WOW, what a year for the Ladies of Like Minds.  In January 2010, our designated pilot year, we set goals for the Ladies of Like Minds (goals located on our website www.ladiesoflikeminds.com).  To start the year, we hosted the “I have a Dream” event with a wonderful speaker and friend to the Ladies of Like Minds, Lady Mia Redrick.   She encouraged everyone to “Just Do the Darn Thing” words that we continue to live by.  In March we hosted the “Stress Less” network event and our speaker, “Lady Donna” provided helpful information on how to live a stress less life through exercise.   Part of our mission is to mentor and serve as a resource to our youth which is what we accomplished at our 1^st Youthpreneuer Mini Expo held in June.  We also hosted in August the Date Night for Him fundraiser which was a success.  The Ladies of Like Minds know the importance of treating the “Him” in our lives with love and respect.  When asked to lace up our tennis shoes and walk in the strides against Breast Cancer, we showed up.

 Last but not least we hosted the Great Give Away held in December at the Laurence G. Paquin School for Pregnant Teens.  Motivational Speaker and Life Coach, Kiki Ramsey spoke from the heart and motivated everyone.  The donations received were amazing and beyond what we expected.  We were able to provide needed baby items and a wealth of information to assist the young mothers because of the generous donations received.

 Throughout this year we have met some wonderful people that have supported our efforts, people that have donated and volunteered to assist us.  We are forever grateful for the kindness we have received.  This has been a year to remember for the Ladies of Like Minds for many reasons.  We have worked hard, laughed harder, hugged many and loved every bit of it.  We wrote the plan, made it clear and watched God work through our lives, His Purpose for the Ladies of Like Minds.

 Nadine Jackson-Bey–Founder/Executive Director

By Oprah Winfrey

I live in the space of thankfulness – and I have been rewarded a million times over for it.  I started out giving thanks for small things, and the more thankful I became, the more my bounty increased.

That’s because what you focus on…. expands, and when you focus on the goodness in your life, you create more of it.

Opportunities, relationships, even money flowed my way when I learned to be grateful no matter what happened in my life.

“Say thank you!” Those words from my friend and mentor Maya Angelou turned my life around.

One day about ten years ago, I was sitting in my bathroom with the door closed and the toilet lid down, booing and a hooing on the phone so uncontrollably
that I was incoherent.

“Stop it!  Stop it right now and say thank you!” Maya chided.
“But – you don’t understand,” I sobbed.
To this day, I can’t remember what it was that had me so far gone, which only proves the point Maya was trying to make.  ”I do understand,” she told me.  ”I want to hear you say it now. Out loud .”

“Thank you.’” Tentatively, I repeated it:
“Thank you – but what am I saying thank you for?”

“You’re saying thank you,” Maya said, “because your faith is so strong that you don’t doubt that whatever the problem, you’ll get through it.

You’re saying thank you because you know that even in the eye of the storm, God has put a rainbow in the clouds.

You’re saying thank you because you know there’s no problem created that can compare to the Creator of all things.

“Say thank you!”

So I did – and still do. Only now I do it every day.  I kept a gratitude journal , as Sarah Ban Breathnach suggests in Simple Abundance; list at least five things
that I’m grateful for.

My list includes small pleasures: the feel of Kentucky bluegrass under my feet (like damp silk);  a walk in the woods with all nine of my dogs and my cocker spaniel Sophie trying to keep up;  cooking fried green tomatoes with Stedman and eating them while they’re hot;  reading a good book and knowing another awaits.

My thank-you list also includes things too important to take for granted:    an “okay” mammogram, friends who love me, 25 years at the same job (and loving it more than the first day I started), a chance to share my vision for a better life, staying centered, having financial security.

I won’t kid you, having money for all the things I want is a blessing.  But as I look back over my journals, which I’ve kept since I was 15 years old, 99 per cent of what brought me real joy had nothing to do with money.

(It had a lot to do with food, however.)  

It’s not easy being grateful all the time.  But it’s when you feel least thankful that you are most in need of what gratitude can give you:

PERSPECTIVE:  Just knowing you have that daily list to complete allows you to look at your day differently, with an awareness of every sweet gesture and kind thought passed your way. When you learn to say thank you, you see the world anew.

And as Meister Eckhart so eloquently stated: “If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is ‘ Thank you God ‘, that would suffice.”

Have a safe and blessed day!

There’s so much good in the worst of us
and so much bad in the best of us,
that it doesn’t behoove any of us,
to talk about the rest of us.
                                        – Lilly Mae Outlaw

GOD BLESS!

May you have more blessings from God than your arms can carry.      

 Yes, I donated and asked others to donate;

Yes, I made the sacrifice of getting up early; and

Yes, I signed on to walk the 4 mile walk…

….but what I gave could not compare to what I received.  

 There were mothers, daughters, husbands, sons, family and friends walking to support and inspire.  I knew that I was among hero(s), the SURVIVORS.  They walked with a pride and strength that poured though out the hundred or more walkers.  They led us, they encouraged us and most importantly they were there. 

 I have been blessed with two dear and close friends/co-workers that are survivors; I have witnessed their courage and strength.  I am witnessing now a family member that is currently having breast surgery TODAY.  These ladies, like many more, did not look back but looked forward.  To all the SURVIVORS of breast cancer, you are my hero for showing the world and me that you do not give up. 

 On October 24, 2010, I received a blessing…..

Well, the “time out” is over and I am re-energized. I realized during my vacation that it is not a place but a state of mind.  So, I plan on vacationing even more from the comforts of my home when “time out” is needed.

Signed – Grateful for Time Out

EPA Announces $200,000 in Environmental Justice Grants to Support Communities Directly Affected by BP Oil Spill

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is accepting proposals for up to eight $25,000 cooperative agreements to support the protection of human health and the environment in communities affected by the BP oil spill. Local incorporated non-profit community-based organizations—including faith based organizations and those affiliated with religious institutions, environmental justice networks, and local Native American tribal governments—located and working in areas within affected states, are eligible to apply.

EPA developed the grant program after meeting with local organizations in the Gulf Region and learning that there was a need for technical assistance to support educational outreach to communities affected by the BP oil spill. The grants will provide funding to help develop educational materials on what seafood is safe to eat, what to do if exposed to oil, and how to address and adapt to the spill’s long-term effects. Providing grant funding directly to local organizations will help to ensure that information is distributed through trusted networks of communication and from organizations that will continue to support efforts to rebuild in the wake of disaster.

Organizations that are able to provide accurate and current information to a wide geographic area in the affected region are encouraged to apply by September 13, 2010.

To read the request for proposals and for information on how to apply: http://epa.gov/environmentaljustice/grants/bp-spill-grants.html

For those that have businesses or services join the Minds in Motion concept and place an ad in the pamphlet.  The Minds in Motion pamphlet is a business in action and a non-stop tool that never gives up. Get your mind in motion today.  See our previous Minds in Motion Pamphlet

For more information on how to place a business size advertisement in the Minds in Motion pamphlet email Nadine Jackson-Bey at events@naeday.com.  

 Comments welcome on how you are keeping your mind in motion…..

For the environmental professional that wants to read a very informed newsletter.  Read about the Academy of Board Certified Environmental Professional (ABCEP) Board of Trustees new committees and new strategies as well as  information that is pertinent to today’s environmental issues.  As the Executive Administrator/Event Planner, my role is key in bringing new initiatives while maintaining the old standards of professionalism as well as planning Annual Statewide National meetings, Retreats for the Trustees and monthly and bi-monthly Board of Trustee meetings/events. 

 The ABCEP is an organization that certifies qualified environmental professionals.  Check out www.abcep.org for more information.  Newsletter: July2010- abcep

On June 26, 2010 the Ladies of Like Minds hosted the 1st Youthpreneur Mini Expo & Workshop.   The room was full of young people and experienced leaders who planted seeds of success.  With any seed, you have to plant it, water it, allow sunshine and then wait to see it grow into what it was intended to be.  I believe it is so vital to our young people to be encouraged and empowered with information.  The Speaker for the event was also a peer and young in age but she had the wisdom of a much older person.  It is because of the seeds that was planted in her life by her parents and as she put it “her Board of Directors” (family and friends).

One of the exhibitors was my very own, granddaughter, Jada, Owner of  ”Jada Kakes”.  Will this be the business she ends up doing, I do not know but I do know that the seed of achievment was reached.  I believe it is imperative that we show our children and youth other avenues to succeed.  I have found through  my own missteps, errors and miss directed approaches that everything is not black and white or a 9:00 -5:00.  When I see our youth of today, I see a different type of person.  The young people today lack FEAR.  This can be a problem or a promise.  Not having FEAR can be a problem if a lack of respect for authority or lack of fear that you could loose your life based on decisions you make.  Lacking FEAR as a promise can mean walking where you have never been and doing what you have never done and believing in a God that will never leave you nor forsake you. God does not give the spirit of FEAR.

Everyone it is time to plant the seed of success by any means necessary.

Childhood comes around but once and it should be full of new adventures, exciting experiences and big dreams.  For this Children’s Day let’s not give expensive gifts, games, toys, shoes or clothes.  Let’s allow them to enjoy the one thing that once it is gone will not return, “innocence”; an outdated and unheard of commodity for our children.  An Innocent Life. 

Happy Children’s Day

1.  Many lives were better because he lived; and

2. He learned to appreciate what he already had.

I am a big believer of following your dreams, like this movie, we can not loose sight on what is important.  It’s a wonderful life does not mean getting everything you want but wanting everything you get.