Serenade in the Park

This morning I woke up and I had a pretty engaging conversation with the Most High along with meditating.   Afterwards, I prepared to go for an early morning walk on the trail.  Nothing really could prepare me for a bizarre but pleasant encounter.   With so many walkers, joggers, roller bladders, bikers it is not that difficult to not notice who has their sights on you.  When I am walking, I usually am in a zone with the Ipod going strong to keep me moving to some very intense music.   Imagine after the second time around, having a guy that resembles this guy, running toward you serenading you…..singing a classic, “A Ribbon In The Sky” by Stevie Wonder.   Now, I am thinking…I don’t know this guy so this serenade is not for me, however, as I am looking around, I was the only one in the vicinity.   Him still approaching me coming from the other side of the trail…..the moment of truth…he was serenading me…..and he had this cheesy smile on his face……he extended his hand out to me and introduced himself as Lenox.  I replied, “Hello, Michelle”.

Then he said, I know….weird for somebody to be serenading someone they do not know….  I’m thinking, “Yes” but I replied, “Not really”.  Quietly to myself, thinking, as I recall this has happened to me before many years ago, in downtown Detroit, a man saw me standing downtown, he was all the way on the other side and I never saw him either until he got up close and personal and he serenaded me with the same song, “A Ribbon in the Sky” by Stevie Wonder.  As with this same situation, I never saw this guy coming.  While talking to him, I had all kinds of things going on in my head…..I am sweaty, no make-up, I have a scarf on my head, etc….and I got all this physically fit gorgeousness standing in front of me…..LAWD,  have mercy!

We continued to walk and talk and the conversation was quite enjoyable..I could tell he had a sense of humor…almost quite silly but cute…..there were a lot of chuckles shared between us, this went on for at least 30 minutes.   After that the conversation came to a close; but he left me with some parting sweet words and encouragement.   Some of what he said, “Ms. Michelle” keep up the excellent work your making a lot of progress.  He further went on to say, if you have them, start lifting weights as much as you can to work your arms…..and he gave me that buddy touch on the shoulder like he has known me for years…..Then he simply, said, “I’ll see you around” and left.  For a brief, moment I thought, “How Long has he been watching me, to know that I have been making progress?  Then I sort of just threw the rest of my thoughts away and began focusing on what this encounter meant, for this is the second guy that I have met on this trail.

Now most women would have thought, this man wants me.  Me on the other hand, I have a different response to things like this, especially since I have been on this spiritual journey and life of transformation mind, body and soul.  This encounter meant something totally different.  As always, I look at the symbolism in the moment.  I lay down all the facts such as:

A stranger but gorgeous man, a song – “A Ribbon in the Sky” a classic by Stevie Wonder, walking and talking with me, offering me encouragement with my efforts, giving me praise, etc….I didn’t stop here.  I was compelled to find the lyrics to “A Ribbon in the Sky”.   The lyrics are below:

So that you too will understand
There’s a ribbon in the sky for our love

 Do…Do…
 Do Do Do Do Do…
 HMM HMM…

This is not a coincidence
And far more than a lucky chance
But what is that was always meant
Is our ribbon in the sky for our love, love

We can’t lose with God on our side
We’ll find strength in each tear we cry
From now on it will be you and I
And our ribbon in the sky
Ribbon in the sky
A ribbon in the sky for our love.

When I read the lyrics to the song; tears began to flow down my face. When you think about this entire encounter it was every bit of lovely.  Then this made me think about;  That when a man finds a wife; that man should already be equipped to love, encourage, protect, praise, honor, respect, as God does.  Years ago, I decided that, while dating, that I would not answer the question, “What are you looking for in a relationship?”  This question gives people permission to try and deceive us.  The moment we tell them what we are looking for, they become exactly that, therefore not presenting their true selves.  If a man asked me what I was looking for in a relationship then right away, I knew perhaps he wasn’t the one; for a man with good intentions already knows how he wants and is capable of loving you;  offering you only the wonderful qualities he already owns.

Now back on subject, this encounter was God’s message to me about how the love he has ordained to be in my life will come to me; pay attention to the lyrics in the song:  “This is not a coincidence” and “Far more than a lucky chance” “But what is this was always meant”.  My heart is melting right about now….God sure does know how to douse your spirit with love.  I especially love this part of the song, “We can’t lose with God on our side”.  This one line is saying everything that needs to be said.  When God ordains a union it doesn’t matter how many people their are who don’t like it….there can’t be anything done about it, other than, watch these two people love each other.

The other message I got from this encounter is Love will recognize you in your rarest form; sweat and all.  This man was a stranger and straight-up gorgeous; but my concern shifted directly on my appearance; but he was not bothered by that he knew I had been walking and sweating, and approached me anyway.  That is how love should approach you; for who you are.  Love will look past the exterior and reach deep and look at the interior.  Yeah….!  That’s what love does; accepts you for who you are.

I want to close by offering some encouragement to my Plus Size Mavericks and Divas; I am still plus size; but for me I am a work in progress, and what I am doing for myself is not to gain the attention of a man.  The transformation that is taking place in my life is a process, and it is something that I want to do for me.   I want to also say,  beauty comes in all shapes and sizes and just because a guy is physically fit and your deemed not to be; it doesn’t mean that they will not be attracted to you. There are some lovely men out here who can look past the superficial, especially when he is met with a woman full of pleasantry.

If your single and plus size as I am, take every moment that you can, to love on you, and love will keep bumping into you until that one and only true love stops you in your tracks and says, “I have waited for you all my life, and I want to go the rest of the distance with you as my wife”.   Do what it is that you do; be a mover and a shaker, do not let your weight be an issue; just change it, if you have an issue with it yourself.  Know this, if a gorgeous man with good intentions is  approaching  you then, obviously, your weight is not keeping him from taking notice of you; so do not make it an issue. TRANSFORM, RENEW, REVAMP, REPOSITION YOURSELF  into the authentic woman you KNOW YOU already are.  I promise you, the beauty will be in the process, the progress and in the wait!  Don’t Rush it, let God do it!  If you let God do it; you will not lose.

P.S.  Don’t sit in the house because more than likely Mr. Right is not going to knock on your door.

Live Life Well and Be Blessed.  Michelle E. Alford, CHLC, CLC –http://www.livinglifewellwithmichelle.com – Radio host of the “Living Life Well With Michelle Show” on WDRJ 1440 AM – Detroit  tune in each Monday morning at 10:30 AM EST from your cars, homes, offices, androids, blackberries, computers, on anywhere you can stream live.  Call my company Me-A-Happy Lifecoaching @ 734-288-7189 for your life coaching services. My book Motivation By the Book available only on my website or my publishing site: http://www.livinglifewellpublishing.comand stay tuned for my next upcoming book “Spirituality – The link to the Love and Liberty in My Life.”

Love is Encouraging

Daily, in the early rising hours, I engage in meditation and prayer. To follow this process each week I have gone to boot camp at 6:30 am in the morning for three to four days a week. Immediately after I go to the park and walk 1.2 to 3.2 miles. This system seems to be working out for me. When I am walking the trail there is a sense of peace that walks with me. There are also many others who are walking or exercising for one purpose or another: to lose weight, keep up their health, or just to engage in the human fellowship or to awe in the beauty of God’s magnificent creations.

On the trail you can find humor from the things going on. The squirrels chasing each other taking acorns and leaves from each other, then jumping from tree-to-tree, circling the trees and peaking around as if they are trying to play hide-and-seek with you. Then there are the birds harmonizing, singing to a tune that only the angels can interpret but all can appreciate. Occasionally, when you hit certain spots along the trail the flowers releases a gentle fragrance, and the trees, wave their leafy hands to give off a cool breeze. Then there is the delightful exchange of hospitality among the people passing by. The beauty I find in this; is that each person are from many different races, creeds; or nationalities and no one seems to be bothered by our cultural differences. Instead, we are focused on the task at hand, and that is our common goal to exercise our ability to change our lives to produce a better quality of living for ourselves.

Something else magnificent that became clear to me walking the trail that is “Love is Encouraging” and it recognizes it’s image. Each day that I walk, I include some strength training and stretching for a period of time, utilizing the benches in the park to carry out some of my exercise moves. After doing this I continue walking. Last Wednesday as I was walking the trail a gentleman, looked at me and smiled and then he passed me. He manage to get in front of me and stopped at this lilac tree; I saw him breaking a bushel off; and he just stood there jogging in place; it appeared that he was waiting for me; but I couldn’t be sure and I didn’t know why he would be because I didn’t know him. To my surprise once I came face-to-face with him he said to me “Sister I see You, stay on your grind.” I replied, Thanks! I thought that was the end of the conversation; it wasn’t. He kept jogging in place and kept talking and he handed me the bushel of lilacs. He continued to talk and he further said to me, “Don’t stop what you’re doing because at the end of your journey, there is the sweet smell of success and the evidence of hard work, committment, and perseverance. He further said, “Know this…the beauty of your essence will come forth and release a beautiful fragrance and shine as the beautiful woman I already see.” I thought this to be interesting; but divine because he was a stranger to me. He didn’t give me his name and I didn’t offer mine.

After saying what he said, he just left. I walked for a bit more and then left; but my thoughts pondered over my conversation with a stranger. His conversation was so encouraging to me that I had to wonder what further message God was trying to give me from this encounter. Being a person that is really into symbolism, signs and divine messages. My first thought was to understand the message behind the flowers and the boldness behind the conversation, because it was obvious this man didn’t know me. Most women would have probably gone into that place of thinking that maybe this is the man for me. Not me. As a spiritual woman, I have learned to pay more attention to the entire situation surrounding an event. I knew that there was a deeper meaning behind this encounter. First, I checked into the ‘in your face sign’ the bushel of ‘lilac’ flowers. What I discovered was purple lilacs symbolize the first emotions of love. This was astonishing! Because for some time God has been impressing upon me to speak and write about love—in the three aspects Agape, Eros and Philos and to write blogs to empower people, which is my divine purpose as a life coach, minister of truth and light, and as a woman who believe in empowering women and just simply ‘helping all push past yield’ – H.A.P.P.Y—-The revelation I received after discovering the meaning of the flower is ‘Love Recognizes You’ and that we as individuals should know that we must first exercise loving ourselves completely mind, body and soul to properly welcome divine and genuine love into our lives.

Once we have done that, love will face us and admit that it recognizes the essence of the beauty already residing in you. Love will also admit that it wants to forge a meaningful partnership with you divinely. Sidebar for my single women: The revelation also shows that we do not have to worry about being chosen or found by the right person, because love is drawn to love and will confront you at the appointed time with the purest form that Love could offer and that is a divine love. Love is watching you. Live Life Well and Be Blessed. Michelle E. Alford, CHLC, CLC http://www.livinglifewellwithmichelle.com, http://www.facebook.com/livinglifewellwithmichelle, http://www.twitter.com/michelleealford, Me-A-Happy Life Coaching 734-288-7189.