In order to be your best you, it is necessary to learn to cultivate the seed within you.

You have to provide it with the proper rainwater, sunshine, and tilling that it needs in order to grow!

I ask you now, are you ready to grow?

As you grow, one of the most important actions you need to take in order to ensure your positive growth is to continually encourage yourself.

While you’re encouraging yourself, it is just as vital to encourage others!

We sometimes have the tendency to believe that, in encouraging others, we may inadvertently remove an opportunity for ourselves.

There is very little that’s further from the truth.

If an opportunity is for you, then it is for you. As long as you have prepared for it and you positively act on taking advantage of it, that opportunity has your name on it!

I challenge you today to be your best you by sprinkling thoughts and words upon yourself as well as others. Even if there is someone whom you do not particularly hold great feeling for, find it within yourself to complement them on something that they do well. Do this for yourself and others not just in the morning but also throughout your day. When you purposefully take on such positive acts, you will find that those strategic sprinkles serve you by balancing out and perhaps even vanquishing any negative energies that come near you. Not so incidentally, those sprinklings that cost you nothing will also serve in deleting any unhelpful thoughts that you may harbor about yourself. A seed’s germination begins and ends from within, so too do the richness and continued enrichment of you.

It is like this, with a sprinkling of joy and light, that we will meet on the Road of Victory!
​

This song of mine is about finally meeting “The One,” and telling anyone and everyone about that amazing One.

“You are the river that takes me, the song that makes me, dance to a rhythm that is like no other, my friend, my future wife, my lover!”

Without a doubt, the lyrics of this song are like a Picasso painting of love, happiness, and joy! Each coinciding line and
bar serves as a brush that strokes into the ear, mind, and heart the emotions and expressions that are owned by new lovers and longtime reciprocating couples alike.

“Not just smiling, you keep me wishing, for more hours in a day, days in a week, the right words to speak, just to let you know what you mean to me. My forever burning star. You are, the hot to my cold, the new to my old, the opposite and perfect fit to my imperfect soul.”

It is really is no wonder that the song was first written as a poem, because with the accompaniment of the orchestrated music, it truly flows as poetry in motion.

The articulated words are simple, and yet due to the structure of each verse, the artist’s voice, tone, and pitch, the impact of each verse is a bona fide musical hook, line, and sinker.

And the hook goes: “It’s not a secret any more, that I love you, that I love you!”

However, perhaps the diamond within this lyrical bag of crown jewels is the following line.

“It’s like walking on water, this thang that you give to me, and I’m not saying that you’re my God but by God, when I’m in your arms, I’m reminded that I am his offspring.”

Talking about going under the radar, this song has been a stealth submarine in an ocean of music, but now the big money is finally out of the bag and “it’s a secret no more!”

—W.C. Blackmon

Find out how to download or stream this song by visiting wcblackmon.com.

Daily, we meet issues and/or concerns that serve as a drain on the light of our spirit, heart, and mind. Unfortunately, it is a fact that this is a common aspect of living life. However, in contrast, it is equally fortunate that we have the power to push through such situations and circumstances by choosing to be positive in our thoughts, actions, and reactions.
 
I have been told that sometimes it’s just not feasible to be positive. However, I encourage anyone—everyone—to instead choose to walk through the living of life with this inviolable truth.
 
“Positive thinking won’t let you do anything, but it will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.” —Zig Ziglar
 
But rather than take Zig’s word or mine, I encourage you to look back upon situations that you yourself have faced or had the opportunity to witness where a negative or unkind reaction was given as a response to a prior action. Like breeds like, and quickly turns into a spiraling escalator that only takes everyone down.
 
With this in heart I encourage anyone—everyone—to have an “I” for deflecting rather than reflecting negativity, an “I” for forward thinking, an “I” for recognizing their own power, an “I” for perpetuating kindness, and yes, an “I” for positivity. Perhaps the best thing about this is that you don’t need to have a team to make it happen. For, just as there should never be an “I” in team, it is not necessary to have a team for “U” or “I” to be positive, upbeat, forward thinking, or productive. It is in such a prosperous state that I will meet you on the road of victory!

​As human beings, we tend to work at changing others, trying to make them into who we believe they can be, should be. But truly, the moment that we choose to accept others as they are and for who they are, another link in an unseen chain that binds is broken, and with each broken link, you as well as the other attains the freedom to do and be so much more! It is a hard concept to accept, but often, the only way for any of us to become, we must walk our own path.
 
This includes having the freedom to make mistakes and learn from them. Teachable moments are everything, but sometimes it is life rather than her, him, you or me that must do the teaching. Wise words from Jalaluddin Rumi say, “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself."
 
In every step we take in working on ourselves from the inside out, we make a significant stride in making the world a better place. Perhaps the late, great singer, songwriter, and entertainer Michael Jackson said it best when he sang, “I’m starting with the man in the mirror.”
 
If success is to be achieved, whether for oneself or the world, for each of us, all of us, it begins there! Also, often enough, the change we make in ourselves is the catalyst that sparks that needed fire in another. You can, I can, we can! Together, let’s make it happen, as we continue forward on the Road of Victory. 

W.C. Blackmon, DTM
(Distinguished Toastmaster)

With Thanksgiving taking place at the end of November, followed by the many other traditional holidays celebrated during the month of December, it is not uncommon to find ourselves reflecting on those individuals who deserve our thanks and appreciation. I know that I have a very long list because there have been so many who have added to the enrichment and vibrancy of my life. For many of us, family, loved ones, and co-workers top this list. However, also amongst those who are deserving of my gratitude are my fellow Toastmasters. Because of their speeches shared, insightful evaluations, listening ears, discerning eyes, and their willingness to participate in the growth of every Toastmaster member, I have been afforded a cornucopia of opportunities to grow and level up, not only in the Toastmaster Pathways program but also in life itself. How have I leveled up?

Due to the many evaluations that I have received and given, I am now much better at assessing situations and delivering helpful and immediate feedback. Because of Toastmasters, when I have a presentation to give, my confidence and my competence are expressed in every word. In the area of leadership and business, hesitancy and indecision due to a lack of confidence is now yesterday’s history rather than today’s continued bad habit. However, it is not just my more active or assertive strengths that have been enhanced, I have also learned to transform what are usually thought of as passive actions into great strengths. Some examples include learning how to strategically delegate, communicating concerns without expressing or engendering negative emotions, keys to active listening, and the ability to channel positive energy.

Finally, I have learned the wonderful art of turning rejections into connections. No matter what one’s professional or personal expertise, this is a quantifiable keeper! I am, and will continue to be, extremely thankful for all of these lessons learned, because I know that they will continue to push me forward in the direction I wish to go and person I want to become in life. 

This, dear reader, brings a couple of questions to mind. Have you received or experienced similar gifts in the past year or three? Then too, have you ever considered showing your gratitude to someone by giving the gift of a Toastmasters membership? It is a gift which truly NEVER stops giving back. The reason why is because along with being a gift, despite the inexpensive cost, it is also a huge investment. Expressing gratitude is an important aspect of personal growth, and personal growth is essential to leading a productive personal as well as professional life. In short, through Toastmasters, one can fast-track onto a happier and more fulfilling life.

Lily Tomlin wrote, “The road to success is always under construction.”

I would add to that truth these words: A road of success cannot be soundly constructed without gratitude and growth. As we move closer to the New Year, I invite consideration of these three questions: How will you show your gratitude today? How will you help to ignite another’s growth for tomorrow, and last but certainly not least, will you choose today to multiply greater growth in yourself?

Just so, I will see you on the Road to Victory!