Are You Prepared?
At a very early age, we all develop dreams, goals, visions and ideas. These are things that will either make us or break us in our lives. Although many people want things, they are not always prepared to handle them when they arrive. This might be a house, car, dream job, amazing spouse, loving family or successful ministry. It doesn't matter what you seek after, it is important to realize that you very rarely ever get something for nothing. I was one month away from graduating from high school when I heard something that would change my life forever. I remember walking in my sister’s room and she was watching PBS. There was an African-American man speaking. Hr was empowering and motivating people. His name was Les Brown. It was rare to see any person of color inspiring others on T.V. in those days, especially in Reno, Nevada. I briefly payed attention to the broadcast when he said, “It's better to be prepared for an opportunity, than have an opportunity and not be prepared." When I heard this quote it penetrated my mind. In that moment I had to ask myself, “Am I prepared for life after graduation?” I knew I wasn’t so the question became, "What can I do to prepare myself?" It's interesting to see how many of us are not prepared for greatness that lies in our future. The older we get, the more we allow our dreams to slip away. The reason why we allow this to happen is because life doesn’t always turn out to be what we thought it would. Consider the things you set out to do when you were around 18 years old; things that you said you wanted to be or that you wanted to accomplish. How many have you completed successfully? When I was in high school, I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. Growing up in church, I knew I needed a good Wife that would pray with me and for me on my journey, but didn't know much more than that. In the coming year, rehash the desires you said you wanted to pursue and accomplish. Ask yourself, "Am I prepared for my opportunities?" We are approaching the end of the year and many times we don't feel that our New Year's Resolution from the the current year has been completed. Reflect on the things that you told yourself you wanted to accomplish by the end of 2016. Ask yourself whether or not you have met those goals in your life. Then ask yourself why you haven’t done those things and what’s stopping you from moving forward now. I never thought in a million years that I would write two books, a career curriculum, a school curriculum, a 100-page film script and a music CD. Simply because of the challenges I faced in my life when I was just a young boy in school. If I would have allowed the negativity of others to stop me from achieving greatness, none of these things would have been created. These are things that will leave a mark on the earth long after I'm gone for other generations to review. Are you prepared to leave yours? Here is 7 Keys you need in order to be prepared:
Write things down.
Read them daily, weekly, and monthly.
Then speak them.
Reflect on them.
Prepare yourself mentally for them.
Make sure you believe them.
Then pursue them.