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Up thinking about the excuses we make for “the way we are.” You know– “I’m like this because so and so made me like this,” “I’m like this because of the way I was raised,” and so forth. Those are just excuses for not changing. I know, because I’ve been there.

Whenever I didn’t want to change a behavior, I would blame it on someone else or some past hurt or disappointment. “I hate cleaning up on Saturday mornings because my momma made me do it” or “I’ll never fall in love again because so and so hurt me.” Just threw that one in cause I couldn’t think of anything else– shoot, I’m sleepy– lol. Anyway, there are so many more that I’ve used.

When I finally realized they were just excuses, my life began to change. I wasn’t emotionally scarred. I just didn’t want to change. I actually liked being miserable. There’s something about emotional hurt that’s comforting. Sounds crazy, but it’s true. It allows you to put the blame on someone, or something, other than yourself. Whether we want to admit it or not, we’re in control of our feelings. We choose the way we respond. Even if it’s only for a split second, we think “Should I be mad or not? Um.. yeah, I should be mad! I’m gonna be mad, act mad, and look mad!” Didn’t you feel good just thinking about it? Lol! Crazy, huh!

Now, I’m not saying that I’ve mastered this, because I haven’t. I still allow people, things and situations upset me. However, it never lasts long. I like being happy. Believe me, life is so much more pleasant when you’re happy. Oh— I can’t act like I did it all by myself. Nope. It was God! All God! I’m so happy He loves me! He introduced me to the power of positivity. Yep. He loves me!

Okay, I’m going to sleep. This was very random. Hopefully some of it made sense. If not, oh well. Life is short and I felt like writing. That’s why it’s called “It’s Shaun’s World.”

Shaun
#StayPositive
#BeBlessed

Woke up with the song “Alabaster Box” by CeCe Winans on my mind. My favorite part is, “You weren’t there the night Jesus found me. You did not feel what I felt when He wrapped His loving arms around me. You don’t know the cost of the oil in my alabaster box.” Whew!! God is so awesome! I’m so happy He loves me. Here are the lyrics.

Alabaster Box
CeCe Winans
Written by Janice Sjostran

The room grew still
As she made her way to Jesus
She stumbled through the tears
That make her blind
She felt such pain
Some spoke in anger
Heard folks whisper
There’s no place here for her kind

Still on she came
Through the shame that flushed her face
Until at last she knelt before his feet
And though she spoke no words
Everything she said was heard
As she poured her love for the master
From her box of Alabaster

And I’ve come to pour
My praise on Him like oil
From Mary’s Alabaster Box
Don’t be angry if I wash His feet with my tears
And I dry them with my hair
You weren’t there the night He found me
You did not feel what I felt
When He wrapped His loving arms around me
And you don’t know the cost
Of the oil in my Alabaster box

I can’t forget the way life used to be
I was a prisoner to the sin that had me bound
And I spent my days
Poured my life without measure
Into a little treasure box
I thought I found
Until the day when Jesus came to me
And healed my soul with the wonder of His touch

So now I’m giving back to Him
All the praise He’s worthy of
I’ve been forgiven and that’s why
I love Him so much

And I’ve come to pour
My praise on Him like oil
From Mary’s Alabaster Box
Don’t be angry if I wash His feet with my tears
And I dry them with my hair
You weren’t there the night He found me
You did not feel what I felt
When He wrapped His loving arms around me
And you don’t know the cost
Of the oil in my Alabaster box

Shaun
#ForeverGrateful
#BeBlessed🙏🏽❤️

Guess this will be another random. Lol

I’m laying here thinking about life in general— kids, work, school, my future, my purpose, etc. In between thoughts, I find myself thanking God. God is in everything I do. He’s in every decision I make. I’m so grateful for the things He’s doing in my life; for the things He’s doing in the lives of my family and friends. He’s so amazing. #Grateful!

I guess that’s all I needed to say. Good night/morning! Oh, my next term starts tomorrow. Keep me in your prayers. I love y’all!

Shaun
#BeBlessed

Final paper submitted. First term of my doctoral program completed. Feeling accomplished. Praising God.

In June, I decided to make my 45th year, special. I needed to celebrate me. I can’t explain it. There’s something about turning 40 that’s life changing. However, 45 is like the year of awesomeness– EMPOWERMENT! Like I said, I can’t explain it. You have to experience it for yourself.

After spending an amazing birthday weekend with friends, I decided to take the leap. Should’ve been a year into a program anyway. The goal was to enroll after Ki (my daughter) graduated from college. Well, here I am a year later, pursuing my doctorate in Public Health. It’s already been rough. I’ve had to make a lot of adjustments. I have very little free time, and in a few weeks I won’t have any. However, I’m taking it all in stride. My wise, little sister said, “Every day is a day closer to graduation.” Something like that- Lol. And she’s right.

One term down. Many more to go. I can do this!!

Shaun
#FulfillingMyPurpose

As Christian Keyes says, “I ain’t want nothing.” Just thought I’d check in. I hope you’re having a fabulous week!

Life is short. Smile, you’re FABULOUS!

Shaun
#LovingLife

This is going to be brief… I think… We shall see. Lol!

I’m not going to lie, I love social media. Social media is where I find inspiration and motivation. I love seeing others succeed. I love celebrating their successes and sharing them with others. And if I’m really hyped about something, I’ll promote it like crazy! Now tweeting… that’s a-whole-different subject for another blog. Lawd knows I’m hooked!

I know my description of social media sounds fabulous and all, but there’s a downside. For me, social media is time consuming. It’s a rabbit hole. I click on a social media site with the intention of quickly skimming through posts, only to look up half an hour later and I’m still on the same site. Then I remember I have three more sites to check and they all have multiple accounts (business/professional and personal). It’s pretty overwhelming, but I’m hooked!

About a month ago, I decided to schedule my social media time (see my last blog- Late Night/Early Morning Ramblings). Scheduling the time has actually worked. During the weekdays, I’m pretty good at sticking to my schedule. However, on the weekends, I’m terrible; and this morning I finally realized that I reward myself with social media time (SMT)– not food, but Social Media Time!

So over the past month, after accomplishing major goals (homework assignments- lol- it’s serious!), I have been rewarding myself with unlimited social media time. I feel like a kid on Christmas day! Y’all, I have fallen asleep with the phone in my hand. It’s crazy! So now I’m trying to figure out how to handle this problem. I have never rewarded myself with food. So food is not an option. Since rewarding myself with SMT has gotten so out of hand, what shall I do? If you’re reading this, I really need suggestions. Help!

Shaun

So, I decided to take a nap yesterday evening and slept much longer than anticipated. Last week was pretty hectic. I’m laying here thinking about some of the decisions I made and how to, or not to, make them again.

The good decisions were made when I remained focused on achieving my goals and stayed on task. I stayed on task by limiting my social media time and following a set schedule; which is something I rarely do. Let me tell you how well I did. Y’all, I was so proud of myself! For those who don’t know me, you’ll probably think this isn’t a big deal. But for those who do, you know it’s big! So, I have “Tyler Tuesdays” scheduled from 8:00 PM – 9:30 PM on Tuesday nights so I can tweet during the Haves and Have Nots/If Loving You Is Wrong and reply to tweets afterwards. Last week I actually stuck with my schedule! Usually I’m tweeting ALL night and waking up during the night replying to tweets. Yes…it’s that serious. The point is, I was disciplined enough stay within the schedule 1.5 hour time frame. I shut it down at 9:30 PM. Not 9:31 but 9:30. I felt great! The next day I was on a roll. I was completing tasks like a robot. I was doing so well until…

The things that followed “until”… messed me up, threw me off track. Like- it wasn’t until I became frustrated with a task that I began to scroll through social media; it wasn’t until I received that phone call that got me flustered and I threw a pity party (just being real); it wasn’t until I had to run unscheduled errands that got me off track and I couldn’t recover; it wasn’t until I took a nap and slept longer than intended… There’s so much more I could add, more excuses. Yeah, that’s what they are– excuses. Everything I mentioned above I could have easily recovered from and gotten back on track; however, I chose not to. It was a choice.

Going forward, I have to become more disciplined and stay focused. It’s the only way I’ll make it through the next few years. I have to keep my eyes on the prize. What’s waiting on the other side is worth the sacrifice.

With that said, one issue I need to get under control is social media. I love scrolling through social media. It’s probably one of my favorite pass-times; however, it’s an issue. I would be lying if I said I’m giving it up because I’m not. Social media isn’t the problem. It’s the amount of time I waste on social media that’s an issue. So… I’m adding “Social Media Time” to my schedule. (Okay, this is random, but whenever I say “Social Media Time” all I can hear is Mama Tina (Beyoncé’s mom) saying “It’s Corny Joke Time!”). I had to add that tiny piece of info because I wanted y’all to hear it, too. Anyway…now social media has a time slot.

I must remember, in order to be successful, I have to stay focused. My purpose does not have room for distractions or excuses!

Goodnight/morning,

Shaun

#NoMoreDistractions
#NoMoreExcuses
#StayFocused
#UNGeneva

Have you ever wondered why you have to face so many challenges to get to where you desire and deserve to be? I know I have. I think about it all the time. This morning I came across a quote, “Don’t give up. Great things take time.” After thinking about for a while, and sharing it with a few people, something clicked– I’m being groomed.

God has been grooming me since the day I was born. Everything I have gone through was preparing me for what is to come. I’m really emotional right now because I can see it. It all makes sense. I’m not saying I enjoyed the challenges and setbacks. Not at all! What I’m saying is, I made it! Y’all, I’m still amazed at some of the things I’ve accomplished!

Tomorrow my next big adventure begins. I’m excited! However, I’m also a little nervous. Been blocking out all of the negative thoughts that have been trying to surface. Thoughts like– Are you sure you can do this? Are you good enough? Are you smart enough? Do others believe you’re smart enough? It’s amazing how your own thoughts can stop you from moving forward. Not this time!

My goal is to tackle every challenge as I have in the past– PRAY, then suck it up and do whatever needs to be done. That’s how I made it through basic training. That’s how I made it through labor. It’s how I make it through daily challenges.

I’m pretty sure I’ll write about my journey. I know there will be challenges; however, I’m ready for them. God has paved the way and it’s time for me to move forward. As they say, “Pray my strength in the Lord” because I know I’ll need it. Some of you know what I mean. For those who don’t, just pray for me.

Y’all, I’m excited!! The best is yet to come. As the song says, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!”- Donald Lawrence “The Best is Yet to Come”

Smiling,

Shaun

I had to share this because I didn’t realize extreme fatigue was a symptom. No one told me I would be tired all of the time.

It’s been three and a half weeks since my hysterectomy. The first couple of weeks I never thought about how tired I was. I guess the gas and abdominal pains overshadowed everything else. Ha! The pain was real!

Well, last week I noticed I was more tired than usual. Last weekend I started napping a lot. I just assumed it was my body telling me I needed to rest. So I napped. Then one nap a day turned into two naps. Now I’m up to three naps.

I’m not going to lie, I started freaking out. I automatically assumed something deadly was happening. Did I have some kind of internal bleeding going on? And it couldn’t possibly be anemia because that was supposed to be cured with the hysterectomy, right? Hmm…

Yesterday, I started back taking my iron pills because they always gave me more energy. Today I decided to google (something I despise doing for medical symptoms) extreme fatigue after a hysterectomy and guess what popped up? Hundreds of testimonies and a WebMD confirmation that it’s an actual symptom. Say what? I’m not being lazy. I’m actually tired.

I have a follow up appointment next week. I’m going to inform my gynecologist of the symptoms and suggest that he includes extreme fatigue in the list of symptoms they provide patients at discharge.

I thought I was on my last leg, y’all! I always thank God for waking me up, but last night when I went to sleep I wasn’t so sure I would be here today. As I write this blog, I’m about to fall over. I just had to get this out. Extreme fatigue is real! Getting ready to listen to my body (I know I need sleep because I wake up every morning before dawn) and take a nap AND I refuse to feel guilty about it.

Peace!

Shaun

This is going to be short. I’m feeling some kind of way. Someone tweeted that their vision has always been to never have their mother, sisters, future wife and children have the need to know the price of a carton of milk. I understand the “have the need to know” part. I know what he’s saying. He wants his family in a position where they can afford their needs. Understandable.

I want the same for mine. I want to be able to provide for my family to the point where they don’t have to worry about if they’ll have money to buy food or pay bills. I believe that’s what we all strive for. However, I want my children to know how much a carton of milk costs. I want them to know that there is someone walking around wondering if the $10 they have in their pocket will be enough to buy food for the next few days. I want them to be aware that everyone can’t just put items in a shopping cart without paying attention to the price.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against people living their best lives and enjoying the fruits of their labor. My concern is when they forget everyone can’t afford the same lifestyle. There are millions who can’t afford food for the entire month. So, yeah, they pay attention to the price of everything. Every penny counts.

One of my pet peeves is hearing someone who has started eating healthier tell others how to modify their diet. The ones who can afford fresh or organic foods, or go on these fad diets, start to preach health to those who can’t afford the food. They make others believe that they don’t have a chance at being healthy because they can’t afford certain food items. This drives me crazy because it’s not true. A person doesn’t have to eat organic food to be healthy. Anyway… that’s a-whole-nother story.

As, I’ve said before, my blogs are very random. This one was really random. That tweet struck a nerve. I never want my children to have so much that they can’t understand why a person has to choose canned green beans over frozen.

Good Day!

Shaun