You hear motivational speakers say it all the time, but many still wonder if change can happen in an instant?

This is a story of how quickly change can happen even when you are not looking for it.

In the late-night Chicago projects, everyone in the house was asleep except for a nine-year-old girl.

For some reason, she was up, so she turned on the television.

Back then there was a show called the Late Show. The Late Show aired with a jingle every night and was the last movie to be screened before television went off the air.

Yes, there was a time when television stopped broadcasting.

The jingle read: “The Late Show, relax, have a snack and watch the Late Show, channel 2 is proud to bring the biggest stars here on the great Late Show.”

The movie shown was a bit blurry for this girl (maybe how to marry a millionaire) but what she remembers is that some of the most beautiful women of that time were in it.

Not only were they beautiful, their lives were full of joy and fun. They had grapes and flowers on their tables, drank wine and martinis, and hung out with some of the most handsome and best-dressed men she had ever seen.

This movie made a great impression on this little girl and at that moment her life changed. Instantly!

Now, she was only nine years old and living in a three-bedroom apartment project in the Chicago slums, but her life changed after seeing that movie.

Shortly after watching this movie, she went to the welfare office with her mom and noticed that there was a long line. It was for government cheese rations, powdered eggs, and powdered milk.

He put on his mother’s coat while they were in line and asked “why do we have to queue to get food?” His mother told him to “shut up.”

She couldn’t get the movie out of her mind

But he couldn’t get this movie out of his head where he saw women with beautiful bodies, dresses, food, grapes and flowers on the table and nice men in their arms. He was nine years old and he couldn’t get this movie out of his head.

He couldn’t understand why his life looked like this and the life he saw on television was so different. His life had changed forever and he knew it.

The movie was just a vision to show him that there was something different out there. There was a life that was better than the one she lived and loved.

He came home to his mom and asked “what can I do to avoid having to queue to eat?” Her mother said get an education and get out of Chicago.

She stored that information in her head and worked hard and did just that. It did not happen without challenges. When he was a teenager he hated everything and decided to rebel and follow the teachings of Elijah Muhammad. She became a Muslim at 17 years old.

She was faithful to the religion until she realized that all Muslim men were persecuting her for sex, so she quit. He hadn’t graduated from high school and found a mentor while working in the mayor’s summer youth program, who showed him how to get a GED.

He passed that exam and left Chicago for college in Jackson, Mississippi, where his father and many of his mother’s relatives live.

He got his degree and was happy to get out of Chicago.

At nine years old, she swore she would never stand in line to order food because it was such a miserable memory as a child.

She did it. Against all odds. Where family and friends were drug addicts, prisoners or prostitutes. He went out even while the whole society was painting pictures that showed him that he couldn’t.

There were billboards with people drinking and playing games, there was constant violence. Many days he had to walk over guys who were shot or stabbed to get home. But he never got the film out of his head.

She believed and her mother told her what one person can do that another person can do if you believe.

She moved to Houston after graduation, fell in love with and married a wonderful man, well dressed, highly educated, and had three children.

That girl was me, who at the age of nine DECIDED to change my life. Change happens absolutely in an instant. It happens with a decision. Once the decision is made, things will begin to manifest in your life for that change to be real.

My kids don’t know what a welfare office is not because I’m rich or something special, but because it was such a bad experience for me as a kid that I worked hard so they wouldn’t have to experience that drama.

Dedicated to the boys and girls who think they can’t get out

This post is dedicated to young boys and girls who grow up in slums and who have to deal with things they may be afraid to talk about publicly. They may be losing faith and don’t think things can get any better for them. Can.

Just make the decision that you want a better life and GOD and the universe will move mountains to make it happen. The decision sets everything in motion and the work you do makes it possible.