Birthday Food For Thought, Part II: "Words"

Count 'em down!!! 2 days 'til my birthday! Yeah!

Words.

Words are the beginning of all things.

Words make the world go round.

This past year, more than ever, I've been interested in words and their power.

Their power over me, and those around me, that is.

I will almost go so far as to say that I'm a product of what I hear and what I say.

It may sound far fetched, but let me elaborate.

I wrote in Serenity's Birthday and Original Oldgirl Status post back in early January:

Words produce thoughts…
Thoughts produce action…
Actions produce our destiny…

If you can think back, ladies, a man could say just the right words to make you think you're the best thing that ever happened to him, causing you to yank your panties off and give him all that is sacred and true. Fellas, a woman could do and say things to have your nose sooo wide open that you'd forgo handling your business, instead shelling out all kinds of cash to get her whatever she wants and to keep her happy...

(If you haven't had such experiences, then... good for you.)

I can look back at snapshots, small chunks of my life, and see the power of words. If I'm in a bad place, and take a moment to ponder the root of that bad place, I must say that it all started with words.

It all started with some words.

Conversely, I can also say the same thing for when I'm in a good place.

Looking way back at a particularly dreadful time of my life, some 15-18 years ago, I can see how music influenced me something terrible. Back then, the rap music was bursting at the seams with tales of Tanqu.eray Gin, the chronic (weed), malt liquor and such. Cuss words were strung tightly together and made to look lovely, like pearls on a string.

Man, that was ALL we use to listen to. ALL THE TIME.

So there was no suprise that I smoked a lot of weed, I drank a lot liquor... I cussed like an old sailor. (Still open my Book of Cuss from time to time to this very day.)

The root of that, I submit, was all those words funneling into my ears. My spirit soaked it up like a sponge, and my thoughts became crowded with it all.

When it gets like that, SOMETHING'S gonna happen.

My cup runneth over... and the wrong stuff was flowing out of that cup.

Words produce thoughts…
Thoughts produce action…
Actions produce our destiny…

And it was no wonder I was in a bad place in life at the time... A very bad place.

This year, like I said, words have affected me in many different ways: In my writing, my finances, my journal writing group activities, and a host of other ways. If I wrote about it all, this post would be a gazillion pages long. (Shut up and be still, LBeezy. I can see the gas face you're making, boo. LOL.)

I will only talk about finances here.

A couple years ago, LBeezy was running her mouth hard on the email thread about finances. She'd gotten a financial advisor and was making all kinds of progress. I remember thinking how complicated the things were that she spoke of. I'm 9 years older than her, and I must say, I was a little disappointed in myself that I didn't have the financial savvy she possessed. I could've been working on some things myself, you know.

She got me to thinking. I remember asking her to send me a spreadsheet here and there, etc... I didn't do much with that, but I must say that the chick had me thinking. I promised myself that I would get my finances straightened out or find a class or something in 2007. I even started praying about it.

This year, I had the opportunity to take a finance class with some of my book club sistas. I love my book club, because there are SO many extracurricular activities available to help me grow as a person.

Well, my sister Kentucky joined in with me. Me and Kentucky RARELY do things together, since we are so spread apart in age (She is 26.) I think she thinks I'm an old fogey. She and my brother look at me like I'm some odd bird that just flew into the room when I get off on one my many rants.

But I told her about the class, and she expressed interest. So that was our little Wednesday night activity for 13 weeks during the latter part of last year. For 2 hours each week, a crew of us would go to my book club sista Kat's house and watch a Dave Ram.sey Financial Peace DVD, and follow it up with discussion of the lesson and our personal financial issues.

Now, I'd been a member of the finance group of my book club all year long, where we met once a month. (When my leader Erica paid off her debt, I barbequed EVERY piece of meat on the planet. HA!)

I remember joining the group and being all skeptic. My leader Erica and I had quite a few emails going back and forth concerning my financial picture. She was acting as my bootleg "work-for-free" Financial Advisor at the time. After laying out all my income, debt, and each and every credit card balance, I waited to hear her expert advice. The convos went back and forth, something to the order of...

"LadyLee, you need to do Blah, blah, blah..."
"Naw'l now, Erica! Hold on girl!"
"LadyLee, it is best if you, blah, blah, blah..."
" I hear what you saying, but, I don't agree, blah, blah, blah... I'm going to do blah, blah, blah."

I'm suprised she didn't throw me into a headlock for alllll the trash I talked.

But me and my deputy leader Tiffy D talked about it one day. I told her:

"Listen, I'm just gonna stick around and come to meetings."

I said that because I know the power of WORDS.

I told Tiffy D... Look, if we had a Mountain Climbing group instead of a Finance group, knowing that NONE of us are remotely interested in that activity, something
interesting will eventually happen. We sit around long enough talking about mountain climbing, reading books on mountain climbing...

Somethings gonna happen. Somebody's (probably Kat, the Obi-Wan Kenobi of our group, lol), is going to break out with some rock hooks, some ropes, some boots, some hand chalk or something like that. And eventually, somebody's going to plan a trip.

And we'll all be out there scaling a doggone mountain like some pros!

I think I saw the same thing happen this year with my finances. Later in the year, I told my leader Erica not to worry about me, because...

"My faith comes by hearing!"

I know that is part of a bible verse. Romans 10:17 to be exact. But I think it's applicable in many different ways, shapes and forms...

We're always hearing something. Faith comes by hearing, and ya'll know FEAR comes by hearing. You gonna hear something first before you start doing it..

I said that to Erica because I believe one thing to be true: If I hear some words long enough, those words gonna have me thinking, and I'm will eventually take action. I told my sister this. She was excited about the class, but I could tell she was a bit antsy. I told her don't worry about it.

"You just need to sit there and 'hear' a few things, on a consistent basis. Put your fears to the side for a minute. Just show up and listen."

Well, after awhile, I noticed my sister constantly wanting to discuss all things financial. She was always reading different things about finances and money, and would come at me with all kinds of questions and thoughts. I mean I wanted to tell that chick to leave me alone at times. But I let her talk. She is a quiet something, but she was all excited about that.

Needless to say, my sister paid off ALL her credit card debt. ALL of it. (That gal had A LOT!) And she's about to pay off the new car she's had for a couple of years in another few months, I believe. Humph.

Her words, the constant convos while we washed dishes, cleaned the house, cooked dinner, etc... got to me too. It helped to have someone around the house to talk to about such things. I paid off 40% of my debt, and looking forward to have the rest taken care of before year's end.

Words... they affect our personal worlds each and every day.

I am learning to appreciate the power of words.

Now you may say... "That's hogwash, LadyLee! Pure Mumbo Jumbo, Oldgirl!"

I submit that it's not.

I will give you an example.

What do you think about when you see, read, or hear the following word:

GREEN

I would guess you think about the color of grass, the color of money, even of it being your favorite color, perhaps.

I must say, I don't think of such things. For the past, oh, 2 years I believe, I think something else when I see that word.

Let me throw another word with it.

GO GREEN

Yeah!

I. arrest. my. case.

Those two words probably got you (and me) doing things we don't normally do. If not, just give it a little time. you WILL be doing some things different. Watch.


Hmm...

Ya'll have a good evening. And don't forget to vote.

~LL~