Life has a funny way of bringing you full circle, especially when you're in the 4th ending of it.  Last week I purchased the April issue of Oprah's magazine and even though I have this love hate relationship with Oprah (I love her for all that she has accomplished, but sometimes I dislike her because she appears to overlook the African-American community in her media outlets) I sometimes find inspiration and informative articles in her magazine.  In this particular edition she shared some of her journal entries from the past.  She said that they were a testament of her growth and grace of how she's come this far.  I smiled and nodded my head approvingly because I could relate. 

I've often found myself saying, "I never would have imagined me doing all of this 20 years ago," but recently life called my bluff.  A month ago as I was doing some early spring cleaning, I ran across a copy of a journal that I had kept just after I graduated from Tulane University back in 1992.  In it I had life goals which including writing a self-help book (on what I didn't know, but I knew that the world would be a better place if I made a contribution) and to become a motivational speaker doing workshops/trainings for other social workers.  Back then I thought I was being naive, dreaming dreams that were larger than life.  Because for me, graduating from Tulane was a big accomplishment for a girl from around the way, but being a speaker and writing a book, Ha! After that entry I stopped writing in that particular journal, had forgotten about it until that moment.  My eyes blinked as I stared at the words before me...I had claimed my current life some twenty years ago, Wow! 

Fast forward to March, 17, 2011.  On last Thursday I had the opportunity to speak to a sold out audience of over 100 social workers at the Louisiana-National Association of Social Workers State Conference.  This was the largest training workshop that I have ever conducted. Based on my self-help book, Who Does She Think She Is? as I sold out of DVD's of the training I had conducted the year before and people asked me to come and speak to groups in various parts of the state, I stood there remembering the journal that I had held in my hands earlier and the article in Oprah's Magazine.  Yes, this was a testament to my growth and grace, that a boughetto girl from around the way had used the power of words to claim the life that she is living today.