Sometimes I have to remind myself that I’m lit AF and don’t need anyone’s approval to be me.
I told myself starting yesterday I would write an affirmation on a piece of paper each day and sit it in front of my laptop to look at all day. I’m hoping with constant positive reaffirmation, I will not allow the negative energy that lies within the walls of this place to deter me from happiness.
Here is today’s affirmation:
There is no shame in needing.
Sometimes, you have to cry for no reason to find peace.
Sometimes, life is hard. Life hurts. And it can suck. But it gets better with time.
Time truly does heal all things; let time consume your pain.
You have to dig deep for happiness; it’s ok to admit that you’re not always in a great mood.
Don’t entertain foolishness and don’t let negative energy in your space.
You. Are. Lit. Don’t forget that shit.
Queens never stop fighting.
Take 5 deep breaths and handle that shit.
Live in peace.
Be aggressive in your ambition.
We are officially six months into 2018. Take a minute and ask yourself these questions:
What have you accomplished thus far that you are proud of?
What have you done thus far that you aren’t so proud of?
How can you make the remaining six months of 2018 just as good, if not better, than the first half of 2018?
How many times do we go through life noting how many things we look at as something we are passionate about, but never take the steps to make them something we will put forth 100% effort?
There is always something we have dedicated to naming a “passion”, or a desire to become an expert at, but never devote it to becoming a priority in our lives. We place it in a file in the back of our minds and belittle it to nothing more than a past-time or a hobby, when it really should be something we are putting the work into to become a full-time career move or something to transform us into someone better than we ever thought we could be. We allow the reality of our lives to make us put aside our big lofty goals, because they seem so out of reach without the right focus and the right dedication, some of which you may not be able to provide at the time.
Oftentimes, we sell ourselves short of what our full potential is by this one bad habit; we boast about the things we love, talk about them, brag on them, even go as far as mention that we could be experts at them, but when it is time to make them a priority and allow them to bring us to a level of greatness that can put us in a position of success, we recoil into what is “safe”. We do not want to take that leap into the uknown and the unpredictable.
Sometimes our passion is not the most stable circumstances. Sometimes what we are most passionate about will not make the most sense, but the key is to have the faith in what you believe in, prioritize it and put in the work to make it great, and it will mean something. It will bring you benefit and advantages beyond your wildest dreams.
If we can put forth the effort towards prioritizing what we’re passionate about, you will find that we can begin making our own careers, forging our own lanes and we will not have to pick “safe” options any longer. All it takes is one step out in the right direction, networking and putting the tools in place, and before you know it, what you thought was just a dream is now a reality.
When was the last time you did something unapologetically for yourself? I’m not talking about doing something for yourself by happenstance, or because it was an occasion; but just on a random Tuesday, you did something simply for yourself because you’re entitled to do just that? Or maybe, you just wanted to sit around and do absolutely nothing and not feel guilty about it; but you knew that somewhere deep down in the corners of your mind, there was a little voice telling you “you shouldn’t be doing that because you have ‘x,y,z’ you need to be doing.”
Why do we as adults make it our intention to make our lives feel so hard? Why don’t we find more time to do things for ourselves or cut ourselves some slack?
Why do we not take the time to enjoy life’s simplest things? I ask these questions, and in my opinion, I believe there are three one-word answers to this question:
I feel like these three things hinder us from enjoying simple pleasures of life. Time is simply what we tell ourselves what we don’t have enough of. We plan out everything for everyone else and leave little to no time for ourselves. We tell ourselves we have a responsibility to our spouses and children, family and friends; but who is responsible for us? We prioritize others’ needs, wants and emotions over our own constantly, and wonder if anyone does the same for us.
Im not saying that this is done all the time, but I know I am personally guilty of several occasions where I have gone leaps and bounds for my family and friends, and told myself that I don’t matter, or that they are more important when in actuality, my wants and needs are just as important; if not more!
Being intentional about living an unapologetically free life is very difficult, because you have to tell yourself simply that you don’t owe anyone anything, nor do you have to feel sorry for doing for yourself. Many people call it being selfish, myself included; however, even I have had to get out of the habit of considering it a selfish act. It is actually more of a necessary act.
You absolutely have to make time for yourself in life or else how else would you be able to be your best self for the ones you love? How will you learn your likes and dislikes? How else will you learn to love yourself first? All of these questions are answered simply by being unapologetic about allowing yourself to be your number one priority and being intentional about not being sorry about doing for you. I’ve made a few posts about a couple of tips that I feel are ways that you can start living an unapologetic life:
Here are a few other things you can do to start being intentional about treating yourself with just as much importance as you do your loved ones:
Do I trust my intuition?
About 90% of the time, yes.
Intuition can either get you in trouble or save your life, honey.
I always do my best to trust mine. And when I don’t, I usually regret it because it’s usually right on the money.
That’s about all I got for that one, lol!
Trust your intuition, it’s usually on point.
Do I live in the present moment? Live in the past? Future?
Hmm…..Good question, Lol.
I feel like your past experiences shape and mold you for your present and future, but the key is to not dwell in those past experiences. I try hard not to dwell; however, I am not perfect, and I do have the tendency to slip into that mindset on occasion. I bring up previous incidents and it allows me to bring those emotions into my present. Before I know it, I’m all over the place emotionally.
I am a work-in-progress, so dwelling on past emotions and situations is something that I am learning not to do so frequently; but rather, taking those moments as learning experiences for my present and learning how to apply the lessons learned to everyday life. By doing that, it helps me not make the same mistake twice, and helps me to remember that I am not forgetting what happened, but also on the pathway towards forgiveness of that situation as well (so I am essentially learning two lessons in one 🙂 ).
Overall, I would the answer to this question is this: I do my best to allow my past experiences to teach me how to live better in the present, and to also teach me how to mold my future.
🙂
