Jodi Jill Out Of The Darkness And Into The Light

Hello Divine Diva’s

A few weeks ago I saw an interview with Jodi Jill, a woman her spent her childhood living in a storage unit, and although her story brought tears to my eyes, I also saw a light in her and her beautiful soul shined so bright.

I knew I had to find her and ask if I could write about her story on my blog. I’m so thankful she agreed. I hope her courage and her story will inspire you and show you that with a little faith, hope, and courage, anything is possible.

This is Jodi’s story.

Imagine going to your storage unit and noticing a family with 5 kids living there. Would you close your eyes and pretend you didn’t see them? Or would you have the courage to call for help for the sake of the children?

Jodi Jill was raised in a 10 by 20 storage unit from the age of 7 until she turned 22 and counted 173 people who knew of her secret and didn’t try to help.

It’s heartbreaking to me to know that not only did she endure a life in which she was cut off from the world and not even allowed to go to school, but to know that nobody had the courage to reach out and help her and her siblings.

Her life wasn’t always like this, in fact from birth till the age of 7 she lived in a house with her parents and her sister in Iowa. Then one day, her parents told her that they were moving to a new house and they packed up and left town.

They ended up in Loveland Colorado in a 10 by 20 storage unit and Jodi was told that they would spend only one night there. Sadly when the morning came, the family didn’t leave and in fact Jodi lived in that storage unit for the next 15 years.

I was in total shock when I saw her story trying to picture in my mind what life was like for this little girl living in a storage unit. My boyfriend and I have a storage unit and anytime we need to go and put something in or get something out, I just want to hurry up and get out of there. It’s so small and confining and it’s so hard for me to understand why anyone would live in one. In fact Jodi doesn’t understand to this day why her family chose this life.

Her parents told her that everyone hated them and although Jodi didn’t understand why, eventually she started believing it. I know as an adult it’s difficult to think that someone may hate us but for a child to be taught to believe that she is hated is unimaginable to me.

This precious little girl didn’t even have any toys growing up and she didn’t have friends to go out and play with like normal kids do, and worst of all, she was denied an education by her parents.

Her parents never taught her how to read and at one point the family decided to start visiting a library, so when Jodi was 15 she taught herself how to read by listening to cassette tapes which had matching books.

She learned many things from books and most important of all, she learned that the life she lived was not a normal life. She realized that outside of the storage unit, there was a whole world that she had yet to experience. Longing to experience the world outside the storage unit Jodi and her sister ran away after she realized that people who are old enough don’t have to all live together.

It wasn’t easy for her and there was quite a focus on her parents keeping them close. It took her months to break it down, but at some point it became more of a hassle to house 5 people in a storage unit then it did to let them go and her parents became really focused on some real negative issues that had their attention more then the children did.

Free at last for the first time in years, Jodi and her sister enjoyed the life of freedom that they were denied for so many years living in that small storage unit. I’m sure it was scary for the 2 girls out alone in the world, but at the same time it must have been exciting as well because they finally had the freedom to experience the many wonderful things life has to offer us.

It reminds me of how lucky I am to have been raised in a life in which I received an education and was allowed to have friends and toys and playtime and all of the things that most of us had as children.

If you ask me what I came into this life to do, I will tell you: I came to live out loud. Emile Zola

Jodi fell in love with books and a few years after Jodi and her sister left home, she created a job for herself as a literary agent. She also loved writing and at the age of 32 she published her first book Tours for Free Colorado in which she wrote about the fun and free things she experienced in Colorado after leaving the storage unit.

She stayed in Colorado for several years and although she changed her last name, her Mom ended up finding Jodi and her sister so Jodi decided to leave Colorado and head out to Los Angeles to create a brand new life for herself. After moving to Los Angeles Jodi’s love of reading and writing lead her to a job as a columnist for the examiner.com writing a column about celebrities.

Jodi still has many fears and not everything has gone away. She treats each individually by trying to understand every issue before beginning. She doesn’t try to rationalize but instead recognize what is real and what is feeling. She says dividing these up really makes a difference for her. It cuts down on fear as she walks through the process knowing that she doesn’t need to excuse how she feels, but instead be brave enough to address what she does know.

At the end of the day, she is still scared, but excited because she has learned so much in the process. Living the storage unit was terrifying and she still finds days she feels lack in understanding how things work, but she knows that this process in an on going work.

It was difficult for her to rebuild her life after being secluded from the world for so long and there are still issues that she finds shocking that she didn’t know and still doesn’t understand to this day.

But she tries to treat everything as an adventure and brace for the best. She fails and she succeeds and she finds herself laughing at things because she didn’t understand and her original impression was different than what it really was.

A perfect example of this is something so silly like the chicken chain of “Popeye’s.” For years she always wondered why the Pope would say yes to chicken and name a store like that. She ended up going in one day and when they said the word out loud, she recognized it had nothing to do with the Vatican.

I asked Jodi how she stays so positive after enduring the life she lived with her family and she said she loves to make people smile and she loves to be positive. She tends to shy away from people and situations of any caliber that are gripping, whiny, or negative.

She feels it’s better to see a sunset alone and appreciate what life has given her then to hang out with contagious, chronic grumps. She consciously makes this choice and keeps her home, life and actions in a very positive, happy focus. Of course we all experience rotten days, but most of the time she feels that your situation is what makes your attitude.

I asked Jodi who inspires her and why and she says Walt Disney is her biggest inspiration because his impact on families make smiles on faces and wishes she could make an impact even in a tenth of a sliver as he did. She says what makes us cherish life can be spread by a simple action and feels Walt Disney showed that.

Her other inspiration is Stan Lee and feels his creativity is amazing and yet his humble attitude is one of awe. He is an amazing example of a creative individual who has found a way to impact our world and all his fans smile too.

When I asked Jodi what advice she would give others on how to rebuild a life after enduring something so painful and how to move on she said that moving on is a huge prospect that can be very overwhelming but she figured out where she wanted to be, decided what is healthy and ran for it.

She said you need to forgive yourself for being in the situation, drop the dead weight whether its friends or situations, be thankful for the lessons you learned along the way, and then start moving forward.

She said don’t look back, don’t badmouth and most important of all, don’t ever give up. You can’t control where you came from, but destiny is where you can flourish.

Although Jodi endured a painful life for 15 years living in that storage unit, what drew me to her story was the fact that no matter how painful that life must have been for her, she was so courageous and brave and knew she wanted more for herself and not only broke free, but imagined and created a life she loves for herself.

As I watched her on the Jeff Probst show I saw a remarkable woman who reminded me that no matter what we have faced in life, we have the choice to either remain in a place of sadness, anger, and pain, or we can choose to create the life we truly want for ourselves.

Jodi is 42 now, and is a successful columnist for examiner.com. She still loves going to Disneyland and although she has never been on a date or had a boyfriend, I have no doubt in my mind that there is a very special man who will find his why to this amazing woman.

I’m so grateful to have connected with Jodi and I hope her story inspires you as much as it has inspired me, and I hope you always remember that anything truly is possible if you believe it is.

Always Remember that you are Beautiful, Strong, Powerful, Fearless, Amazing, Divine, and most important of all YOU ARE ENOUGH! Divine Diva Donna

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Sidewalk Chalk Project Inspiring The World One Quote At A Time

Hello Divine Diva’s
Well if you haven’t guessed by now, I just love writing about people and things that inspire me and if I come across someone or something that inspires me, I get super excited and want to share it here with you. Today I want to tell you about a site I found on Face Book called Sidewalk Chalk Project.

Sidewalk Chalk Project was started by a woman named Susan who was going through a severe depression. She lost a job that she really cared about, got divorced for the second time, and had to move back home with her Mom. She was having a really difficult time with everything so she started collecting positive quotes and sayings and taped them up on her mirror, on her wall next to the bed, and the refrigerator.

After collecting these inspiring quotes, one day she thought it would be great to go out and see these quotes somewhere in the world. She didn’t want to paint them and decided chalk would be a great idea because it would eventually wash away. Her plan originally was to go out and write these quotes on the sidewalk for the summer and do it from Memorial day, to Labor day, writing at least one positive phrase on the sidewalk somewhere.

After posting several quotes, people really started responding to them and asked Susan if she would create a page to post them on to share them with the world and little by little she gradually started feeling better and focused more on the good things in life.

In the blink of eye, 3 months had passed and something amazing happened. Susan realized she couldn’t stop. She thought once the weather got cold and snow started falling she would not be able to continue, but she has always managed to find a spot to chalk and to this day she has spread her messages of positivity on over 700 sidewalks and 500 days later, she’s still going strong. She plans on chalking as long as she can find a piece of sidewalk to chalk on.

Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions. Dalai Lama

I love what Susan is doing and love the fact that she turned her dark days into brighter days and although she started this process with the hopes of getting herself out of her depression, she has provided hope, encouragement, and a smile to complete strangers.

Susan is a great example of someone who was able to step outside of herself and her depression to create something beautiful that touch’s the lives of others. We all have good days and bad days and some of us go through very difficult times in our lives, but we can choose to stay in the moments of depression, hurt, or loneliness, or we can take a leap of faith and be courageous and reach out to others.

The beautiful thing about this is that if you take a chance like Susan did, you have the power to touch the lives of others in ways you might not have ever imagined. I think it would be awesome to walk down the street and see a positive quote on the sidewalk. It’s a great reminder to each of us, that no matter what we may be going through, we are never alone.

Susan’s biggest dream is to find a way to mass produce posters using the photos and sell them and donate part of the proceeds to kids with depression. She would also like to create a non-profit group that holds “Chalk for Charity” events to raise money for local groups as well and she says she plans on chalking as long as she is able to find a piece of sidewalk to chalk on.

I hope you are inspired as much as I am by this story and project. You can visit her site at

Sidewalk Chalk Project

Always Remember that you are Beautiful, Strong, Powerful, Fearless, Amazing, Divine, and most important of all YOU ARE ENOUGH! Divine Diva Donna

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A Poem Dedicated To Abused Women

Hello Divine Diva's

This a poem I wrote a few years ago when I was mentoring some women and girls who were abused.

When I thought I was alone, you were there to hold my hand. When my world was broken and fell apart, you were there to help me stand.

When there was no one to tell my secrets to, you were there to lend your ear. When I thought I wasn't strong enough, you were there to ease my fear.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” Marianne Williamson

When there was nowhere left for me to run, your arms were open wide. You gave me a place to call home, when all I wanted to do was hide.

So many times you held my life, in your heart so tenderly. You taught me to spread my wings, so I could finally learn to be free.

What words could I say to thank you, for giving me the strength and courage to be me. I’m a survivor and I’ll show others, I found the key that was always inside of me.

Always Remember that you are Beautiful, Strong, Powerful, Fearless, Amazing, Divine, and most important of all YOU ARE ENOUGH! Divine Diva Donna

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Anything Is Possible If You Believe

Hello Divine Diva's

I've been working hard on my Divine Diva clothing and going to open up an online shop soon, sorry for not posting as much lately here. But here's a great post for the day. Hope you enjoy it.

Are you living the life of your dreams? Or do you have unfulfilled dreams that you pushed away for whatever reason, and now feel it's to late to pursue them? Well I'm here to tell you that it's never to late to make all your dreams come true . First of all, God put that dream in your heart for a reason. I know it's easy to get bogged down with excuses such as I'm not smart enough, pretty enough, rich enough, or talented enough. You know what I'm talking about, and sadly some of us build up such a big wall of excuses that we feel we can never tear down that wall, so we just give up.

But what if those excuses didn't have to stand in your way? What if you could decide right now to pursue each and every dream you have in you heart, and live the live of your dreams? Would you take a chance and go for it? Let's just wipe that slate clean of excuses and get you on the yellow brick road. That road is going to take you to places you never thought you would ever see. All you need to do is make a decision to not let excuses or fears stand in your way for one more second. Click your heels 3 times and say goodbye to excuses.

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. Walt Disney

It's time for you to achieve every dream your heart desires. You have the power within you to reach for your dreams and the world is waiting for you to give life to the dreams in your heart. If you believe in yourself, anything is possible. So what are you waiting for, start today. Follow that yellow brick road; it will lead to your everything.

Always Remember that you are Beautiful, Strong, Powerful, Fearless, Amazing, Divine, and most important of all YOU ARE ENOUGH! Divine Diva Donna

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Freddie Combs The Voice Of An Angel

Hello Divine Diva’s

I was so inspired by a contestant on the X Factor last week and just had to write about it. If you didn’t catch the last episode, boy did you miss out on the most inspiring audition I have ever seen.

Freddie Combs is a 540–pound, wheelchair - bound minister who received a standing ovation and brought tears to the eyes of America as they watched his audition. He was wheeled onstage by his wife and best friend of 16 years and dedicated his performance of “Wind Beneath My Wings” to her. The judges and audience seemed to be shocked by his appearance, but everything changed when he shared his inspiring story.

In 2009 after spending seven months in his room, He developed a very severe case of carbon dioxide poisoning and it was slowly killing him. The doctors did not expect him to live, but not only did he live, but he went on to lose almost four hundred pounds from his original weight of 920 pounds.

Despite his outward appearance Freddie is an amazing example of someone who shows such courage and doesn’t let the fact that he is a 540-pound man stand in the way of his God given gift that is meant to be shared with the world.

"X Factor" judge L.A. Reid started the commentary stating, "My comments for you will not be out of sympathy because of anything that you have dealt with. It's going to be purely based on your voice which I think is heavenly."

Simon said "Ah, Freddie you know what? When I heard you sing I had a vision in my mind of you standing singing that song, healthy, happy and maybe you need some inspiration to help you to that next stage because it's within you to sort this out. Do you understand that? I don't think that you deserve to be stuck in that chair, I really don't. But it has to come from you. I kind of feel if we're gonna go forward that we have to make a sort of a deal with each other, that we're gonna both work hard to sort this out, yeah? Because I'll back you if you back yourself. In which case Freddie I wanna kick this off and I want to give you a yes."

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart. Helen Keller

L.A. Reid added to that by saying "I liked the deal that Simon made with you when he challenged you to stand...and if you stand I'm gonna stand right by you. It's four yeses."

Freddie’s story is such an inspiring story and I love the fact that he did not let his condition stand in the way of sharing his gift with the world. He did not let fear stand in the way and stop him from showing himself to the world even though he weighs 540 pounds and is wheelchair-bound. I’ve seen stories over the years of several obese people who locked themselves inside their houses for years at a time because it was to difficult to not only leave the house, but also because of the shame they felt about the way they looked.

Fear stops some of us from so many things in our lives and I think the feeling of being fearful is almost worse then if you just faced the fear and did it anyway. We can choose to let fear stop us from living the life we are meant to live and never face it, or if we choose to be brave and courageous and take that step forward, we might discover something amazing.

I believe we all have gifts and talents and it’s our job to discover them and share them with the world. God gives these to each of us and I think that if we hide away from the world and never use the gifts he gave us, we will never live the amazing life that he wants us to live.

What fears do you have that are holding you back from living the life you are meant to live? Have you discovered the gifts and talents that God has given you? What would your life be like if you faced your fears? What would you life look like today if you took a chance and faced any fears that are stopping from living the life you are meant to live? Maybe you can take a little baby step today and start the journey.

Let Freddie be an example that anything is possible if you believe. I believe that Freddie will stand from his wheelchair and sing for the world to see and I cannot wait to see it happen!

You can read more about Freddie and his story by visiting his site Freddie And Kay Combs

Always Remember that you are Beautiful, Strong, Powerful, Fearless, Amazing, Divine, and most important of all YOU ARE ENOUGH! Divine Diva Donna

Imagine For A Moment

We all walk many different paths in life and we each have a story to tell. Some of us have faced horrible things in life that we wouldn't wish on our worst enemy and some of us have had an easy road so far. But the fact is we all are on a journey of this thing we call life, and we all have a chance each day to make choices that determine which road we choose on that day. I know your past journey may have been full of pain and sorrow and sometimes you may think it will always be that way, but it doesn't have to be that way anymore. You can’t take back yesterday, but you can determine how you live today.

Don't spend precious time living in the past, especially since you can never get back yesterday. Today is a new day full of promise and hope for you. Imagine if for just a moment you make another choice on what you do, think, and feel. Maybe you're angry about something that has happened and you might feel so angry and hurt that you chose destruction as an answer to that pain, or maybe you choose more pain for yourself. You punish yourself for something that was never your fault to begin with. Maybe you hear old tapes in your head telling you that you are stupid, worthless, ugly, and worst of all, you hear that you are not worth the time. Maybe those tapes have been playing in your head so long that you don't ever think that you can make them stop, and you're living your life each and every day thinking you don't matter.

But if you can imagine for just one moment or a few moments that you can have a different life for yourself, then I believe that you can. It's not easy at first because you’ve been programmed for such a long time, but it is possible for you. The thing is you control your thoughts, not anyone else. You have been giving your power away for so long, but you don't have to do that anymore. You have the power to change your thoughts each and every day. You have the power to make new tapes to play in your head each day. You have the power to be the master of your universe, so why not start today.

If you start with just one moment changing your thoughts, it will get easier to do. Pretty soon, one moment leads to more moments and little by little you can replace every negative thought with a positive one. It doesn't matter if nobody has ever believed in you, you can believe in YOU! You have the power to become anything you want in this life and the greatest thing is, it's never too late. Louise Hay started her publishing company when she was 60, and today her Hay House Company is a great success. She could have thought at that age, that she was finished with her life, but she didn't and look what amazing things she has accomplished with her publishing company.

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. Michelangelo

Do you remember Christmas as a child? When all year long you thought about the gifts you wanted and on that morning you were so excited because Santa was going to bring you what you dreamed of all year long. The hope of a child and wishes of a child can be such a powerful thing, especially when what you thought about having, appears like magic that day. Maybe some of you did not have that experience, but the point I’m trying to make, is that you can imagine and create anything you want in your life. It can be Christmas each and everyday for you when you realize that you hold the key to the life you've always dreamed of. Imagine if only for a moment that you are living the life you have always dreamed of. What would your life be like?

Now you may be thinking that these things are not possible for you, but they are. Instead of saying it could never happen for you, how about saying why not me. You deserve everything that life has to offer and more. You have the power to IMAGINE, DREAM, and CREATE amazing things. Even if you think you have no skills or talents, you do have them. You just need to take a little time to figure out what they are. Take a look inside you heart and see what amazing things may be hiding in there just waiting for you to discover them.

Dig for those treasures that await you. We all have treasures within us and please don't bother trying to tell me that you cannot possibly have any, because you do. So get out your map and your shovel, and start digging. And if at first you don't find anything, keep digging. It only takes a moment to start, and pretty soon one moment leads into another, and another, and pretty soon, you will strike gold.

So what are you waiting for you? Make that map and start digging for those treasures. I cannot wait to hear what you discover.

Please feel free comment here with all of the amazing things you have discovered in your search. I would love to see what amazing things you have discovered.

Always Remember that you are Beautiful, Strong, Powerful, Fearless, Amazing, Divine, and most important of all YOU ARE ENOUGH! Divine Diva Donna

Beautiful Inside

It seems to me in society today there seems to be so much focus on what the definition of beauty is, and the sad thing is the message is always geared to what we see on the outside of someone and it makes me sad.

We have young girls who see and hear that message everyday and that message leaves these girls with no self esteem, no confidence, and for some it leads into the world of eating disorders and so many other horrible things in life. We have little girls who should be playing with Barbie, now thinking about what they can do to look like Barbie, and it makes me so angry. How did we get to this place where we are failing these young girls who are the future generation of what's to come.

Instead of believing in themselves and wondering what they want to be when they grow up, our young girls are cutting themselves, burning themselves, throwing up after they eat, and punishing themselves for thinking they are not pretty enough, smart enough, thin enough, and worst of all, thinking that they don't matter. And some of these girls think they don't even deserve to live. I'm not only shocked by this, but I also wonder what happened, and where did we go wrong?

Why isn't anyone teaching these girls about inner beauty and showing them the amazing qualities we each have inside? I believe beauty in not always something you should look for on the outside, because we all have things that make us beautiful inside as well.

Why don't we spend time telling these girls things we admire in them and take the chance we each have everyday to remind them they are enough exactly as they are. Why not take the chance to give them the courage they need to do anything their heart desires. Why not say, I believe in you, instead of saying you're looking a little chubby today, why didn't you get an A on that test, why didn't you finish your chores, and all of the other negative things that beat them down little by little everyday.

Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams. Ashley Smith

We all have a chance each day to choose our words and we all have a chance to really make a big impact in the life of someone. We can spend the same amount of time saying positive things to someone, as we do negative things.

I also know that some of you might not have had anyone to say positive things to you when you were growing up, and maybe you're angry about it still. But the thing is you now have the chance to change that, you can start by saying positive things to yourself each day and trust me, you'll be amazed at how it makes you feel.

Once you start feeling better about yourself, I know you will want to do that for someone else. Everyday we have the opportunity to choose the words we use, and we also have the chance to not only tell ourselves that we are beautiful inside; we have the chance if we take it, to remind our young girls that as well.

So take that chance today, take that chance to remind the young girls who are the future, they are beautiful inside. We all have the power to change the world we live in by changing what we say and do each day. So why not start today?

Always Remember that you are Beautiful, Strong, Powerful, Fearless, Amazing, Divine, and most important of all YOU ARE ENOUGH! Divine Diva Donna

Jeff, One Lonely Guy

Hello Divine Diva's,

Before I begin this post, I would like to say thank you for being patient with me. My computer and I do not see eye to lately and once again it quit on me. But I am back and once again hope to get this blog looking better and start posting more. Let's hope my computer will work with me now! I am still learning here as far as how to get the blog to look awesome, but I figure in the meantime, why let that stop me from writing, so here I go.

Wow, I just finished watching the Jeff Probst show about a guy named Jeff Ragsdale in New York who experienced a bad break up and was feeling very lonely, so he decided to go out to the streets of New York and post fliers that said if you want to talk about anything, call Jeff, one lonely guy.

When I first heard this, I thought wow, with computers and the access we have each day to reach out and connect, would anyone just call a phone number listed on a flier posted on the streets of New York? Then I thought would people think he was a crazy guy? I mean let's face it, how many of you would just go out and post your phone number for the world to see and ask people to call you?

I was surprised as I watched this show that not only did he receive calls, but he received thousands of calls. I believe over 80,000 he said. I believe it was one word, the word lonely that inspired thousands of strangers to pick up the phone and call Jeff, One Lonely Guy.

He received calls from all over the world with advice of how to get over his break up, but something else also happened with the phone calls he received. It turns out that there are thousands of lonely people in the world who felt compelled to pick up the phone and call a stranger and talk about their problems as well.

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be. Anne Frank

When I first heard this, I thought why wouldn't people just talk to people they know about their problems instead of of a stranger? Then they had a guest on the show who Jeff had helped and she said that she was going through a dark period in her life and when she spoke to friends about it, they always told her what she wanted to hear and she wanted to speak to someone who was outside of the situation and as a result, she said Jeff One Lonely Guy, helped her heal. Now this guy is not a therapist or anything of the sort, but it turns out, that it does not matter one bit to the thousands of people who call this guy.

What matters, is that there was someone brave enough to not only admit that he was lonely, but he was brave enough to post his phone number for the world to see, with the hopes of maybe making a few friends out of the whole thing. What matters to people is that there is a voice on the other end of the phone. Someone who listens and someone who doesn't know them, and as it turns out this voice of a complete stranger ends up helping complete strangers that he has never met.

I love this story and just had to write about it and it really touched me that in the world of computers and chat rooms and instant messaging, people still want to pick up the phone and talk to someone and make a connection with a voice on the other end of the phone and I think that is awesome!

I think the other thing that resonated with me is that most everyone at some point in their life, feels lonely and this guy was not afraid to admit it and put his phone number out there for the world to see and call.

I am curious though, would you be brave enough to put your phone number out for the world to see? Would you speak to strangers and listen and or give advice with no charge just for the greater good of helping someone?

The bottom line is, there are millions of lonely people in the world and what I got from this story is that people really do feel more comfortable at times talking to someone who doesn't know them, someone who won't judge them, and someone who is not involved in their life. I think what this guy did is awesome and inspiring and I am so glad I saw his story today. I hope you are inspired by his story as well.

Always Remember that you are Beautiful, Strong, Powerful, Fearless, Amazing, Divine, and most important of all YOU ARE ENOUGH! Divine Diva Donna

He has a book called Jeff, One Loney Guy and you can get it here.

Don't Let Setbacks Destroy Your Dreams

Hello Divine Diva's,

I know it has been some time since I have posted and it seems like one day I am here and the next day I disappear, but trust me I am still here even when it seems like I am not and I have a very good reason for my disappearance.

My love it and hate it computer, once again decided to quit working on me. I swear over the last few years my computer seems to have a love and hate relationship with me. Talk about frustrating. So once again it crashed on me and it seems like every time I get going on my projects, it decides to crash.

I thought I was lucky this time because I found someone who knew someone who was supposed to be really good at fixing computers and at a really good price as well, so my boyfriend and I decided to give him a try. He even made house calls and came here to work his magic on it.

It didn't seem to take him very long at all and he said it was fixed and when I asked him if he saved all of my old stuff, he says oh, did you want to save it. I started crying because I had almost finished my book Divine Diva Inspiration that I am self publishing as well had 3 or 4 other book projects that I planned to finish after my Divine Diva Inspiration book.

He looked like he felt bad and told me that he would look for a recovery program and come back another time and try  to recover all of my documents if he could. But having had my Dad do work on my computer before he moved, I knew that there was a process to saving everything when you are fixing a computer and this guy I saw just flat out wiped it all clean.

It was about a month before he came back to fix it and he also brought me another disk drive that he said I could save everything on there and if the computer ever decided to crash, I would still have everything. But as I feared, he said he could not recover anything and went on his merry way.

I was so upset and angry about this and to make matters worse, my computer only worked for about a month after I let this guy work on it, and then once again it crashed. So I had to now find someone else who really knew what the heck they were doing to fix it and try this again.

This time when I took the computer to get it fixed, I was told that the previous guy who brought me another hard drive to use did not even hook it up because it was broken and not only that, now my hard drive I had was broken as well, so I had to get a new hard drive and everything redone on this computer and had I known the first guy was going to do this to me, I could have not wasted any money on him and just paid the new guy to fix it and it would not have cost as much.

Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world. Harriet Tubman

I shed so many tears over this because  I had so much work on my books and now it a moment, it was all gone! Divine Diva Inspiration is a book of interviews I have done with successful career women and it's not like I can just rewrite the interviews as if it was just a story I would need to start over. This meant that I would have to tell each woman that I had interviewed what happened and get the interviews all over again.

I have had several set backs over the past few years and I was beginning to wonder if the universe was trying to tell me something, and wondered should I just give up on my dreams? But then I also thought if I really do give up on my dreams, then what will I do? Could I live the rest of my life with no dreams? Could you live your life with no dreams?I really had to think about this because these setbacks and frustration caused me so much heartache, but I am also not one who just gives up and quits either on the things that are important to me.

As I thought about all of this, I remembered how and why I decided that I wanted to be a writer and I set an intention many years ago to touch as many lives as I can with my writing. I also realized I was given my gifts and talents from God and if I decided to not use them and just give up on my dreams, what would he think of me? I believe we are all given special skills, talents and gifts and it is our job to discover them and share them with the world.

It sucks for sure to start over on everything I have ever written, but I know deep inside of me if I just gave up on my dreams, I would not live the life God intended for me to live. I also know that if I give up on my dreams, my life would not have meaning.

I think God knows what he is doing and maybe the timing was not right for my projects and I have even found a few positive things during all of this. If I  did not have computer problems and would have finished my book, I would not have the option to interview new fabulous women that I have been making connections with recently, so now I can feature even more Divine Diva's in my book which is great.

I have also not been using my blog here very much as you can tell, and I plan on doing allot more blogging. I have also added a new dream to my list and that is doing book reviews. I used to do them for a website a few years back and I am going to do them again. I have learned that there are millions of people now using self publishing as an option like I am, and they are in great need of book reviews to get their book seen and read by more people. I will be adding some information here when I get going on it.

I know this is a long post, but I hope you read it all and remember just because you experience setbacks on the way to living the life you dream of, it doesn't mean you should give up on your dreams. God put those dreams in your heart for a reason and you never know, maybe you will think of ways to add to and expand your dreams like I am.

How do you handle setbacks? Please free to post your comments on this.

Remember, it's never to late to start living the life you dream of. Anything is possible if you believe it is.

Always Remember that you are Beautiful, Strong, Powerful, Fearless, Amazing, Divine, and most important of all YOU ARE ENOUGH! Divine Diva Donna

Inspired and working on my book once again

Happy New Year Divine Diva's,

I'm feeling inspired, working on my book once again and ready to make 2012 a DIVINE year!

I started this blog in 2010 and at the time I was working on my book Divine Diva Inspiration, but as we all know sometimes in life we get off track and life takes us in another direction. That's not to say that the direction life takes us in is a bad thing, but just different.

For me, I had ventured out into the dating world again after a long, long break, and boy how things had changed in the dating world. When I decided to get back in the dating game, I wasn't sure how to go about it, since I wasn't 21 anymore and into the club scene at my age. So I decided to try out internet dating, and boy was that an interesting, crazy, adventure.

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart. Helen Keller

I can't say I found love online, but it was a learning experience, that's for sure. There is so much to say about internet dating and my experience with it, I could write a book on it and may do so, but to make a long story short, after all of my internet dating, I ended up finding love 4 apartments away, right here where I live. Which was great because I got very discouraged trying to find the one and prayed the one for me would just come to me and knock on my door and my search would be over. So although I had planned to finish and publish my book in 2010, I ended up finding a great guy and took some time off from my book to build my relationship with him.

It's a new year now and I'm excited to say I am back on track working on my book and plan to finish and publish it soon. I'm also working on my website and will post a link as soon as I get it up and running. I have many goals and dreams for the new year, and I plan to make 2012 an amazing year. How about you?

Always Remember that you are Beautiful, Strong, Powerful, Fearless, Amazing, Divine, and most important of all YOU ARE ENOUGH! Divine Diva Donna