As-Salaam Alaikum Family!
"Lifestyle refers to your expression of attitudes, tastes, moral standards, economic level and mode of living through your habits. It is the way you live your life on a day to day basis. Your lifestyle is an outward refection of what you think and how you communicate." Normal Hollis, Human Developmental Specialist and author of the book, Ten Steps to Authenticity
We all have a particular lifestyle, but many of us cannot articulate that lifestyle or even put a name on it, yet our habits are clues to what we think about the way we live. I believe that before most of us came into the Nation of Islam, we lived life in swirls of red and green on a black background like the design you see below.
Before I received my "X", I lived in swirls of red and green too. There were times I could not determine if I was under the influence of the green swirls of goodness or the red swirls of wickedness. In retrospect, I realized that I was influenced by a lot of wickedness passing as goodness. I lived on auto-pilot and accepted my fearfulness and confusion as normal reactions to what was going on the world. I did not realize I had gifts and talents nor did I understand my true value. I was more of a loner, generally walked with my head down to avoid eye-contact with others, and never seemed to know what I really wanted. I thank Allah (God) for the green life-giving swirls from my parents, the church and the school that allowed a little green swirl to grow and develop within me about the Nation of Islam.
When I was eight years old I saw the documentary, The Hate that Hate Produced by Mike Wallace and Louis Lomax released in 1959. I am convinced it was released simply to discourage Blacks from aligning themselves with the Teachings of The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad (TMHEM) who was the harbinger of a belief system and a lifestyle that gave Black people permission to learn about themselves, their true history, and trust themselves with their own economic development and education. Under the Teachings of TMHEM, Black people incorporated healthier eating and lifestyle habits such as eating a plant-based diet inclusive of eating fewer times during the day, fasting, avoiding tobacco, alcohol and anything that fostered sickness, poverty and ignorance. Instead of being discouraged, I was completely enthralled by the stark contrasts to my own life. I had never seen Black people as the subject of any television program and watching it only encouraged a stronger desire for more knowledge about those who followed TMHEM and his message. As I grew older, I made room in my life for anything that enhanced my knowledge about TMHEM and the Nation of Islam. I received my "X" 40 years later at the age of 48 and since that time, I have seized every opportunity to expose myself to more green thinking from the Teachings of TMHEM and The Honorable Louis Farrakhan. Most of what I read, heard or experienced helped me understand more about myself. I also gave myself permission to study other platforms that also enhanced the study and understanding of my purpose and my gifts and talents. Now that I understand more of what my life is, the red, green and black have become something that looks like the design you see below.
The swirls of red, migrated into a solid mass, as did the green and the black. I was able to determine the difference between red thinking, green thinking and my destination of being in harmony with the will of Allah (God) which is represented by the black.
The Living from the wheel logo situated below the title of this post expresses the entire experience of living in accordance with the Teachings of TMHEM. It is also a reminder that achieving harmony with the will of Allah(God) is compared to a journey. There is a map from the Teaching of TMHEM, but no one can make the journey in the same way you can. When you make your journey, it becomes a sacred undertaking. Some may be able to run along the course with ease and meet a detour or two then return to the course and eventually arrive at the destination, yet others may have to climb steep mountains or fight off fire-breathing dragons in order to arrive at the destination. How ever you traveled your journey, it is sacred and I believe it can be given the reverence it deserves without regret.
Many of you reading this post may identify with the story of how I came in to the Nation of Islam. Maybe you too came in from the "world" or a kind of worldly thinking represented by the red zone. Many including me, retained some behaviors that helped us survive in the red zone, but those same behaviors were considered offensive in the green zone. Once we finally understood that, we eliminated those behaviors and moved easily within the green zone. Being in the green zone with an "X" indicated we heard the Teachings, accepted The Teachings, wrote a letter of application, passed an oral examination, were granted our citizenship and given an "X". The "X" took the place of our slave name and symbolized that we were ex-offenders, meaning we were former hog eaters, haters, murderers, liars, thieves, drunks, drug addicts, smokers, pimps, drug dealers, women of ill repute, spouse abusers, child abusers, nagging wives, inadequate husbands and providers, cheaters, delinquent parents, school bullies, deceitful politicians, so-called officers of the law, cowards, lovers of pornography and the list goes on and on. Being in the green zone also indicated that we were committed to aligning our will with the will of Allah (God). Residence in the black zone represents having submitted to Allah (God) and are in harmony with his will and his purpose for you. It does not mean that you have obtained perfection. It means that you have submitted to Allah's (God's) lifestyle, which may have been out of your comfort zone, yet you desired to please him and be successful in life, so you aligned your lifestyle with his and received benefits far beyond your imagination.
Coaching tips
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