I’ve moved.

Please update your RSS Feed to include my new website MakashaDorsey.com–a wife in progress. I look forward to connecting with you.

5 Signs you spend a lot of time on Twitter

 

1. You hand write a note to your child’s teacher and the salutation is “Dear @msjones”
2. You are fluent in “Twanguage” – Twitter Language: Twamily, Tweople, and the like.
3. You think in 140 characters or less.
4. You dream that your are having an in person conversation with @chrisbrogan, a person you’ve never met, but instead of hearing his voice he speaks on text balloons of 140 words or less.
5. Your husband finds out you are pregnant at the same time as your 20,000 Twitter followers.

photo credit: mallix on flickr

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Optimistic

I don’t know if it’s the dawning of a New Year or gracefully making it through 2008 – a year where I was grossly challenged in every area of my life. I don’t know if it’s the sense of completeness I feel when I look into the eyes of my boys and truly believe it when I tell them “you can be anything you want as long as you work hard.” I don’t know why but I am optimistic.

I live in an America where the challenges of the past are culminating into an era of forgiveness, togetherness, and massive patriotism – the inauguration of the first African American President, Barak Obama, is just hours away. It’s sweet, almost aromatic.

Although we have much work ahead of us, my boys are growing up in an America where there will be fewer African American firsts (their dad was the first African American to get a degree from Springfield College’s graduate strength and conditioning school) and, prayerfully, an environment where their personal accomplishments will stretch far beyond the color of their skin into the entire community we call America.

Personally, I have never been this optimistic. The fear of failing has always hidden in the shadows of every goal I’ve set and in between the lines of each sentence I’ve written. But, today I dream and write under a limitless sky. I am grateful to God for keeping his promises in my life.

I enter week two of my “lifestyle change” with an optimistic determination to reach a healthy weight. I will not fail. I can only carry out the Great Commission of Jesus Christ and the call to service from our next President if I am healthy. I know that my cravings and reliance on food for comfort may grow as I continue on this journey. Nonetheless, I will “keep under my body, and bring it into subjection” (I Corinthians 9:27, KJV) so that I can withdraw from poor eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle to good, wholesome nutrition and a physically active lifestyle. I will serve others with energy and expectancy for great results.

Today, I am optimistic.

Happy New Year

Did you really think I would let the first day of the New Year pass without a post? Well, I have in the past but not this year. This is my year to write, to work.

I am thankful. Are you?

2 Things You Can Do To Combat Holiday Loneliness

For many, the holiday season can be a time of turmoil, a constant reminder of the lack of family, friends, and finances. It can also be a time of brokenness as we ponder over failed love and the desire for that perfect mate. Many people feel lonely.

According to Miriam Webster, loneliness is when one is sad from being alone. Sadness is an emotion, a feeling. There are people whose lives are filled with family and close friends yet they still feel lonely around the holidays. These feelings can creep into any persons mind.

This holiday season, I encourage you to embrace your current situation by doing the following:

ONE: Pray
Luke 5:16 says, “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

If you are in a lonely place, do what Jesus did. Do more than contemplate your past relationships and hurts; take the time to evaluate the impact you had in those relationships. How can you become a better friend, parent or spouse? Do you have goals that you’ve pushed off due to procrastination or fear?

Although Jesus made the choice to seek out a lonely place and you didn’t, take advantage of it.
Get ahead of everyone caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season, start praying for guidance on how you can be your absolute best next year.

TWO: Be a Blessing

The single most important thing you can do for others is to send up fervent prayers of blessings. Refer to task one.

The next thing you can do is to be kind. This year, make it a point not to get lost in your own business. Be aware of what’s going on around you and in your community. When you meet someone on the street, say “hello.” Find the time to help that elderly neighbor take the trash out on one of these cold winter mornings. If you have a few extra bucks, help a less fortunate family celebrate Christmas with toys for their kids and a nice spread for dinner.

Whatever you can do for someone, do it; it may stop the loneliness bug in you and prevent it in others.