Unleash the Power of the P

what happens

when you unleash the power of the p

powerful moments happen now get your

minds out of the gutter because that’s

not the p

i’m talking about although it is pretty

powerful

but i digress let me tell you what i

mean

did you know the letter p actually has

meaning

yeah it represents the number seven

now if you are a biblical scholar or a

numerologist then you know

seven means completion but the letter p

also represents spiritual knowledge

wisdom independence and family

all powerful entities by themselves

now i want you to ponder and project

over the p words you’ll hear over the

course of the next few minutes

there i was standing side by side with

steve harvey

on family feud i’m in the fast money

round and the clock is set with

25 seconds he asked are you ready

let’s do this okay

we surveyed a hundred men name a part of

your body that’s bigger than it was

at the age of 16. and i instinctively

said

penis

there was an awkward silence over the

studio much

like it is right now and at the corner

of my eye

with the clock still ticking i see the

king

of comedy slowly falling

to his knees the audience erupted

and laughed her and i’m thinking that

was a pretty good answer

i know you’re wondering how many points

did i get

zero it didn’t even make the board

really because i’m thinking what hundred

men did they survey

because they lied i’m just saying

i’m thinking wow this

was an epic tv moment that went viral

on youtube but what steve harvey and

everyone else watching didn’t know is

that my life

had been riddled with p words that

didn’t go viral on youtube

there was a back story pushing me to

that moment

that i believed would change my life

you see as a broadcast news anchor i

built my entire

career using the power of my voice

2004 at the age of 39

as i was preparing for an early morning

newscast

it was lights camera

but no action dequina

a quote from chris tucker in

rush hour do you

understand the words that are coming out

of my mouth

[Laughter]

no they didn’t because the words coming

out of my mouth

were slurred and unrecognizable the one

tool

i used to make my living was suddenly

ineffective wow

instead of reporting the news i became

the new

story headlines morning news anchor

cecily wilson suffers stroke on air

wow this is not a part of my plan

i had to fight to regain my broadcast

quality voice

this was a moment where i thought about

the facts

the number one killer of women and the

leading cause of death for black women

is heart disease and stroke that

was the kryptonite that almost silenced

me

subsequently the marriage

to my college sweetheart the father of

my children the man

i was living my forever with

ended in divorce

what’s happening i didn’t think i could

take much more

shortly after the divorce my career

ended

my contract wasn’t renewed this

was a bad bad dream and i was just

hoping that i would suddenly wake up and

it would

all be over but it wasn’t

my home was facing foreclosure

my life had fallen completely

apart now i know i’m not the only one

standing here whose life has fallen

apart

it may be falling apart just as we speak

but there’s a p word that plays a major

role

in adversity

and although there is a negative

connotation to this word

there’s also a positive

allow me to reintroduce myself my name

is p

a to the i n pain

pain it’s a powerful powerful feeling

if you don’t shift your perspective and

i have a personal

deeply personal relationship with pain

are there any divorcees in the house

great then you can relate to this

you know that final moment is coming

but you’re never fully prepared for when

it arrives

here’s what i mean the moment

the movers arrived at my home to

divide our marital possessions

that thing hit me like a tsunami

delivering a wave of devastation and

destruction in my life

i was gasping for breath

that’s when i leaned on the power of

prayer to carry me through one of the

darkest

moments of my life

with tears streaming down my face and

guttural sobs

i managed to muster up enough energy to

stay

barely above a whisper

i walked by faith not by sight

i walked by faith not by sight

i knew the finality of the outcome this

day would bring

it was like it was like it was

free-falling and i

couldn’t grab anything to hold on to

i didn’t know what the next step would

be

but i knew i had to put one foot

in front of the other to live a life of

purpose

and through it all i’m thinking

wow this was not in my cards

now this might be the ultimate

p word pandemic

the pandemic of 2020

no one has been able to escape the wrath

of this faceless enemy

so imagine this one day

you’re an accomplished professional

living your

best life and then the next day

you’re driving uber can y’all see that

because i didn’t

the pandemic brought the next wave of

pain into my life

i was on the verge of losing cecily

again i lost my home

again i had to

find my new job again

now cecily wilson veteran broadcast news

anchor

driving uber

there’s a big difference between driving

the news

and driving passengers but i was

blooming

where i was planted

think about this

this is an opportunity for me to show up

and every time i got behind the wheel of

that car

i was camera ready passengers actually

thought they were being punk because

they were expecting a camera to pop out

of nowhere

but this wasn’t a reality show this

was the reality of my life

in fact i was writing with resumes in my

car just in case

the passenger riding in the back seat

was my next prayer

my next blessing the answer that i was

looking for

so maybe you are struggled with that

pain

and you’re going through the process

wondering when your time

is next i was on the verge of

right there on the edge trying

not to lose my head

but i’m telling you don’t lose your head

stay focused

and go through the process because in

the process

is where you find your purpose

the first time i lost everything

i’m reminded about one of my favorite

quotes from gandhi

and it says in order to find yourself

you have to lose yourself in the service

of others

and i remember having a pity party and

whining about

all the things that i i lost and i

didn’t have it and i’m talking to a

friend of mine and she says

shut up and quit your whining

go find a group of women facing life

adversity

and give them all the things that you

say you have nowhere to put

okay i wasn’t expecting that because i

thought my purpose

was to land a seat on the anchor desk of

good morning america

right next to robin roberts i can see it

now

but how did that work out for me

professionally

not so much but philanthropically

i gained plenty as a result

of purging all of the clothes and the

shoes

that i had left that i thought was

insignificant and invaluable

i created a non-profit wild legacy group

women overcoming with willpower for

women

facing life adversity just like i was

and what i thought was insignificant and

invaluable

turned out to be the purpose that was

right in front of me

so maybe you are blinded by the pain

and you can’t see the purpose

that’s right in front

pause plan

and pivot now

you may think that this story has a

happy ending

it’s still being written it’s a work and

progress

and in the meantime i’m blooming

where i’m planted in my one bedroom

garage apartment reinventing

cecily wilson

is that your story

i’m going to ask you how are you

reinventing yourself

are you whining or are you grinding

are you blooming or are you pl

burying take

whatever you have left that

insignificant pebble

add to it multiply it smack it flip it

rub it down oh no

do whatever you need to do to make that

thing

great and remember there’s no room for

pride

give yourself time to become transparent

and vulnerable because when you become

vulnerable

you’re not showing a weakness

you’re showing strength and then others

will be able to see themselves in you

and become empowered

now what i’ve learned is that what i’m

going through

it’s not for me at all it’s for me to

reach back

and help someone else it’s

for you

so when life adversity shows up you can

always

unleash the power of the p

any p word will do that’s up to you

now in the beginning i said seven

represents completion

so let me complete this by giving you

seven ways

you can leverage that power

one remember pain

can push you into your passion

and your purpose two

don’t discount the pain

because it’s a part of the process go

through it

three have a plan

that’s clear concise and something you

will commit to

four pivot

plant that foot and pivot

to avoid the obstacles that are in your

path

preventing you from reaching your goal

five

this is one of my favorites

surround yourself with a posse

that will support you and hold you

accountable

six principles

stay true to them and do not let me

repeat

do not compromise and seven collectively

pursue persist and persevere

perseverance is synonymous with

unstoppable

if you do not quit you cannot

be defeated these principles

will help you to unleash the power

of the peace