Creating Experiences That Help Relationships Thrive

Author: Simone (Page 9 of 21)

“I Don’t Need a Man”

I don't need a man

That’s what a woman said to me when talking about her desire to me in a relationship. She said, “I don’t need a man, I just want one for companionship.”

It took me a while to process what she said. And, I don’t remember my response. But, I remember thinking “that makes no sense. And, I’m sure a man would never want to be around you…given your sour attitude.”

But, in reality, her sentiment is echoed by many women. Remember, the scene from the movie, Best Man: Holiday, where Jordan tells her new boo she doesn’t need him?

It is painful to watch.

A word from men on this subject. 

Later on, the words of one of the christian black  men that I interviewed
earlier this year came back to me. He said that “often times women convince themselves that they don’t need a man, and it affects how they treat them.”Now, that statement makes perfect sense!When we don’t need something, we treat it accordingly.Think about all the things that you don’t need i.e. the extra pair of jeans that we no longer fit/need that we keep around for posterity. We just throw them in the closet any old where. But, that new dress that makes you feel like a million bucks…that dress gets prime closet real estate.

It is a fact of a life, we treat things that we value with care. And, if we don’t value being in a relationship with men. It will affect how we treat them.

A word from an expert on this subject. 

Laura Doyle discusses this in her book , The Surrendered Single.  She says that saying we don’t need a man is ultimately about control. She says that denying what we want is a way of controlling our desires so that you can ward off the fear, disappointment,and humiliation.

Needing a man does not equate to being desperate. 
She says “being loved by a man is our birthright as a woman. Mating is one of the oldest, ingrained human instincts. While self-sufficiency is admirable, it doesn’t fulfill our needs to be intimate with a man.”Laura explains that surrendering to the desire to be married changes our countenance and body language. “Instead of wearing I-don’t-need-a-man body armor, you’ll signal “I’m available to the right guy.”

The Good News
The good news is that men need us. God said so in Genesis 2:18. “The Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper* suitable for him.” So, if men need us. Surely, we can’t be too proud to admit that we need men too.

*I  know that word “helper” is a touchy subject. I’ve been researching it and we’ll be discussing it soon.

Question: Do you know anyone that wears I-don’t-need-man  body armor”? If so, how does it affect their relationships? 


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PS: In July, I’ll be hosting my first live event in Washington, D.C! Stay tuned. I’ll be sharing details next week.

Awesome Black Dads

In celebration of Father’s Day, I am showcasing awesome black dads for the month of June. There are a lot of them out there, but for some reason the spotlight doesn’t shine on them often.

Here’s a picture of me and my dad…a looong time ago. If you have an awesome black dad or know an awesome black dad would you send me a picture and a bit about him?

I’d love to showcase him here. Love, Simone

The RIGHT Person Myth

“Success in marriage is much more than a matter of finding the right person; it is also a matter of being the right person.” That’s what Leland Foster Wood said in his book, Growing Together in Family. 

I’ve been thinking a lot about this topic of being the right person, because often our main objective is focused on the finding. But, being the right person is the essence of what can make our relationships sink or swim. And, I want your relationships to swim. So, I’m sharing this video today.

My friend, Katharine, sent me a talk given by Andy Stanley. He breaks down the right person myth in a funny way, and captures the essence of being the right person beautifully.

It’s 29-minutes. I know, what you are thinking: “Simone, I don’t have that kinda time! I. am. busy.” I get it. I get it, but this is sound advice and I think it is worth your time. Will you watch it? I promise you won’t be disappointed.

So, what did you think? 

The POWER of First Impressions

Image | www.adriansnood.com
First impressions are powerful and key to building professional relationships. Because people make decisions based on them. For example:
  • Are you trustworthy?
  • Are you friend or foe?
  • Do they like you?
  • Should they hire you?

Do you know that we only have 7 seconds to make a first impression?

It’s true, according to Forbes.

Part of making a good first impression is believing in yourself, the person you are, and your potential. Perhaps it sounds silly, but each of us has God-given gifts and talents the world needs. And, not making a good first impression could be a barrier to us sharing our gifts with the world.

Let’s look at five easy ways to make a good impression.
 
SMILE
Employers, generally, want to hire friendly people. Smiling is the quickest way to demonstrate that you are friendly and approachable.
 
MAKE EYE CONTACT
Making eye contact shows interest and demonstrates that we have nothing to hide. Now, I’m not saying STARE. Because that’s just weird. But, the majority of the time we should be giving the speaker our full attention.
 
FIRM HANDSHAKE
Giving a firm handshake demonstrates that we are confident and helps build rapport. According to Forbes, a firm handshake can establishjust as much rapport as 3 hours of interaction.
 
FOCUS ON THEM
Pay attention to the speaker and what they are saying. Don’t focus on how you will respond. Doing this frees you to live in the moment and be authentic.
One of my clients is an actor, and we talked about this a few weeks ago. He explained that focusing on the other person (or the given objective in actor speak) frees you to be more responsive.
 
POWER POSE (before hand)
Before going into a stressful situation like a first date, performance, or job interview. I recommend power posing. I learned about this idea from a TED Talk by Amy Cuddy.
 
The idea is that our posture can determine our outcome because we feel better about ourselves. She recommends holding postures of power for 2 minutes for an instant confidence booster.
 
I know you may be skeptical. Morris was too. But, guess what?
 
Just before he did our taxes last month…I caught him power posing.
 
So, give it a shot! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Check out Amy’s 6-minute concept here:  If you found this post helpful, leave a comment below or share it! It makes me feel better to know that I’m not writing long letters to myself:-).
 
Love, Simone
 
Question: What other tactics can we use to make a good first impression?

 

How I Punched Fear In the Face

A few weeks ago, I did something super scary. I told a room of 50 strangers about my dream of starting a business. Up until this moment, the dream had been somewhat of a secret. I had a business plan, I pitched the idea to my husband, and I told a few close friends. But, the thought of telling strangers was terrifying.

What if they didn’t like my business idea? What if they laughed? What if they didn’t share my opinion or views? Aghhhh! There were just so many things that could wrong.

And, guess what? I pitched my idea at a business pitch competition AND everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

  • I fumbled.
  • My message was unclear.
  • I made dumb faces.
  • I forgot what I wanted to say.
  • And, I even cried.

It was a horrible experience. I cried whenever a nice person tried to tell me that “you did okay.” I cried when anyone tried to console me. I cried on the Metro ride home, and I cried when I told Morris about the whole debacle that night.

And, then I went to bed. But, I didn’t sleep. Because, I kept replaying the day’s events in my head.

Fear Holds Us Back 
Fear holds us back from soooo many things: mending relationships, taking new jobs, moving, etc. Fear is powerful, because we focus on everything that could go wrong. We tend to forget about the things that could go right.

The good news is that: even when everything does go wrong…we survive.

The Good News
I think that’s why the Bible talks about fear so much, because the Lord understands that it only holds us back. And, even if bad things happen we survive. He’ll be with us.

Joshua 9:1 says: Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.

Isaiah 41:10 says: So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

I Bounced Back 
The crazy thing about the pitch competition is that the first time was only practice. So, I had to go back the next day and do the pitch again in front of twice as many people.

But, the Lord’s mercies are new every morning. So, I got up super early and began practicing with my webcam. It went well that time, and…I was selected as a finalist!

I’ll know in June whether or not I’m selected to enter the Count Me In/Capitol One Business Accelerator program. But, even if I’m not selected I feel like I’ve already won…because I punched my fears and I survived. By the way, check out my Hire Me! Page…it’s another step in me fighting fear.

Tell me how is fear holding you back? And, what could you do to punch it?

I look forward to hearing from you. Love, Simone

*Image| Piranhagear.com

What Do You Deserve?

So many people feel like they deserve so much:

  • I deserve this promotion, because I’ve worked here for 30 years.
  • I deserve this house and car, because I work 40 hours a week.
  • I deserve this man, because I’m educated and have a decent job.

Entitlement is a disease. It affects the way we behave and treat people. Because you cannot be grateful for something that you feel entitled to. Pete Wilson talks about this in a great blog post entitled, The Death of Gratitude 

Entitlement will kill any relationship
When you have the mindset that you deserve something, you won’t appreciate it. For example, I could not appreciate it when my husband takes out the trash…if I feel like that’s his job.

 

Comparison Society
I was talking to my wise friend, Byron, about this topic. We agree that the rise of social media is a contributing factor.Because it allows us to constantly compare ourselves to others.  We see an image of someone’s new car or new house and say to ourselves “Hey, I’m waaay better than them. So, I should have something better.

 

I Struggle Too
I’ve been blogging for 4 years, and I feel like I deserve to be a lot farther along. The problem is that I compare myself to the results of others. I see people on Shark Tank and think “ I could do that.” Or I read a post and think? Why does this person have more followers than me? I’m a way better writer. But, I’m comparing myself to their results…not their journey to their results.

 

Relationships
The same is true for relationships. You may think you deserve this person or that. But, if you are comparing yourself to people that seemingly have it all together …be careful. You don’t know what they’ve been through.

 

What Do We Deserve? 
Absolutely nothing. And in the end, simply waking up in the morning is a bonus.

 

A Word from Dave Ramsey
When someone asks Dave Ramsey “how are you?” He says “Better than I deserve.”Now, this is a man that has been featured on Oprah, has at least 3 New York Times Bestsellers, is an award-winning radio host, and has helped millions of people attain financial freedom. Yet, he doesn’t feel entitled to anything. The world would be a better place if more of us held this attitude and lacked a sense of entitlement.

 

Question: What strategies can you and I use to fight the entitlement mindset? 


*Image|umbc.edu

Lady in Waiting: Becoming God’s Best While Waiting for Mr. Right

Last week I read, Lady in Waiting: Becoming God’s Best While Waiting for Mr. Right. 

Summary
According to the authors, the book teaches women to focus on the state of their hearts, not the state of their status (single, married, divorced or widowed). The book explains that too many women grow up believing that the inconsolable ache in her heart is for “a man.” That ache is meant to nudge a woman closer to God. Lady in Waiting is not about finding the right man, but being the right woman. It focuses on ten qualities that are found in the book of Ruth.

My Review
I liked most of this book, but parts of the book seemed quite repetitive. I love the first chapter, because it explains how much Jesus wants to be in a relationship with us.

I also feel like I understand the book of Ruth  on a deeper level. Ruth lost her husband and gave up everything that was familiar to follow her mother-in-law, Naomi, and her God. Ruth wasn’t afraid. The story is SO familiar to me, I guess I’ve just glazed over how brave Ruth was. She trusted God, even after she lost her husband.

Best Feature
This book gave me a fresh look at the book of Ruth. Ruth choose new friends, new surroundings, and a new faith all while she was grieving.

I thought about my own life and how friends influenced me for good or evil. There are only two categories of friends one’s that bring you closer to God and or ones that drive you away from God. The same is true for our surroundings.

This book also had some grrrrreat questions at the end of each chapter. For example, is your status as single affecting your relationship with God? Is your relationship with Jesus one of sacrifice or convenience?

Rating 
Two thumbs up.

It has come to my attention that my last four reviews have all been two thumbs up. I just haven’t read any books yet that I would not recommend. If I do, you’ll know. I promise.

Next Up
A Father First by Dwayne Wade

ps: Please forgive me for not posting on Sunday.  Last weekend was action packed.

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