I Love This Game!

I finally got my hands on Cashflow the E-game. I have been wearing it out! Since I've received the game, I've played it no less that once a day, sometimes as much as four or five times a day! Seriously, it is that much fun and really addictive. It has been said that when you play, you will learn alot about the money behavior of the players. I've only been playing with computer players, so the behavior I have been observing is my own.

I love the way the Income Statement and the Balance Sheet are structured on the game. It was so easy to use and easy to read. Every time something had been bought, sold or changed, I had to update both the income statement and balance sheet. When I played the game for the first time, that was hard, because I didn't truly understand the relationship between the two documents, although I had read about the relationship before. Actually doing it was another story. I finally got the hang of it, and was so inspired, that I finally did my own financial statement for the very first time.

I knew for a long time that I needed to do a financial statement, but I really dreaded the thought of doing it. I made up so many excuses. The best on was, get this, "I'm too broke to do a financial statement! I already know I don't make the money I want. I don't need another piece of paper to tell me that!"

Had to let that go! When I did, another one came up: "I'm not good at math! I hate math. Math was the hardest subject for me at school!"

Once I realized that this only takes fourth grade math skills, the next one was, "I'll make mistakes again and will have to do it too many times to get it right!"

So , I realized that I'm not doing it for my lawyer, accountant or banker, just me. So doing it over and over will be ok.

I finally did! And you know what? It was hard! And I had to do it over and over again. But I finally got it right!
Seeing my financial situation on paper was interesting. I am more aware of my "money holes", where my money is falling out. I had some idea about it, but seeing it on paper makes me focus more energy of fixing those problems. I also see what area I need to focus on to make more money.

I also need a specific goal. You have to choose a goal in the game before you start. Having a concrete goal really pumps me to keep playing and keep track of my progress and not get too distracted by other "money holes". I need a specific money goal, like "I want to make $_______ by (insert time frame). I have never done that before. I always just got whatever came my way and went from there.

Playing this game also made me think alot about my dance career. All this time, I NEVER connected my money to my career. I never had a goal for my money or even the money made from my career. I did things with no plan, no goal, no real direction. I made money, paid off the bills, paid the performers, myself and was fortunate to actually have something left over. I am really blessed that my business was successful. It may not have been profitable, but it was successful in many ways. Yet I knew there was something I was missing, and it did long for that success in profitability.

I have had my eyes opened and I have a whole lot more work to do, but I'm really proud of my progress so far! Learning more is so exciting!
Some other things I learned:
*I don't know enough about stocks and investing. I pass up alot of good investing opportunities, because of my lack of knowledge in that area. It cost me alot in the game. I will be doing more reading in investing.
*An auditor (someone to check your financial statement) is necessary in the game and in life. In the game, the computer was my auditor, and it would automatically tell me when something was wrong. When I did my own statement, I didn't have an auditor, which is why I had to do it so many times to get it right. Next time, I will have some one look over it to tell me what I'm missing.

Off to play again!

Where we live

I'm in Charlotte this weekend visiting my family. Last night, my brother and I stayed up all night, droppin some serious mind bombs on each other. Both of us are really working on our creative energies, our allowance of abundance, health, etc.

We both watched this DVD called "The Occult World of Commerce". This very insightful DVD confirmed for me something that I had in the back of my mind for a long time:

This country is actually a business.

We really live in the United States of America Inc. melvindaleonline.com/uscon/L...Dept.htm

All of the other systems that exist here are also businesses:
government, judicial systems, insurance, health care.

They were created for no other purpose. Not for making (lawful) laws, administer justice, providing security in rough times or making you healthy.

These systems and this country were created to make money.

We really need to absorb this. If you are looking for justice, you probably will not get it from the judicial system. It is only designed to collect money from the people who use the services of the system. They cannot sell "justice". If you are looking for health, you more than likely will not get it in the hospital. The hospital is designed to sell you products and services. If you want to buy different colored pills that alter your body state, they will sell it to you. They cannot sell "health".

The people who created this country are most certainly creative people to the nth degree. This country (corporation) created ways to consistently extract money from humans who did not create it and who are not practicing their creativity. Those that are not creative are at the mercy of those that are. If you notice, the educational system does not foster creativity, but prepares you to be a part of a system that will forever extract money from you. (Side note: I believe the educational system is failing because there has been a surge of creativity here. The educational system now needs to adapt to this new creative energy or it will soon become obselete).

I do not believe this business that we live in and the businesses that we participate in are good or evil, but I do believe that we need to look at them as what they are. I do not think that we should expect something more from them than what they sell. What I think is wrong is the "marketing plans" of these systems. They want us to believe, through their marketing, that these businesses are here to protect, heal and provide for us when really they are about their own bottom line!

I also believe that if we do not want to be at the mercy of these systems, we must be the true creative beings that we are. We need to create our own businesses. Ones that have "marketing plans" that communicate a little more honestly!? Alternatives to the products that are currently available. The beauty of living in a business is that the opportunity to create is so free flowing!

We just need to start actually doing it!

I "Heart" Dance Movies!

I finally saw the movie "Take the Lead" where Antonio Banderas portrays the great Pierre Dulaine (americanballroomtheater.com/our_...asp). I'm not very good about going to see movies in the actual theater.

There is a line in the movie where he is defending his program to a group of parents that want to terminate it. He embraces Alfre Woodard and leads her in simple walking. The look on her face was sheer horror at first. Then, she relaxed into the movement. Then he says, "Partner dancing involves trust. Not only must you trust your partner, but you must also trust yourself." He also tells the kids that "It takes just as much strength to follow as it does to lead" and "You do not lead as a dictator". He continues to impress upon the parents why his program was such a benefit to the students. His program didn't get cancelled.

It's so wonderful that his program for school children has excelled and has been around for a long time! It's not just in New York City but spreading nationwide. The lessons learned in his program are vital for proper development of the social skills that are needed for human interaction, but few opportunities exist in schools for children to learn how to treat each other. Kids are in danger of becoming drones! School consists of 8 hours of sit down, shut up and listen! There are no outlets for any kind of creativity, where what you learn is actually applied. Where do children get a chance to express themselves? That's why arts education is a necessity, not some frivolous waste of time!

Something else struck me while watching this movie. I have excelled in every style of dance that I have learned except for partner dancing.

Where I belong.

Rakkassah West. I actually made it! This was the first time I've been on stage in about a year. Though I thought my dancing could have been much better, I did have alot of fun up there! It made me remember why I dance in the first place. Strangely enough, the stage is one of the places I feel most comfortable, most like myself. I'm my absolute freest dancing in front of a whole lot of people.

I had the most fun outside of the festival, though. On Saturday, I got to go to a great party and meet alot of fellow dancers. We don't get enough opportunities to just relax and talk amongst ourselves. We're always so busy practicing or rushing to get on stage. The party was a great way for us to just kick back. And we did alot of that!

I'll definitely be going back to the Bay area. It's just so different. It's unlike any place I've ever been.

Website and Rak West!

So it ain't done, but there is some content. At least you can get a feel for where it's going. The last design was really rich, lots of purple and gold. This time I wanted something lighter, but still regal. www.nandiqueen.com

I'm off to Rak West this weekend. I'm so excited! This will be my first time in Cali! The first of many visits. The best part is meeting other fellow dancers.

I can't wait! I'm absolutely geeky about it!

......the teacher will come. Part 1

There is a hoop girl out there who dropped a glow bomb on us when she posted about Lynn Grabhorn's book, "Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting." Well, I decided to be super nosy and check out the book at my local library.

Twenty pages in, I couldn't keep my excitement to myself, so I called my brother. I knew he would understand!
"Hey, you gotta read this book!" I say.
"What's it about?" He asks.
"The Law of Attraction." I tell him.
"Oh, I heard about that. There is a movie about it called "The Secret" He says.
"You mean, there is a movie about this stuff? Why didn't you tell me?" I screamed.

Then I called my good friend "E" who, like me, is into alternative spiritual practices. I knew she certainly would have some idea about all this.
"Have you heard about this book?" I asked.
"Yeah, girl I have a copy of it at home." She said.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I screamed!

Apparently, I haven't been ready to receive this great nugget of knowledge until now. And I can't stop talking about it!

Depressed? You may have food allergies!

Seriously! 99% of what ails us can be traced right back to what it is we put in our bodies on a daily basis. Food allergies oftentimes affect the nervous system, causing bouts of depression. It has taken me several years to make the connection.

Those who know me personally know that I am by no means a depressing person, but for the past few years, I was in a serious funk. I didn't like my job at all, I was always tired even when I had more than 10 hours of sleep and I was experiencing what I thought were constant bladder infections. The job stress and the fatigue led me to eat things that were not necessarily healthy for me, but provided short lived energy I needed to last a few hours until I got home. I would then pass out in a coma and wake up the next morning.

I knew something was wrong, so I began getting testing for all sorts of things. The results would all come back saying that nothing was wrong with me. But I still didn't feel well. So I had to take matters into my own hands.

I decided to quit my job as a receptionist and go full time with my business. It lessened the stress I felt with going to a job that I didn't like and it removed the need to eat things that I knew weren't contributing to good health. Then I went on a 2 week fast, and discovered that wheat, corn, nuts and potatoes really bothered me. So I did away with those foods. In less that four days, I saw immediate positive results.

I also did away with dairy and insane amounts of sugar. I started needing less sleep instead of more. When things didn't exactly go my way, I didn't freak out, and my creativity was wild! Ideas would come so easily and I finally had the energy to bring those ideas into reality!

I recently discovered that what I really had was something called The Yeast Syndrome. It's a serious overgrowth of Candida Albicans, that same organism that causes yeast infections. Millions of people have this condition and don't even know it because it is disguised as something else, like a food allergy! The high-stress, poor-eating culture that we live in creates the ideal habitat in our bodies for Candida to grow and cause a host of problems.

If you always feel tired although you get enough sleep, notice that you're more sensitive to certain foods, or have medical conditions that can't be explained, you may have food allergies, and those allergies may point to a problem that could be more serious.

The Essential lessons I have learned about men (so far!)

Boy I wish Mom and Grandma would have told me these things when I was younger....
1. Men are men. It does not matter the race, economic status, or geographic location. They are mostly simple creatures that are oftentimes predictable.
2. Your intuition is right! Follow it! The sooner the better! If you have funny vibes about him, cut him off. If you like him go to #3.
3. Always go by what a man does, not what he says.....
4. ....But he does tell you how he really is if we listen and pay attention. That should be no problem since men love to talk about themselves.
5. You must observe them more! Minimum 3 mos. observation period with no sexual activity. Ideally, it should be 6 mos, but we live in Fast Food nation where nobody has patience.
6. You don't have any business chasing after a dude!
7. Men lie, but women lie to themselves and then make excuses for themselves and the man that lied to them.
8. "Why" he doesn't want to be with you doesn't matter. What matters is he doesn't. Fixing the "why" will not change his mind. No need to waste your time.
9. Men do not infer well. They do not read between the lines.
10. If you have to ask, it's not what you think it is!
11. Nice guys do stupid things.

With destruction comes renewal

I was going to write my first journal entry of the year on my redesigned website blog, but it's not yet completed, and I don't want to wait any longer. I've decided to go ahead and start using this blog. Why not? Plus my mom won't be able to find it so easily!

2006 was a very rough year. I went through some really crazy, unbelievable ish, and I had to completely stop dancing. Not being able to do something that you were put here to do is death. There is no other way to explain it. I went from having an active, successful dance career to nothing. It's still painful to even think about that and even more painful to write about it, but part of my healing process is writing about what happened. Alot of times we keep pain private and miss the opportunity to share experiences with others that have gone through the same trials, and can give encouragement and words of wisdom needed to put things into perspective. So I will be posting alot more entries here in the future.

I somehow managed to survive and remain sane! I thank my family and close friends for that. I don't know where I would be without their support. I don't even want to imagine that!

I'm glad that 2006 is gone, and I look forward to this year. There is still quite alot of rebuliding and repair that needs to be done, but I've gotten rid of the things,people, and negative thoughts that were causing all the havoc. I no longer have space or time for those same negative things, people or thoughts and do not allow them near me.

Wow! I feel lighter already!