Miss Celie's Blues

From one of my favorite movies, The Color Purple.

Motivation Monday!

I love how this song just makes me want to smile and dance around. I also can't help but love all the videos of people dancing around happily, especially this one below from Howard University. I just love how this song has motivated people to celebrate being happy and sharing their happiness with the world!

Pampering Days!

One of my favorites things to do to take care of myself is treating myself to a personal spa and pampering day. I love going out to get my nails done. I really love being pampered at the salon and I love pedicures especially because I find the jets in the water to be very soothing. I just love the experience in general. However, those cost money so I don't go as often but I also enjoy my personal spa days at home which usually only include a facial and I love it.

I think that they're a great break from my day. It's time that I can just focus on myself and my needs. They really do make me feel better about myself. I feel like I'm not only cleaning my face my cleansing myself of negative energy. They are so relaxing and my face is smooth and clean when I'm done!

I start off with the Apricot facial scrub, follow that with an olive oil masque, and then I use Mary Kay's botanical effects: hydrate as a moisturizer after my face is clean and smooth!

Make sure you're taking care of yourself! Listen to your mind and body. Take breaks if you need to and treat yourself any chance that you get! You deserve it. You're worth it. ♥

Quote of the Day

"Remind thyself, in the darkest moments, that every failure is only a step toward success, every detection of what is false directs you toward what is true, every trial exhausts some tempting form of error, and every adversity will only hide, for a time, your path to peace and fulfillment."

-Og Mandino

My Happiness Jar

 

I got crafty today and decorated my happiness jar! I really wanted it to reflect me. I wanted it to be something that makes me smile when I look at it. I'm quite pleased with my final product!

A happiness jar is a great way of staying positive. Throughout the year, you write down good things that happen and put them in the jar. It can be good thoughts, things that you're thankful for, moments that made you smile, daily thoughts, or anything that you think is special that you want to remember. On New Years' Eve you open the jar and read all the notes you put in there. I think that this is an amazing way to stay positive. It's a reminder that there can be good in every day and we should remember that.

Today's Positive Affirmation.

I deserve to be here; I deserve to feel beautiful; I matter.

Words of Wisdom

In Oprah's magazine, there was a wonderful piece called "Dr. Phil's Words to Live By." It was great. I found it really inspiring and motivating. They're meant to inspire you everyday. I'll list my favorites below and what they mean to me. This article was in Oprah's "O" magazine from January 2014, Volume 15, Number 1.

• Everybody has a personal truth. Your personal truth is what's true for you. You're responsible for yours and yours only. It's what you believe about yourself. It's your life goals. and your life path. It's unique to you and that's what your focus should be on--your truth.
•  Happiness isn't one size fits all.  Remember that what makes one person happy may not make you happy. Just because it's right for you doesn't mean it's right for them and that's no one's fault. You can't expect someone's source of happiness to bring you happiness as well. Everyone is different and what's best for them is different. What I think is most important about this is that means that you can't, or shouldn't, judge someone for what makes them happy. Be supportive and remember that this thing that's making them happy could also be keeping them alive.
• The universe rewards action. If want to something, work to make it happen! Work. Work Work if you want to see results. If you have a goal you want to reach, make plans to get there.

Quote of the Day

"I am learning every day to allow the space between where I am and where I want to be to inspire me and not terrify me."

-Tracee Ellis Ross
♥

Friendly Reminder

When you're working on yourself, it's important to remember that you shouldn't compare yourself to anyone else. You are your own person and you're working to become the best you that you can be.

You won't be able to get there if you're focused on what anyone else is doing. Everyone has their own truth and we're all different. It's your job to live your truth--not anyone else's.

♥

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“i am mine.
before i am ever anyone else’s.”

-in, nayyirah waheed

Motivation Monday!

Celebrating Me: January 6th

I want to get into the habit of celebrating myself. So I decided to have a photo shoot with myself every month on the 6th. I tried to do this my senior year of high school to see how much I changed over the months but I don't think I was there emotionally to celebrate myself every month. I've changed a lot since then so I want to try it this year.

Every month on the 6th, I'm going to get dolled up, or not, and get comfy with my camera. I pick the 6th so that it will fall on my birthday come August. So I did my photo shoot today and I loved it. I really felt great about it so I'm going to write it off as self care. I think I'm going to keep up with this to the best of my abilities.

I was really exciting about my photo day! I got to play with my make-up and feel glamorous! I loved it. What I thought was interesting was that my favorite photo was myself in my satin cap right before I washed my make-up off.

The photos:

Today I feel at peace. I feel productive. I'm relaxed. I'm happy to be in my own skin today. I enjoyed a great cup of coffee today. I didn't do everything on my to-do list but I'm okay with that. Today was a pretty good day!

My quote of the day is, “The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them.”
― Maya Angelou. 

Quote of the Day

"Today I use my power to stop what is no longer good to me."

-Iyanla Vanzant

I think you owe it to yourself to let go of the negative things in your life. When you hold on to negativity, it's like holding on to poison, holding on to something that's going to hurt you. Don't hurt yourself. By holding on to negativity, you're hurting yourself. Let it go. If you can, learn from it and leave it in the past. If it doesn't make you feel good, you should try to get away. Letting go can be really hard but you owe it yourself to be happy.

Steps toward where you want to be

In Oprah's "O" magazine, there was an article about how to direct your life in the right direction or the direction you want to go in. I really enjoyed the article. I really felt like these were steps that would help me a lot so I wanted to share them!

1. Have a vision. Make a vision board to help you see what you actually want. When you can visualize what you want, I think you're more likely to fight for them and work hard to achieve your goals. 
2. Let go of what doesn't work. There's no need to hold on to things that aren't working.
3. Failing is okay. Not everything you do is going to be as successful as you want it to be and that's really hard but you kind of have to accept it and move on. Learn from your mistakes and try again. 
4. Pay attention. Focus on what matters. You can't get ahead if you're not focusing on where you're going.

Hopefully these can help you too!
Oprah.com
MarthaBeck.com

Quote of the Day: January 2, 2014

"There is no one else like you on the planet. There never has been and there never will be. You are forever a unique divine creation."

-Louise L. Hay

Welcome to 2014!

Happy New Year Everyone!
 

The first day of the new year is here. With 2013 ending with graduating from college, I really feel that this year is the beginning of a chapter in my life. I didn't really make any resolutions but there are many things that I want to try more of this year. I'm excited for this new chapter of life and I really like that it's kind of beginning as the new year begins. I'm still on the search for what's next in my life but with determination and hope I know I'm going somewhere and it's going to be great. I am black excellence!

This year I want to read more. I say this especially because I wasn't always able to read for fun while I was in school. I read a lot of great books that were assigned to me and I'm so glad that I was able to read so many great books but I have a very long list of books that I've wanted to read for a long time so I really want to put a dent into that list. I'm also looking for more books to put on the list. I can't wait to explore the book world again and not worry about how it will interfere with my schoolwork.

I want to write more because I can and it means a lot to me.

I want to hold on to positivity and reject negativity to the best of my ability.

Most importantly, I want to dream more. I want to focus on my dreams and my visions. I'm probably going to make a vision board this year. I've always thought they were pretty cool and I think it will really help me focus on my goals this year.

I sincerely hope that 2014 is good to you. I hope you get what you want from this year. All my good thoughts and wishes go out to you for this year.

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Here's a quote :) ♥

"The future is simply infinite possibility waiting to happen. What it waits on is human imagination to crystallize its possibility."

-Leland Kaiser