I exist now, not later, not before…

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We are married to the present, yet our minds sometimes holds us hostage in the past, or keeping us overly anxious and focused on the future. It’s not easy to be committed and focused on the present… this is actually something I struggle with each day. Having been through so much in my life, every day is an opportunity for me to focus my attention to the present… but my emotions get the best of me.

How does one live in the now? What steps am I taking to be mentally focused on the present instead of the past or future?

I choose to be more conscious of where my thoughts wander. I will be mindful of my thoughts. When I catch myself not being present I have to tell myself the following:

  • I am focused on the past. This happened already, and I cannot change what has happened. I will learn from the past, and use that knowledge presently to live in a more positive light.
  • I am focused on the future. The future has not happened yet. I will do what I can right now to get the result I want, but I understand that I may not get the outcome I want. I just know that right now, I am doing my best.

This is something we all need to condition ourself to doing (me especially). Once we become more mindful and live presently, we allow ourself to an infinite amount of happiness that can often be overlooked by the past or future.

Today’s Affirmation: I will keep a healthy relationship with the past, and a hopeful heart for the future.

S.M.A.R.T. Goals FTW!

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Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.

- Yoda

Every new year, everyone makes resolutions for the new year, but how often are they effective? As the wise Yoda once said Try no. Do or do not. There is no try. All things that are accomplished or unaccomplished are from our actions or lack of actions. As with many things in life, there is no middle ground or grey area. A productive way to accomplish all your resolutions this year is to create S.M.A.R.T. goals.

S.M.A.R.T. goals are pretty simple. They need to be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely!  S.M.A.R.T. goals forces you to really sit down and analyze the goals you set up for yourself so you can DO them, not just TRY. Not only do you need S.M.A.R.T. goals, you also need S.M.A.R.T. solutions for yourself to obtain your goal! As long as you manifest both, there is NO reason for you to ever fail and not reach your goals.

Here’s the difference:

I want to be skinny this year.

VERSUS

I want to lose 4 pounds every month. I will do this by exercising 30 minutes every day and eating smaller portions.

Being S.M.A.R.T. allows you to achieve all that you’ve ever wanted for yourself. Why not start today?

Today’s Affirmation: I set smart goals and take smart actions to accomplish all that I want to achieve.

Let’s get organized!

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One thing I am constantly on a hit and miss with is organization. Actually… it’s more of a never ending struggle. Like most Virgos, I have chaotic, controlled messes that I love organizing at a point of stress in my life. Then, when things get good – the mess returns.

This year, I want to stay more orgnized without the chaos. This is something I HAVE to work towards each day in small steps. An organized space is a reflection of my mental and phyiscal well-being. I am not a train wreck. I have my sh*t put together dangit!!

Today’s Affirmation: I will keep my life, home, car and workspace in order. Each day, I will make the time to be organized.

Time is not my obstactle, I am.

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Time is infinite, but our finite minds cannot comprehend it. There is never enough time they say. Many people create their own obstactles and blame time. People hunt for time, manage it, and it’s something that can’t really be gained or managed… only lost. Time will go on without you, and the only thing you can manage is yourself, not time. This stress then leads to many of us forgetting to make the most of the time we can comprehend, and most of it gets wasted on negative thinking.

When we accept time cannot be changed, but ourselves and the decisions we make during our day… we can better appreciate our days. There are only two obstacles that face time: 1) The time we wasted and 2) The mental obstacles we create that prevent us from creating positive moments in time.

Today’s Affirmation: I will not stand in my own way for good things to happen. Today, and every day, I take control of what I can do to maximize joy in my life. This includes all my decisions and how I choose to react to things.

Where I want to be a year from now…

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Things I want to happen this year:

  1. Be in better health.
  2. Fall in love and stay there.
  3. Be in a better financial situation.
  4. Have my heart grow in faith with God.

Everything else can go along with the ride. I will make small actions daily to contribute to these goals. I intend on completing all of them :)

Affirmation: I am ready, prepared & committed to small daily action. I greet this New Year enthusiastically.

Let’s Get Aesthetic :)

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My little brother has a dream to bring Zyzz’s Aesthetics Crew to Southern California. I know it’s a life long dream of his to reincarnate his hero and the Crew… so as a good friend and sister, I’ve made the decision to get my ass into better shape with him.

I’ll be back documenting my progress. I hope everyone stays posted :)

 

DIY – Dreadlock Tams

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dreadlock tam

I am about a month in on my dreadhead journey, and I must say… it’s going so much better than the last time! Anyhow, I am a wage slave in corporate America, and the dreads, its frizziness, are not well received.

I was on this journey to find wide headbands to conceal my hair’s awesomeness, but I came across a few issues:

a) Most wideband headbands were TOO small. My head would feel strangled, and the heavy pressure on my dreads would flatten them. Or so small, that they could not fit over the thickness of my dreads.

b) Most other headbands are TOO thin. Sorry, but a centimeter wide headband isn’t going to conceal loose roots, hairs or frizz.

c) Dreadlock tams range from $7-20. Last I checked, I’m a broke college student pinching pennies. I’m not spending what would be the equivalent of a meal. Sorry hair, but food ALWAYS wins.

So what would be the solution?

I am a HUGE fan of leggings. I wear them until I get holes in them. I looked at the material, then the circumfrence of my thigh… and I realized, I can use my old leggings to make tams. I went through my closet and grabbed all of my old leggings… and started snipping away.

I was able to make numerous tams that were the right size and right width… ALL FOR FREE and it’s simple! Simple just cut across the thigh of the legging twice…. and Voila! A dreadlock tam!

Finding Fulfillment #13 – Love your imperfections

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I am nearly one month in on my dreadhead journey, and this time around, the dreads look better. I’m not nearly as neurotic about making these dreads looking tight or neat. The purpose of and history of dreadlocks is the denial of your ego, as well as the societal contraints of beauty. Dreadlocks are meant to have loops, bumps, loose hairs, loose roots – in the end, it all figures itself out anyway.

I had to learn to love the imperfections that were in my hair, but this lesson stems far beyond just hair. It made me realize that life itself is imperfect, and we have to just go along with all the loops, bumps, loose ends, messy beginnings and just let life be. In the end, it too will sort itself out. So much energy is wasted towards subjective perfection that in many cases, can never be achieved. If we all can accept what is, appreciate what we have (good or bad), and focus less on the journey for perfection, we can focus more of our energies to the path of happiness.