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Welcome to Coffee Can't Fix Everything, a unique podcast where we delve into the complex and often misunderstood world of mental health, all over a comforting cup of coffee. In each episode, we sit down with a steaming brew to have candid, heart-to-heart conversations about various aspects of mental health.
00:00
here being here coffee can't fix everything this is the podcast where we talk about mental health over a cup of coffee I'm here with shall I say a Des Moines Hall of Fame legend I don't know what they say or in the legend in the making the I won't do too much I don't do yeah you put a lot of pressure on me but you know I'm just I'm accepting what you're saying so I'll go with it yes
00:27
Duana you do so much. I'm gonna let you talk about what you do. Yeah, but thank you so much for being on the podcast with me Thank you. Yes And today like I was telling you before we started recording and It's funny because there's been a lot of fear in my life as I was telling you about yeah But what I was thinking about Arc like speaking to you today and getting on this mic And what I wanted to share with people is is fear and stepping out they yeah
00:57
But tell us how do you overcome that fear or this fear of big presence? Is it, I can't tell. Yeah. But when I hear you speak out here, I'm like, this woman is free. Yeah. But what is fear like for you? Yeah, so fear has transformed over the years. So I say that because it's not present now.
01:25
So when y'all see me get up there and I drop a word or someone randomly says, oh, don't is here Let's hear some words from here are Literally, I don't operate in fear now as my faith has gotten stronger as I read my Bible daily as I Meditate on the word. It says in my word that I'm not to be afraid. There's nothing here for me to fear There's fear. There's things that happen that make you fearful, but I'm not to be afraid but
01:54
I tell people this and no one believes me, but my mom can attest to this. I was fearful growing up. Everything scared me. The shadow, the darkness of the hallway. I wouldn't even go outside and play with the kids when I was younger. I would sit and watch them, cause I'm an observer. So I would watch the kids play. I begged my mom to take me outside, but I would just watch. I was even fearful to go play with the kids. I was fearful in church. Yes.
02:24
to sing the song, I cried when they called me to do a solo. The tears, oh my goodness, the tears. And I'm going, I can't do this. And my mom wanted to rescue me every single time. And it was the pastor's wife whom I always give her credit. She's seen something in me I never saw in myself and she would stop my mom every time. She has to do this. And my mom would be like, I can't let her suffer as most parents would.
02:53
not let their child hold a microphone crying and singing through the song. That's what I'm doing. And I'm going through it a little time. And I'm taking these big breaths in between. It's just so funny. And my mom is like wanting to like help me. And I'll tell you, I didn't understand that till now.
03:21
was that spirit of fear that's not in me. That's a real thing now. But it came from a life of, I was very fearful, afraid of, I lost my, like my brother to me as I got older and started to be fear death and got really nervous about like, am I next? You took him? Is it me? And I remember going through a period of anxiousness and fear and I just kept that, and I'm asking everybody.
03:49
I pray over me, I don't know how to deal with this. And I just finally, just something shifted. And I think it was more of me delving more into my Bible, which is my faith is everything. And I just finally started to embrace, you have no one to fear but God. Like everything that happens, and even in fearing God, it's not the fear that we think of. See, when you say don't fear God, it's like, don't be afraid of him. No, it's just to show him reverence and respect. So that's the only person I'm to fear.
04:19
And so knowing that and that he goes with me everywhere I go and the Holy Spirit guides me, then what am I afraid for now? So now when you see me and you're like, oh, she said that or oh, she did that. I do that because of the Holy Spirit that resides in me, that has told me I have not given you a spirit of fear. So therefore, why are you afraid? So now I do tell people, I'm not afraid, but eight year old me. Oh yeah, that's a whole different story.
04:48
Yeah, and you have a strong presence, and you already kind of mentioned it, but how does somebody, what was that like? What was that first moment where you were like, no, I'm not afraid, walk me through that. What was that like? What did that feel like? It felt like this refreshing thing. Like I can't explain, but it was almost like the light had shined upon me. It was just this.
05:17
I'm in a room by myself, mind you, and the confidence just fills you. Like you just say, oh, this is me. Like it's, it's, it's undescribable to put it to it, but it felt like a fresh awakening. It felt brand new. It felt good to walk into it. You know, it didn't, it felt good. And, and it's, it's hard to explain because you just have to experience it for yourself to go.
05:47
You've been spinning around here all this time. I done told you who you are. And once you realize it, there's just no going back. No going back to that. With that lived experience of fear as a child and finally breaking that, do you see that in other people? Like, do you say, oh, I know that look? Right? I should tell you, I hear people speak and God love them, but I can tell who wants it.
06:17
I can tell the ones who are struggling. And I just want to go over to them and say, and I try to be an encourager to people. No, you've got this. Cause the people will tell me, I'm not a speaker. I've got them in my family. You know, my mom will tell you I'm not a speaker. I'm not relatives will say I'm not a speaker. And I try to encourage them cause I can't always be the one that speaks all the time. So I have to say, no, I got you. I'm going to pray for you. But yeah, when I see people like that, I feel for them because you can visibly tell.
06:47
The paper's rattling. The voice is shaking. The eyes are just, they're going back and forth. The ums are happening more and more. And those are just nervous tendencies. But I still have nervous tendencies to myself that like, I'll tell this people will start watching this now if I say it, but my eyes blink a lot. People don't, sometimes I think either I'm nervous or I'm irritated. I haven't quite figured out which one it is.
07:16
When I'm around people and my eyes will blink and I had people who would joke with me and be like, they must have been getting to you because girl, them eyes was like do this, but you know, that's just something that I noticed. But yeah, I can notice people when they do. And I try my best to encourage or even if they know they're like, I was so nervous. Oh no, you did great. Like we have to be giving that to people though. You might have been nervous. You might have fumbled. You might have.
07:44
said something that out of the ordinary that you should, but we've got to still be the encouragers. How disheartening would it be if you were speaking and you knew you were nervous and the words weren't coming out and I came to you and said, next time you ought to try this. There won't be no next time. Exactly. There won't be no next time. So it's better for me to come to say, let you say what you say. Oh, did you see me? I phoned but no, you did a great job. You know, you did great. No one noticed it but you.
08:13
And so you try to encourage people because you want to encourage them to do it again. And that's what I feel like part of the role is. You don't just say you're good at something. Speaking's my gift. But not encourage people and then make them say, well, I'll never do this again. Right. It feels like it takes a community effort to raise people out of sheer, I feel like. And there are things that I'm fearful of, just even outside of.
08:42
Why speaking, I feel like everybody has a healthy... It's normal. Yeah, it's normal. It's normal. But like, what I hate to see is when fear cripples you to do anything. That's it, right there. You know? Yes. And it's like, who are you talking to? How can, I feel, can I reach out to you? You know what I mean? Like, I'm, and I, me, as a grown man, Yes. I'm already trying to get better at that. Like, the conversation we had before we recorded.
09:12
I probably would never told you anything like that. Right. But like, I'm scared, I'm scared. I mean, you need to express that. You do. But it leads to my next question, the reason why I was able to talk to you about that. Right. Because I knew you were a safe space. Well, and I feel like especially, I wouldn't say especially the black community, but I'm talking about the black community because the community that. Yes, of course. Where are our safe spaces at to have these conversations around fear?
09:42
That's the thing. I try my very best. Anyone I come in contact with, I tell them nothing's off limits. You can ask me what you want. We can talk about what you want. It might be a person who has things that I may not agree with, but that's not my job. My job is to make you feel you can come tell me anything. You can talk about it. I may not even have a connection to it, but I'm gonna listen to you. Our job is to create safe spaces for people.
10:12
I get that often is like, I feel like I can talk to you. Well, because I'm not here to judge because if you knew my entire story and from Winston where I've come, I have no rights to throw stones or to say things because I've been in every almost passive life that you can think of. But in our community, it's challenging to come into those spaces because we don't always do a good job of creating safe spaces. We're the greatest reactionary people.
10:41
We are the greatest at talking about all of the deficits. We have a lot of deficit-minded thinking at times. And we're graded to meet some of the negatives. But what would our community look like if we could embrace one another? Everything people do? Hey, I love it. I don't care if you're doing the exact same thing I'm doing. I love what you're doing because it's what you've been called to do. So how do I look talking about...
11:08
I'm not giving you my resources. I'm not telling you who my sponsors are. I'm not gonna support what you're doing. I'm not gonna share it with folks. Like that's what we do with each other because we act like we're competing against each other. I'm not competing. I'm living purposely. Yo, that's real. And that's a difference. Everyone out here is competing and I'm laughing at folks because I'm like, I'm not competing with you. Right. Everything God's given me to do, it's a part of my purpose story.
11:37
I'm not competing and the problem in our community is we think we're all competing. We act like we all got a vibe for the white person's attention and we're all fighting for that. There are billions of dollars out here for us that can be spread to all of us. If you want to run a restaurant, do it. If you want to run a magazine, do it. If you want to do a podcast, do it. Like there's enough to go around, but we're all vying for the attention of folks who don't treat us right half of the time anyway.
12:08
that part. I remember you said that at the last year's black and brown business. You may not even remember this but there was a young woman that stood up yes and you could just tell she was kind of nervous to say and friendly. He was like I'll tell you everything. Everything I've got is yours and I gave her everything that she needed. That's what I tell people. Yes you have to make that.
12:37
I can give you the whole book. I can give you every sponsor I've had for Juneteenth. I can give you everything, but I'm not gonna do the work for you. But I will give you the information that you need. Yeah. Let's talk about, I'm curious, cause we, let's talk about all the things that you're doing, because I think it's so awesome that we talked about where you started as far as your fear, but now you're this strong woman.
13:07
How much of this strength in stepping down on faith hasn't encouraged you to Start your met your your media company. Mm-hmm. Like how much of that was like I'm I'm doing this cuz you got a degree Several Yeah, I'm gonna start this meat this media company. Yeah, how much was there any fear in that or was it just like I'm if you say I have no more
13:36
Yeah, so the media company there was some fear in that right because you're looking at things that we already had I mean we had a jonathan narciss already doing the um the bystander and the communicator We had those things that existed So you almost feel like when you're about to do those things like you're being you're like you're trying to undermine someone So I went into that going like I don't want like everyone will know me. I'm not confrontational. I don't like conflict I want us all to get along so it
14:04
I felt a little strange going into that space. You know, I was very fearful starting that, but the media company and really the magazine came out of me getting tired of watching everyday news. If I heard one more story about the murder that took place on this spot, or if I heard one more story about the robbery that took place, or if I found one more person that looked like us walking out of a building in handcuffs, I was like, you've got to stop this. Like...
14:33
It's not the thing that I was interested in. So really quick story is my dad used to do the communicator before Jonathan. So I remember growing up, I was eight, nine years old, getting up with him, going to put the paper out and he's distributing this all across the state. So I remember that. So when he came back to me all those years later and said, let's do a magazine, part of me, the strength that I drew on was because he even thought enough of me to ask me.
15:02
You know, now I've got my father, the man who I think is everything, right? Everybody knows how I am the daddy's little girl. Okay. I am the spoiled one. Um, I am the one that is most like him. But when he looked at me and said, let's do a magazine, not twofold, I was teaching at the time, single mom with two kids. And I'm thinking, I didn't sign up for this. But the other part of me was intrigued about what this could become. And so then the fear started to go away.
15:32
because the strength of my ancestors, the strength of my father, the strength of the people who have come before me. I think about, you know, the ancestors of the past who like, Ida B. Wells, you've got people who, like they believed in getting information out there. And I'm like, you can't do this. And so then that kind of initial fear turned into like, no, we're gonna do this. And there's been ups and downs throughout the whole thing.
16:00
but we'll be celebrating 10 years next year. So that's amazing. Yeah. So first of all, tell me how that feels to, there was some nervousness, now you're celebrating 10 years. Is there nervousness for another 10 years? Like as someone that went out on a limb, damn that, what is, I wanna know that feeling. Like what is that? So you sit here.
16:28
No one knows this about me, but every last quarter of the year, I'm in reflection mode. So come October, I'm thinking about what's transpired from January to September. I'm asking myself, should I continue to do this? Because one thing we don't do a good job is sometimes we stay in stuff that is time for us to leave. So every year I ask myself, is this still needed? Should I still do the magazine? Do I need to keep doing this podcast?
16:58
Do I need to keep doing Juneteenth? It's a yearly conversation. Yes, and I take from October to December, and I mull on it. I think about what's going great. I say, do I have sponsors for the following year? Do I have the means to be able to be sustainable? Can I pay the people? Everything that runs through my head, and every year, God does something that reminds me why I'm doing it. And then I go, okay.
17:27
then there's another year of this. So I literally take this in one year pieces. And so for me, I don't focus on what the next 10 years could look like because I'm just focusing on what the next year looks like, what the next six months looks like, the next three months, the next day, because what I know from my Bible is that every day is, the next day is not promised. So I can make plans and there's nothing wrong with making plans, but God is the author of my plans.
17:56
So for me, he's just gotten me regimented with taking this. I take it a year at a time. So I'm getting through this year, but I'm already thinking about next year. The minute I stopped thinking about in those spaces, then I think it's time for me to reconsider what I do and see where else I need to go. So I try it off. I apply for jobs and I still do this because I'm still trying to get my footing every time to say, am I in the right space?
18:25
I have peace that if you told me after year 10, let's stop the media company, let's stop Juneteenth, let's give it to somebody else, I'm okay with that. I don't need to do these things into my 70s and 80s, right? Cause I told y'all about 55, 60, I'm out of here. I'm traveling the world, I'm doing something. So, you know, I think I don't allow myself to go that far because I'm just focused on the here and now.
18:53
Sometimes it makes me nervous though thinking that far ahead because I'm like, we gotta still do some things to make it that far, you know? There's some kind of some strength in not doing that or not even, I feel like we put a lot of our identity into what we do. And to be able to have the strength to be like, you know what, I know I've done this for so long. Yeah.
19:20
When people think of Juneteenth, they think of Dwarah. Right? And to be able to have the courage and the strength to be like, I'm going to hand this off. There's some strength into that. That is like, OK. Yeah. What I really appreciate about that is what you're saying. It's telling me that, or I'm saying to myself, am I putting my identity too much into what I do? Even though it's impactful, even though I enjoy it. Yeah.
19:51
Who is Corey? Who am I? And there's some fear in that to try to figure that. Wait till you get there. Oh, when you start to know who you are. Like, I know that now, but I encourage younger people know who you are before you get in the mid, late 30s, early 40s. Now I'm in mid 40s, closer to 50 now. Like, you've got to know who you are, what I stand for, what I don't stand for.
20:20
You know, what am I going to be on the sword for? Like, you got to know it. And once you know it, though, it is the most liberating thing. And I was challenged with my identity literally last year. Word. Talk about it. Yeah. So I am working on my doctorate at Drake. And I have an amazing shout out to Dr. Dal Jock for people who don't know. Yeah. Dr. Dal, he is the very first person who asked me.
20:49
are you? And this is the class we're taking, right? It's a class we're taking. But he made us write an identity statement. And I'm thinking, what do I need an identity like? You know who I am? And I'm still working on that identity statement. I didn't write his writing. I never quite got there, but I'm pushing myself to, I'm not, I'm not giving up on that. But I had to flush through that. And the day that he asked me that, I remember that class was on a Friday.
21:19
I stayed up till about three in the morning, having to be back in class with him at eight, struggling through that question. It really aided me because I'm like, who are you? Now, in church, we talk about, I know who I am, right? I know who I am in Christ. I know who I am. I know who's I am. But there's also a thing about like, but who are you? Like if I have to come out and people say, who are you? That's a...
21:47
whole different thing that a lot of times we don't think about. Of course I'm a woman, of course I'm African American, but who, what, if you didn't have Juneteenth, if you didn't have a magazine, if you didn't have a media company, because see I don't get caught up in labels, so then who are you outside of that? But my problem was I was identifying by off of who people told me I was. So everyone, I've been told I'm a mom, I've been told I'm a student.
22:17
I was told at the time when I was serving on the board, I was a school board member. I was told that I was a choir director. I was told I was this leader in the community. I was told all of these things, but who did I identify as? Yeah, no one. What do I think? No, everyone wanted me to be somebody. So every time I came into a space, it was who you said I was. Yo. Oh, oh, oh, okay, okay. Okay.
22:47
I know that just he probably said that took you there. Take a minute. Take a minute. Take a minute I won't be mindful of your time. Yeah, but but listen
22:58
Let's work through that a little bit. Yeah. Because I feel like I want to think that's important for people who are listening. Mm-hmm. And who are kind of going back to the topic of fear. Yeah. I just said that and I'm thinking in my head, okay, who is Cory? It's like, immediately I go to, okay, what's my job label? Yep. What, you know, I'm the whole healthy project. You know, all these. All the things you do. Yeah. Yes. So.
23:27
Walk me through the emotions of that. Who are finally figuring out, oh, I'm Duana, this is who I am. Yeah. And the liberation that comes with that. Man, it is so great to know that, and this is to remind you when I'm talking about who I am, this is the person that I'm going to be in every space that I go through. So if you see me for Juneteenth, if you see me here, the goal is not to change that, cause it's the orb who I am. And one thing I really had to grapple with was, I am...
23:57
follower of Jesus Christ. I struggled with that and I'll tell you why. Not because I was ashamed, but there's so many dynamics to that, right? Because so many people have a perception of what they think a Christian is. And so when I come in and say I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, I had to be specific because when you say you're a Christian, yeah the worst thing, but I had to say to the point of
24:25
I am a follower of Jesus, meaning I look at that Bible and I look at the things that he did and how he operated and that's what I want my life to mirror. I had to finally come to terms and say, that's who I am and that's who you're going to get in every space. Now, am I going to shove Bibles down your throat and tell you, you know, you're going to hell and all? No, I'm not doing that. I'm telling you you're wrong for what you do. I'm not doing that because Jesus tells me to love people.
24:53
He tells me to listen to people, make safe space, come in feeling joyful. But that was the biggest identity thing for me was, that's who I am. I'm also a person who really, I like folks to get along. I like peace. And I'll do everything in my power to protect it. And if I walk away from you or turn my back on you, it's not because I have an issue with you, but if I feel like you're starting to disrupt my peace.
25:23
I gotta walk away and people don't understand that. And so I've learned these things about myself. I've learned that I'm a lover of learning. I've got 10,000 degrees and everyone goes, girl, I ain't used one of them. But I love to learn. I love conversation. The art of it and the fluidity of it and the just connecting with people through words is what I love.
25:52
but I also had to recognize my gifts as I was identifying myself. I used to not tell people I have the gift to speak. I wouldn't tell people that. No, for a long time I never said it to people because the minute you start saying what you're good at, someone tries to find a way to come in there. Oh, she ain't that good with that. Oh, look at her, she up there thinking she's this and I finally had to embrace not talking as my gift. It's what I'm good at. And so when people say,
26:22
You did a great job talking. Oh, thank you, that's my gift. Yeah, thank you. Yeah. You gotta start speaking what you're good at. And so all of these things, I'm a speaker. I'm an encourager. You know, these things I start to resonate with, that's who I am. So when I go into different spaces, you're going to, I'm going to encourage you. I'm going to make you feel safe. You know, I'm going to speak. I'm going to listen.
26:51
I'm going to tell you I'm going to pray for you. And that's always going to be my answer if there's a problem because I followed Jesus. But I used to be ashamed of some of those things because I'm like, nobody want to hear all that. But I'm like, but we live in a world now where everybody can be who they want to be, right? So why was I hiding from who I wanted to be? It's who I am. If you don't like it, you have a choice. Remove yourself from me and I won't be heard.
27:20
because it just didn't work for you. That's okay. But these things I've started to embrace. So that's been like my journey. And I'm telling you now, yeah, when I walk in the room, oh, the confidence is there. I go from the back of the table to the front of the table because that's how good I feel about myself. And I want people to have that and people can have that. But you got to choose to want that. Right.
27:48
What if you're afraid to wear that? So I go back to my faith and I know it's always a thing. I think that you've gotta find a way to fight through that. I think fear, and I wanna say this in the right way because I don't wanna discredit anxieties. I've got family members who have dealt with anxiety. My daughter, I can say this out loud, she deals with anxiety and we've worked through that together.
28:17
and she's worked with others to help her with that. And I have family members who have dealt with that. So I don't want to, don't diminish what I'm saying is to know, I know anxiousness is a real true thing. And it's something that I've dealt with. But when you're talking about fear, it becomes crippling to the point to where you don't do what you've been called to do. You have to fight through that. To me, fear is like a, it's like a battle, right?
28:46
because you're literally battling, like I've got to fight through this to break through that. And all I can encourage people to do is to surround yourself with people who you know that like the fear is not, I ain't rocking with the fear folks, but if you want to come rock with me, great, but I'm going to speak things into you that hopefully push you to move past that fear. Find people who are speaking great things. I have great pastors I listen to.
29:16
great motivational speakers, books I read that help cultivate, you know, me so that I'm, so that I can move forward, but you gotta surround yourself with it. Fearful folks shouldn't be hanging around fearful people because you're all gonna keep operating in fear. It's supposed to scare people. All the time. It's supposed to scare people. All the time. I don't understand people. Like, it's okay to have people who are like-minded, but if they're deficit-minded and they're fearful and they're telling you, don't do because,
29:46
You need to put yourself in the company of people that will encourage you to go where you need to go. Yo, that was one of the best things that ever happened to me. Yes. Because I was one of those that was fearful of success. Like, yo, what's this going to do? You know, all the excuses in the book. Me too, yes. You should do this. I'm going to hold you accountable. And if it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have a health equity conference. I wouldn't be doing all the things that I'm blessed to be able to do. Yeah.
30:16
without stepping out and being like, you know what, why am I afraid of being a success? When you say it out loud, it sounds stupid. I'm like, but it's a realish thing though. I felt that too. I would always thought of having success or the money or the comfortability. It made me nervous cause I'm like, ooh, can I handle it? And I ain't quite there yet, but can I handle this? Because the...
30:43
And the idea of that really spurt with me too, so I can completely relate. I had a fear of being successful. And it sounds like the craziest thing, but it's the responsibility, I think, that came with it. You know, because when you start to, you live in this world of success, and I've had this experience, people start to put you way up here. They do. And then the minute you say something out of character, or it's something that is off,
31:12
Then they are the, they're the quickest ones to say, oh, did you see what she said? And then, so I tell people, don't give me that kind of credit, okay? I'm just doing what I was called here to do. But that success thing about being fearful, I was very fearful of success, very fearful. So if you were, man, this is been so good. I was like, man, how much time? You know, you know, I can talk all day. So you, we can do always a part two, part three, whatever you need.
31:40
I'm for it. I'm for it. This has been very, very good. Yeah. Well, that person, if you were sitting down with somebody that was fearful of success, fear of leaving a job and going out and pursuing their dreams, insert fear of whatever that is, how would you, what would you say to that person? Or how would you encourage them to do what you did and just step out on things? Yeah. And to
32:10
tackle that fear. Yeah, I always say you got to let go and let God, because I've been that person, the person that God called to leave the job, leave the teaching job that you knew well, I can teach with my eyes closed, I knew it, and he called me to leave it for this. And I was like, you do know I don't have no money, I don't have.
32:37
Way my check in the idea. I just want to make sure Lord that we're clear because I'm a single mama with two kids and you Talk about me stepping out on faith And so I want to tell people to let go like don't give God the excuses of why? Because what you do is what this world needs see we get so caught up in the what we don't have and I'm gonna tell you I ain't had it God has made a way
33:05
Every time you're talking almost 10 years now of being able to pay folks And may not always been able to pay myself. I've sacrificed a great deal, but it's not about me It's about everybody else. And so I tell people with your operating in that I'm afraid to leave the job I'm afraid to do this. I don't have the money What if I don't have if you believe in it the provisions have already been set for you So you don't have to be concerned about
33:34
how am I going to, because when you start walking in that purpose, I believe the favor falls completely on you. You put it in my two weeks. I'm telling you, I know, just so you know. I'm done. But it does, I believe in favor and blessings and it falls on you. And then I also wanna encourage people, find someone that you can link with to help you. And if you wanna keep the job and still dabble in that, it's okay, right? Because I am not suggesting to folks.
34:04
You don't have to do what I did because I left it. Right. Literally left it. No health insurance. Just a few months salary. I'm telling you, completely. You don't have to do what I did. But that was for me because God had to strengthen me for the next and the next. So that was the way my journey went. But if you're not ready to fully do that, keep the job and dabble here. And then you might see what happened to me.
34:32
I was dabbling more over here than I was the job. And that's when I knew it was time to leave because I was committing war in this space than I was. You know when you search. I'm taking calls at school and I'm supposed to be teaching y'all's kids. And I'm like, okay, if I was a parent, this probably wouldn't work too good if she was over here. And that's when you had to leave. But I wanna tell people, let go, let God use you. Because...
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you will be surprised what you can do and what you can endure. But if you don't, you'll be 70, 80 years old going, Oh, I should have. And that's what I tell people. If you don't want to have those conversations with yourself, you owe it to yourself just to try. And that's what my thing is for this year. It's the try God in the Bible. It says faith without works is dead. What that means is you give God nothing to operate on. If you don't go
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do something, you've got to make the first move for him to even be able to bless and do something. So if you just stay stagnant in your house and say, well, I'm not doing it, God's like, well, then there's really not, there's not a lot for me to do here. Right, but if you step out there and apply for the loan or decrease the hours or say I'm going to do this or start the small project, now we're giving him something to work with. And that's what we have to do. It's the little steps. I'm not telling you.
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leave the job, take all the money, you know, I'm not telling you to do all that. I'm telling you to take the necessary steps to get you in a position to where you can go give the two weeks, because now you're ready to go. That's what I probably wish I would have done, but I ain't complaining, Lord, because I want you to still bless me, so I'm not complaining, I'm just saying. But I do think those little steps mean something, but faith without works is dead. You've gotta start somewhere to give Him something to work with. Yes, and right there we're gonna drop the mic.
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All right. Juana, thank you so much. This was so great. Thank you. For those that are listening that want to connect with you, learn more about what you're doing, where can they find you? Yeah, you can find more out about Juneteenth, iowajuneteenth.org. If you're looking to look at the magazine, it's theurbanexp.com. If you want to look at what's going on with Iowa Urban Media, it's iaurban.com. You can look me up on Facebook.
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If you just want to have a conversation, if you just need some direction and where you want to go, literally, I give my time over and over again because you are that important. So if you need something, reach out to me. Many people will tell you, I'll give you what you need. Yeah, and I'll make sure I have all that in the description. Wonderful. Yeah. People don't have to look too much. Yeah. Everybody, thank you for listening. Hey, if you're listening right now and you need support,
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Coffee can't fix everything, but this is just a podcast. Please reach out to your local providers. 988, do what you have to do to take care of your mental health. But thank you again for listening. D'Wyland, thank you. Yeah, thank you. Everybody, coffee can't fix everything, but we're starting it with the conversation. We'll holler at you next time.