Change is Gonna Come

I hope you enjoyed this new episode. I talked to April, you know, April secret weapon wife. Well, it's a birthday, so you know, I had to have a little conversation like it happened between forty eight and forty nine, three hundred and sixty five days in a year. So hey, I had a great conversation talking with her about the transition between that year. Also, I did a book review, How We Can Win Race History and Changing the Money Game. That's rid by Kimberly Jones. So I did that book review.

I'll say what I got to say about that. On this episode. I also did an inspirational piece called Small Steps, Big Game. So hey, enjoy this new episode. Change Gonna Come. I have a special guest that I'm going to bring on my podcast. You nor as wife, April, co owner of the League Books, Nerves and Confident companion, helped me secret weapon all above. Well, hey, she turning forty nine, so you know I got a feature her on the podcast this week. April, How you doing fine? How are

you doing marvelous again? Why not? You? Right, it's been a while since that interviewed you, and you're turning forty nine and it's your birthday, ghost shady, it's your birthday. Now talk to me about this special forty ninth birthday. What would you like to know? What am I doing? No? I mean a whole year in review. It just went by you forty nine. You went from forty eight to forty nine. You find your fabrilit you go just you got a banging body. Well, hey, you know, talk to

me about a year and they went by. Yeah, and a lot of things has changed too within that year, as ladies would know. I hope that. No. I know a lot of ladies listen to your your podcast, But this forty nine, No, this forty eight to forty nine, A lot of things has changed, especially my hormones. The hormones is different. This menopause is not no joke. It knocked at my door and said good morning. A lot of things about my body has changed. A lot of things about the way I think has changed. But it's

a it's a good thing. I never think didn't think about menopause being this different. But how I was taught about menopause, it's like it's a drastic thing, but I don't. I didn't receive it as a drastic thing. I received it as a change, but nothing like, oh this is death or something sad to say, Oh, it's just menopause. Menopause is just it's changing. If you don't change, there's

a problem. So so be specific about the changes. Since you said menopause, yes, well, the most common thing in menopause, um, it's you know, you don't get your girly friend every month, and that's a beautiful thing, but because you get some pain for ones. I watched you month the month, the month, the month in pain that took me down every time. And I don't think I've had some bad ones that it would take me down for days and then I'll be back. But this last year of me not having

my girly friend, UM was good. Um, it only replaced well, me not having a girly friend. I will replace that with hot flashes and brain farts. Oh but hey, you got you gotta take the good with the good. It's good and good. I mean, I didn't have a girly friend, but I had half flashes and brain farts and oh I got a new friend to some glasses, my my blur revision. My daughter always claim me on my blue vision. But that's okay, I got cute glasses. I'm still fine,

fine at forty nine. You are fine at forty nine, And I'm gonna keep pushing one for fifty fifty year. I'm gonna always claim the next year. If people say you're not fifty, are you not forty nine? You know, I claim the next year on purpose. I put that next year into fuition. I claim it. I'm going to make it, and I'm going to make it beautifully. Oh boy,

what one year can make a huge difference? Boy, I tell you, boy, that's a drafting change, you know, and and and you know I recognize the mood and I recognize the changes. Um, you know, but that's part of life. You know. One thing I know for certain, we all gonna change, you know, so the hormones and change. Um sold with some of the other changes that have taken. What about weight? What about your side? Yes? Yes, um, my weight has changed. My thighs are much bigger. The

colicious they're spreading out their colicious, which I don't mind. Hey, it is what it is. Um, what else is? Girl? You look good and I'm jeans. Yeah, my thighs and my butt has has has grown. Hello. Hey, I ain't complaining. I'm not either. Only only complaint I have it's my jeans is super tight, but my waist is still small. Yes it is. My waist is still small every minute. But it also has a lot to do with my rituals. I get up every morning, yes you do, and make

intentions to go work out. I'm intention, Yes, my intention every morning. I m my lorm goes off for five thirty five forty five every morning and I'm out the house when it's dark outside going to get it and it helps me through the day. It changed my mood. That's a mood booster too. It changes my mood. Yeah, you lead it out the goal work out most definitely it changes my move and I mean work out. She

do the hid training high intensity training. Well, hey, you know she paid a price to look this fine and I'm loving it. And before I was diagnosed, I guess you could say diagnosed with this menopause, I would do my regular workouts and nothing would change. I'm like, what the heck is going on? I go to the doctor. The doctor told me, girl, you need to stop you like a rat owner on the what's those things called? I was like, you're just doing our same thing over

and over. It's not you. It's your your ain't going to serg and getting no results. Yes, it's your hormones. And when I was like, oh it is my hormones, I had to reprogram and I just switched up my program to what helped me come back menopause. And they say that UM, lifting weights help you with menopause, and I believe that is scientific truth because it has helped me greatly with this. Um with this menopause. Or your

body's really firm, you got muscles, you think and fit. Yeah, so it's uh, it's paying off and it's I mean, for what I know about you, work out as a form of therapy. I do. I do most definitely, and I call it that my morning therapy sessions. Instead of me sitting on someone's couch, I go to the gym and it works. I mean, yeah, you've been you know, ever since I met you. You know, you've been working out and staying fit and making transitions throughout the years.

But one thing's remained the same and one inconsistent. And as you're working out, Um, even during a pandemic, you you know, you worked out early in the morning, you know, couldn't go to the gym, but did street training. Street training that is, you know, and um, you had a trainer and you can stay fit. And you did a bodybuilding or a fitness contest, Yeah, fitness contest. So um, is there anything else that And from forty eight to forty nine, in this you know year that you like

to share, there was there was transformative. That was the change in your life because you're not the same and no one's the same. That well, if you still the same, there there is a problem. Change is beautiful. I don't have anything that I can pinpoint that's really really drastically changed from forty eight to forty nine. Only thing that I can give you is the menopause and the way I think I've always UM had the grateful spirit UM on me. But I know it now. I can see

it now, like I'm grateful for everything. I'm grateful even for the challenges. I'm grateful for my laughter. I'm grateful for my peace, I'm grateful for my ton just I'm just grateful because you know, time is valuable to everybody. Well, it should be valuable to everybody, even if it's just

something that you just sitting, just sitting be still. Yeah. Well, I know that you have some plans here on your birthday, which is Monday, April third, and her name is April as a matter of fact, as well, you plan on feeding the homeless. You did it last year, I believe, and uh, and you're going to continue that this year. UM, tell us a few thoughts about that. Well, I've decided to do that going forward only because because I know

I'm blessed. I am truly, truly blessed beyond measure, and for me to bless others it does something different to me. So I am going to go feed the homeless. After I do my workout, I'm going to go see my mom and then I'm going to hit hit the pavement. Um. I catered tacos. I give them something that I would want to be given. Um, they're going to have a nice lunch on me. And when I did it last year, oh, the people were so grateful. They were singing Happy birthday

to me. And you know, they gave me something as well as I'm giving them something. That was so it was a give give, It was no take take this type of thing. You know, I received something as well as they received something. So I want to bless others as well as I've been blessed. Giving is receiving. So um, audience, let's let's sing Happy birthday, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, hippy birthday. Now hopefully y'all singing along with me on that thank you. Small steps, big game.

Sometimes you make the biggest gains by doing the fewest things or the littlest things, small steps, big gains. The kid is to focus on what you can do now and find the littlest in the least thing to do, but do it consistent. That way you develop and happen. If you start trying to do something and the task is too difficult and too big and too consuming, what happens is you won't stay consistent. And in your mind, all you're gonna think about is the difficulty and the hardship.

And so this is why you want to make small steps. The key is to get gone, is to set something in motion to begin the process of the change. Things happen over time, and you could build each day as long as you consistent. So if you want to make big gains, start small. Don't think about the whole picture, think about what you can do now, and begin to

do that. Small steps big gains. I know personally, one of the things that caused me to procrastinate or to be stagnant sometimes when I know I have a task or something in front of me to do, and I know it's a normous and it's big, is that I have to zone in and start it and let it cascade as I begin the process of making a small step, which is just to get started. Because if I zone in and focus on the whole task, job, or project,

then I become overwhelmed and I start to procrastinate. And so I identified that and what I try to develop is a technique where I focus on the small thing I could do right now to begin the process of getting that project started, that task started, that job started.

So therefore I'm able then to continue to be consistently and then in a short while or whatever long it takes, the project is then completed, you know, or to have it is formed, or the change occurs because I got started and I became consistent, but I took a small step to make a big game. You know, don't look at the big project on job of tasks. Look at

where you can start. Now. So whatever it is that you're trying to do, even the fact that it might be difficult or overwhelm me, you have to just zone in on where you can start. Make a small step to make a big game. My book review for this episode is How We Can Win, Race History and Changing the Money Game. That's read by Kimberly Jones. Now that's a long title, well a short title, long subtitle Race History and Changing the Money Game. That's read, you know,

that's the subtitle. The main title, How we Can Win. That's short. But Kimberly Jones book, I think what's pretty illuminating and very insightful. Kimberly Jones secured this book deal because of a video that went viral about George Floyd Matter. Kimberly Jones wrote a question in her book that I

want to read. So if I played four hundred years of Monopoly with you and had to play and give you every dime that I made, and then for fifty years every time that I played, if you didn't like what I did, you got to burn it down like they did in Tulsa and like they did in Rosewood, How can you win? How can you win? I had to sit back and meditate on that question, because I think that's why so many black people have trauma and

give given up and don't believe they can win. A lot has happened, and this book is addressing those things that have happened, but more importantly, it focus on how we can win. Because even though we can describe the netrocities, the chaos to systemic racism, did all the different things that have kept us divided, confused, and uncertain, we can

still win. And I concur with Kimny Jones. I definite agree on many concepts in points of view that she offers in this book in an attempt to teach strategies and techniques to reinforce change and elevate and implement a procedure and protocol that would allow you to take a defeatist mentality and win. Now, the number one thing she points out in the book is self improvement. Look at the person in the mirror self improvement. There ain't gonna

be much change unless self improvement can change. And it's just making better choices. I mean to me, it was a common sense book. It's an easy read. It allows you to expand outside of the way you probably usually think, and it just offers solutions in order to, you know, navigate through all the issues in America. But at the same time, collectively, we that's what that we mean. We can win. And eyes have won. We got a lot of a lot of different eyes in the Vision troops

who have achieved the normal success of America. But you don't live on an island by yourself, and the I can't sustain itself without the we. And what we need to do collectively is how we can overcome these financial issues, these locker resources issues, the health issues, the educational issues, you name it. We can solve the problem, but we have to do it as we and not I. And

so you know, it was a great read. It was a fun read, and it's a book that I recommend you to read how we can win race history and change the money game that's rigged by Kimberly Jones. We have it at Malik Books. Come through Malik books dot com. Thanks for listening to Malik's Bookshelf, where topics on the shelf are books, culture, and communities. Be sure to subscribe and leave me a review. Check out my Instagram at Malik Books. See you next time.