This is my year! How many times have you said that?
Did you say it when the clock struck twelve on January 01, 2020?
Were you excited? Did you watch fireworks and sip champagne?
Were your eyes filled with excitement as you mapped out all the great things you would accomplish this year?
Girl, what did your vision board look like?
Did you pinpoint all the places you would travel and see?
Did your heart swell with joy when you thought of all the people you would meet?
Did you stay up late putting all the pieces together for your perfect year?
Now look at ya!
Bored in the house and in the house bored!
And if you are like me…you’re just stuck.
But today is my birthday and what this year has taught me is that life is EXTREMELY short. I’ve lost two close relatives in this year alone. We lost my great aunt just three short weeks ago and the reality is that although she lived to see 81 when I think about the time I was able to spend with her it was undeniably short.
And the thing about life is that it keeps going even if you choose not to go with it.
As a result of sheltering in place I’ve had many opportunities to really sit down, think and even reflect.
During this time, I came to a conclusion and have vowed to make and keep a commitment to myself for the next 365 days.
Fortunately for you, the commitment to myself involves and I hope will ultimately benefit you.
I am giving everything I have for the next 365 days to my life, my desire to teach by experience, inspire, and build a community of women who want to live a life that is beautiful by their own standards. And it is my goal to do so all while on a journey to knowing and becoming the best person I can be for me.
As I said, I’m not expert but I’ve lived long enough to have learned some lessons.
I want to take you along this journey with me and I’m certain each day will not be easy because let’s be honest when is life ever really easy.
I don’t promise to have all the answers but I will try my best to use my resources, skills and lessons I have learned to help you.
My life has certainly been a testimony to some and a soap opera to others.
Even with that being the case I can attest to the fact that I’ve learned so much during my life.
I know that everyone claims to be an expert but that is a title I do not seek to hold. I am knowledgeable and I am wise because I have been through and survived quite a bit. And some of those situations I got myself into.
I can tell you about heartbreak because my heart has been broken several times.
But guess what?
I learned to love again. And again.
I can tell you about loss because I’ve suffered loss before and I am still healing even from those things I don’t speak of.
I can tell you about betrayal because my loyalty has kept me many places that didn’t serve my best interest but I did what was right in spite of.
I can tell you about disappointment because I’ve disappointed myself and others before.
But I’ve learned lessons that proved invaluable.
I can tell you about perseverance because to get to the point that I am in life I had to keep going. And I don’t plan on stopping until God tells me it is time.
I can tell you about success because I have achieved what some would consider great things in life even though I am certain there are so many other hurdles for me to accomplish.
I can tell you about rejection because I have been the one who wasn’t enough and the one who at one point believed the lies I was told.
I can tell you about learning to love yourself as you are because that is a lesson I had to learn.
I plan to make the next 365 days count because I for so long have dwelled on the past, worried about who walked away and who only stayed because they had something to gain. And many days suffered in silence because I didn’t feel as though any one was really listening.
I have a “wealth of knowledge” as some would say and I know that I can give to so many as well as gain from the experiences.
Although I plan for the next 365 days to be narrowly focused, it is my hope that as I continue to grow I am able to provide stories, encouragement, inspiration and digital diamonds that will help others as well as myself.
Happy Birthday To Me and Welcome To the Next 365!
