Hold On Just a Little While Longer

By Pamela Chapman

So, what do you do when you can’t find the words to explain to those around you that the circumstance, the situation, the grip of the condition is so tight you can hardly get enough air into your lungs to keep breathing? What do you do when you can’t stop the tears and every waking moment reminds you of the pain? What do you do when you can’t say a word and you’re so tired of the battle that all you want to do is lie down and give up? What do you do when the systems of this world fail you?

            These are some of the words I’ve had to remember and speak to myself in the past few months: “The Lord, You, are my Sheppard; I shall not be in want! You make me to lie down in green pastures. You lead me beside the still waters. You restore my soul. You lead me in the paths of righteousness for your name sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:1-4.

            And when the pressure increased, I remembered: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:7-9.

            I have come to realize that my answer to the call or agreeing with my purpose has not come without a price. Neither does yours. I realize I could not emphatically encourage you or sincerely empathize with you if I, myself, did not experience life’s ups and downs. I could not teach you how to soar in the storm unless I knew how to soar in the storm. I could not teach you how to turn adversities into victories unless I face adversity and turn it into victory. I could not teach abundant living, if I did not know and understand abundant living—in spite of illusions in the conscious mind. I could not show you or tell you how to rise and walk, if I could not or did not know how to rise above my ill circumstance, pick up my bed of affliction, and walk.

            I wish today I could hand you a quick fix, honestly. I wish today I could make all the wrongs that life has brought you, right. I wish I could take away all of your pain, immediately. I wish I could turn your cards of life into a royal straight flush. But, I can’t. However, this is what I can do. I can encourage you to hold on. I can tell you and show you how to not give up and not give in. I can lead you toward love, light and healing. And, if you choose such, you will walk into abundant living—in this life, not just the next. You will see JUSTICE, in this world not just the next. You will experience JOY and HAPPINESS not just later, but now. Yes, in this life!

            Now, more than ever, you’ve got to hold onto your faith. And, when the systems of this world give you a resounding no, go to the center of you—tap into the very essence of you, and listen. Listen until you hear a resonating YES and hear how you’re supposed to proceed. I don’t care what your doctor has told you, it doesn’t matter what the judge’s verdict or sentence, or even what your mind-chatter or donkey talk is telling you. Today—Hold On, BELIEVE, DON’T GIVE UP, and DON’T GIVE IN. Remember this, if you want a miracle you have to be in motion. If you’ve done all you know to do, then STAND knowing there is a power greater and bigger than you, than me, and the system. And though sometimes it may seem as if all Creator doesn’t hear, He’s forsaken you and left you to go it alone, rest assured, He is right there—right in the middle of your circumstance. 

Hold on, just a little while longer.

Vital Belief #4—Take Care of You First

By Pamela Chapman

If you read my previous blog entry, Vital Belief #3, you’ll recall that I spoke of breathing correctly. I spoke of the flight attendant telling you to put the oxygen mask over your own nose and mouth in case of emergency and why doing so is critical. Today’s blog is just an expansion of that and is written especially for you ladies. Gentlemen, you can follow the same advice, but we girls tend to take care of everyone else before we think of ourselves. We don’t usually take time for ourselves until our bodies are screaming “STOP!” or literally stopping us with illness.


While many of our Time’s Up! activists are pursing incredibly urgent causes—abuse, missing persons, murder, and cyber crimes, to name a few—I am committed to inspiring, motivating, strengthening, and bringing inner healing to you while you fight. I commit to building your stamina while you carry on for the cause. This is why my writings never speak to the pain, but bring you glimpses of peace, light, and love. 


In your urgent and critical endeavors, it is so easy to forget about you and the importance of taking care of yourself. You might even consider it selfish to think about yourself when there are so many atrocities occurring 24/7 around the world. But, let me put it this way: without you, those atrocities wouldn’t be confronted or addressed. Your movement would possibly die or be delayed. So, here’s some simple and practical advice that won’t take a lot of your time or energy.

When your mind is unfocused, you can’t remember where you’re putting things, you don’t know what you did last or what you should do next, and your body aches all over, STOP! Take a break—take time off. Take time to smell the roses, look at the blue sky by day, and count the stars by night. Check out that ball in the sky that gives you light for the darkest night, takes on different shapes, and even smiles at you at times. Take off your shoes and socks and feel the grass between your toes, take a deep breath and smell its freshness, put your ear to its roots and listen to it crackle as it grows—it’s life. Is there an ocean nearby so that you can listen to its roar and hear what it wants to say to you? Is there a calm river that wants to take you gently and peacefully, without your working, downstream?


Pretty Woman, one of my all time favorite movies (that and the Ten Commandments—go figure) shows us how a working woman, a woman of the oldest profession, teaches an ambitious, overachieving entrepreneur how to embrace life and love and take care of himself. It’s not enough to pursue your goals, passions, or causes if you, in turn, miss out on life and neglect yourself. This may rub you the wrong way, but let me remind you of this: the basis of life isfreedom; the result of life is expansion; and the purpose of life is life more abundant. 


That statement may really tick you off, especially if you have just experienced tragedy. But I reiterate: the purpose of that tragedy is to expand you and bring you to your purpose in life. All Creation knew you could move through the experience, make the choice to step up to the experience, and then do something about it. You weren’t going to just take it. The experience may have crippled you for a moment, but you chose to get up and out of your pain, disappointment, and anger. You made a choice to carry on. During the process you may have cried, broken down, and even come close to death yourself, but in the end, you endured and found or are finding joy and peace in making great change. Your purpose will outweigh your pain if you say yes to the call.


With that being said, you must take care of you. Go back to the first three vital beliefs I gave you at the beginning of the year: ground yourself every day, if not several times a day; only put out what you want to get back (love, joy, and peace); and  breathe deeply. If your body or mind begins to ache, it’s sending you a signal: you’re out of alignment (ouch). If you start to sneeze and cough, you’re doing too much (ouch again), and if you find yourself with a more serious dis/ease (heart ailment, diabetes, or, God forbid, cancer) this is your body crying out for you to love YOU. Let go, rest, wait, refocus, reenergize, and balance. Do some soul searching. Your body, soul, and spirit are sending you a strong message. You can do all of the things you want to do: pursue careers, raise children, seek justice, introduce bills and amendments, expose untruths, and reveal truths. But do it in wholeness, not brokenness. 


You make no great witness if you are unbalanced, broken, or bereaved. It is my belief that the only way you’re going to change the world is to be that example of wholeness: to be the healed (mentally, physically emotionally), to be the light, and to be the love. When we can be that, others will want to be like us. You can only become that by taking care of you first.


In love, light, and healing,
Pamela Chapman
Certified Self-Esteem, Life-Transition Expert
Certified Domestic Violence Specialist

Remember the Universal Law—You Reap What You Sow.

By Pamela Chapman


I settle into my big chair as I begin to write more in depth about what I believe to be the second vital belief for success in 2010. It is not easy. I’ve written to dear Delilah, our Time’s Up coordinator to ask her for a reprieve so that I can ask God how to approach Belief #2: Remember the Universal Law—You Reap What You Sow.


If you follow my blog, you know that I write in order to inspire and bring hope. At least, that is my aim. To give you a glimpse of hope, to give you the strength to carry on: that is my heart’s desire. I write based on my experiences—the good and the bad. So now I sit and I ask, “God, how do I explain to the beautiful people on the other side of this page—those who have been brutalized and escaped like runaway slaves in the middle of the night, leaving everything and everyone behind—that you reap what you sow?


How do I give that message to those precious souls who have lost their children and loved ones by the hands of someone who had no regard for their loved one’s life or their own? Some of you are still seeking justice in an unjust system that is broken and, I believe, doesn’t want to be repaired. Women and children continue to be violated with little or no restitution. How can I say that you are reaping what you have sown?


I know this is a question many of us ask, but I also know this to be a Universal Law. If you are one who believes in Holy Scripture, you know that Galatians 6:7 reads, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” 


Well, that works great for those who have committed heinous crimes. But how do we explain the injustices done against the innocent children and babes? How do we explain a woman being beat to death or strangled until she is unconscious? Why do bad things happen to people who are good? Now I’ll make it personal—why did my only son fall victim to a senseless beating that quickly turned the journey and path for his life of 17 years into a downward spiral?


There is no easy answer to this question, and because I do not want to attempt to write what has already been so beautifully written, may I strongly suggest reading The Shack by Wm. Paul Young? It is a powerful story about this very dilemma. The writer himself experienced great loss as a child and young adult. Here is what Wynonna Judd wrote about this book: “Reading The Shack during a very difficult transition in my life, this story has blown the door wide open to my soul.”


In the meanwhile, here are some additional words that I pray will bring peace to your
aching soul and bring you hope for His justice.


“Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.” Psalm 126:5


“The wicked man does deceptive work, but he who sows righteousness [right doing] will have a sure reward.” Proverbs 11:18


And lastly, “Remember now, whoever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright [for]ever cut off? Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same by the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of His anger they are consumed.” Job 4:7-9


No matter what life has brought to our doorsteps, I pray each of us continue to sow and reap in His love.


In love, light, and healing,
Pamela

You can learn more by attending a free webinar "The Power of Transparency."  To learn more and to register, please go to the link HERE.