The Best Is Yet To Come!

This year has been an amazing year for me!  Last month, I celebrated my 50^th Birthday with a cadre of family and friends who gathered in an elegant evening gala to celebrate with me. There’s something about my 50^th Birthday that is so surreal to me.  In fact I may not get 50 more years to fulfill my purpose and destiny.  Crossing this threshold of life inspires me to go after all of my dreams with the most passion and vigor I can muster up.

Looking back over my life, I’ve crossed major milestones and overcome many hurdles.  I have traveled many miles and gained a considerable amount of accolades.  I’ve been married 20 years to my best friend, Johnathan Alvarado and together we have grown in marriage, ministry and family.  I consider being married to him and being the mother of our three (now teenage) children one of my greatest accomplishments! 

I’ve grown academically and professionally having earned five degrees and three professional certifications.  I’ve had the opportunity to travel, teach and preach both nationally and internationally and develop women through the medium of coaching and mentoring. With all that I have accomplished, I am still growing, learning, and reaching toward a greater purpose. 

Some people ask me, “What’s next?”  “How do you do it all?”  My reply, “I don’t know, but I know that as long as I’m still alive, there is more that God wants to produce out of my life.”  With all that I have accomplished, there’s been struggle, pain, disappointment, moments of sadness, failure, frustration and times where I felt like giving up. 

But, I must say, that for every difficult moment, there’s been a greater or equal amount of joy, laughter, hope, victory, success and the Best Is Yet To Come!

Blessings…..

Dr. Toni

www.drtonialavardo.com

A Reason to Celebrate & Give!

Mere words cannot express the excitement I have about the MSK Foundation and the success we have achieved in empowering women!  We ended our program year celebrating the entire month of May, beginning with our Annual Yolonda & Raven Johnson Mother's Day Dinner at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta - Egleston Hospital. The joy of putting a smile on the faces of mothers and families whose child is hospitalized on Mother's Day is worth all of the efforts it takes to bring this outreach event to our local community.

On May 19th, MSK graduated it's 6th Leadership and Life Coaching Program Focus Group with a fabulous celebration and awards ceremony.  We were empowered and motivated to reach higher as we laughed, cried and listened to the reflections of our graduates and the inspiring message of our keynote speaker, Mrs. Lynita Mitchell-Blackwell, Esq.  

Finally, I am eternally grateful for all the birthdays wishes, greetings and support we received in celebration of my 50th Birthday and Fundraiser Gala for My Sister's Keeper Foundation for Women! I was overwhelmed by the presence of family, friends, colleagues and women in the MSK Community!

I invite you to join my dream of empowering women by becoming a regular supporter of MSK Foundation.  You can do so by visiting our website subscribing to our monthly newsletter and donating a gift to assist us with our life changing programming.  Thank you for celebrating this milestone year of my life with me and giving to empower women through MSK Foundation!

Sincerely,

Dr. Toni G. Alvarado, CEO/Lead Coach

MSK Foundation for Women

"Moving Women from Average to Excellence"

www.mskfoundation.org

MSK 2013 Graduate Brooklyn Goodall & Dr. Toni G. Alvarado
at the 50th Birthday Gala & Fundraiser for MSK Foundation For Women

Overcoming Fear

David Shapiro and David Lieder in the book Repacking Your Bags, suggest that fear is the most common emotion that people are walking around with every day.  It is such a common emotion that many people have learned to function with it and never challenge the basis of their fears.  Fear is such a strong emotion that people would rather stay in situations that are non-production rather than pursue the blessings that lie beyond the borders of their fears.

Fear blinds us to life’s possibilities. Fear limits us and keeps us living within the status quo.  When examined closely we often discover that the things and events we fear will simply never happen.  Yet, because of the fear that we allow to shape our realities we often forfeit our dreams and passions and settle for a nominal existence and non-resistant path.

The Bible gives us a prescription for fear and challenges us to overcome fearful thoughts, behaviors and attitudes.  The fear that the Bible speaks of is a healthy fear and reverence for God and life.  The type of fear that paralyzes us and keeps us from being our best self is simply not the way God intends for us to live our lives.  “The spirit that God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and a sound mind” 2 Timothy 1:7.

God bless you and have a fearless week!

Dr. Toni

www.drtonialvarado.com

Follow Your Heart

The American Heart Association has named February as “American Heart Month.”  This month will be filled with all sorts of events and initiatives aimed at helping us live healthier lives and avoid behaviors that increase our potential for heart disease, heart attacks and strokes. 

The human heart is viewed as one the most significant organs of the human body and affects the healthy function of every major system in the body.  When the heart is unhealthy is affects other major organs causing them to eventually fail and threaten our lives.

This thought prompted me to question, “How important is it to have a healthy heart in pursuing our dreams?”  Aside from the natural causes and effects, I’m really thinking about the importance of having the right dreams and passions lodged in our heart such that we will be lead down a path toward our purpose and destiny.  Without the proper diet, exercises and the right people checking up on our heart, we will miss the subtle issues that will lodge itself right in the center of our hearts. 

Let’s do a heart check-up right here:  Allow me to ask you some coaching questions that if answered properly can ensure that your heart is healthy enough to follow.  What fears are lodged in your heart that keep you from pursuing your purpose and destiny?”  “What books, materials and programs are you engaging that challenge you and keep your heart muscles growing and strong?”  “Who are the coaches and mentors who challenge you to grow and develop plans for reaching your goals and vision?”

Finally, “When was the last time you checked to see if things in your life are working properly?” 

If you are in a regular pattern of doing “heart checks”, you will ensure that you always have something in your heart worth going after.  If you find that you have big dreams and bodacious passions, you are in good health and your heart is alive and pumping. 

We have entered into the 2^nd month of a new year and if you haven’t done so already, get your heart checked and “Follow Your Heart!”

Blessings.....

Dr. Toni

www.drtonialvarado.com

Seizing New Opportunities in This New Year!

I have been buzzing around with excitement and anticipation for 2013!  It could be because I will be turning 50 this year and I’m looking forward to what the second half of my life will be. 

As I’ve been talking with people, there seems to be a general sense that this year is going to be a year full new opportunities.  Yet, with each opportunity come new threats and obstacles that can diffuse our excitement and deflate our energy for seizing them. Every opportunity we are afforded will come with new responsibilities and will need to be met with adjustments to our attitudes, habits relationships, routines and schedule.

In order to make such adjustments we must first start with a new way thinking.  It has been said that one’s attitude will determine one’s altitude. However, attitudes are the sum total of the way in which one thinks.  If you enter a new opportunity thinking negatively then it is likely that you will only see the challenges and obstacles.  But if you enter into each new opportunity with the expectation that you were built for the challenges then you will create the environment for success and overcome each obstacle.

Seizing opportunities requires creativity and an attitude that can see possibilities with every challenge.  One accomplishes this by a having spirit that is determined to forge ahead amid uncertainties. People who succeed in this way are people who find solutions to every possible problem and enjoy the rewards that come with the newness of each opportunity.

Carpe Diem!

Dr. Toni

www.drtonialvarado.com

Finish Strong!

Finishing is apart of starting.  Many people start the year with great plans and goals for their lives, careers, education, finances and physical fitness.  We are often great starters but few are great finishers.  In order to finish something one must possess an inner resolve to see a goal or a project through till completion.  It takes fortitude, tenacity, persistence and a determination to avoid distractions along the way.

Spiritually speaking, finishing is apart of the Christian life.  The Bible has much to say about finishing what you start. Consider the following passages: 

• Matthew 24:13 “But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”
• John 4:34 “Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”
•  2 Corinthians 8:11 but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have.
•  2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
• Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
•  Hebrews: 12: 1-2 “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith."

As we prepare to cross over into a New Year allow me to encourage you in these final hours of 2012 to “Finish Strong” this year!

Blessings….

Dr. Toni

www.drtonialvarado.com

Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart!

Thanksgiving is one of most celebrated holidays among American families. The Thanksgiving Day tradition is so embedded in American culture that many travel agencies and departments of transportation report having more travelers in the air and on the roads during the Thanksgiving weekend than any other holiday in the calendar year.

In African American families Thanksgiving is often celebrated at the home of the patriarch or matriarch of the family be it grandmother, grandfather, mother and father, aunt, uncle or an older sibling or cousin.  Actually, Sunday afternoon dinner became a mini-Thanksgiving dinner in my family. I have fond memories of my grandmother’s kitchen as we sat around the table discussing the Sunday morning worship service and the pastor’s sermon while eating fried chicken, collard or mustard and turnip greens, cornbread and macaroni and cheese.

 

The only difference between Sunday afternoon and Thanksgiving dinner was the fact that it involved more foods such as turkey, dressing, mash potatoes, candied yams, cranberry sauce, sweet corn, corn on the cob, pound cake and sweet potato pie as everybody in the family and the community were invited to eat.  While, my grandmother has passed on, this tradition is still observed in my family and is being passed down to my own children.

Thanksgiving was originally an observance for all Americans to give thanks to God for a common purpose. In similitude of the first Thanksgiving, Americans have celebrated this holiday with foods for the season signifying the faithfulness of God who yields harvest in our lives. The Thanksgiving tradition has become the theme of many fall festivals, parades, football games, schools, civic, religious and social organizations, and Christian worship services.

Today when you gather with friends and family to eat, laugh and reminisce, think about and share with one another the many reasons you have to give thanks.  We can be thankful for health, physical stamina and strength. For some it may financial resources, a job or just a place to live. 

Whatever difficulty you may be experiencing you can still offer a thankful response to God as the source and sustainer of life.  Like those who originally celebrated this holiday, we are grateful for the faithfulness of a God who has yielded fruit in our lives. 

Have a Grateful Heart of Thanksgiving this year!

Dr. Toni

www.drtonialvarado.com