I am Fearfully and Wonderfully Made!!!

Couple of Sundays ago, I woke up with a feeling of inadequacy. Knowing the damage that negativity could cause in my mind if it sits too long, I started praying and was inspired to repeat those words from Psalm 139: 14: "I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully."

I repeated those words again and again, and each time pausing, trying to grasp the full meaning of "FEARFULLY" and "WONDERFULLY" "MADE". I kept on going until I started smiling, sign that my spirit finally caught what my mouth was saying. Then, I said out loud: "I, Emmanuelle Poin Du Jour, am indeed fearfully and wonderfully made in spite of my flaws, my circumstances (past, present, and future).

Before going any further, I invite you to pause for a minute, and repeat those same words to yourself, because YOU TOO ARE FEARFULLY & WONDERFULLY MADE!!! This is not another feel good speech, or me trying to get you to drink some Kool-Aid. No!!! This is me reminding you of a truth- your truth that you probably forgot or was never aware of. This is me reminding you that there is a greatness inside of you in spite of everything you have experienced or are currently experiencing. This is me reminding you that inside of you are all the necessary tools to slay your own dragons... But until you accept those statements as truth, nothing else really matters. Knowing who you are has to be one of your core foundations to succeed in life.

I know some of you might be thinking, and trust me, I can hear your thoughts, because I have had similar thoughts so many times: "Emma, you don't know my situation, my circumstances, my origin, my obstacles, my pain, and that's why you think I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Well, l think it's time for us to take a walk down my memory lane.

As you already know, my name is Emmanuelle Poin Du Jour, but you can call me Emma. I was born and raised in Haiti, and moved to the U.S. right after I turned 23 years old. I had my life all planned out. Success was in my DNA. I was ready to tackle this new journey, especially since I knew what life in America looked like from watching shows and movies on Disney Channel, HBO, VH1 and all that other good stuff. But boy, was I wrong!!! All of it was make belief!!! Those movies and TV shows lie to us!!! This is not how the real world operates.

Fast forward, couple of years living in the U.S., I was divorced, a single mom, and was getting paid $10.83/hr (by the way, my son's daycare was $225 per week. Don't ask me how I was able to survive. It's a topic for another blog). The reasons why I am telling you all this is because I want you to know that I am not that different from you. I too have watched my dreams crushed, experienced brokenness, doubted my worth, went through periods where if it's not one thing it's another, asked myself if I should keep pursuing an unattainable dream. But in all of my disenchantment, I refused to let go of the belief that there was greatness inside of me, and I just needed to tap into it to see my life transform. And it finally did!!!

If you are reading this, I am sure it's because you feel there is more inside of you, and you have a dream that won't allow you to settle - WRITE THAT DREAM DOWN. I believe something magical happened when you say your dreams out loud, it's like serving notice to the universe that you are about to start on a new journey. So imaging when you write it down on a piece of paper or a journal, and sign your name with a deadline how much weight that gesture carries. The universe knows you mean business.

Today, I want to share with you some of the tools and practices that I have used to help me walk "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made" for the past 14 years. I am not saying that I have reached the mountain top, but I am definitely not where I used to be. So here we go:

1) Affirmations and Beliefs- You need to accept as TRUTH that statement that I keep writing- "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made". You need to write it down, and put it in your bathroom or on your night stand, so it can be among the first thing you see in the morning. You need to find other affirmations similar to this one to fuel your spirit with them on a daily basis.

2) Find a Tribe- Thanks to social media platforms, you have access to people like me who can motivate you along with people who are on the same journey as you. 3) Prepare Your Own Soul Food- Listen to podcasts and read books that feed your spirit. Right now, I am reading "Professional Troublemaker" by Luvvie Ajayi Jones, and "Relational Intelligence" by Dharius Daniels. I recommend them both. Listen to songs with lyrics that are empowering, especially when your morale is low. Some of my favorites are: "Stronger" by Kanye West, "Like a Girl" by Lizzo- the first verses are the BOMB!!!, "La Vida es Un Carnaval" by Celia Cruz, "I smile" by Kirk Franklin, "He is able" by Darwin Hobbs, and my all time favorite when I am dressing up for battle "8 Miles" by Eminem, especially the spoken words at the beginning. 4) Protect Your Energy- You cannot be doing all this work to reprogram your mindset, improve your circumstances, live your best life, then allow people and nonsense to drain that energy out of you. For the people, you know who they are, and you know your triggers, so maybe it's time to re-evaluate the time you spend in their presence. Protecting your energy also means being mindful of what you are watching TV or on your other electronic devices. There is only so much negativity one can take before falling into depression and going back to old patterns. 5) Be Patient with Yourself- You are a badass warrior, and you didn't even know that. So you need to get re-acquainted with yourself. There will be days where you won't feel like you can conquer the world, and that has nothing to do with you per se. This can be caused by changes in your hormones, in your body, social changes, unexpected events, and when those days happened, instead of having a pity party, do what I said previously to keep you on track. Thank you for having spent some of your time with me by reading this. I hope you are already feeling "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made!!!" Let me know in the Comment section.

Until next time,

Emma