When your hands are shaking so badly,
your body is an Earthquake.
When your mind is a war-zone of worry.
When uncertainty is an uninvited guest
snaking its way inside your mind
and poisoning it with doubt.
When you are weighed down by
what is not yours to carry.
When depression feels like a friend
and sadness a sister
Remind yourself that you exist.
Don’t you know purpose entered your lungs armed and ready for battle?
The universe waits for you with unparalleled patience.
Accepting delay
Tolerating suffering
A vase for your tears
An embrace for your misunderstanding.
Remember how your bones were formed and stitched together
inside someone else’s body.
Remember that you are a miracle
a divine welcome
Your mother and father’s prophecy
a spiritual alliance of their passion
their history in one body.
You are history
soil and earth
a timeless treasure.
Purpose waits for you to find the courage
to see yourself
because you exist.
You take up space
you send energy out into the world
you vibrate a frequency that someone else feels
you speak a language that someone else understands
You are the manifestation of love
And the universe commands that you jump
even when your heart is in your throat
because you are here
Remind yourself
that you
exist.
Have you heard? I am Soul won the Kindle Book Award for Poetry in the 8th Annual Kindle Book Award Ceremony. Because I want you to get your hands on this book without breaking the bank, I have lowered the kindle book to 99cents for a limited time. Click here to get it now.
Note: This poem is not in the book. This poem is new.
“Today I finished reading Keep Yourself Full, and I am beyond in awe of this book! There were so many amazing points made in this work – even tips that I was not fully aware of. That says so much to me, as someone who thought they were aware of how to care for myself. While reading about self-abuse and indicators of it really opened my eyes to how much I don’t know! I look forward to buying a few copies to send my close friends.”
– K. McCoy
“I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book/devotional (It was like a devotional for me). I had been looking for a book such as this that was more of encouragement/devotional type… the topics that you chose were fitting for any individual. I even caught myself reading points that were real and true out loud to my husband (Balance and Value). I am so glad that you decided to write this type of book. I know this will encourage people because it encouraged me as I was reading it.”
– Natashia Crawford
“This was a wonderful, inspiring read. I felt the book flowed well overall and the various parts seemed to go in a nice order. The writing style was poetic in a way and I felt as though it mimicked the way the verses were told, which I thought was a nice touch. It wasn’t “preachy” at all and it was just a general bout of information to remind everyone we should take better care of ourselves.”
– Rachel Poli
“Oh wow, Yecheilyah, I loved it. I’m following some of the advice you gave and finding such a difference in how I think about things. This is a wonderful book.
– Adele
About.
Keep Yourself Full is a spiritual handbook that focuses on our return to self-love. It is a reminder that self-care nourishes the quality of our lives and makes us fit to be of service to others. Through my testimony, I give examples of how we self-abuse and how that differs from self-love, why it is essential not to take things so personally, why we must establish and enforce healthy boundaries, and how assumptions kill relationships. We learn that by investing in our well-being spiritually, physically, mentally, and professionally, we can be of service fully to others. It cannot be ignored that we treat others how we feel about ourselves. When we realize that what we do to others, we are equally doing to ourselves, we can use this awareness to heal. By treating ourselves better, we treat others better. Keep Yourself Full is about keeping ourselves filled with love and all that is good so that we are overflowing with enough to share with everyone else.
“Beta reader has been adopted from the software industry where programmers release a ‘beta’ version of a new program to people who will test it. The beta version comes after the Alpha version (a writer’s first draft). Beta Reader means someone who evaluates a manuscript. Beta testers find the bugs and improve the software’s usability before the final “release” version goes on sale. A beta reader tests your manuscript (by reading it), and tells you about the ‘bugs’ so you can improve its readability, its usefulness and even its sales ability.”
– Belinda Pollard of “Write & Publish Like a Pro”
I am looking for people willing to “Test Drive” Keep Yourself Full, a short inspiring reminder that self-care nourishes the quality of our life and makes us fit to be of service to others.
Keep Yourself Full is perfect for:
Bible Believers
Inspirational / Motivational Readers
Poets / Creatives
Life Coaches
Having a few of you Beta read before the edit would be enormously helpful.
You’ll get a copy of the book in exchange for constructive feedback. You will also get to leave your Honest Review of the read once it goes up for preorder.
As a reminder, the rules are as follows:
Download the book when it’s emailed to you.
Read the book and email me your feedback / suggested changes.
When the book is up for preorder, in return for the free book, you are to leave an Honest Review* on Amazon and any other retailer of your choice when it’s available.
*You can leave a review anywhere the book is available but to get credit a review must be left on Amazon*
About Book Reviews:
The review doesn’t have to be an essay, college paper or thesis. You are not required to be the smartest person in the room.
You are only required to leave your Honest thoughts on the book no matter how short or long, whether you liked it or didn’t like it.
Please leave a disclaimer at the front end of the review that you received the book as an ARC or gift from the author. Example: “I received a copy of this book as an ARC (or gift) from the author.”
Be sure that you notify me of the review in some way (tag me on social media, link to this blog, email me) when it’s posted so that you are given credit and remain part of the program.
This book is short so it won’t take up much time and is perfect if you fall into the following categories:
Bible Believers
Inspirational / Motivational Readers
Poets / Creatives
Life Coaches
Interested?
CLICK HERE SO THAT YOU GET A COPY WHEN IT’S EMAILED OUT.
I am looking for readers who are interested in something inspirational and motivational but also biblical and poetic with a touch of self-help and life lessons.
Welcome back to Movie Night Friday. Doggie, say hi.
The Dog EC Hired to Help Host Movie Night Friday.
I know what you’re thinking “That movie was whack”. Which is exactly why we are reviewing it today! This movie has so many messages it’s not even funny. And as a box office disappointment worldwide, I am sure that many of us missed them.
About.
From Wikipedia:
In the 21st century, an environmental cataclysm forces the human race to abandon Earth and to settle on a new world, Nova Prime. One thousand years later, the Ranger Corps, a peacekeeping organization commanded by General Cypher Raige (Will Smith), comes into conflict with the S’krell, alien creatures who intend to conquer Nova Prime. Their secret weapons are the Ursas, large predatory creatures that hunt by “sensing” fear. The Rangers struggle against the Ursas until Cypher learns how to completely suppress his fear, a technique called “ghosting”. After teaching this technique to the other Rangers, he leads the Ranger Corps to victory. Meanwhile, Cypher’s son Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) blames himself for the death of his sister Senshi (Zoë Kravitz) at the hands of an Ursa. Kitai trains to become a Ranger like Cypher, but his application is rejected due to his recklessness. Kitai’s mother Faia (Sophie Okonedo) convinces Cypher to take Kitai on his last voyage before retirement.
The movie gets going after their spaceship crashes due to an asteroid shower. The crash kills everyone on board except for Cypher and Kitai but Cypher’s leg is broken. It is then up to Kitai to move across the dangerous planet to where the other part of the ship landed to retrieve the instrument that will allow them to access the help they need. The planet is dangerous and filled with animals and aliens that kill humans. Welcome to earth.
As stated, there’s a lot in this movie but I am drafting this late and so I’m kinda tired. Buuutt, I like you. (Kinda …lol) So I still managed to choose five of the key lessons that stuck out to me:
#1. You’re Not Ready
In the beginning of the movie, Kitai is rejected from being a ranger which makes him upset. However, sometimes we think we’re ready for something that we have no idea we’re not ready for. We can feel ready but without the experience of enduring the necessary hardships it takes to get to that level, we will not actually be ready. Without falling and getting back up babies do not learn to walk. Kitai is a baby and still has a lot of fear in his heart.
#2. Fear is not real
This leads me to the next, most prominent message. The most popular quote from the movie:
“You have to remember, fear is not real. The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future. It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things that do not at present and may not ever exist. That is near insanity. Do not misunderstand me. Danger is very real, but fear is a choice.”
Cypher explains this to Kitai after explaining how he Ghost for the first time and even though it’s a movie, I do believe it is true. We choose to be afraid and we choose what fear makes us do. Danger is real and it is only foolish not to prepare for danger but the act of being afraid is something we choose to do. Why? Because we limit ourselves to physical limitations but faith? Faith is limitless and where there is faith, there is no fear. Where there is fear, there is no faith. The two cannot coexist.
#3. Ghosting
Speaking of fear, one of the dominant messages in the movie, the thing that Kitai set out to perfect is Ghosting. It is when the soldiers can rid themselves of fear. When this happens, the aliens cannot see them, thus they Ghost. This gives them an upper hand and they can now defeat the enemy. Throughout the movie Kitai’s goal is to be like his dad and Cypher is known for Ghosting. It is what makes him strong. (There’s another part to this. Masking his emotions makes Cypher stronger but it also makes him weak in a way because by coming across emotionless and cold he is unable to connect emotionally with his son).
To fight your demons, you must rid yourself of the fear of them because fear is the power they have over you. I remember watching Nightmare on Elmstreet. At the end, Nancy turned her back on Freddy and he disappeared. Once she let go of her fear of him, he could not exist. Maya Angelou said the greatest of all virtues is courage because you can’t practice anything consistently without courage. Fear will always hold you back.
#4. Your Father Knows Your Heart / Leads, Guides You
One powerful scene is when Kitai lied about his number of breathing elements. Since humans are no longer in tuned with the earth, the air has changed and can kill them so they have to take breathing fluids. Long story short, while Cypher can’t accompany Kiati on his mission because of his leg, he can see him, monitor him and guide him along the way. Kitai can’t see his father physically but he’s there watching over him. Anywho, Cypher asks Kitai how many breathing fluids he has left and he lies about it. When he lies the heart monitor goes off. Cypher asks him to repeat his answer. His father knows he’s lying. The message is that a father (Like YAH our father, the creator) knows our hearts. He also watches over us and guides us. Even though we cannot physically see him, he’s there.
#5. Endure Trial
Once Kitai spent time in an environment that tested his faith and forced him to move passed the fear, by the end of the movie he was actually ready to be a ranger. Not that he wanted to after what he and his father had been through but in essence he was ready. When you ask for strength be ready to receive it. It is not something that will fall into your lap “Wilily Nilly”. It is something that comes only as a result of overcoming. Truth is, Kitai couldn’t be made Ranger at the beginning because he had never been through anything. (By the end Cypher also learns to be vulnerable with his son).
You see, the reason many people disliked this movie is because the movie itself is spiritual and packed with symbolism when most people just want to be entertained. Not only did Will and Jaden carry the entire movie but they did so well.
Movie Trailer
Next week, I will speak about the TV show Underground and why I love it. Stay tuned!
The PBS Blog 