Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Friends:

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!! I wish you a safe and wonderful holiday! May you enjoy a day of love, laughter and happiness!!


Enjoy,

Benita Charles Music

"Spreading love through music for your inspiration and entertainment!"

http://benitacharles.com

Activate Conference 2016 - September 19 & 20!

Activate Your Life: The Activate Conference is coming up on Monday, September 19th and Tuesday, September 20th in Washington, DC.

I had the pleasure of attending this event last year in Atlanta and it was epic! There was a wealth of information, wonderful connections, and great good vibes.

Since joining the Activate Movement, lead by the chief Activator, Lucinda Cross, I noticed a huge improve in my life and perspective/outlook! It's so empowering to be around dynamic, movers/shakers, phenomenal woman who are striving for excellence and to help others. It is often said that you should surround yourself with great people and people who are doing better than you. I've found this to be very true. Every Activate event was a learning experience and a wealth of knowledge that is invaluable. They have definitely kept me focused.

If you want to learn how to take your life to the next level, visit: http://www.activateconference.com/ .

Remembering September 11th

Remembering September 11th: Today on the 15th anniversary of September 11th, we remember and honor those who lost their lives on 9/11/01. We will never forget.

Sending peace, love and God's comfort to those who lost loved ones and friends on that day.

MusicForPeace Worldwide Sing-Along - July 24th!

Music Heals The World: We are living in turbulent times and civil unrest. It has been a rough summer with all of the recent tragic events that's been happening n the United States and abroad. We need relief. As we continue to pray for the world, we will unite on one day to lift our voices to the heavens and spread love through music.

On Sunday, July 24th, I am honored to host a sing-along at Morningside Park in upper Manhattan (110th Street and Morningside Ave.) in New York City as part of the Music For Peace event. On this day, we sing Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah at 12:00 pm and join people all over the world in song, unity and healing. Join me and all my friends at the park in song for a once in a life time experience! Music provided by Peter Archer. For more information, visit: http://benitacharles.com.

Location: We're going to be near the 110th St. & Manhattan Ave. entrance of the park. When you walk down the stairs, we will be on the far left side. There's a lot of nice trees there.

About the Music For Peace Movement
The Music For Peace Movement is the brain-child of National touring solo artist, Marci Geller. Marci was inspired to create this event after watching a video of Rufus Wainwright with the Choir! Choir! Choir! singing Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. She stated, "It not only brought tears to my eyes, it gave a momentary sense of belonging to something greater. It inspired me to want to keep putting out good energy and helping us all to heal." Thus, the Music For Peace Movement was born.

Concerts are scheduled around the world in New York, California, Tennessee, Canada, Ireland, and Mexico. They will be simultaneously live streamed to be viewed by hundreds of people around the world.

For more information, visit: www.marcigeller.com/musicforpeace.


Here's the link to Rufus Wainwright's video of the Choir! Choir! Choir! performance of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah": https://youtu.be/AGRfJ6-qkr4.

Pray for America!

Pray for America: This past week has been a trying week for those of us in the US. I've been in a state of shock for the last couple of days with the police shootings of Alton Sterling of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the next day,  Philando Castile of St. Pal, Minnesota - in this case a 4-year old child was one of the witnesses in the car at the time of the crime. Both horrific crimes were caught on camera for the world to see. It was incomprehensible!

I woke up Friday morning to learn that there were 5 police killed in Dallas during a protest that was peaceful moments earlier. It was reported that the lone gunman, Micah Xavier Johnson, 25, of Mesquite, Texas, was a military veteran who'd served in Afghanistan. He told negotiators that he killed because he was upset with white people and he wanted to specifically kill white police officers. He was shot and killed by a bomb robot after negotiations broke down with police.

It's all been hard for me to understand this level of hate in all instances this week. I'm just not wired that way. I spend my days helping people in one way or another. I love people. I have family, friends, coworkers, associates, artist friends, classmates, fans from all walks of life, ages, religions and backgrounds. I live in New York City, one of the most diverse places in the world that houses millions of people from all over the world. I don't always agree with what everyone says, posts or believes. However, I do respect them as people and their opinions. Somethings, I have agree to disagree. We are all humans - we eat, live, love and basically want the same things. To be respected. To matter. To be important. To be acknowledged. To count.

I have encountered evil, hateful, racists people in my life but never to the extent of what Alton, Philandro and the millions of others in extreme situations have and/are facing. I can't imagine what that could feel like. I'm not a mother so I can't imagine what the millions of mothers and fathers felt like when they saw the videos of these horrific acts. One of my cousins has retired from law enforcement so I could only imagine what our family would be going through if something happened to her. I can't imagine what the families of the officers killed this week are going through. My heart goes out to all those people today.

Something has to change and it has to change fast.  We, as a country, can't continue on the path we are going. This is what we are seeing with all the unrest that we are experiencing now. I don't condone crime to fight crime. There is a better way.

People are protesting all over the country in the streets and on social media. Some have proposed to boycott the NYC transit system on Monday, July 11th as a day of solidarity. Some are rallying with the NAACP and National Action Network to take action. Others have propose having a peaceful conversation between the police and the community to bridge the gap and to help mend fences.

All these things are great and a wonderful step in the right direction and I'm sure will make a difference. However, I would like to see the laws change! I want to see justice in the US Justice System. I don't want to see another police officer not be charged for killing a civilian unlawfully. Unless this change, all the efforts you are seeing now will go in vein. You will see more rioting and an even greater riff between the police and the community and total civil unrest.

We are in need of prayer more than ever now.

I pray for all the family, friends and loved ones of all the people who were killed this week.

I pray for all the fathers and mothers who are afraid for their children and loved ones because of what has happened.

I pray for the officer's families who lost their loved ones this week.

I pray that the US Justice System is overhauled to truly enforce justice for all.

I pray for America that we will one day become a nation that is unified and respects all its inhabitants.

I pray for everyone who is reading my words that you have peace and love in your life during these troubling times.

-- Sending love & light to the world,

Benita Charles

"Spreading love through music for your inspiration and entertainment!"

http://benitacharles 

  References:

About Alton Sterling: http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/06/us/baton-rouge-shooting-alton-sterling/

About Philando Castile: http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/07/us/falcon-heights-shooting-minnesota/

About the Dales Police Shootings:  http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/08/us/philando-castile-alton-sterling-protests/index.html

A special birthday for me!

I am blessed: I'm feeling great today on my birthday! A special thanks to all who showed me love! I appreciate it. I am grateful to God for love and life!

-- Benita Charles

http://benitacharles.com

A special thanks: Thank you so much, everyone for your well wishes and kind words for my recent birthday on June 30th! I'm so overwhelmed by the amount of love you've shown me!! Thank you all for the love. You all are so awesome! I love you and appreciate you!! I thank God for another year of life!! Much love, Benita.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day! I hope all the wonderful fathers have a great day!!

Thank you to all the fathers for all the things  you do for your families and your children.

To all the dads who have passed away: A special Happy Father's Day to all the fathers in heaven. We honor you today and cherish the precious memories. Rest in peace.

In loving memory of my beloved grandfather, Mr. John Gooden

Love never dies: Yesterday, God called home my beloved granddad, Mr. John Gooden, at the age of 97 years old.

He lived a righteous life and always tried to do the right thing. "Your word is your bond" are words he always said and lived by. If he said he was going to do something, he would do it no matter what. I will always remember his words as I continue
to strive to live up to his standards.

He was such a strong and courageous person. It was evident by the way he fought through his recent illness. It was time for him to go home. He's at peace now and is no longer in pain. I find that comforting.

I'd like to thank all my friends who reached out to him and send him birthday messages throughout his milestone birthdays. Thank you for your kindness & thoughts. He loved getting those messages.

He was a good man and I will always love him. I will never forget what an example he was to us at living a good life.

He always asked about my music and my singing.  He told me, "You must practice!" When he noticed I wasn't practicing.  He would hear me practicing when I lived above him years ago.

 I am so grateful that my uncle Paul captured him expressing how he wants to be remembered. He will definitely be remembered as the greatest man I've ever known!

Rest now, granddad. I'm so happy you're at peace now. I miss you terribly and I'll always love you!

https://youtu.be/1zUo_wAJ3ls

Happy Memorial Day!

Dear Friends:

Happy Memorial Day! On this Memorial Day, let us remember all those who sacrificed their lives for our country and for our freedom. We also acknowledge all the service men and women who are currently serving. Thank you for your service! May God bless you.

Take care and I hope you all are having a safe and enjoyable holiday with family and friends.

Much love,

Benita Charles Music

"Spreading love through music for your inspiration and entertainment!"

http://benitacharles.com

Happy Mother's Day!

A special Happy Mother's Day to all the beautiful mothers of the world! Thank you for all you do for your families and beyond.  Your dedication and hard work is admirable and inspiring.  We honor you today and always.

I hope you have a day full of love, laughter and happiness! It's your day. You deserve it!

Much love,


Benita Charles

"Spreading love through music for your inspiration and entertainment!"

http://benitacharles.com

Rest in Peace: Prince Rogers Nelson

Rest in Peace: It is with a heavy heart that I write this. Today, I learned that one of my all-time favorite artists, Prince (Prince Rogers Nelson) has died. He was more than a musical genius: He was a shrewd business man, a musical legend, a dynamic live act, a producer, an innovator, a pioneer, a visionary, an icon, and ahead of his time. I am so grateful for the wealth of music he left us.  There will never be another like Prince. We lost a great one. This one hit me exceptionally hard. I'm still processing it. One person can change the world.

I pray for his family, dear friends and all his fans, like me, who love him. May he rest in peace always. Goodnight, dear Prince.

One Kind Word!

Yesterday (April 13th), I was on my way to the Preachermann & The Revival rehearsal when I saw an elderly homeless woman fall to the ground. A few of us helped her up and helped her gather her things. Since I was early, I walked with her to the store and gave her a few dollars that I had. She told me her story and it broke my heart. Her name is Marlene Rondosa. She said she never thought she'd be in this position. She's been on her own since she was 15 years old and she is now homeless. Her husband recently died a couple of months ago. Tonight, because she was late getting to her temporary room, she will have to wait until 9 am tomorrow to find a place. (She mentioned to me the horrible conditions of the homeless shelters. She said she wanted to write the newspapers about it.) Even through of all this, she still knew the power of God and she said He is working things out for her. I know her to keep the faith and take it one day at a time. She agreed that step by step things are working. She asked me to pray for her and I said I would. I'm asking all the prayer warriors to please say a special prayer for her. There's a reason we were suppose to meet. God bless her! We have so much to be grateful for!!

Let us remember to show kindness to the homeless and say a special prayer for all the human begins who find themselves in that condition. I'm true believer that things can turn around but sometimes they need a reminder that it's possible. Keep them in your prayers!

Thank you for your kindness!

Much love,

Benita Charles Music

"Spreading love through music for your inspiration and entertainment!"

http://benitacharles.com

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! I hope you and your family have a blessed day!! Wishing you a day of love, joy and happiness!

Much love,

Benita Charles Music

"Spreading love through music for your inspiration and entertainment!"

http://benitacharles.com

Moody's Toastmasters Club rocks in Area 53 International Speech and Evaluation Contests in NYC!

Moody's Toastmasters Club: I'm so proud of our club speech winners at the recent Area 53 International Speech and Evaluation Contests this past Thursday (March 9th) at Con Edison in NYC.

Natalie Bowlus placed second in the evaluation contest. Jonathan Pu gave a stellar performance in the international speech contest. Congratulations to our club winners on their outstanding performances!

Afterwards, we were able to chat with one of my favorite speakers, Jim Decker (winner of the Area 51 speech contest) and Penelope Boehm (Past District 46 Governor). They shared words of wisdom to us about the speech contests and evaluation process. We have to get Jim back at Moody's to speak again!

It was such a fun and rewarding evening!

http://benitacharles

February 29th is Leap Day!

Happy Leap Day - February 29th! I hope this extra day is very special for you!! 

Leap Year as described by Wikipedia:

February 29, also known as the leap day of the Gregorian calendar, is a date that occurs in most years that are divisible by 4, such as 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024. Years that are divisible by 100, but not by 400, do not contain a leap day. Thus, 1700, 1800, and 1900 did not contain a leap day, 2100, 2200, and 2300 will not contain a leap day, while 1600 and 2000 did, and 2400 will. Years containing a leap day are called leap years. February 29 is the 60th day of the Gregorian calendar in such a year, with 306 days remaining until the end of the year. In the Chinese calendar, this day will only occur in years of the monkey, dragon, and rat.

5 Fun facts about Leap Year you should know:

•  Hail Caesar: Julius Caesar introduced the first leap year around 46 B.C., but his Julian calendar had only one rule: Any year evenly divisible by four would be a leap year. That created too many leap years, but the math wasn't tweaked until Pope Gregory XIII introduced his Gregorian calendar more than 1,500 years later. There's a leap year every year that is divisible by four, except for years that are both divisible by 100 and not divisible by 400. The year 2000 was a leap year, but the years 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not. The added rule about centuries (versus just every four years) was an additional fix to make up for the fact that an extra day every four years is too much of a correction, according to ScienceWorld.

•  Leap year babies: People born on leap day are often called "leaplings" or "leapers." Most of them celebrate their birthday on Feb. 28 or March 1 on non-leap years.

• Leap year traditions: It's acceptable for a woman to propose to a man on Feb. 29. The custom has been attributed to St. Bridget, who is said to have complained to St. Patrick about women having to wait for men to propose marriage. Patrick supposedly gave women one day to propose.

•  Leap year capital: The twin cities of Anthony, Texas, and Anthony, New Mexico, are the self-proclaimed Leap Year Capital of the World. They hold a four-day leap year festival each leap year that includes a huge birthday party for all leap year babies.

•  Leap years in history: During leap years, George Armstrong Custer fought the Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876), the Titanic sank (1912), Benjamin Franklin proved that lightning is electricity (1752) and and gold was discovered in California (1848).

  source: http://www.cleveland.com/insideout/index.ssf/2016/02/post_462.html 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! I wish you a special day of love, happiness, laughter and joy!! ‪

A special thanks to all my family and friends for your love and support!

Much love,

Benita Charles Music

http://benitacharles.com

The Live Richer Challenge 2016 (Savings edition)

Saving for success: I joined the Live Richer Challenge - Savings Edition!

I am saving for my record label, Star Entertainment New York.

Last week (January 4, 2016), I joined the Live Richer Challenge created by The Budgetnista. I love it! It has really changed my mind about how I spend my money and I started saving!

I completed my first week and I'm so proud of myself for staying with the challenge. I will definitely keep up with the challenge.  I'm curious to see how I change after I compete it.


####


The Live Richer Challenge (Savings edition)

Week 1 - Savings Mindset

Day 1 (Jan 4):  Savings Goals

*I will save $1,500 for my record label by Dec 31st by budgeting, eliminating my credit card debt, bringing bills up-to-date (no more late fees) and packing my lunch for work each day.

Day 2 (Jan 5): The First Law of Gold

*I will save 10% of my earnings towards my savings goals.

Day 3 (Jan 6): The Money Bucket For Savings

*I opened an online savings account with Ally Bank

Day 4 (Jan 7): Purposeful Spending

* I  Identified my needs, loves, likes, and wants.
  -- Needs: basic things to survive: food, water, shelter & clothing
  -- Loves: music, fashion (worth sacrificing for)
  -- I will ask myself 4 questions when I go to purchase something: 1) Do I need it? 2) Do I love it? 3) Do I like it? 4) Do I want it?

*I sacrificed my wants and likes for my needs and loves.

*I started recording my spending for each purchase for the day.

 Day 5 (Jan 8): Make a Move (One action towards goal)

*I researched setting up my record label

Day 6 (Jan 9): Review, Reflect, Relax

*I reviewed the week and acknowledged my success of competing the first week!

Day 7 (Jan 10): Watch the Week 1 Dream Catcher Hangout Chat

*I watched the Dream Catcher Google Hangout Chat

Week 2 -Implementation & Automation

Day 8 (Jan 11): kick non-essential spending to the curb and save what you don't spend.

http://www.livericherchallenge.com/

Happy New Year 2016!

Happy New Year 2016!!! I wish you and yours a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. May all your dreams come true!

Much love,

Benita Charles Music

Spreading love through music for your inspiration & entertainment!
 
***
AS I CLOSE THE DOOR

Dear Lord, as I close the door on the old year, I ponder the things I've done... the things I've said and the joys I've had I wonder, have I lost or won?

I've thought of new friends I have made, and the old ones, staunch and true... the paths of the old year made easier, Lord, because I have walked them with You

I think of all the many times, when my burdens were so heavy to bear, and how my faith slipped away from me but somehow You were always there

Now, as I open the door to this New Year, and carefully peep inside, I wonder what it holds for me... but I'll throw the door open wide.

Whatever it brings to me and mine, I'll meet it with a heart so true... I know that, Lord, whatever it may be, You'll be there to carry me through!

--Merrei Thompson