If you're not you, who are you going to be?

40 Questions to Change Your Life by John Mason

This is month set aside for gratitude. The United States celebrates Thanksgiving, a federal holiday, which virtually all employers recognize as a day Commonly, Thanksgiving is seen as an American holiday. It’s much more than that for me.  Thanksgiving is a celebration created by Native peoples  - the sole non-immigrant inhabitants of the land called “America.” Indigenous peoples offered a festive feast to welcome immigrants. From this kind and generous act, Thanksgiving emerged into American culture. Included in my ancestry is that of the First People to occupy soil that you and I inhabit. My paternal great-grandmother was Cherokee. When holidays come, that ancestry coupled with my African and American lineage provides a broader perspective.

I awake each morning, able to “Move and have my being.”  This expression of thankfulness is well known by those who heard it from elders. It simply means that I’ve awakened, able to see, hear, think, put my feet on the floor, stand, and walk without assistance.  Admittedly, the saying had no meaning until I reached a certain age. Because God has so blessed me, I realize that the day is not to be wasted.

  These days, we can easily become overwhelmed with anger, anguish, self-pity, and fear.  Turning away from disturbing events, people, and circumstances may not be completely possible. However, it’s that all of us can practice, daily.  The rising of the sun presents fleeting opportunity. Gratefulness, in some sense, means taking advantage of the opportunity and not wallow in sorrow. We all have 24 hours each day. How will you use yours? Just one individual stepping up can help change our community. Like Patty LaBelle sings, “I can’t complain.” 

The Beauty of Sisterly Love!

Sister-to-Sister, Inc. Extends Our Well-wishes to Sister Faith Harbert on Her Study Abroad in Ireland!

Faith Harbert, the daughter of Sister Bobbie Harbert and Mr. Michael Harbert, was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. She loved acting, theatre and the creative arts and participated in them since she was a young girl. She attended CSU Fort Collins and attained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Performing Arts: Theatre and a Minor in Political Science.

  Faith is currently studying Irish Writing (Literature) at Trinity College Dublin. She decided about two or three years ago to go back to school to work towards a master’s degree and move out of retail management and into something that would help her focus on creating her own storytelling content (books, film, documentaries and TV) while giving her a wide breadth of experience with different types of materials, authors and publishers.

  After much deliberation on moving forward, Faith began looking for a program that would expose her to different forms of storytelling. She settled on literature, which offered the widest avenue and looked for a program that would encompass a wide time period as well as explore themes of equality, gender, identity, colonialism, history, etc. When researching writers of books, film, TV whose work she liked; she found that several had attended Trinity. 

She learned August 15, 2022 that she was offered unconditionally a position on the course and quickly had to get herself ready to move across the ocean to a brand-new city, Dublin, and country, Ireland.  She is even more blessed to have a strongly supportive husband and family who have encouraged her along the way to never give up on her dreams even if they take different shapes from how she envisioned them coming to pass.

  Upon graduation of the program, Faith aspires to enter into the world of book and content creation. She really enjoys editing and providing feedback for books and coming up with ideas to pitch for the next big Netflix binge watch.

Faith will keep us updated on her progress. Thank you for coming along on the journey with her! While she is currently residing in Dublin, Faith hopes that after completing her program, she'll return to Los Angeles, California with her husband Seth and cat, Nellie.

Congratulations to Board Director Beth Robinson, who has assumed the position of General Counsel for Archway Communities. Sister Beth, we know that your leadership of legal operations at Archway Communities will take the affordable housing developer's impact to higher heights!

10 Quick and Powerful Ways to Reduce Stress 

By Sandra Thébaud, Ph.D.

Life can be tough sometimes. But you can be tougher. Here are 10 stress management tips that you can use now to start beating stress.

Tip #1: Stay connected with friends and family for support. Everyone knows someone who’s been affected by today’s economy and in some ways, they have been affected as well. This is not a reflection on you as a person. Family and friends can remind you that you are still a worthy person who is cared about.

Tip #2: Stay connected to your network. Studies have shown that you’re more likely to find a job through an acquaintance than through family and friends. So spend some time on networking sites like LinkedIn, Plaxo, and Facebook.

Tip #3: Check your stress level throughout the day and ask yourself if you need to be more relaxed or more energized. Just being conscious of how your body feels can provide clues on increasing relaxation. Do you need to breathe? Sit down? Stretch? Eat? Sleep?

Tip #4: Learn to view change as positive. Sometimes we cause ourselves stress by resisting change. Life equals change. Resistance is futile. If you learn to make change work for you, you’ll see your stress level decrease while seeing your quality of life increase.

Tip #5: Take a deep sigh. Sometimes we don’t realize that we have stopped breathing when we are anxious. Taking a deep sigh forces you to take in a deep breath of oxygen to feed the cells of the body and to exhale completely all of the carbon dioxide in your lungs.

Tip #6: Ask yourself, “Will I care about this 10 years from now?” If the answer is yes, then go for it. However, too much stress can narrow your focus on challenges and make them seem bigger than they really are. This is what leads to poor decisions. Gaining perspective on a situation can modify its importance and allow you to see options you may not have seen before.

Tip #7: Scan your body by focusing your attention to it. This is one of the techniques from my book, The Art of Loving Life. Begin with your head and move down to your feet. If you notice any tension, exhale and release the tension. Consciously releasing tension from your body can give you an immediate feeling of relaxation and rejuvenation.

Tip #8: Find balance in your life. “Too much work and not enough play make Jack a dull boy.” It also makes for a depressing, uninspired life. Life places many demands and obligations on you. Balance it out by incorporating things in your life that bring you joy/peace/happiness.

Tip #9: Stop and experience the moment. We’re constantly rushing through life, seldom stopping to enjoy the moment. Being present allows you to slow down your mind and your body, appreciate what’s going on around you, and become centered and focused.

Tip #10: Practice gratitude. This economy is forcing all of us to examine what’s really important to us. No matter how bad things are, there is always something to be grateful for. At the very least, gratitude gives us perspective and keeps us from thinking that everything in our life has gone wrong.

Tough times don’t last forever. As someone once said, “success is preparation meeting opportunity.” By reviewing these stress management tips and putting them into practice regularly, you can ease the stress of a job loss and replace negative thoughts and emotions with positive ones. In other words, you’ll be prepared when opportunity starts knocking again.

About the Author: Sandra Thébaud, Ph.D. has been a Clinical Psychologist for over 25 years. She is also an author, speaker and stress management trainer.

For more information, visit www.linkedin.com/in/sandrathebaudphd.

© 2021 Sandra Thébaud. All Rights Reserved.

Heartfelt appreciation to Sisters Sherry Haller Bursey and Sister Beth Robinson for a wonderful brunch gathering of Sisters - existing and new - on Sunday, October 16, 2022. The comradery and laughter experienced at Mimosas, a Black-owned entery, carried through the next week and beyond!

Food for the Soul Blog by Teri Sewell Huff

Laughter truly is the Best Medicine! Click link below.

If you're 65 or older, live in Denver, Colorado, and have in your residence for 10 years or longer, you may be eligible for a Senior Tax Property Exemption. See the link below. Applications for 2023 are due by January 15, 2023.