SWAGGER LIKE US by Wendy Franklin Muhammad

N'Digo, Wendy Franklin Muhammad is The Authenticity Coach. ^TM

Check out Wendy's Blog Right HERE.

They say heaven and hell are states of mind fueled by our emotional consciousness.  I’ve coined our emotional states as our emotional swagger. Do you have any emotional swagger?  Do you walk around weak and limp subjected to the energy levels and opinions of others? Are you easily emotionally blackmailed and manipulated by the emotions of others? Are you an emotional wimp?  Are your experiences limited because you are  afraid to get emotionally dirty? Are you emotionally independent and strong? Do your emotions feed your beliefs and fuel your actions? Are you emotionally aware and savvy? Are you brave enough to love yourself, others and to openly express your emotions? Are you capable of using your emotions to elevate your life and find peace of mind?

I’ve adorned my share of emotional dirt in my life.  I learned at an early age that I can only get out of a situation what I put into that very same situation. What I’ve learned and experienced as a result of that emotional bravery has molded and shaped me into the woman that I am today. I can honestly say that I have an attractive emotional swagger.  But, what I’ve found is that most of us can’t make that claim. Many of us can easily express jealousy, anger and fear but we are lost when it comes to emotions that enhance our ability to relate to others. According to the Urban Dictionary, swagger is defined as how one presents him or herself to the world.  Swagger is shown from how a person handles a situation. How do you present yourself emotionally to the world?  How do you emotionally handle situations?

I named this blog “Emotional Swagger Like Us” as a play on words for the T.I. song entitled,Swagger Like Us featuring Kanye West, Jay-Z and Lil Wayne. If you don’t know the song, I encourage you to download it.  Each Rapper is expressing their style and swagger using strong, unique descriptions and delivery. For example, Kanye West says, “Mr. West in the building, swagger on a hundred thousand trillion.”  And Jay-Z says, “…But I can’t teach you my swag. You can pay for school but you can’t buy class.“  If you listen closely, you can get a sense of exactly how their individual emotional expressions define their style and swagger. Would I get a sense of your emotional swagger if I listened to you or watched you express yourself? Remember, the more creative and expressive you are, the more the Universe is able to use you as a conduit or a manifestation of its greatness. Being emotionally meek and retarded serves no purpose. You know, the energy of the universe is always seeking unique and different ways to manifest itself.  This, in my opinion, explains, in part, the shift of tremendous wealth and financial energy to individuals in the hip-hop community. I think the Universe gets bored just like we do. I won’t go too far down that path because that’s a future blog in and of itself.  In terms of emotions, the more creative, open and giving we are the more we will receive in return. It’s not always what we do, but the emotions and feelings behind what we do that make a difference.

Let me explain the purpose of emotions so you’ll understand why I’m encouraging you to take inventory of your emotional swagger. First of all, emotions are designed to excite and move us. They act to motivate us. They are felt in our body through our muscles and blood vessels so when we feel emotionally we also feel physically. Take a moment to think about how emotions sadness, anger or happiness feel inside of your body. Those feelings send us signals and tell us to do something. They also tell us how much intensity we should apply to our actions. When we have no emotional swagger or we are unaware of how our emotions affect us we are flat and not very emotionally intelligent which can ultimately lead to spiritual death. So how we handle situations emotionally and how we present ourselves emotionally to others is directly tied to our level of consciousness and emotional intelligence. For example, if we are 35 years old and we are still handling things like a 10 year old, then we’ve got some conscious raising, emotional intelligence work to do; and we are likely witnessing the manifestation of our emotional retardation in our everyday lives.

The idea is that the condition of our environment is a direct reflection of our primary thoughts and emotions. So, in order to discover who we are and live out our life purpose, it’s imperative that we understand, control and learn to express our emotional states so that they will produce the type of environment we need in order to live authentically. The good news is that we can always be better tomorrow than we are today and, in essence, change our realty, by changing our thoughts and using our emotions to properly support our actions.

Here are a few ways in which you can work to improve your emotional swagger:

•1.   Think before you react.  Remember, swagger is all about how you present yourself and how you handle situations. Make sure that your actions and reactions support your vision and the person you want to be.

•2.   Believe in yourself. “Whether you believe you can or you can’t, you are right.”  Henry Ford

•3.   Follow your flow. Pay attention to what is showing up in your life. Focus on the good stuff, it will help you to attract more of the same. Follow the good that is showing up.

•4.   Don’t seek permission to dream. Own your own mind. Dream big.

•5.   Know who you want to be and who you are. Make sure you are the type of person that is worthy of what you desire.

•6.   Be aware of how others feel when they are around you. Are you an asset or a liability?

•7.   Focus on those that fill you up and not on those that drain you.

•8.   Be mindful of how you talk to yourself. Negative self-talk is detrimental.

•9.   Understand the power of your thoughts. Thoughts are spiritual energy that must be controlled, BY YOU.

•10.       Be emotionally creative and brave. “No one on the corner has swagger like you.”