D-WORDSLAYER

Give yourself the power of more through learning!  The last six months of this pandemic has given me some great opportunities to explore LinkedIn Learning as well as a number of courses online via Coursera. I love learning, and as I try to focus on completing my major studies, it is good to work on my weak areas. Understanding the many things I can do with Microsoft  Excel has been the biggest reward from LinkedIn Learning to date - and worth the subscription. It is not a walk in the park, as its self-learning and best to practice each skill. A course which is 4 hours can become 4 or 14 days based on attention and effort. Credentials are only as good as the work you are able to do after certification, thus I’m suggesting you spend the time to get it done right. Also, the videos are amazingly well done in bite sizes, and easy to follow. Adding the link here for you to check out the Excel Lessons selected. Master Microsoft Excel  on LinkedIn  Another great learn...

  Hey world... I’ve been anxious, worried, and afraid. There is a lot of stuff going on this year, and as December draws near, it feels as though I am depleted. There is nothing more I can give. Sleep is hard, because I won’t allow myself the freedom to accept that I’ve been speeding through life, because if I drive slowly, my dreams will leave me. So how are you doing today human? When do you stop pushing yourself beyond what is possible? Who is chasing you when you are chasing your dreams with those ridiculous deadlines set, because your survival is not based on nutrition, but on some standards mere mortals will never attain? Stop. Slow down. Breathe. The eye of the storm is where you need to find calm, peace, and acceptance of self. It is okay to stop because you need to. Let everything that matters become what does not matter because you need to take care of you. Be brave and be vulnerable. Cry. Free yourself of the things that make you anxious, worried, and afraid....

                  Life is never Picture Perfect! The selfie is a wonderful creation in my opinion. I can set the camera to take that 'perfect pic', positioning myself, lighting, smile, and any other expression. I can delete the ones that look uncomplimentary and anything that spoofs what the public sees.  Life is picture perfect when its presented, and the memories will hide what folks should not see sometimes. Weaknesses and failures are not on display.  Hmm, but life is never picture perfect.  Looking back at the early years, it seems that  now, I'm recalling the heartaches, pains, hurts, and griefs, as the good times, success, and wonderful childhood adventures together. That perfect picture does not exist in my memory. It does not exist in truth.  Balancing on the tightrope is what helps to get to the next level stronger. Its how I became stronger. Accepting the learning from the challenges and setbacks ...

  It's too many to count! There are too many times when the wrong thing is said. Too many times when backing down is not an option- at least from my perspective. With so many things that have gone wrong in my life , there is so much more that has been right. The framing of all your experiences can change as time changes. It is okay to see things from a different angle. This is the beauty of time. Can you count the pebbles in the picture, but do you really want to? You see, sometimes it is not what is facing us that is the challenge, but how we see the task. Maybe the amount of pebbles do not matter, but what matters is they are placed before us, in a way that seems confusing and out of place and order.  If you look closely at the pebbles a few stand out.  Different and imperfect shapes and sizes, but we do see them. I see you among the pebbles, and count you.  Be blessed and encouraged. Copyright © 2020 Donna-Luisa Eversley and Dwordslayer. All Rights Reserved

                                                                      Photo Credits: Unsplash.com/ Yente Van Eynde Copyright © 2020 Donna-Luisa Eversley and Dwordslayer. All Rights Reserved                                          

You have a choice today ... To be Kind or Cruel What do you choose? This week I challenge you and me to not look the other way when we encounter an uncomfortable situation with someone in need of help. It does not have to be a destitute person on the street. It can be closer to home or even on Facebook or any social media platform. A day to positively impact others is required. What You choose to do is an action . Hope or nothing. Being indifferent You don't need to share this with anyone, or you can check your inner circle and make this a week where your ripple creates a wave. Pandemic safety - wear your mask / wash hands /social distance /stay at home Have a beautiful week. #kindness #humanity #choices #love Find me on Twitter https://twitter.com/DLE41 or drop me a line on dwordslayer@gmail.com Photo Credit: Matt Collamer unsplash.com Copyright © 2020 Donna-Luisa Eversley and Dwordslayer. All Rights Reserved.

Innovation and growth are present to disrupt the status quo.  We can learn on many levels and in multiple areas based on differences. The key for growth with differences is to harness newness and build on improvements. Seek out what can make differences work.  Innovate and create building on uniqueness because this is discovery. We are facing different right now. It’s time to think outside of the box. #discovery #disruption #differences #innovation #dream   Find me on: Twitter  https://twitter.com/DLE41  or email:  dwordslayer@gmail.com Photo Credit:  Eirik Uhlen www. unsplash.com © Donna-Luisa Eversley and D-WORDSLAYER, 2020. All Rights Reserved

  There are many times we wait for tomorrow. It is not promised.  We may wait for life to change and become more palatable sometimes. Then, there are moments when we wait longingly for hope to step in and make all the changes we desire. Hope is waiting for the future. To wait means standing still and allowing 'hope' to take charge. No matter how you spin it, the future is something we may never see.  Yet we believe that change can happen, and we hope that tomorrow will happen today. Then, time passes. We grow older. Our expectations and wishes may come to fruition or the waiting game will continue. As you read my words I'm sure you are waiting for the subject of this post. Every word that passes should take you to 'what is this all about'. If this is your thought, you have experienced the subject. It is about time. It is about our forevers which can be happening as we speak in real time.  I've been waiting for my kids to grow up. Waiting to get married. Waiting ...

  What to do when you don't know what to do. If you ever feel boxed into a corner to do something which you know is wrong, and your core is twisted on what to do - do what you know is the right thing - then stand aside and let God take over. During our youth we compromise before that painful hurting experience. As we get older decision-making gets easier or harder based on adjusted values and beliefs. You see life lessons can take us into that 'informed zone of understanding' and we can choose to modify behavior based on compromise and comfort level. As we grow even older, it seems that the cost of compromise can be a too high a cost because wisdom can kick in - and that's a good thing. The twilight of day comes after we live through a day, and reflect on outcomes. You can grimace or smile in that moment! Growing up I looked to my elders to teach me about life through their lessons, as an elder (hahaha) it has come full circle, now the student has become the teacher. T...

You are entitled to Your happiness! Yes, that's right, you actually own the rights to your happiness. You have a choice every day, to wake up and smile. You can be happy at the beginning of the day, and during the day, and yes, before you go to sleep, it’s okay to be happy. During this year 2020, the world has fallen to its knees. Everyone, in all countries of the world are focused on something we have no control over. The Coronavirus Covid_19 has become a common denominator in conversations. It’s the one thing we can agree matters to most of us, and our families. It has become of source of fear, a sense of dread, and even a mood of hope. In the darkest moments we can find hope. The Fear is based on what we don’t know, and because there seems to be a lot of certainty surrounding a cure. While the World Health Organization (WHO) has given general and basic guidelines for global management, it’s the managing or lack thereof which triggers fear. The sense of dread is rea...

A culture of misinformation I did not know what mental illness really was until I was close to twenty. Before, I thought mental illness was something which resulted from a deficiency at birth and was genetic. This thought scared me as I grew up knowing my mother, grand mother and great grandmother were ‘mad’, as we were told from a tender age. My mother was the first of five children and my grandmother was one of more than five, and my great grandmother was also from a large family. No one told us about mental illness or what caused it or why it happened. I simply thought it was an unfortunate curse on at least one member of the family, and prayed to never 'get it'!  Some of the 'folklore facts' I grew up with were;   If you kept your problems to yourself you would ‘overload’ and go crazy. If you fell too much in love you would go crazy. If you had too many bills you would go crazy. If you had no friends you would go crazy. If you were too ‘bright’ in s...

A Frantic Call "Please help me. She just stood at the door with a knife in hand. I can't live with her anymore." Panic and fear sounded through the phone. Its 2:30 am. (After a lot of drama, she returned to house, as though that call was never made)! There was a lot of uncertainty when that call was received. Did it really happen, or was my mother  creating a situation because she did not get what she wanted from my elder sister? Was it a hallucination - it happens a lot more with her aging. Trying to figure out truth from fiction with mentally ill people can be hard.  In this case, it was a variation of the truth. My sister claims she thought someone was outside, and armed herself, while questioning mom about a scholarship she never received. As for my mother, she ran out of the house into the darkness afraid for her life, as my sister followed - afraid for her. Does this make sense? No it does not, but it happened just over a year ago.  According to Google, ...

You are invited to look closer My friends I'm sharing a series of blogs called "Open Book - Mental Illness" from tomorrow. It's a heavy topic but is a serious social issue in the Caribbean and the world.  There are many families with loved ones who have some form of mental illness. My friend  Lisa Fraser Gallagher  has shared on her personal experiences with mental illness and she is an excellent resource on this topic.  In my fam ily one of my sisters and my mother are mentally ill. Like any other disease if you are unaware of the symptoms, left untreated it gets worse. There is no cure for mental illness. It can be managed, however not many people are willing to accept their loved ones are mentally ill. In Trinidad & Tobago there is societal acceptance of mentally ill behavior once no one is physically hurt. Hence, we have many street dwellers and vagrants living a homeless life by choice because of their mental illness.  To offer help to ...

Its Sunday and I’m grateful for the blessings of the week left behind. I am grateful for all the little and big things both good and bad which crossed my path. How can we manage life when there are ups and downs, positives and negatives, and outcomes which our minds and hearts tell us we are unprepared for? Ahh, but there is growth from all our experiences! Hmm. There was a Sunday when I sat in a house of worship and the pastor quite passionately advised the congregation that he did not want them to place any coins or red notes ($1 currency is red in my country) in the offering. He chided the congregation for being inconsiderate to the persons who had to ‘labour to count the money’ and even if they had to miss a week while they saved for their offering they must do so. Hmm. If it does not make sense to me then why accept the nonsense given? Many times, we receive gifts and tokens of appreciation which, may not suit our likes or desires. The person giving decided...

Understanding Character Character is associated with both good and bad behaviours. Understanding what comprises your ‘character’ is much more than what you want to show on your resume. Your character is built on your decisions and how you do what you do. Morals, values, beliefs and personality play a vital role in how you establish character among peers, friends and family. Leadership and integrity are on display for those of us in leadership roles in our homes and careers. Our attitudes, mental wellness, and psyche and temper are always tested, especially at times of extreme pressure, thus the inner person is always on show. How do you respond to criticism and opinions which are not aligned with your mentality and ability? Are you able to see beyond your perception of censure, disapproval, correction, and can you use these interactions as learnings and observations for personal and professional improvements? Having ‘good character’ seems to be tied to positive academic ...