Keep Going!

Hey Girl! Yeah you! Heeeey!!! (Waving hello)

I just want to encourage you to never give up! No matter what's going on in life, keep going. Trust me I know, life gets hard! Things come up that have the force to knock you off your feet, and into the dirt. If you ever find yourself in the dirt, pick yourself up and keep going forward; slow progress is better than no progress!

During my morning devotional (Trusting God Day by Day) time today I read something by Joyce Meyer that really encouraged me. She wrote "It's normally during the time that you are pressed to give up that you are closet to your break through and or blessing [not verbatim].

Check out this picture:

Enough seen! Keep going. Be Encouraged! XO

JOY

Hello & Happy Tuesday!

About 5 days ago, I challenged myself to write "a blog a day" along with many other bloggers for the month of August... Well... I haven't written one since August 1st! SMH (Shaking my head)

So, I'm getting back on track! Life happens, and although my initial thought after I failed to post on day two was to quit, I won't! (Go me!!)

Today, I was inspired by a fellow Twitter-Sister Shari and her blog post on friends (What's a girl to do when she has beautiful friends? ). Her post was real and relevant; typical "women stuff". After reading it, I began thinking about life and lots of other things... Today's post reflects my thoughts! Enjoy!

As women we have the naughty habit of comparing ourselves to other women; those we know and those we don't. These comparisons can be very stressful especially when we are comparing ourselves to people that we don't know; like sister-friends that we interact with on social networks. I'm not ashamed to admit that I've fallen victim to this bad habit... I'll see someone online and think to myself "Wow, she's really got her stuff together! Great career or budding entrepreneur, great relationship, cute kids..." And those internal thoughts can go on and on and on and on... (You get the picture).

Well, the fact of the matter is no one has it all together! As much as we all try to make it work and look good, everyone of us has issues; some BIG, some small. Whatever the issues, be it: relationship issues, financial issues, career issues, school issues, home issues, family issues, life purpose issues, hair issues, skin issues, feet issues, insecurities, etc... (You get the picture - Smile).

If we allow these negative thoughts and comparisons to take root and began to control us we'll never be content in life. There will always be another woman who looks better, cooks better, has better hair, drives a nicer car, has a bigger house, has cuter kids, has a nicer husband, has more education, has more money, has cuter clothes & shoes, has a better handbag, has softer hair, has longer hair, has better nails, cuter feet, etc... (You get the picture). What we have to do is count the blessings that we do have, instead of counting the ones that we don't. Just the simple fact that most of us can turn on the faucet and have clean drinking water is a blessing (one that we often take for granted).

Allow yourself to be inspired, by other women, but never envious. Envy will lead to comparison, which in turn can lead to depression and motivation for the wrong reasons. God created all of us for a specific purpose. Embrace your life, gifts and talents. Be inspired, don't beat yourself down. If you ever feel that little comparison thief rising up, speak out loud against it! Say something like "It's awesome to see her doing so well, if she can do great things I know I can".

Be Inspired, to inspire another. LoveLIFE! XO 

A man I've never met

Thursday, August 1st, 2013

Today I spoke at the funeral of a man I've never met. He was a husband, father, brother uncle and friend to many. As I sat at the funeral home, unable to relate to the family in regards to losing someone that I knew and would miss, I could relate however to losing a loved one (I lost my grandfather last month).

 I felt a bit out of sorts, because I had no emotion for this man... No sadness, memories or stories... I felt numb almost... I felt like an intruder... But I was asked to read a special poem by a dear friend who is close to my heart, and so I obliged. 

[First and foremost I'd like to say that if you're reading this and you don't have life insurance... PLEASE GET SOME! Even if the policy is 5-10k. Each day that God allows us to grace this earth with our presence is a gift; the next day or the rest of the current day that we're in for that matter aren't promised to us. Don't leave your family and friends to be stressed financially to bury you. We see it all too often, a loved one dies suddenly, and families are forced to come up with thousands of dollars to meet an extensive budget to pay for a funeral.]

Funerals have a weird way of putting things into perspective. For the past week, I've been a bit out of it... There has been a lot going on in my life, and I haven't been managing my time properly which = being stressed out. When we don't manage our time properly, we are ineffective in our day to day dealings. We're unable to meet goals, accomplish simple tasks  and we're not focused or fulfilled. This can lead us to feel unaccomplished, and if we wallow in that feeling long enough it can push us into a rut. 

With that being said, many times we worry about things that really don't matter. We overwhelm ourselves with things that won't matter at the end of our lives. Just think about the things that you stress yourself with for a moment... Now think, if today was your last day on earth would those things matter? No, they wouldn't. Take time today to simplify. Take some time to refocus and reorganize your thoughts before you take on any external projects, write out your new goals, tasks, and breathe! Life is so precious. 

Enjoy the rest of your day!