Forming Positive Relationships
In the last few weeks, I've experienced two full circle moments that reminded me of this quote by Napoleon Hill: “No mind is complete by itself. It needs contact and association with other minds to grow and expand"
In other words, we become powerful beyond measure when we pursue our visions alongside others (through the power of a mastermind). This was illustrated through:
When I first started to gain traction with PR it was as a blogger in the first quarter of 2017. However, by that December, I was ready to quit writing all together
Here's why 👇🏾
"If someone who I've considered a sister for 10 years could so misconstrue and under rate my writing," I remember thinking, "What hope is there that strangers will get me?"
And so, like I said, I seriously considered calling it quits with The Far Above Rubies Collection and all the business ideas that I hoped would come out of it
Fast forward to now and I am an award winning blogger, international speaker and freelance writer who has not only been able to monetise my gift but get featured on platforms such as Thrive Global, The TEDx blog, HuffPost, Bustle, Mic, Addicted2Success, Black Ballad and more. I also just got rave reviews for Media Magic (the luxury retreat that I held in Tulum, Mexico in July teaching business women how to get PR for themselves)
What led to this success was...
It is my belief that creation often reflects the Creator, sis
In other words, we can learn more and more about God the more that we study the Earth and it’s contents.
With it being Mother’s Day in the UK today, I’ve been reflecting on motherhood
A few years ago I did a blog post on the scriptures that describe God as mother rather than Father, as we’re used to.
For example, in Deuteronomy 32:18, God describes Himself as the God “who begot” or gave birth to us
Feel free to check out some other examples here and here.
We, as women, are able to reflect this aspect of God on both a spiritual and physical plane
For example-
One of my favourite books of the Bible is Proverbs. When I’m feeling particularly demotivated (typically first thing in the morning), my go to scripture is Proverbs 6:10-11:
A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep—
So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.
It literally snatches my edges and gathers me all the way together!
I’ve always really loved the lines before this scripture too. For example, Proverbs 6:6-8
Which reads:
Go to the ant, you sluggard!
Consider her ways and be wise,
Which, having no captain,
Overseer or ruler,
Provides her supplies in the summer,
And gathers her food in the harvest.
Prior to my recent trip to Costa Rica, I always saw these lines a simple admonishment to:
Be a self-starter
Not procrastinate
Prepare
That all changed when I saw a group of ants in action and managed to capture it in the video below
I once did a whole blog post and devotional about the fact that Pharaoh’s Daughter was a fore-shadow of Christ. “How?” you ask, lovely? Because she:
Adopted Moses as her son despite the fact that her own father had issued a decree that all Hebrew male children should be killed (and, in so doing, she-)
Showed Moses Mercy just as Christ would go on to show us mercy
Yet imagine my surprise when I recently rediscovered Hebrews 11:24-25, which says that:
“Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin…”
This showed me that the same relationships that were once blessings can also go on to hold us back from speaking up, stepping out and shining as the woman of God that He created us to be, if we don’t know how to spot the 4 tell-tale signs that I shared on my Facebook page this week via the video below.
So...if you've been rocking with me for a while then you will know that I have a real heart for women and all things female empowerment.
If you've been paying really close attention, you'll also know that a lot of the reason for this is because of things like:
Having a grandmother who was denied an education (whilst growing up in Nigeria) simply because she was female- restricting her options and quality of life
Witnessing multiple (other female) role models either forfeit their dreams, stay in abusive relationships or operate from a place of low self-worth
due to projected social norms, tradition and religion.
This is why I do what I do in terms of writing, mentoring, podcasting and speaking via the FarAboveRubiesCollection.com. (By changing the narrative for Christian women- one Bible story at a time- my mission is to help Christian women to know their worth, power and purpose so that they can speak up, step out and shine as women of God (rather than end up in the kinds of situations I grew up seeing)).
Well, recently I had the opportunity to take my message offline when I was invited to speak at the "Real Life" youth event at Edmonton Methodist Church, as shown via the video below.
When I was in secondary (or high) school our head mistress taught us a song in one of our assemblies. The lyrics were:
"Accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mr. In-between"
I know you're probably wondering how this all ties in with today's theme and title, right lovely?
Okay, let me explain!
It occurred to me that in all my recent chat about relationships, I'd only really talked about how to set healthy boundaries in them- aka how to swat away negative, unhealthy or non purposeful relationships.
Yet I hadn't spent much time talking about how you can build positive, healthy and purposeful relationships so that you can harness their power (as detailed here). To fix that, I shared exactly that on my Facebook page this week via the (live) video below!
In today's interview, I will be talking about how and why female friendships are important with none other than the amazing Naama Barnea-Goraly (M.D. and creator of Telle- a private app designed especially for women to connect with the women they can be themselves with, and nurture female friendships).
By the end of this video you will know:
The difference between male and female communication and why it evolved that way
The science behind female friendships in terms of how they can improve your health and well-being
How to foster healthy female friendships (plus how the Telle app can help!)
And much more!
Sound like your cup of tea, lovely?
Great! You can do whatever it is you need to do to get comfortable and press play to access this awesome conversation, below:
