Within all this growth and contentment, I am most excited about the fact that, for the first time, God and I are on the same page, walking hand-in-hand. Walking down the road of my adult life, I’ve felt like God has always been a bazillion paces ahead of me, waiting for me to get my shit together and catch up with him. True, he’s always way beyond where I am as a human being, but I feel like I’ve finally stepped up to the challenge of living a life of hard work, value, integrity, and love, and he’s met me where I am, grabbed my hand and said, “ok…let’s do this!”

It started about a month ago, at a meeting for my prayer group, Touch & Agree. I was in a somber mood, and was having a bit of a pitty party about the lack of direction my life had at the moment. My sister in Christ, Tiffany, suggested that I set a reminder for myself to, every hour, take a moment to say, “Lord, I thank you and I trust you!” I followed her advice, and began giving thanks at one minute after the hour, for every hour I’m awake. At first, it felt like I was saying it, not for nothing, but really, just ‘cuz. But after a few days I really started feeling the words I was saying: “Lord, I thank you and I trust you!” Looking at my life– where I’ve come from and where I am– I began to really believe the words I was saying. Within a few days things just started happening. Little things that just made my day and, subsequently, my life a bit better. The train would arrive in the station just as I got to the platform; the worries of life were less stressful; I started running into and hanging out with friends I hadn’t seen in a long time; my money started to look right; I started (really) writing again; and business ideas began tapping me on my shoulder, like, “I hear you wanna make a name for yourself. Well, try me…I’m worth it!” And now, I can barely contain myself for all the passion, joy and purpose that resides within me. All from simply taking the time to recognize that God does have a plan for my life, thank him for what he’s doing, and let him know that I trust his plan. Now my moment of thanks has expanded to, “Lord, I thank you, I praise you, I love you, and I trust you!” I’m just that grateful for what I’m so personally seeing him do in and around my life. It’s almost overwhelming!

I took this experience back to my Touch & Agree family on Tuesday, at which they were overjoyed in a “yep…that’s my Jesus” kind of way! It became known and clear to me that when you’re walking in the will of God– living side-by-side with him in His purpose for your life– you find yourself in the right place at the right time, blessings start appearing out of nowhere, and you really do become unstoppable! And all you have to do to get in the will of God is just THANK him for what he’s done, is doing, and will do in your life; TRUST that he knows what he’s doing and will never steer you wrong; and TALK to him about what’s going on with you. Everyone has their own place where the meet God- in the shower, walking through nature, lying in bed. Me? God and I ki-ki in the kitchen, when I’m cooking! That’s the easiest and most fun place for me to chill with him and talk to him about EVERYTHING. We talk about my day, my dreams, my ups, my downs, my goals, my trials… whatever comes up in my head to talk to him about. And it’s there, in those quiet moments in my kitchen when he talks back to me about his hopes and dreams for my life, and how I can continue to flourish. 

As Elizabeth Gilbert says in “Eat Pray Love,” God lives in you AS you. He’s experiencing the journey of life, for the first time, as a human being called [insert your name here]. Your firsts are his firsts; your joys are his joys; your tears are his tears; and most importantly, your dreams are his dreams! Share this experience of life with him. Walk with him. Thank him and let him know that you trust what he’s doing in your life- not only because it’s his plan, but because he wants abundance, prospertity and success for you just as much as, if not more than, you want it for yourself. It’s worth a try, isn’t it?

I’m tellin you…I’m on cloud 9 these days, and ascending to higher heights as each day passes! My life, in the last month or so, has changed drastically for the better, and there are some really amazing things on the horizon. And it’s all because I took the time to stop, recognize the rock from which cometh my help, joy and security, and say:

“Lord, I thank you, and I trust you!”

It’s moments like these that bring tears of accomplishment to my eyes. As minimal a success as it may seem to anyone reading this (is anyone reading this??), I have over-delivered on my Design Template Challenge; and as a result…Voila…I give you my new blog template!

Courtesy of Themeforest and my good friend, Husani, I now have a new, sleek design that I am incandescently happy and in love with. It’s exactly what I was looking for- something bright and exciting, yet simple and sexy. And with the new Twitter feed at the top of the page, I find myself refreshing the blog, like, every 5 minutes to see the feed change, and have that overall “awwww!” feeling of seeing my work in a new light.

I’m so incredibly excited about this new design, and am SO amped to write and post as much as I can. It’s Evolution Of A Man 4.0, and IT’S ON!!

Whaddya think?

It all started last Tuesday. I went to my weekly prayer meeting, Touch and Agree, in a rather solemn mood. I felt as though my life was at a stand-still. Sure, there were things- bits of opportunity- sort of buzzing around me; but I couldn’t sum up the interest or desire to grab something and run with it. I know-that I know-that I know that I’m created for greatness and success in this world, but I wasn’t sure how, or in what capacity. That was causing me to doubt and have concern for my life. The overwhelming response I got from my T&A fam was to be encouraged, talk to God about what I’m going through, and ask for clarity as to what HE wants me to do and where HE wants me to go. They introduced me to Psalm 16:11 which says:

You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (MSG)

I left the meeting thanking God for these people he’s brought into my life, and asking him to help me see-give me clarity on- what I’m supposed to be doing. I wanted to be excited about my life again.

Cut to the weekend: I attended a party at a good friend’s house on Friday, at which I was teeming with ideas–that came out of nowhere– for a project that we’ve recently begun working on. I mean, I could not stop vomiting ideas. Million dollar ideas, too! I rested up a bit on Saturday, but for the rest of the weekend, I found myself overwhelmed with the drive to work. I put Friday’s ideas down on paper, began planning the next 6 months of the venture with my friend, got my blog writing back together, re-designed my vision board, and began working on a script. All the while jumping around my apartment in excitement, thanking God for answering my prayer. By the time I went to bed on Sunday, I KNEW– and, like, knew that I knew that I knew–exactly what I’m supposed to be doing at this stage of my life.

Monday, another friend of mine had a birthday party. It was there I ran into 2 acquaintances, who I hadn’t seen in YEARS! Both of them had been influential to me- one for her exuberant take on life and overall fabulousness, and the other for her drive and discipline in the area of financial wealth and stability. It was through meeting them, years ago, that I started learning to budget my money and began creating a career and financially stable life for myself (although, admittedly, that sort of fell apart when I lost my job 2 years ago). When I saw them at the party, I literally started screaming! I told them how inspired I’d been by them, and they updated me on the events of their lives. One is now journeying into home-ownership and the other, increasing her career and wealth- teaching her friends how to do the same. Before I knew it, I was being educated on the tricks of buying a home and introduced to the advanced level of budgeting and financial independence. Believing that there’s a reason and a plan for everything,  I left that party feeling very grand, with an overall sensation that my life is really about to change…toward something amazing!

Then, today, while engaged in my morning bathroom routine, God said, “Don’t forget to email ‘Tracy’ and ‘Terry’ about the information they mentioned on Monday.” I was like, yes, Lord for your beautiful reminders! I emailed the ladies this morning, and am now being sent all kinds of links and spreadsheets, offers of advice, and encouraging exclamations of the great things that are about to happen in my life given this new information, goal and journey.

Excitedly overwhelmed by all that is happening this week, all I can do at this moment is say, Thank You, Jesus! You’re up to somethin’, dude. Whatever it is, keep it comin’! I’m ready and willing. I thank you and I trust you! Let’s do this!

I have never been one for much competition. Sure, I may go in and get aggro during a night of bowling or a game of cards, but that’s all in good fun. In life, particularly when it comes to the daily grind of reaching for the stars of my dreams, I’m definitely more reserved and quiet. Instead of adopting a war mentality, as many seem to do, I tend to compare myself to to those around me; and in doing so, I lose steam. I’ll be the first to admit that this is a fault of mine- and one that I’m constantly working on- but I’d be lying if I said that watching some of the talented people in my heat (keeping with the race metaphor) take off, increase speed and pull ahead of me doesn’t make me want to stop running, grab the water boy, and hit the showers. In my head there’s been little point to continuing on.

What’s dawned on me recently, and has begun to change my thinking and perception of the undertaking that is my hopeful journey to international success, is the fact and the knowledge that I am a valuable and talented being in my own right and in my own way; and that greatness can not only apply, but also call to many people the world over. There are billions of people on this planet- each with different tastes, lives, backgrounds, thought patterns, likes, dislikes and interests.  Who’s to say that thousands if not millions of them won’t connect with me being me, saying what I have and want to say, the way I was born to say it? Because of this, I’m realizing there is no need for competition…there is room for all of us. An example that just popped into my head is Kelly Rowland. Sure, she may not have the same type of talent and fame that her former bandmate Beyonce has in the United States, but that chick is a force to be reckoned with in Europe. You think she’s counting her “When Love Takes Over” coins wallowing in a pool of tears over why she’s not #1 over here? Doubtful.

We are all spectacular. We will all shine. There is no race against time or another human being- for we are all opening doors and paving the path for each other to move ahead into the spotlight of our own dreams. We don’t all want the exact same thing, so there’s no use in pretending or forcing ourselves into believeing that we have the same destination. You can do you, I can do me, and we can both get what we want. It’s a good thing, too; cuz I’m tired of running.

After years of stable and steady corporate employment, I am now looking to build a career for myself as an entertainment entrepreneur. What’s problematic about this new venture is that I don’t have a clear picture of what I really want to do with myself in this industry; and as a result, I’ve had trouble getting started. I know whatever I end up doing, I’ll be building this career from the ground up, without a template to base my ideas on. That frightens me. I believe in my heart that I am destined to do brilliant and amazing things- specifically within and for the gay and African American communities to which I belong- but, unlike the path that has led to my previous successes, there is no blueprint, that I’ve discovered, for building an empire of my own. It’s not that I expect things to be handed to me (I’ve never simply been given anything), but I do wish I had some firm ground to stand on and give me a boost. The subtle ease with which things have manifested for me in the past has admittedly made me a bit spoiled. I thought that I could do the same amount of work, be recognized for it, and subsequently catapulted into career-advancing stardom. I was wrong. “Hustle” and “Grind” are words- verbs, really- that have held very little meaning for me since the urban communities in entertainment, social networking, and on the street adopted them to describe the relentless pursuit of dreams fulfilled. As I ponder their usage and meaning in relation to my own pursuit, I see the hilarity of my thinking that I could build my own career so easily. I’m not putting in half of the work and time that hustlers and grinders the world over are giving to their projects; yet I sit here wondering why things haven’t jumped off for me already. Hard work and determination have been re-defined, and I’m behind the curve now, instead of in front of it. It’s time to get to work.

Though the big picture of my career may still be uncertain, what I do have- that I didn’t recognize or give myself credit for in the past- is this here blog and my trusty little video camera. Turns out I do have a template, I just haven’t been applying it…at least not enough to keep up with the other runners on the track. There is nothing overwhelming about writing a blog post or making a video. Look at what B. Scott has created in a matter of just 2 years. That’s “grindin’” right there for ya. What I need to do is adopt the grind for myself and trust that what I need will be revealed to me as I go along. “Trust the process,” as my friend, Jashiro would say. I feel like the clouds are clearing out of my mind right now, leaving nothing but bright blue sky in their wake; and I’m taking hold of this new-found clarity and running like a bat out of hell. Try not to choke on the dust I leave behind. Don’t bother me… I’m on my hustle!

Allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Will McNair, and this is the Evolution Of A Man!