empower yourself with music

If you can appreciate good jazz, then you can appreciate some of the best in the business. Saturday evening was a gathering of a small sample of the kind of music people of all ages appreciated as we all rocked back and forth to the sounds of horns, guitars and great musicianship.
Some of my favorites when I interned at WNUA Smooth Jazz with my mentor Denise Jordan Walker blew us all away. I remember voicing my first voice-over commercial for an artist I didn't even know at the time, (But came to love) the one and only Peter White. I never knew he was from London, because he plays a guitar. You can't tell where a person is from by the instrument he plays.
Richard Elliot had the hottest and jazziest zebra patterened saxophone I have ever seen in life! He blew us all into a jazz zone we didn't want to leave.
Rick Braun is also one of my favorites. I used one of his songs as the opening theme for my tv show when I first started ZTV! This musician is as smooth as the horn he plays.
Last but not least, the man I'd waited to hear since he came on the scene some years ago sounding like the jazz great George Benson. He took us to a place none of us expected. Besides doing his jazz best, he even showered us with his new Gospel song that left us begging for more.
I surely didn't expect to have church in the middle of a jazz concert! It was well worth the time he took to praise the most high for the abundance of blessings we were all recieving! There's nothing more powerful than a musician giving praise to the Master Musician!
This experience was something I will remember for life. Life offers many good experiences in life, but there's nothing more soothing than an experiences that re-connects you with the power of God, through music. So the next time you feel a little out of sorts, under the weather or you just need a little uplifting, then turn on some jazz (or your favorite music) and start giving praise!
Remember, when the praises go up, the blessings come down

self empowerment comes by doing!

It's coming down to the grand finale of the Thintuition Competition!
This competition is teaching me more than I ever anticipated!
Yesterday's television taping included the contestants going back to the wall climbing experience. This time, Rob invited me to try to climb the wall, and of course being the champ I am, I welcomed the challenge.

Little did I know this experience would take me beyond any physical performances I've ever experiened. I was only on the wall for a few short minutes. I realized very quickly that this rock climbing thing was not for the timid. What these contestants were experiencing was real. The first time they climbed, most of them didn't even go half way to the top. This time, many of them did.

I realized that sports activities are so much more mental, than physical. You can not achieve anything physical before you see the picture in your heard. Needless to say, I didn't get the visual before I attempted to climb the wall.
Sitting next to me was a young Japanese Climber named Sushi, who climbed the wall as if he were Spiderman! He said he was a beginner, but I didn't believe him. I figured no one human could scale a wall that quickly unless he was sub-human. Then it occurred to me that the only way to get better at this experience was to do it again and again, just as Sushi did.
So this week, I am meeting the contestants to go wall climbing again, and this time, I will be on the wall for more than 5 minutes. I am going to go somewhere quiet before I go to the health club, see myself climbing that wall, and then GO and climb that wall. I will see it, BEFORE I actually go and DO it!
There's a wall climbing experience happing in your life as well.
So, what will you do to climb that wall?

Congratulations to my girlfriend Karen McDaniels and her new husband Bruce Allen on their nuptials yesterday! (7-07-07)
To all my single friends, don't give up hope!
There's a single someone out there waiting for us as well! Karen and Bruce were both high school sweethearts some 25 + years ago! How about that.
When they left high school, both enlisted in the army, but went separate ways. Karen moved to NYC, New Jersey, Louisiana and several other states, as well as Bruce, but they always kept in touch, as friends.
That friendship finally went to the next level. Bruce finally popped the question on her last visit to Chicago over a holiday weekend. What was a surprise to me is that Karen invited me to DJ the wedding! (Working as a radio personality on the air in the studio is just a little different)
In all my years in radio, I'd never worked as a DJ., only as an On-Air Talent. This was something new to me. I had to really bring it on because of course she told all of our old high school buddies I would be the guest celebrity DJ.
I figured if I could do it on the air, surely I could DJ in person. My only fear was that someone would ask me to play a song that I didn't have. Of course that didn't happen. I even recieved great revues of a job well done, and invitations to do other events.
I sure am glad I overcame the fear of doing this kind of work in public. Not only would I have missed out on a great opportunity to do something I've always thought about doing, I would have also disappointed my friend, as well as myself.
It goes without saying, you really don't know what you're capable of doing, until you do it!
So! What are you waiting for?

Part of the Human Experience

Part of the human experience.

I know you're going through some things, we all do.

So get used to it. Sounds cruel,

but it's all a part of the human experience.

What if someone told you that you were not from this planet?

What if someone told you that you were from another planet,
and the fact that you're having such a challenging time fitting in is because you were not familiar with this particular way of being?

What if any of this is true? What if?

You may feel this way at times when all the good you do seems to go unnoticed, but the moment you do something out of order, it becomes news!

Sounds familiar? Seems like the harder you try, the harder it actually gets. The more you try to do right, the more challening life gets.

Well, it's just the beginning. Maybe the planet you're really from is a planet of well being, well living, and well loving. What does that mean?

Maybe the planet you're really from is honest. (Not a celebrated virtue among a den of theives)

Maybe the planet you're really from treats people the way you want to be treated, no exceptions.

Maybe the planet you're from loves everyone regardless of ethnicity or economic background.

Are we dreamin? Maybe so. Well, let's pretend we live on that loving and kind planet anyway. Do the right thing because good will find you, where you find it.

This planet does not have to be a physical planet. The first and most important planet, is the planet Mind. Enjoy the stay, you never know when it will be your last day! (On this planet, anyway.)

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self empowerment comes from within

It's week 8 of the THINTUITION COMPETITION
(hosted by yours truly) in which we'll be having our
debut party today at Lakeshore Athletic Club!


Every week I learn something new from the contestants
that make me look inside myself and see you! That's right, you!
How can I say that about you and I don't even know you? Easy.


We are more alike than we are different, whether we realize it or not.
Most of us breathe the same air, shed dead skin, bathe, and the list goes on.


What most of us don't realize it that we all face the same challenges,
some just on another level. Some of us are a little more dramatic than others.
Some of us thrive on drama! Some of us avoid drama by any means necessary.


What we all want more than anything else is to be loved,
but most of us haven't learned to believe in ourselves long enough
to learn how to fully love ourselves.


We've been taught (programmed) with so much negativity,
that it's almost impossible to overcome it, but it can be done.
Thintuition contestants are proving that it can be done every time
they show up for the competition, not knowing what to expect,
but they show up anyway.


They show up, afraid of heights and learn to rock climb.
They show up deathly afraid of water, and learn to tread in the water.
They show not knowing, but trusting their inner power to guide them
to be able to do whatever it takes to get through the competition for that day.


That says a lot. You don't need to be in a public competition to do it.
We compete with ourselves every single day.

Thing is, we beat up on ourselves for not doing,
saying or being the thing or person we think that society says we should be.

Reality Check! The world will continue to beat us down.
We need not help it. We must do as we learned as children doing the ho-ke-poke.

We must learn to "Pick ourselves up,
dust ourselves off,
turn ourselves around and do the Ok-kee-doke!"
(That is forgive yourself for not being your best self,
and then proceed to be better or do something better than you did it before!)


Now doesn't that feel better than feeling bad about yourself for not...?
Now do something special for yourself, after all, you do deserve it!
In the words of the Mike Applegate THE MOTIVATOR, Kiss Yourself!
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If you can't make it to our party, you can enjoy the show every Sunday evening on Me-TVChannel 23 @ 7:00pm, or on Comcast Channel 223.
Enjoy the Thintuition Competition outside of Chicago!

You can view the show every Monday evening starting at 7:00pm on the Internet by visiting www.TheThintuitionCompetition.com.

Self Empowerment Comes by Trying!

It's week 7 of the Thintuition Competition (www.thintuition.com) and the heat is on.
The red team vs. the blue team in a triathalon! Aren't you glad you read about it here before it airs? (Sunday June 3rd on ME-TV, Ch. 23- or Comcast channel 223)

I can't tell you too much without giving the show away, but I can tell you this much.
Everytime a contestant experiences something they've never done or are afraid to do,
it's a life changing experience, not only in their life, but the lives of their teammates as well. This is a life changing event and I am simply honored to be hosting it!

There's one contestant (Let's see if you can guess who it is!) who is afraid of the water.
They can't swim and literally afraid of even putting their feet in the water!) I know you can't wait to see what happens, and I don't want to spoil it for you, but I will tell you this.
They actually get in the water and do something they've never done before, and it isn't swimming! You will not believe this. There's only one way to find out, and that is to tune in!

This contestant has taught me soooooooo much in such a short perioud of time,
I cannot begin to express how much of a difference it's made in my life.
It's taught me that we can no longer say WHAT WE CANNOT DO,
just because we've never done it! How can you say you can't do something,
if you haven't actually tried it? How? It's impossible to know.


You can only say for certainty that you cannot do something,
once you've tried it a few times. Most often, if you try again and again, you will be able to do it. It's only with determination that things begin to turn around in your life.

So the next time you think you can't do something, think of this contestant
who tried to do something they thought they couldn't, but because of our
FAITH in this contestant, and their WILLINGNESS to try, it was done!


It's pretty much the same with you. So what is it in your life that you say you can't do?

Happy Mother's Day!

As we celebrate the Mothers of the world,
let us be reminded of how motherhood operates in our daily lives.

Just as a mother nurtures her children, her life and that of others,
so must we do the same.
We can't expect a child to be born and raise itself.


Neither can we expect the ideas that are given to us to nurture themselves.
Surely some of those ideas sound good in our heads, but they look and feel
better on paper. Writing down ideas and plans are the beginning of seeing
those dreams come to life.


Most people are afraid to move on those dreams because of
what others might say. Truth is, people are going to talk anyway,
so you may as well give them something good to talk about.


Counselors in school may mean well, but they're not always right.


Sometimes parents have your best interest at heart and really
want to see you do well, but because of their past experiences,
they're afraid of you failing, so they place doubt in your mind.


The best time to practice doubt is when it jepordizes your health or life,
otherwise you've got to take a chance in life. No risk. No reward.


So for all who've thought about starting something but haven't,
keep this thought in mind.
Most Mothers don't put their children out in the cold.
So don't put your dream on hold, or out in the cold just
because you don't know where clothing will come from to keep it warm.


That's where you must begin to rely on FAITH.
Do something DAILY to fortify your faith.

Build your FAITH LIBRARY by listening and watching
those programs that instill a faith in you so fierce,
you couldn 't fail if you wanted to.

That's what Mother's Do. So should you!
Happy Mother's Day!