things that I should do to feel better about the situation. However, his speaking only makes the issue worse! LOL Because all I need is an ear to listen to my situation and try to understand what I am feeling for adequate support at the time. Now, I have learned to just tell him that I just need him to listen before he gets too deep in providing solutions. Thankfully, he has definitely been working on it now :-). What we don't understand is that sometimes the problem is already fixed. Many times we already know what we need to do next to make the situation better or fix the problem on our own. Often the problem fixes itself. It is okay to not always fix the problem. Just listen! Copy and paste the link to watch the video.

Click here to watch the video.






 

Love Your Body Type

After catching a clip of Queen Latifah's show today at the gym, I heard some amazing inspiration about body image.  Although the show was about getting healthy and incorporating ways to stick to the usual "I want to lose weight" new year resolution, I got something much deeper out of what I saw.  The Hollywood Trainer, Jeanette Jenkins was featured on the Living segment of the show. She looks great! She seems to have so much energy! It just does not seem to all come from simply working out.  Jeanette Jenkins made a comment about learning to love yourself.  Even though we all head to the gym to work out for a "better" body, we need to learn to take a moment to appreciate the body we already have.  So many times, we get to the point of giving up because it seems as though no matter how hard we try to get that perfect figure we never get it.  The problem comes from the different body types that I learned about as Jeanette Jenkins was talking. The three body types that she spoke of were the ectomorph, endomorph, and mesomorph body types that determined body shape. 
Ectomorph - lean/thin
Mesomorph - Athletic/Muscular Build
Endomorph - Soft/Curvy (tends to be a bit more flabby)
Therefore, if you have an endomorph body build, you can't expect to go to the gym and come out with the ectomorph build. You have to be realistic if you are exercising and losing weight naturally.

The following site http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/becker3.htm has a quiz that you can take to determine the body type you are and also offers suggestions for your particular build. Isn't that great!? Now, you can customize your workouts to your body rather than doing the basic exercises you've been told to do all your life.

The moral of this post is that before you can venture out to improve your image, you must first love who you are.  That means you need to remind yourself daily when you look in the mirror that you look good. Despite what we have been told looks good by society, we have to still love who we are because no matter how much work and time we put in, we will never have another body. All we have is ours. So, love yourself for what you've been given.

Respect

"You don't have to like me, but you will respect me!" We've all heard someone say this before at some point.  You may have even said it yourself. Respect is more than just biting our tongue so we don't say the wrong thing to an elder or being so afraid of someone's reaction that we can barely even express ourself. Respect is evident when we show regard for other's feelings and are considerate to others despite past circumstances.  Before we can ask someone to respect us, we must know what respect is.  There are times when I see young ladies yelling out that someone needs to respect them, yet they go out and do things that are disrespectful to their selves by acting out in foolish ways in public because someone said something slick. There are males who would rather fight as a way of gaining respect because they feel as though someone looked at them the wrong way. To be respected, you must be someone worthy of being respected. Respecting others is the first step, because how you respect others determines how respectful you are deeming you worthy of respect. What we must do before we can ask for someone to respect us is to analyze our own behaviors that are worthy of being respected and evaluate the characteristics we possess that are likely to be disrespected. If we find ourselves being disrespected for the same things, maybe it is time to think of ways to change those behaviors. I know when some people hear that they need to change something about their self, they begin the argument that people need to like them for who they are. However, we need to understand that there are behaviors that we inherit and learn from our environment that are unacceptable and unworthy of being respected. It is nearly impossible to grow and mature by doing the same things from childhood. At some point, we have to learn and change to mature into a person worthy of being respected. Changing learned behaviors is something that is easier said than done, but with persistence it can be done.