Soaring to Greater Heights; Seven things that will propel your flight - by Elvy. G Soltau

“The sky is the limit only for those who aren't afraid to fly!”  Bob Bello.  We’re all on a journey to success; in this case we’re not walking we’re flying; because walking is just too main stream. On the idea of flying one must take into consideration one special bird; the eagle. There are several lessons that we could learn from the eagle but today I would like to draw your attention to its behavior during a storm. Eagles love the storm. When clouds gather, the eagles get excited. The eagle uses the storm’s wind to lift it higher. Once it finds the wind of the storm, the eagles uses the raging storm to lift him above the clouds. This gives the eagle an opportunity to glide and rest its wings. In the meantime, all the other birds hide in the leaves and branches of the trees. It is inevitable that we face storms in our lives, especially the moment we enroll in University. Storms of financial difficulties, spiritual setbacks, low self-esteem, lack of resources but we can use the storms of life to rise to greater heights. Achievers relish challenges and use them profitably.  

There are several things that are pre-requites to taking off on the flight to success. These things are of vital importance as they fuel the flight. They are as follows:

1.  Need – You must first identify a need and aim to fill it. Ask yourself some questions like why do I need to succeed? Am I happy with the quality of life I am experiencing now? What positive contributions can I make to society. When you’ve discovered the need you will like to fulfill, hold it close to you and don’t ever forget it. When the times get rough remember why you need to succeed. Like the eagle his need is to escape the storm and reach safety to secure his life; so the need in his case is survival, with that in mind he soars like his life depended on it (literally). You should work like your life, your parent’s life and your siblings lives depended on it.

2.       , Vision: - Bearing the need in mind, create images in your mind of you making it to the grand finale.

3.      Passion: Upon identifying a need, creating a vision then being passionate is the next step. Passion is defined as boundless enthusiasm. Be zealous about achieving.  Develop this strong desire to win because you will need it when faced with failures.

4.     .  Determination: Decide from the beginning that comes what may I will press on. When the problems arise, maintain a positive outlook and seek other alternatives when faced with failure. In most case practice, practice, practice. Taking into consideration Thomas Edison, the man who invented light bulbs. Edison, before he was successful he had some major setbacks. When asked in an interview how does it feel to fail ninety-nine (99) times? His response was simply amazing. He said “I didn’t fail ninety-nine times; I found ninety-nine ways it couldn’t work”. We, like Edison should develop a spirit of resilience and persistence. The ability to bounce back and press on after a downfall.

5.        Attitude: It is not my aptitude, but my attitude which determines my altitude in life. Did you know that airplanes have attitude? Yes, they do! When the plane is flying too low the pilot quickly adjusts the attitude of the airplane thus raising its altitude. Like the airplane we must possess positive work attitudes. It attracts others to us, allowing us to work better with a variety of individuals; thus establishing links.

6.      Honesty: In all our doings we must be honest, it enhances your integrity and it also makes you trust worthy. On the Facebook page, Humans of New York the admin went to India where an old man asked, “If you could give one piece of advice to a large group of people, what would it be? His response was, “If you feed your children with food earned from corruption, they will become corrupt. If you feed your children with food earned from honesty, they will become honesty”. Honesty is still the best policy.

7.      . Faith: I deliberately left this one for last. Faith is defined by the bible in Hebrews 11 vs 1 as the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. It is the belief that all things will fall into place. You should have faith in your abilities. Believe in yourself and power that you have to achieve. Believe in the fact that you’re deserving of success, but most importantly believe in the fact that God wants you to prosper and be in good health.

Like the eagle step out in faith; prepared to fly high above the storm of life.

Suit is Woman what Lingerie is to Men

Suits is to women what lingerie is to Men

Women are pressured by society, the media and fashion designers to dress to impress, to keep up with

the fashion changes   and yet they slack of on men.  Men get away with wearing  almost anything; 

Men’s fashion is equally important as women’s.  I strongly believe that individuals should look their 

best whether   they are male, female or child.

I don’t know for anyone else but  I am tired of seeing the under of young men ( some a dem not even 

tan good, dis bag a holey holey sumpn up inna people face). I am tired of seeing them in tights ( you 

know wah me talk dem tight so till dem can hardly walk).  Man must look like man!  Dem must smell good too.

Men enjoy seeing women all dolled up and sexy especially in lingerie, well its full time y’all get dolled

up and sexy for us too. Buy a suit or two!


I LOVE A MAN IN A SUIT!

The Truth About Yourself

Good evening everyone, I must hasten to apologize for my  absence. I have very bad habits of quitting the projects that I attempt. I quit Brownies (girls club) in primary school, Drama club, Science Club, 4-H club and Environmental Club in high school; now i'm enrolled in the College of Education and Leadership at the Northern Caribbean and yes you're correct  all my extra curricular activities have been dropped. Blogging was about to join the trash can too but I decided to give it another shot. So, I'm here on my second attempt at blogging. No promises, but let's see if my second time is worthwhile and not short lived.

The truth about yourself hmmmmm..That's my topic tonight. You maybe wondering the what? The truth about myself? Yes! We are so quick to disclose the deepest darkest secrets of our brothers and sisters that we often forget that we are just as flawed as them. We move as fast as lightening to call people hypocrites, fakes, liars, the enemy, bad mind just to name a few. 

My question though is, if everyone calls everyone  hypocrite, liar, fake, enemy etc , It means we are all at fault. But  in our eyes we're always the victim  and not the assailant. But I believe that we have been assailants a few times in our lives and its full time we face the truth about ourselves.

Let us be honest with ourselves ... Try to be the friends we're looking for. The partner we are searching for. Let us eradicate all negativity before we aim our fingers at others.

There's more i'd like to say but this link says it covered it:  http://tinybuddha.com/blog/4-tips-to-tell-the-truth-about-yourself-and-to-yourself/

Evolution Of Elvy

I am annoying! Trust me, I know!

But this excitement for my birthday and yes i went over board with the count down (like always) lol. I am extremely happy for another. To me it means another chance to set things straight. I have been through a variety of emotions over the pass twenty-one  (21) years. I had to find ways to dealing the comments of the naysayers.

Over the pass twenty-one years I have developed an attitude of resilience, even thou at times I still listen to the critics! yup! I have to acknowledge them so i can examine myself to see if what they are saying is possibly true. I am open for suggestion; but does not necessarily mean that i will use them.

I have always had some fears; which i've kept mainly to myself. But I pray as the years progress I will over come them one by one. 

I am not the girl the guys desire; I am the girl they befriend to get to the one they desire. That has been my life ever since primary school. I use to think something was wrong with me, until I realize it was them who have not met my standard. lol (their loss) 

I grew out the name granny; for that  I am grateful. People still refer to me like that but I'm more comfortable in my skin now I take it as compliment. I am look in  the mirror and my stellar smile each day gives me courage. Hair comb or not  I AM STILL A BEAUTY QUEEN. One that was born and not artificially created. One that models anything and still look stunning. A queen who is charismatic, cheerful, crazy and loud. 

My friends and those who have my back; thank you.

This is just the beginning; wait until I have a job. 

Leadership will always be an interest of mine! Even if i'm the odd one out! 

I will always be ready to capture every moment! 

My beauty is second to none! =D 

Admit, Accept, Forgive, Move On: Elvy G. Soltau

Admit, Accept, Forgive, Move On 

I have one of the most beautiful smiles in the world; i know that for a fact. When I  take pictures I look at in awe for the first few seconds, then I begin to think How is it that  I smile so bright while my heart is troubled? My mind is enslaved with fears? My bones are weak and my courage is fading? But my smile stand strong! And trust me that gives me energy to move on. 

Like everyone else, I'm still under construction I am not even quarter of a mile through to perfection. I still struggle with majority of things. Some of which include: procrastination, doubtfulness, selfishness and I have this invisible defense line around my heart and mind which prevents me from become emotionally attached to anyone; this my friends has caused many of the problems in my life. I know I am not the only one out there struggling and recovery seem so far-fetched at times. 

I have established four simple steps to recovery I am at step 2. They include: 

1. Admit- 

State your flaws openly. In order for you to admit your flaws you must first do some introspection. Yes, self examination is key! Look deep within and identify the problems. Ask questions like: Am I kind enough? Do I love enough? Am I patient enough? How could I have done things differently? Did I overreact? Did i hurt their feelings? Am I fair in my judgement? For this stage to be successful you must be extremely honest with yourself. 

2. Accept:

After you have admitted your flaws, please do not deny them.  It will worsen the situation; acceptance is key! Accept your flaws. Accept the fact that you're not perfect and there's also room for improvement. If you'll fail to accept them you will not move on to the next stage which in turn will affect your holistic development. Acceptance make the burden a little lighter and makes the next step easier.

3. Forgive:

"Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it

. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness"- Marrianne Williamson. Marrianne is right! There's indeed no peace without forgiveness. Forgiving one's self is on of the hardest task out there... Will it is hard for me. I always blame myself! Always. But I encourage myself to let it go ... Learn a lesson, make peace with your past and look for the future .. with brings me to the next stage. 

4. Move on: This is stage will be simple if you have successfully completed stages 1-3. If it moving on will be the hardest thing you've ever done! Hoping that you will complete stages 1-3... MOVE ON.

Go write a book! Go play so ball! Go open up your heart to someone! Go learn to dance! Go love again! Go and be free!  

And if history happens to repeat itself, remember: 

ADMIT ...... ACCEPT ......... FORGIVE ....... MOVE ON! =D 

There's No Self Made Man - Elvy G. Soltau

There's No Self Made Man 

Yes, I must apologize for the long abrupt break in my blog, but due to several factors, I was forced to take a break from blogging.  I hope everyone is in the best of health.  With the new mosquito borne disease on the rise, please ensure to exploit the necessary preventative measures.

I had a tremendous summer; though it was far from what I had in mind, I made sure to enjoy every moment. From volunteering at Effortville Primary School to hosting harvest, birthday parties and graduation, along with being the guest speaker at two events. Bless the name of the Lord for the wealth of experience that I have accumulated over the summer. I must hasten to tell you that I also lost 7lbs (Yay me).

I have learnt several lessons of over the summer holiday, but the one I would like to bring to you now is: THERE'S NO SELF MADE MAN.  Many of us are so egoistic and feel as though we were self-made. Let me hasten to dismiss that idea and quickly reinforce that each one needs one. We are interdependent; we rely on others for abstract and concrete things such as acceptance, affection, financial assistance, counseling, direction and companionship. 

No, I’m not implying that we should sit down and wait for people to hand stuff to us.  What I’m saying is, let us not walk with our tails in the air and our pride in our faces, and refuse the assistance of others. I learnt in the summer that there's no crime in asking for help. I am the kind of person who would be hungry right beside you and you wouldn’t know, because I told myself that everyone has their own struggles to face and I didn’t want to burden them with mine.... Until I realized that I can’t make it on my own. I need my friends to push me when I get lazy; I need them to cheer me on when I enter a competition.  I need them to force me to exercise when I feel like slacking off.  I need my friends to remind me of my strengths when I'm enslaved by my weaknesses.  I need the moral support from church family, and the financial support and positive reinforcement from my family.  I need the critics to keep me on the right track ... I need the trials to keep me humble, but most importantly, I need God to keep me sane....

I must remind you that it still takes a village to raise a child..... There's no self-made man.

Shawn Wilson- Guest Writer: 6 Cheap Ways To Be Broke And Happy

Six (6) Cheap Ways To Be Broke And Happy

"Happiness is a state of mind; not a state of possession" -Unknown

I'm broke as hell. There's no money in my bank account, and the assets I have value a couple thousand. Other than that I have nothing on a church mouse.

My poverty, however, hasn't got the best of me. I'm not stressed out ..., and I’m fairly happy. Well ... sort of.

Reason being, I've learnt the Buddhist art of "no attachment", and how to live within my means. (Hard lessons I learnt while I was in college.)

Here are some other things I’ve learnt.

#1. That money doesn't buy (much) happiness...

...And the "little" that it buys doesn't last.

Studies show that after earning a certain amount of money per year, the rush one feels about money disappears.

Remember how you were excited when you got your first bicycle/...? And remember how quickly the excitement went? It's the same with money.

Along with "stuffs" here's what money can buy.

#2. Big experiences

But you don't need money to have quality experiences.

Watching a beautiful sunset is a quality experience. Going to the river with your friends is a quality experience. Getting a good night's sleep is a quality experience. Having a good laugh is a quality experience.... And the list could go on and on.

I know you’d rather go to Dubai and Paris, and I would too..., but, umm, unless you can buy such an experience, forget it. (You probably wouldn’t buy it if you could, anyway.)

#3. If you can't afford “it”, don’t buy “it”

You can't afford it if you can’t buy more than one of it. At least, that’s my principle.

I can afford something only when I can buy two or three of that thing, and still have enough money left over.

#4. Don't try to keep up with the “Joneses”...

...Because you can't. You're broke. The “Joneses” are wealthy. That's why the grass is so green on their lawn. But don’t forget that that's why their water bill is so high. And you can't afford their water bill, much less their light bill.

Do this instead. Work on your lawn. Now.

Meaning work on yourself: Be healthy. Stay healthy. Get smarter; and smarter. Think big –and different –and hard.

Read More Here: 

https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140913065641-335942314-6-cheap-ways-to-be-broke-and-happy

Written by: Shawn Wilson 

Research Assistant at Biblical Manuscript Research Center