Fireflies in the Dark

By Natisha DuPree Bossie

It's dark. Everything around you seems so bleak and unattainable. But wait... what's that glimmering in the distance?
Graphic designer, IT, Mentor and Mother, Natisha DuPree-Bossie has her plate full. Coming from a traumatic childhood by way of the Foster Care System, she's hit every emotional high and low there is and watched many others do the same. In her new book Fireflies in the Dark, she reaches out to those in need of a reminder of just how incredible they are. Life can leave lasting scars that we often hold onto our entire lives. We hide in our darkness and forget that we are powerful. Bossie takes a stand to befriend the friendless and inspire the uninspired to greatness.
Her personal stories, advice, and encouragement will jumpstart your journey to finding your purpose and walking in it. Filled with raw honesty, useful advice and heart, you won't be able to help but think of her as your new best friend.
Fireflies in the Dark encourages self-examination while providing a safe and secure place to reveal your truths. It includes;
•Powerful Mantras and Affirmations
•Motivational Exercises
•A Personal Power Journal
Imagine sitting down with someone that is all about you and your success. As she states in the book, 'Watch your flicker turn into a glow and that glow become a shining light within you. That shining light becomes a beacon that leads you to your every goal, dream, and desire. The light that shines within you is your power and it will never steer you wrong.'
Fireflies in the Dark will light the way to a more confident and powerful you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Natisha DuPree Bossie
• Release date: Jul 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223885672

Book preview

Fireflies in the Dark

Natisha DuPree Bossie

Published by Natisha DuPree Bossie, 2023.

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

FIREFLIES IN THE DARK

First edition. July 11, 2023.

Copyright © 2023 Natisha DuPree Bossie.

Written by Natisha DuPree Bossie.

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Fireflies in the Dark

Finding Success and Purpose in the Power of You

By: Natisha DuPree-Bossie

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Dedication

I dedicate this book to all who have found themselves lost, alone or seeking something, but are unsure of exactly what that something is.

Allow these pages to be your firefly in the darkness. May it lead you back to your path, so that you might shine, as you walk in your purpose.

Know that you have a friend and a confidant that believes in you, your goals and your personal success.

Be Blessed.

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Special Thanks

A special thank you to my family for being supportive. I love you all. And to my sister Racquel for all your insight and advice. It was invaluable to the completion of this book. You are the best!

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CONTENTS

Static Memories ….…………………………………………………………….…………………….………8

Those Things Which Shape Us ……………………………………………..………………………….24

Finding Light in the Darkness ………………………………………………….……….……………..35

Pause...Let’s Think bout it ….. …….…………………….………….…………………40

You are Valuable.. Know Your Worth …………………………….………………….….…………..42

Pause...Let’s Think bout it ………….……….………….. …………….……………...47

Sticks and Stones ………………………………………………………………………………. …………49

Pause...Let’s Think bout it ….. …….……….…………………………….……………59

I Am Worthy …………………………………………………………………………………. …………….61

Pause...Let’s Think bout it …..…………………………………………….….………..64

The Complication of Complacency ………………………………………………………..………….67

Pause...Let’s Think bout it ….. …..…………………………………………..……….. 71

That Still Small Voice ……………………………………………………………………………………..73

Pause...Let’s Think bout it ….. …….…………. ……………………………..………..79

That J.O.B ……………………………………………………………………………………. .…..……….. 81

Pause…Let’s Think bout it ….. …….……..…………………………………..……….89

Using Your Gifts …………………………………………………………………………………………….91

Pause...Let’s Think bout it ….. …….…………. ……………………………..………..99

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CONTENTS

Positivity is Key! .……………………………….……………………. ………………………………….. 101

Pause...Let’s Think bout it ….. .…….…………….…………………………..…. …..107

Attitude of Gratitude ……………………………………………………………………………………..109

Mantra Power ……………………………………………………….……………………………………..118

Pause...Let’s Think bout it ….. ……I Am Mantras.. ……………. .…. .………..119

Affirmations …………………………………………………………………………………………….…. 123

Pause...Let’s Think bout it ….. …... Positive Affirmations ……. .………...….124

Faith of a Mustard Seed .……………………………………………………………………………. …134

Memorial ……...…………………………………………………………………………………………….139

Contact Information ……………………………………………………………………………………..140

Personal Power Journal …………………….………………………………………………….………. 141

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"Live the life of your dreams: Be brave enough to live the

life of your dreams

according to your vision and purpose

instead of the expectations and opinions of others."

-Roy T. Bennett

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I always thought it was interesting how people say that they can remember being a baby or a toddler. I don‟t recall much from being that small and often wonder how many people actually do.

I do have vague memories of preschool or head start though. Memories that consist of nursery rhymes that I can still recite by heart.

There are also flashes of collecting acorns and cracking them open with my teeth. I recall wanting to see what was inside and found little writhing worms. I remember being both a shocked and a surprised, which is why, I suppose, it's such a static memory. I also remember rolling up a piece of paper and sticking it in my ear and getting it stuck there. I had to have it pulled out by my grandmother; or maybe it was my aunt, using tweezers. It was quite a traumatic experience for a young child, which is again why it's such a static memory for me.

I remember trying to wear the bolt from a screw as a ring and getting it stuck on my finger and having to go to the hospital to have it cut off. Once when I was about 6 or 7 I got so upset at my grandmother that I cut huge clumps out of my hair. (I‟m not even sure what I'd gotten myself all riled up about.) I tried to hide the clumps inside an old smoke detector. Like it wasn't noticeable that I was missing huge patches of hair from my head. It's funny the things we do recall from our childhood that burn memories into our brain, making them static.

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We recall the things that impact us deeply, even as children. I don‟t remember all the fun times or the laughter, but the fear and hurt lay heavy on my heart.

Another static memory that I can recall from my childhood would be from when I was maybe five or six years old. I always enjoyed watching my mother sitting on the couch with her glasses on, reading her novels. I remember thinking how beautiful my mother was and how I wanted to be just like her. I would imagine how when I was big I would read novels sitting on a chair with my glasses on and just be beautiful. That was all I knew about my mother, that she was beautiful and she liked to read. It wasn't until much, much later that I realized that there was so much more to my mother than that.

I realized that as I got older and recalled the discomfort of never having a stable place to live, or enough to eat, or clean clothes to wear. There were times we found ourselves staying in local shelters when we didn't have a place to go. There was one in particular were I'd been burned by a woman‟s cigarette, in the middle of my forehead, as she passed us in a doorway. She didn't apologize and my mother didn't press the issue.

I was afraid to sleep in those places because I knew I could hear mice crawling around inside the mattress.

Other times we might have to sleep on floor in a strange house.

I would have nightmares that a huge rat dressed in clothes comes running out of the wall and starts biting my face.

When we did have a place to stay, we would go without electricity and water for long periods of time, but we, my siblings and I were used to the lifestyle we lived.

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However, the one thing I never quite got use to seeings was when my mother would return home after being gone for hours and collapse high or drunk on the couch. The same couch that I‟d watched her read on so many times; still beautiful, but different somehow.

You see, at that age I didn't understand that my mother was young, troubled and struggling. She was doing the best she could for us based on all she knew at her young age while also allowing the influences of the outside world to make many of her decisions for her.

One year for my birthday she got me a card with paper dolls in it. The paper dolls were perforated with paper clothes you could tear out, prop them up and dress them in. I thought it was a great present. I played with them. I changed the little dolls clothes and created whole happy scenes. Then I decided that I was going to make them a house out of an old box and glue them into the house so that it would be permanent. I realized after I‟d done it that once I glued them in I couldn't

She had play

also with

given them

me a the

hugesame

bag o way

f cha anymore.

nge contai

ning nickels and dimes

and quarters and pennies. Of course, I was small, so in my mind I was rich.

I was going to use it to go to the store and buy all the penny candy that I could for me and my brothers and sister, the four of us. That's what we did, if one of us had something, we all had it because that's all we knew.

She told me that she would hold on to it for me and that when I wanted it I could just ask for it back. So I gave her the bag of change for safe keeping. I don‟t recall the excuse she used when I finally asked for my change; I never got that bag of change back. That was one of my first experiences with trust. I learned that you can‟t trust everyone, including family.

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I looked up to my mother because in my mind she was this smart, beautiful woman that all the men loved. Both my brothers, my little sister, and I all had different fathers and my mother always had a boyfriend. I can look back now through the eyes of an adult and see her for who she was; young, dumb and broke, like the song says. She was still learning what it meant to be a parent and be independent. She was still learning what it meant to be responsible for lives other than her own. Those decisions changed the course of my life and the lives of my siblings.

My mother had habits. Habits that made her sometimes forget that she