If Your Temple Cracks, Everything Else Will Crumble

“I don’t have time to do it.” “I’ll get to it later.” “My career (or education) comes first.” “I’m too busy.” ‘I’ll be (or I am) fine.” These are some of the excuses people give for not taking care of themselves, and/or not prioritizing their own health over other areas in their lives. I get it – there’s sooooo much we need to get done in any given day, and we feel like doing anything outside of those tasks will put us behind schedule, derail our progress, or set us too far behind. The main reason being is that we don’t see, or understand, the importance of making ourselves not just a priority, but THE priority.

Change Now, Reap Later

“New year, new me,” but you’re still doing the same things from 2018. “I’m starting the business this year,” but you’re still hanging around your demotivated friends. “Oh, I am definitely going to start this diet,” but you’re still hitting McDonalds for that 2 for $5 Fish Filet. “I’m over them and won’t give them another chance,” but you’re still sending them “wyd” texts when you get lonely. “I won’t cheat on you again,” but you’re still responding to those late night “you up?” texts and still answering DMs on social media. “I’m going to value myself and my body,” but you’re still posting thirst traps.” “I’m going to change Lord,” but you’re still living the same life as non-believers. “God, I’m going to follow your plan and go where you lead me,” but you’re still trying to make your own dreams happen.

My Hiatus of Solitude [Part 2: The Lessons]

So here’s what ya boy learned (again, sorry for the length of this post):

T.I.M.B.S, Vol. 1: 8 Steps Towards Personal Growth

As I mentioned before, I am beginning a series of posts aimed at helping you see improvement in different aspects of your life. This first installment is in regards to self-growth, with the motivation behind it being that I have been going through a process similar to this. Listed below are 8 areas of life that numerous people tend to share the commonality that addressing them is quite difficult. My belief is that if you seriously work on these aspects of your life, you should experience some level of growth, and begin moving in the right direction towards a more positive, and less troublesome, lifestyle. But you have to legitimately put in the effort to work on them, and make that commitment to stick by the changes you make as a result. Are you up for the challenge?

The Road to a Happier Life: Part 2 - Apologize? Where They Do That At?

I. Hate. Apologizing. And I hate it for two reasons. The first reason being it means I am admitting I am wrong. The second reason being that I feel that it means I have fallen short as a friend, sibling, coworker, or whomever I am in that situation. And let’s be real, you’re not sorry either fam. You’re not. If you’re second guessing the sincerity of your apologies, or people aren’t accepting your apologies; or maybe, they’re even calling you out on your BS. If any of these apply to you, then trust me, you are not sorry.  Regardless of the reason, I’m sure we have all found ourselves in a situation where we have committed some sort of wrong against done some wrong to someone and it is our responsibility to make it right. Hopefully, with the help of this post, you’ll learn to apologize with sincerity.

The Road to a Happier Life: Part 1 - You Mad or Nah?

Could you forgive someone who cheated on you? Or better yet - could you forgive someone who hurt your family (God forbid)? As impossible as it may sound, there are people who have. To others, they could never imagine doing such a thing to someone who cut them so deeply - and I don’t blame them. The crazy thing is, despite knowing why forgiveness is important, I still find it difficult to answer those questions. Forgiveness has to be one of the toughest challenges in life - right up there with patience, staying awake in late night 2.5 hour class, and dieting. But it is also one of the factors of life that hold most of us back. Absolving someone of the wrong they did you - relieving yourself of that resentment, anger, and even hatred you may feel toward them - though hard, is the best thing you could do for yourself. You may think removing that person from your life completely is the best decision you could make for the benefit of your future - but you’d be wrong. Although it may feel like the right decision now, it is only going to create a void within you that will only give way to sadness, and overall, an empty feeling inside. You may not notice it, or understand where it is coming from, but more often than not, that void is created because of these kinds of situations - situations where we just can not let go of what someone has done to us. But what we fail to realize is that in the end, we are only hurting ourselves.

Battle of the Sexes: Part 3 - “She’s Every Woman” … or So You Thought

Women. God’s gift to man … and your worst nightmare! Just kidding. Women - God’s gift to man, and yet the hardest gift  in the world to understand, to the point where graduate students still struggle to understand how women operate. My uncle has his Master’s degree in Psychology and still struggles to comprehend them. Have you seen the meme where the guy is solving thousands of complex math problems and “The Guide to Women: Chapter 1” is the caption?

Accurate. But just because women are so hard to understand at times, doesn’t mean it’s impossible. It just takes time, open ears, communication, practice, studying, and of course, a lot of prayer. The first step you can take to understanding women is realizing the knowledge you may have about them isn’t necessarily true. Just how well do you think you know women?

Gone Too Soon

We all have loved ones. We'd be lying if we said we didn't. They are the ones we hold closest to us, and that mean more to us than anything. Usually these are your direct family members, the people who have been in your life since you took your first breath. Then there are your blood relatives, close relatives, family friends, and so on. But loved ones aren't just family, they are our friends, best friends, bffs, bffls, boyfriends, girlfriends, and others we have encountered in our lives with whom we have formed a special, unbreakable bond. These connections that we share with those special individuals are not only what make us human, but also make the world an easier place to live in.

Set Up For Failure

I want to start by apologizing for the long wait for a new post. I recently started college, and it is definitely an eye opener. That is why I have not had much time to blog, but my experience in the short time I've been here has influenced my topic for today -are we set up for failure in the world? I want to address this issue to get people to think about the odds that are against them that they may not think about, and help them to think on how they can effectively and successfully overcome those obstacles.

Accepting Yourself

We have all had those time when we look at ourselves and wonder why someone doesn't like us, or why we are perceived as "different" because of how others see us. This usually leads down two roads. The first road is merely accepting the fact that there are differing qualities between you and others. The other road is insecurity. We enter a phase where we are racking our brains trying to figure out why we are different and whether it is bad or not. This is known otherwise as insecurity. This is also a characteristic that holds us back in life. Once a person becomes insecure, they lose self-esteem, one of the worst things that could ever happen to a person. Why? Because it means you will fall victim to the world and its negative influences. Whatever the case may be, it is a virus that lives inside of you until you can overcome it.

I Just Don't Get It

Life. That word in itself carries so much impact and significance, you wouldn't believe. Thus leading to the question: What is the meaning of life? I am going to end your long journey of searching for this answer right now. There is none. Life can not have a definition because it has no particular way it operates, never is the same for every person, and does not follow a natural order. It’s funny how life is, as complicated as it may be. Like how here I am typing this piece while you’re reading it at whatever given point in time. That’s more of a phenomenon actually, so let’s get back to the point - life. One thing I've noticed is how there are so many contradictions in life. For instance, people will tell you never judge a book by its cover, yet when they see someone dressed or acting a certain way, they are so quick to judge. Why do certain wealthy individuals believe they are better than less fortunate people, when some of them came from the same situations.