Excerpt: "You Look Good Coming & Going"

...That is an extremely summarized version of my life within the past few years. One thing that kept me sane, even during my suicide phase was prayer. I embraced a great book “Power of a Praying Woman” by Stormie Omartian, to teach myself how to pray better and I recited prayers out of that book everyday all day until I could see, hear, and feel the Holy Spirit take charge of my life. I’d journal all my dreams and questionable events in my life and try to relate them to stories in the Bible to find relevance and meaning. Some I figured out, many I didn’t and to this day still don’t know what they mean – yet. It’s always refreshing to go back and see where I was then and the growth to where I am now. The storm is what I call it, we all go through it, and it’s never fun while in it, but I’ve gotten to the point where I embrace the storm and the struggle because I ALWAYS come out on top.

It isn’t something that I broadcast to everyone, overcoming this storm is between me and God, on the surface you wouldn’t dare know what was going on, because I’m focused on how to get through. I’ve said this for many years “You get what you focus on”, and it’s true, if I focus on where I am, or on what was, then I’ll never get to where I’m supposed to be, that’s not to say that you are to ignore where you are, but regardless if it’s good or bad, regardless of what you may think your purpose is, or how big it may be, know that what God has for you is always bigger – that’s what I focus on.

I focus on providing opportunities for our youth to prosper, to prepare themselves for the real world. The real world isn’t taught in schools, so I’m taking my knowledge of Brand Management and real world Professional networking and using it to teach our youth how to brand themselves in a way that companies do so they can prosper. I’ve studied this since 2004, and I look back at how it’s helped me, then I look back and say what if I’d known all this when I was a senior in high school or during college? I’d be living a completely different life. BUT! Had I known all this then, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to share this information and experiences with you, I wouldn’t have the examples of hardship and struggle that are relevant to my message today. God knew then what He was doing. He was using me and working on me so that He can work through me and groom me to provide platforms and opportunity for others.

So here I am working to regain lost chances and use them to provide an opportunity for someone else. We all have opportunities to make a difference in the lives of ourselves and others. We walk around everyday with a bucket full of opportunities, big and small that are always in our heart and we sit them down and walk away with the intent to get to them later. We leave them unfulfilled thinking someone else will do it, but they are yours to do something with. Here’s what I’ve learned during my spiritual journey (that I’m still on) in order to take full advantage of the opportunities provided to you, you must do 4 things:

1. Be responsive to the call. When you’ve recognized your talent, it’s not so you can just sit on it, it’s so you can do something with it and be a blessing to someone else. Be responsive to it and accept it.
2. Be honest with your fears. This is tough for many people, but in order to overcome your fear you must face it. Confusion isn’t of God, it’s of the devil, and fear & confusion fuel one another because they keep you from walking through your purpose. By recognizing and being honest with it, you are able to do something about it.
3. Be actively obedient. Nothing happens until you get off your behind and make it happen. “Oh I can’t do this because I’ve lost that”. Poor you! Well if you continue to focus on what you’ve lost, you’ll never keep what you have - so you always loose. God’s laid it out for you; it’s up to you to go get it.
4. Be compassionate about ministry. Whether you belong to a church, read the Bible or not, when you speak words to people you’re ministering to them. God is using you as bait to use the opportunity He’s given to you to activate faith and success in someone else.


My Opportunity for you…
Most of the business I do, I do with men. It’s a benefit and also a curse. A benefit because men get straight to the point, are direct, and work off of business versus emotion without holding grudges. My looks have opened doors while dealing with men, but they sometimes only see the physical me versus internal me - my talent or educational qualities and intelligence – which is much more beautiful. Behind the exterior is a business woman – a powerhouse professional who knows how to take care of business and isn’t afraid to do so.

We always seem shocked when things happen to us that are unexpected, or when we feel wronged, but aren’t the signs there all along? When you’re emotional and trying to get to that next level, or anything out of life, many times that emotion clouds your vision and thoughts, and the “signs” that are there – if you’re not paying attention – can pass you by.

I wrote this guide of tales in hopes my story and experiences will help other women recognize the undertone sometimes spoken by men in business. What are their true motives? They know I mean business, but do they care? Why does this professional drama roll into my personal relationships with men as well? What happened to that good & old fashioned, respect and honesty – is that not “in” anymore? Hopefully the tales inside will allow you to recognize the signs we sometimes don’t see, and react better than I did, or at least know how to handle them before they happen.

We have to stick together, I wrote them not just because of the weird encounters I’ve had with men, but because I feel women bring so much value to the world, and there’s nothing more inspiring to me than to see how the young girls look at me with glossed over eyes when I speak. I know what they’re thinking: “I want to be like her. I can be like her.” That brings a lot of pressure to me because I’m not perfect, I’ve made many mistakes, some very stupid ones at that, and have ruined great relationships with powerful people at times in my life because of them.

My message to you – if you’re that young girl reading this - is that my professional accomplishments are definitely something you should aspire to beat. My personal growth is just that – growth. Everyday is a journey and learning experience, use my journey as a guide, not a rule book for your life. Be better than me. Do better than me. Live better than me. Have more than me. I will do my best to provide you with information that I wish I’d known when I was younger, this puts you in a position of strength, apply this knowledge to your passion, work with a sense of purpose, build your platforms, and you will have power.

I’m an example, not the end result. You produce your end result. You’re responsible for your actions. Don’t idolize me because you are all ready more than I am…

Excerpt: You Look Good Coming and Going ™ - © 2009 Porshea “PorsheaRae” Mitchell