Category Archives: Self-Help

A New Wealth Program is Necessary

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A Reprogramming Was Necessary

It was the thoughts, beliefs, and ideas of my formative caretakers that helped to shape me.  I am grateful for many of the positive lessons.  However some things I had to throw off for they no longer served me.  I had to use my mind, for I learned that my reality was my thoughts and that “as a man (or woman) thinketh so is he (or she).” I had to open my eyes, my mind, and my heart to receive new input. Thoughts of poverty did not serve me well and for that matter no one else around me. I had to think myself out of the Projects where seeing poverty everyday was normal. I had to create a new normal and I did, but so many people I know are still stuck with an impoverished mindset, fearing and hating and needing and craving money all at the same time.  For this reason I felt compelled to write about wealth and programming. It could be the economy but lately I’ve run into so many poor people who desire yet shun or despise wealth at the same time. You can’t have it both ways.  Money is not evil.  It is only currency, the currency to buy freedom, healthier foods, pay your bills on time so that you can have integrity, and to live a life of purpose and passion.

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.
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Are You Programmed for Poverty or Wealth?

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I remember in my early twenties reading a book called the ‘The Magic of Thinking Big,’ In my circles at the time thinking big was being able to pay the rent, buy a suede coat after saving up for months, or just having a job.  My limiting environmental programming had taught me that to want much more was greed, to ask for more than the basics was selfish.  I had to overcome this early programming in order to be successful.

A familiar phrase of the elders were, “The children in Africa are starving.” Their intent was “Be grateful,” for they had gone through much harder times and sacrificed for us to have what little we had. But, the message I heard was, “Don’t ask for much in life.”  Even the church was complicit, teaching that, “It is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get to heaven.”  Their intent was to teach us not to put wealth before God.  The message I got was that I had to choose between God and wealth because it is impossible to have both.

Even as a child I knew that it was impossible for a camel to get through the eye of a needle.  Fortunately I learned later in life that ‘The Eye of the Needle” is a difficult camel passage and a place and not a physical needle.  That changed the message entirely.  To complete the negative indoctrination regarding money, my father would comment regularly when seeing rich people that they were crooks.  I’m sure that was probably his personal experience doing migrant work and growing up in the South.  However the takeaway message confirmed the church’s message, “If you choose wealth, then you are going against God and salvation.”

Who says you can’t have both?  There are so many spiritual teachings that teach us of our power and greatness.  Abundance is also an attribute of God and as spiritual heirs, wealth is ours.  The importance determinant is what we do with that wealth. Do we serve, remain moral and upright, and are we grateful to the point of sharing?  That’s how we measure the value of wealth.

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.

Slow Down

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A yellow light means that we should prepare to slow down. Yellow lights are different for each of us. To some they may appear as illnesses, broken relationships, unhappiness, or feelings of  depression or of  just feeling disconnected  or uninspired.   Some of us are moving way to fast and could even cause an accident if we tried to stop too abruptly at the speed we are going.

Let’s say you’re driving down the road of life at high speed and you notice a desired destination just as you are passing it.  If you stop too quickly, you can cause an accident.  That’s why we have yellow lights in our lives.  Some of us are speeding down the road of life so fast that we are missing life itself.  We’re missing out on the important events in our children’s lives.  We’re missing out on capturing those stories our elders have to impart to us while they are still with us.  We’re missing appointments to take care of our physical health, to exercise, and to eat healthily.  And, we’re missing out on building that spiritual connection that only prayer, meditation, and service can provide.

Do yourself a favor. Take time now for your spiritual development, your family and relationships, and more importantly your physical health.

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.
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Stop, Slow Down, or Go?

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STOP! Look, and Listen

Have you ever wondered why there are three settings on a stop light?  It’s because all three are necessary. Everyone needs to stop sometime.  You can’t keep going and going like the Energizer Bunny.  You’ve got to take time out to pause, reflect, plan, relax, and regenerate.

Green Lights Mean Go!

Now some of you have the opposite challenge.  You can’t seem to get moving, to get motivated, to get on track, on fire, and on purpose.  You are simply stuck.  Some of you are moving so slow that you’d have to speed up to just stop.  And, some people are sitting there with no plans while others with detailed plans are doing nothing with them.

What are you waiting for?

If you’ve gotten the green light in life, GO!  Is there an opportunity in your lap right now?  Are you procrastinating, doubtful and worried about failure.  No risk, no gain! Get going. You can’t stay in limbo forever if you wish to reach your goals.

“Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”  Zig Ziglar

Remember we are not PROMISED tomorrow even though so far each day we awaken to the gift of another 24 beautiful hours.  Show that you value that gift each day by slowing down long enough to show your gratitude, by stopping to smell the roses, and by getting going to make the most of every single moment.

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.
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Seize the Merry and Miserable Moments

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Whether your current moment is merry or miserable, you must let go of it if you are to move on to the next.   The miserable moments are only that when we label them that way. The merry moments are only that way because we decided that they were.  This morning I was reflecting on last December and the changes that have occurred since last year this time.  There have been so many.  For one, there were people in my life last year that are gone this year.  Last year at this time, we were mourning my nephew’s tragic and untimely demise at age 32.  Everyone was wishing that they’d spent more time with him and said and done things to let him know how much he was loved.  This year it is my step-mother who passed in July. She lived to be 85-years old.  This morning I was reflecting on how she did not spend the holidays with us last year.  There were many reasons, but mainly our collective somber mood and the weather.  Little did I know that we would not have another opportunity.

“Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.” -C.S. Lewis

While there has been significant loss, at the same time there has been significant gain.  I am not the same person I was last year. Last year this time there was a fear and hopelessness that has now been replaced by faith and expectation.  I have new relationships, new opportunities, and a new sense of valuing life’s little moments.  I am better, mainly because I chose to be better.  I know from my more than a half century of living that we must seize every moment.  We don’t love, laugh, and enrich the world in the past or the present, we do it ONLY in the current moment.  So seize it.

“It’s not life’s big planned events that make the big difference, it is the simple, intimate, and sometimes spontaneous things we do for each other.” Barbara Talley

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.
Audio Testimonials of Satisfied Clients
Video in New Orleans- Candid audience testimonials