You come home after a long hard day at work and school. You are tired, hungry, and ready to enjoy this beautiful Friday afternoon watching some Netflix and eating that nice slice of chocolate cake leftover from Niki’s birthday dinner last night. You unlock the door, greet your roommate, throw your bags on the floor, and run straight to the fridge. Your mouth is watering, your taste buds are ready, and your stomach is yelling for something! You open the fridge and move the baking soda to the side on the last row only to find….
your cake is GONE!!!
NOOOOO!!!!!
You: Hey Stacie, have you seen my slice of cake from last night’s dinner?
Stacie: Oh yeah, I ate that an hour ago. Good grief that cake was so good. That icing was thick as ever! I have to go back to that restaurant again.
You: Dude that slice was for me! You had like two pieces last night. REALLY!?! (Your heart sinks as you’ve been waiting for this one moment all day)
How many times have you laid down to go to bed and just felt so bad about yourself? Me!! If you don’t want to admit it, I will. I actually had that moment last night. I was thinking about myself, my looks, and my life and started feeling bad. I just logged off of YouTube looking at all of the wonderful people and their accomplishments and my confidence went downhill. Yes, I’m one of the founders of this nonprofit and we focus on teaching girls like you to be their own role models. Yes, we discuss confidence and how each girl and woman should appreciate what they look like, who they are, and where they come from. Yes, I believe in the philosophy of practicing what you preach. I know what you’re thinking, “Well, why don’t you listen to yourself?”
Well, that’s the million dollar question I ask myself all the time. I feel bad teaching girls and teens about the importance of self love and not listening myself. But this is something anyone and everyone has to work on consistently. Self love is just as important as taking care of yourself on the outside. For instance, when you wake up it is vital to take care of yourself like brushing your teeth, washing your face, taking your bath, etc. This also goes for your spiritual, emotional, and mental development as well. It is vital to upkeep and maintain your confidence, contentment, happiness, etc. This also includes painting your nails, doing your hair, and wearing your favorite outfit to help you feel better on the inside. Additional things like meditating or praying each day, staying positive, reading and watching positive things, and focusing yourself will help as well.
I noticed that as soon as I got into low mode, I stopped myself and started to encourage myself. There will be times that others will not encourage you. You will need to rely on yourself. This includes telling yourself to focus on those beautiful flaws, telling yourself that you’re beautiful, and lifting yourself up. “Snap out of it, stop comparing. No you are beautiful. You are a wonderful blessing to this world and your family. Life would not be the same without you. You are a child of the most High KING! He loves you more than you could ever imagine.” Such encouragement will lift you up and force you to focus on how awesome you are.
That’s the key, focusing on how awesome YOU ARE! Self love is important in your life. Treat yourself. Encourage yourself. Trust yourself. Most of all, love yourself. Don’t expect others to love you more than you love yourself. Don’t try to find validation through the expression and love of those around you. Yes you are surrounded by love, but don’t let that define you. You define yourself. You know more about who you are more than those around you. You know what you’re thinking. You know what you want out of life. You know how you feel. You know where you want to be. You know your past. You know you. So love yourself. Be good to yourself. Embrace yourself. And most of all, show others by being that example of being the best you and show others how awesome it is to be like you!
Check out this great article on some benefits of self love as well!
I love fashion and clothes and seeing what is new but there are days I hate getting dressed. But since that is illegal I forge on. This is when I come to the realization that I am completely bored of my wardrobe. Most of the time a quick fix is buying something new but more […]
There are and will be a lot times that you will work so hard in school and at work and wonder why everyone else is 10 steps ahead. You feel like the work that you are doing has no benefit and you’re just that one person lagging behind everyone else and their achievements. I know one cause of that is social media. Social media is great when it comes to talking with old friends and connecting with family across the country. On the other hand, it can hinder your emotional, mental, and spiritual development as you go through life. You are constantly looking at everyone’s achievements and see how they are getting married and starting a family and you think, “I wish I had that.” It’s all part of growing up and getting older. There will be friends that will appear to be 10 billion steps ahead and everything looks like life is so smooth for them, but it’s really not.
One thing that we fail to realize is often we forget that we are all living this thing called life. Life comes with so many ups, downs, good days, and bad days. And one thing I do know for sure is that everyone does not look like what they’re going through. That’s the crazy part about it. Sue isn’t going to post every single harsh part of her day on social media because that will interfere with the great, lovely, life she is displaying. So instead of focusing on all of the bad things, she may focus on a few. Then when you start your weekend and find yourself going through obstacle after obstacle, you’re thinking, “Sue didn’t struggle like this.” In reality, she did. She just did not post that on her social media page for you to think that.
Long story short, we all have struggles. We all go through bad times and harsh seasons. And most of all, we all have those moments of feeling behind, confused, and lost. BUT the one that forces me to realize what I have is looking at what I have. I think about the beautiful family that God has blessed me with, the opportunity to go to school and learn everyday, and knowing that God has created me, ME and has a great plan for my life. Those things are what makes me feel like I’m right where I need to be and I want you to do the same. Look at all of the wonderful things God has done for you and look at where you are now. I bet you have grown into a wonderful person filled with so much talent. I bet you are so super smart and has a smile that brightens up a room. I bet you have so much potential to do the most amazing things. That what makes you right where you need to be.
Don’t worry about where everyone else is because they don’t live the life you live. You are in charge of that life. And most of all, you are where you need to be to grow and be successful in your life. So don’t worry about feeling behind, but it is normal to have those thoughts. But think about where YOU are in YOUR life and that should remind you of all of the beautiful blessings God has in store for you!
The National Girls and Women of Color Council, Inc. is holding open submissions for personal stories, poems, essays and other short stories to be featured in an upcoming anthology, Our Voices Our Stories: Advancing, Celebrating, Embracing and Empowering Girls and Women of Color. Editors, Dr. Julie Jung and Dr. Donnamaria Culbreth.
This anthology is a fundraiser of the National Girls and Women of Color Council, Inc., with all proceeds from the anthology going to the National Girls and Women of Color Council, Inc.
We are interested in well-crafted submissions that focus on advancing, celebrating, embracing and empowering girls and women of color psychologically, emotionally, physically and socially. It is through these submissions that we hope to bring awareness, courage, empowerment, and greater solidarity for girls and women of color.
Submission Guidelines
No work may be more than 2500 words. Word Count: Essays and short…
Growing up is hard!! Yes and one of the most realistic moments you’ll experience are the pains and signs that it’s time for you to go! Here are some signs that it’s time to get tha steppin’!!!
H E L L O! I had the privilage of going to South Carolina for a weekend college and career conference. It was absolutely amazing!! I just wanted to share something that the Lord taught me through a message I heard while I was away. If you are single, I want you to know that […]
Happy Labor Day! You’ve probably just woke up to the beautiful sun shining and doing whatever is part of your morning routine. Since this is the day that we celebrate the nation’s social and economic achievements, we would like to celebrate you.
Whether you are in school, work, or stay at home to take care of your beautiful family, this is for you. You are an amazing person. You work very hard and there are a lot of times you feel like your work is not being shown. We wanted to dedicate this blog to you. You may stay up late finishing your homework, you might work every single day coming home to that bed that you wish you could spend more time with. Either way we want you to know that you are doing an awesome job. So please relax today and look back on all of the beautiful work that you’ve done. Use that as motivation to keep going because you so got this! #BeAGirlLikeMe
As you can see this is our last episode of the “Gettin’ Played” series. You can view the rest on RealTalk Series here on our blog or on our RealTalk Playlist on Youtube.  We wanted this series to be straight forward and cover all the grounds of getting played whether you are just talking to someone, dating, or you’re in a relationship. The one thing that we’ve learned with this is that it can happen to anyone. No one is exempt from it because when you’re dating anything can happen. So feel free to check those out and remember this is your life. You make the final decisions whether to pursue this relationship, stay in the relationship, or give the person another chance. Just keep in mind that every decision has consequences both good and bad.
Your decisions are made by your parents a lot growing up. But when you are a teenager or young adult adjusting to making your own decisions can be difficult and scary. That’s why we are here for you. We understand that it is hard and we know how it feels. So please consider all of your options. Talk to a wise accountability partner, but at the end of the day make your own decision based on what you want for your life. And if it turns out to be a mistake, keep in mind that we all make mistakes every single day. Just get back up, dust yourself off, learn from them, and keep on going. You so got this!!!
It is such a beautiful Sunday morning and we happened to be scrolling through various Christian videos on YouTube and found this one, “3 Ways to Embrace Godly Womanhood.” There are lot of times we look at the different reality shows and think that, that is the behavior that we should convey in our everyday lives and that’s not true. Throwing things around the room, using inappropriate language, and making bad decisions are not part of Godly womanhood. The young lady in this video gives the three ways in a relatable and understandable way especially if you are a teen.
This post was not made to bash reality shows or the characters. It’s meant to show you that you should consider how you act especially when influencers are around you. The saying, “You never know who’s watching you” is so true. So as you head into your week, consider how you carry yourself. Especially carrying yourself with confidence. That’s the last thing the young lady mentions in the video to ensure that you are confident. God will never leave you nor forsake and that’s why you are so awesome. You are and will never be alone. So feel free to watch this video and comment some other ways to embrace Godly womanhood. Have a beautiful Sunday~
