“Everything looked good from the outside from the smile on my face, to the clothes I wore, to trips I was taking, but on the inside, my soul was tired. I felt overwhelmed, stagnant in my thoughts and creativity, self-less, and just not certain about my life’s path as I had in the past. I was drained mentally, physically, emotionally, but most detrimental, spiritually. I didn’t know a direction and it felt like life, on the inside, was falling apart.”

I have been so afraid to move forward out of FEAR of what others may say or what they may think about me. I have told myself other things like “I need to lose weight”, “I don’t like the way my voice sounds”, “I need to go to toastmasters class to make sure that my delivery is effective when speaking”, etc. But God, has told me that who I am sending you to, I don’t need primp and proper, I need real. I need you to share your journey, your success, your challenges, your insecurities, your fears, because everyone has them but not everyone wants to talk about them.

Mask-wearing (or not wearing) means a lot more than just wearing or not wearing a mask. Mask wearers now appear to be associated with Democrats while refusing to wear masks in public seem to be associated with Republicans.

Choose to forgive yourself first, and then the person, situation, or things that has held us bound for all this time. You will begin to see a shift in your life…hope, love, peace, joy, and healing! Break the cycle and make today the last day that you allow unforgiveness to control your life. Repeat after me, “I choose to forgive!”

We can all agree that 2020 and the start of 2021 has been trying times for us all in one way or the other! We can all further agree that despite these challenges, we have at least 3 things that we can be grateful for. I’ll start by sharing my 3 things: my health/mental wellbeing, my children/loved ones, and my basic needs being met. My daughters and I try to make sure we don’t go to bed at night without sharing the 3 things that we are grateful for. This is a reminder that in spite of difficult times, good things are still happening in our lives.

We’ve been hearing people talking about their new year’s resolutions and others talking about being intentional, but what’s the difference? I’ll share with you some a couple of definitions and then my view on where I stand. Merriam-Webster defines resolution as the act of analyzing a complex notion into simpler ones; the act of answering; the act of determining. Freedictionary.com defines intentional as done deliberately; done on purpose; planned, weighed, or estimated in advance.

Self-care is a word that is thrown around often, but what does it really mean? Wikipedia defines self-care as actions and attitudes which contribute to the maintenance of well-being and personal health and promote human development. Dictionary.com defines self-care as care of the self without medical or other professional consultation. Although both are good definitions, I believe that self-care is a combination of both and includes the physical, spiritual, and mental well being of yourself.

What if today was your last day? Have you treated the most important people in your life right or do you need to apologize and make mends with those people? Do you have life insurance? Some day it will be your last day…

So now that 2020 is behind us and 2021 is here, what are you doing differently? Did you make new year resolutions? Did you take time to reflect on 2020 and what you could’ve done differently or was it such a treacherous year that you don’t even want to think about it?

“It takes a village” has become my every mantra, especially since March when COVID-19 became a thing.

Sometimes you have to just take a moment to BREATHE! Inhale now Exhale! Yes, it’s an automatic thing that we do when we are living, but how many of us really take the time to just be present and take in the moment of air entering and exiting our bodies? With such a busy life, I understand how you can get so busy and consumed with everything around us that we don’t take time to embrace moments like this.

Whew! Is this what you say or how you feel at the end of the day? Don’t feel like the lone ranger, as I can truly relate as the mother of two daughters, 12 and 7.