Journey to Empowerment by Maria D. Dowd Read Free Book Online

because of diabetes and my grandfather who had chronic heart disease. The doctor told me I was headed down that same path if I didn’t do something…and soon.
    After I left his office, I sat in my car and sobbed. A thunderstorm was kicking up outside—yet it was no match to the raging storm I felt inside. I had been given great opportunities in my life. My mother and father had sacrificed to provide me with an education and a life of equality. I felt like I’d failed to live up to their standards. And I knew that I wasn’t doing my life justice in this condition. Did I want to continue on the road to self-destruction or did I want to take control of my health? Did I want to be one hundred and seventy-five pounds and uncomfortable, or have a body that allowed me to move freely? Did I want to be out of breath and tired at the end of the day, or have the energy to do things with my family and friends? I had to make a decision.
    At that moment, I asked God to forgive me for not honoring the gift He had given me—the gift of life. I asked Him to forgive me for not honoring my body, my health and my talents. I asked Him to please show me how to get well. I told Him that I promised to do whatever it took to do the right thing. As I prayed through my tears, something indescribable happened. I felt God’s unconditional love. God promises us a “peace that surpasseth all understanding,” and He’d given me a gift that day in the parking lot of my doctor’s office. I suddenly felt freed from the prison of food addiction, poor health and emotional bondage. I was enveloped by love and filled with a burning desire—a calling—to change my life from that moment on.
    From that epiphany forward, I used the power of prayer and spirit to transform my existence. I turned my life over to Him, and He led me to people and places, books and seminars that supported my transformation. I experienced a Body Revival. From that moment on, I dedicated myself to changing my spiritual life, my relationships, including my relationship with food, and my health. Step by step, each and every day, my life got better and better. I was shown a way to overcome my poor body image, my love of “comfort foods” and my old habits that had sent me down a road to self-destruction.
    Once I overcame my own demons, I realized the purpose God had for me included service to others. In turn, I’ve had the opportunity to teach thousands of people how to fill the emptiness with something more than chips and soda.
    Today, when I see myself on national television helping others achieve their victories, when I feel the rush of leading twenty thousand people to their “breakthrough” of self-defeating habits, or catch my reflection in the mirror training towering NBA basketball players on the importance of nutrition for their performance and career, I know that I’ve conquered the dark despair of secret eating, loneliness and depression that I felt for so many years of my life.

Passionate and Purposeful Living
    B Y J EWEL D IAMOND T AYLOR
    S ometimes your life may feel like a trip instead of a journey. Been there…done that. My life was a boring trip with one pit stop after another, looking for love, meaning and my purpose. Some people go straight to their destination. They are born knowing what their purpose is. This revelation isn’t always so obvious for some of us.
    I took the long way. After working countless jobs, experiencing the learning and growing pain of marriage, loving and guiding my sons, wavering in my self-esteem, procrastinating and watching both of my parents close their eyes for eternal sleep, I finally accepted my purpose. Being a conduit of hope, motivation and encouragement in a nontraditional way was my destiny. When I finally told the truth to myself and took my leaps of faith to develop my gift and purpose, the spark inside of me became a f lame of passion.
    Once I had found