The Non-Conformist

New Year. New You. Same Resolutions. The Alternative: GOALS. Make short-term and long-term goals that are attainable, realistic, and worth achieving. If you want to reach an ideal weight, make that your long-term goal in a reasonable amount of time, and your short-term goals can weekly (or bi-weekly) weight goals. My Fitness Pal App is awesome for this particular goal, and it allows to enter the foods you eat while setting you with a daily calorie intake. Of course, exercise is a must. If you want to increase your self-esteem/-concept/-confidence, look in the mirror and accept the nose, eyes, lips, and hair that you have. Smile, and accept that too. Do daily affirmations in the mirror. Then, as you grow more confident, do things that are challenging for you. If you want to be happy, at peace, or feel complete, pray. Just pray ask God to forgive you, make you new, teach you how to be who HE wants you to be, and move you completely out of the way so that HE can reign i...

I guess it would be completely out of order to skip out on wishing everyone a happy new year, so Happy New Year! (And, did you get everything you wanted for Christmas? Oh. It doesn't matter anyway, it wasn't about you, right?) Of course, with the ringing in of the new year in a church, home, or club, we have the never-ending, over-indulgent, unrealistic task of making resolutions. Ha! Well, not everyone, but all in the media, the questions pour in and the answers seep between the lips of liars like smoke. (Ok, so no one lies, it just doesn't work out the way you planned it...right?) Resolutions just aren't what they should be. Messy, drama-filled people say they won't let nothing worry them and that they're going to do them. Lazy people say their going to stack their money up. Lost, disconnected, and discontent people say they will find the right person to be with this year, and it's going to be real. The discouraged say they'll go back to school...

Six (6) months into our relationship, we realized we wanted to be together for life. Marriage was inevitable. We did what any two should do when they are living together, and are truly in love...we went and got married. Just the two of us, the judge and God. Fast forward (almost) 9 months later, we are still very young in marriage, but old in love. We learn something new about each other everyday, and we enjoy it. Marriage is work, but it is all so fun and exciting. We don't consider it work though...it's a lifestyle. Marriage presents freedom - a freedom that we never knew before. I mean, you might think being single is freedom (it has its perks if you choose that lifestyle), but not like marriage. When married, you can freely talk about sex with your guy or gal, why? Because you're married! You don't feel bad about what you're doing, after you've done it, why? Because it is YOUR right as a married couple to  love each other and love on ...

As of late, I have been surrounded and drowned in a sea of endless talking. I have never been so talkative...at least I don't think. Just think: all you hear is talking from the same 2-3 people for four (4) straight, and it's really about nothing. They talk-talk-talk-talk to no end, and just will not STOP! How can any one person talk for so long, without pause? I literally left with a headache. I was completely aggravated, disgusted, and annoyed. (Are all those the same thing? Oh well, it doesn't matter.) If I could have, I would have said, "S.T.F.U." - as nasty as possible. I would have said it to the point that it hurt. Mean? No. Cynical? Maybe. I just don't like all that talking. What is there to talk about - in school? It's ridiculous.

For the past few months, I have been going through some things that have really tested me - pulling me in every direction to the point of wanting to give up. I wanted to throw in the towel a few times, however I kept the faith. I persevered, prayed, praised, and prepared. HOW? It was all by GOD. I do not care much for dwelling on the past, but I do look back just to see how far I have come. This time last year, I had come to a crossroad and finally accepted I had messed up and was in a mess of a relationship. I was making plans to do great things, and I had decided that I would keep going even alone. Fast foward to March 2012, when things started to really fall apart. I had people and things going up against me, but they did not know Who had my back. He has backed me up since way back when. They did not know my Savior - my God - the One and Only. They did not know Who or Whose I was - I am a child of God. I got something in the mail yesterday, and got the call I KNEW I was...

One night I confessed to a (guy) friend how if I had the chance, I would tell the boy turned man I fell in love with way back when that I was still very much in love with him. I would do all that I could to make sure that it was always good, even in the bad. At that time, I was hurting from a recent heart break, and all the previous heartbreaks. I can't tell you what made me tell my heart's secrets, but I did and I'm glad I did.  Sometime after I disclosed my heart's secret, I got that chance I had longed for - my love came back and I knew it was my chance. God had blessed me with that chance. My love called me at work one day, and it was in those first seconds that my life changed (once again) forever. It was a voice I longed to hear that matched a man that I had not laid eyes on in three and half years. When he said my name that day on the phone, it took my breath away. It was HIM. When I told my friend the good news, he reminded me of that conversation we'd h...

The idea or thought of starting over is frightening for some. For others, starting over is natural, just a part of life. They are right. I had to start over last August [2011] when the person I was dating for the past 2.5 years did something to me that hurt me. I left the situation. Back at square one - single. Then I found myself having to go back "home" in a sense. I moved "back" with my uncle for a few months, to heal, to get back to me, to start over. That was tough for me, because I was independent and liked that I had my own. The break up did not hurt me financially, because I paid for everything. (Foolish, right?) But, I needed to make some changes, and that was the start of it all. Now, I'm in a new city, with a new man, and major plans. Starting over wasn't so bad.