Winning is what happens when you have hope and faith

Ramsay High School Coach Reuben Nelson (Photo: Via Facebook)

Ramsay High School Coach Rueben Nelson Jr.  (Photo: Via Facebook)

By Chanda Temple 

After a 36-year absence, varsity football returned to Birmingham’s Ramsay High School in 2012.

But the stats looked bleak. Ramsay won only one game that year. One.

Coach Rueben Nelson Jr. never let the losses discourage him, though. He knew greater things were coming.

“It was rough, but we kept going,” Nelson said. “I would always tell them (the team) to keep working, keep working, keep working.”

And work, they did.

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Stop waiting for everything to be so dang perfect

 

Hard word takes dedication.

Hard word takes dedication.

 

 

By Chanda Temple

As women, we feel the need to have everything perfect. And if it’s not perfect, we won’t proceed. That even comes down to our blogs. If our websites are not perfect, if our photos are not perfect, if our products are not perfect, yada, yada, yada, we won’t launch it. We’ll keep it close to the vest and wait until it’s perfect before we share it with others.

Well, stop trying to make everything so dang perfect. “Sometimes, good is good enough,” a woman said on a blogging webinar I tuned in to tonight. ‘’The most important thing is to act.”

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Motivation Monday: Don’t whine for it. Grind for it.

In life, there will be disappointments, some of which will make you feel like crying. But the best way to bounce back is to dry those tears, pick yourself up and figure out a new way to make your flop fly. Don't whine for it. Grind for it.

In life, there will be disappointments, some of which will make you feel like crying. But the best way to bounce back is to dry those tears, pick yourself up and figure out a new way to get to your happy. It will be hard to start again. But know this: You must. When you feel like stopping, remember why you started. It wasn’t to fall flat and hang low with the pigeons. It was to soar and fly high with the eagles. This, you can do.   (Image by Dustin Iskandar via Flickr)

 

 

 

Are you ready to jump?

Fear is the best motivator. Do it scared.

Fear is the best motivator. Do it scared. Your gift will make room for you.

 

By Chanda Temple 

A few days ago, a friend was at a crossroads as he debated what to do next in his career.

He wanted to play it safe by staying in his current position instead of branching out and starting his own business. Unsure of what to do, another friend suggested he watch a popular video by talk show host and Family Feud game show host Steve Harvey. In it, Harvey challenges his Family Feud audience to jump off the cliff of life into their destiny when they are contemplating a major move.

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It’s so hard to say, ‘Goodbye,’ again

Lywanda Lynn Barnes Brown was a beloved daughter, wife, mother, sister, cousin, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. member, University of Alabama graduate and friend. (Photo by Chanda Temple)

Lywanda Lynn Barnes Brown was a beloved daughter, wife, mother, sister, cousin, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. member, University of Alabama graduate and friend. (Photo by Chanda Temple)

 

By Chanda Temple 

My sorority sisters and I recently gathered to celebrate our membership in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., which we joined 25 years ago while students at the University of Alabama.

It was good to see so many sorors and recall our time when we became “sisters” in DST.  But one thing missing during our reunion was our No. 21, our tail dog, Lywanda Lynn Brown Barnes. She died in 2010, shortly after giving birth to her third child. Her death was a shock to us all. We loved her so.

As we planned our reunion earlier this year, there were discussions on how we’d remember Lynn. Would we release balloons, put flowers on her grave, include a tribute on our T-shirts, something else? It was decided that one of the things we’d do would be to put flowers on her grave. Sorors ordered a beautiful bouquet of red roses and violets, taking them to every event we attended that weekend. On the last day of our reunion, I volunteered to place the arrangement on her grave.

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Hello, October!

OK, folks. We are at the start of a new month. In fact, this is the last quarter of 2016. For all those times you said, "2016 is gonna be my year because I'm gonna ...," did you really do what you promised yourself you would do? Well, it's not too late. I challenge you to dust off those ideas or revisit whatever it is you want to do and go for it - now. There's still time. The only thing stopping you is you. And when you get to a point when you feel like quitting or nothing is working out, remember this: "Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end." Here's to your happy ending.

OK, folks. We are at the start of a new month. In fact, this is the last quarter of 2016. For all those times you said, “2016 is gonna be my year because I’m gonna …,” did you really do what you promised yourself you would do? Well, it’s not too late. I challenge you to dust off those ideas or revisit whatever it is you want to do and go for it – now. There’s still time. The only thing stopping you is you. And when you get to a point when you feel like quitting or nothing is working out, remember this: “Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end.” Here’s to your happy ending.

 

 

Birmingham’s Best Bites cookbook is the perfect wedding gift

While out running errands in August, I saw the Birmingham's Best Bites cookbook on a table set up for a wedding reception. I thought, "Hmmm. That's interesting." Turns out the couple had planned to use it as their guest book. If you get folks to sign a keeper of a book like this, you will have one of the best wedding gifts, ever!. Love this idea. If you haven't gotten your copy of the cookbook, which has 80 recipes from 60 restaurants in and around Birmingham, what's stopping you? It's a pretty tasty guide to the city's food scene.

While out running errands in August, I saw the Birmingham’s Best Bites cookbook on a table set up for a wedding reception. I thought, “Hmmm. That’s interesting.” Turns out the couple had planned to use it as their guest book. If you get folks to sign a keeper of a book like this, you will have one of the best wedding gifts, ever!. Love this idea. If you haven’t gotten your copy of the cookbook, which has 80 recipes from 60 restaurants in and around Birmingham, what’s stopping you? It’s a pretty tasty guide to the city’s food scene.

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