Monday Motivational Minute: The Power of Just Showing Up

“The Power Of Just Showing Up"

Hey family,
I traveled to New York this weekend to partake in the Harlem Book Festival. While my hopes of coming home with plenty of book sales and great pics of the city were dashed by moderate sales and my underground train ride on the 3 train (or whatever New Yorkers call that train with the #3 in a red circle), I can at least say that I rode underneath of Madison Square Garden, Times Square, Central Park and the world famous Apollo Theater! LOL.

Even though I didn't sell as many books as I had hoped, I did meet some very prominent movers and shakers in the book industry that I wouldn't have otherwise met. Book buyers from Border's Bookstore, independent bookstores, talk shows and magazines, Long Island and Brooklyn Public Libraries and even “the other hu”, Howard University were very interested in getting my books to their respective markets.

That got me to thinking about the “Power of just showing up.” I'm sure we have all fallen victim at one time or another of either going somewhere and not having our expectations met or promising someone that we would show up and then not going. It's easy to miss or overlook the blessings of just showing up since sometimes the benefits of showing up aren’t so easily visible.

Many times our well thought out plans are trumped by God's perfect plan so we must always position ourselves to receive what ever it is that HE has planned for us. Sure I didn’t sellout my inventory on Saturday but I met people who could potentially lead to 100 times the sales I would have made on Saturday.

I also want to thank two of HU’s finest, Janelle and Mike (sorry I missed you bruh!) for just showing up on Saturday. Sometimes just showing up to support someone else’s dreams is the biggest thing you could do. So before you get too busy to “just show up” at your friend’s CD release or your nephew’s piano recital, remember that the success of someone else’s dream could very well depend on you just showing up and being a familiar face in the crowd.