Don't Get Stuck There!

Motivational speaker and success guru Bob Proctor said
"The average person tiptoes through life
hoping to safely make it to death.
What a dumb game."

Keisha Simons wasn't average.
She didn’t play that game.
And the game whicg she did play, was played by her own rules.

Typically there is a  portion of a memorial or homegoing celebration is called “words of comfort”.
And usually, a person of religion, a pastor, a rabbi, a priest or imam delivers a message of faith pulled from scripture.
Many times, that person doesn’t have a personal relationship with our loved one or us the family but yet, they still do their best to comfort us.

As Keisha’s big brother, I offer four simple words of comfort from Keisha, herself for those of us struggling with our loss of our sister, daughter, mother, niece, aunt, cousin, wife and friend:

Don’t get stuck here.

---

She was happy.
She lived a happy life.
A life full of happiness.
I know this because, a couple of years ago I began recording interviews with people whom I admired and were inspiring me through the lives they were living,
the goals they which set and how they went about achieving those goals,
I wanted to know who and what inspired them
and what they wanted to share with the world to inspire others.

---

Keisha was killing it.
​
So I asked her to share her story and her insights 
about life, happiness and success with me 
and boy, was I impressed with the jewels of wisdom she offered. 

In the lessons she taught, she laid bare a treasure map, 
with the treasure being happiness.

---

Keisha talked about how, when she found herself and her life in a place of negativity, she stopped --
and actively defined and wrote down what is was that she wanted out of life.

Her list included:
A better relationship with her son, Aiden.
Successful careers in real estate, modeling & fitness and as an entrepreneur.
She wanted a really cool car and happiness in general.

Then, rather than being overwhelmed by her ambitious desires, she simply made goals for each one and step by determined step, she walked toward achieve them.

---

She identified and eliminated the mental obstacles
she had to overcome to achieve the success she wanted,
like negative self talk and self doubt.

She eliminated “I can’t” and “shouldn’t” from her vocabulary and embraced the belief that she was able and deserved to be as successful and happy as she wanted to be.

Keisha affirmed herself -- as most of us should do -- by saying “Look! I can do it! I can do it!”

She acknowledged she still had some shortcomings which she needed to improve upon, like time management, but she didn’t let those hold her back
from creating the happiness that she wanted for Aiden and herself.

---

She celebrated her wins and achievements both big and small. 
This made her life FUN! 

And helped her build both motivation and confidence 
to set more ambitious and fun goals for her life. 

How many of us can say we’ve ever set goals to have fun? 

---

Whether she was competing in and winning bodybuilding championships or jumping out of airplanes or taking Aiden to Monster Truck rallies; Keisha was building and living a life where she could be and was happy on purpose!

Keisha built that life on her unbreakable belief that “What you put in your head is definitely what’s going to come out. If you keep being negative about everything
then everything negative is going to happen and all you’re gonna see is negative.”

---

So to keep herself focused she built a team and surrounded herself with people who mentored her through

• ​inspiration,
• encouragement,
• advice,
• assistance
• and maybe, most importantly, accountability.

When I asked Keisha what was her favorite quote
she offered the following:
“Nobody’s gonna pay your bills but you!” she said with excitement in her voice.
Then she blew my mind when she explained
how she used that advice as a catalyst for her success.

“Everything falls on you.” she said enthusiastically
“What you bring in. Your energy, your vibe, your circle,
your goals and your dreams.
It’s you! So grow up. Put your big girl panties on
and go for it!”

Nobody’s gonna pay your bills but you!

It was that sort of encouraging advice and go-getter attitude that drew people to Keisha.
She saw and believed the best in everybody.
She wanted to help those who needed help and tried fix those who needed fixing.
She judged not -- for she remembered the times when she was at her lowest and embraced the lessons which she learned then.

“It’s okay to crash and burn.” she told me. 
“Just don’t get stuck there.” ​

Keisha shared a story with me
A couple of years ago her real estate business wasn’t going as well as she hoped and she was struggling with bills and financial obligations.
She told me “I sat down in my kitchen and had a glass of wine, a good cry and screamed and yelled and then just decided to leave that there and I moved on and grew from it.”

“It’s okay to crash and burn.” she told me.
“Just don’t get stuck there.”

To most of us, 
with our loss of Keisha, 
it probably feels as though, we’ve crashed and burned. 

With all the love and happiness 
that Keisha brought into our lives as a sister, daughter, mother, niece, aunt, cousin, friend and wife, we feel the vacuum and void that her absence creates. 

But at the same time, we must honor and celebrate her life. 
A happy life. 
A life full of happiness. 
That life was a treasure map which she gave us so that we can follow her lead, her example and her advice
“Don’t get stuck there.”