Happy New Year, Everyone! Peace and blessings to you all! It’s been a while since I’ve written anything, and it feels so good to be back. I’ve spent the past four years on my healing journey. I experienced a series of highs and lows. Plus, if anyone has ever worked through their shadow side, they know how treacherous it can be. As I start this new year, I want to breathe, take in the moments, and walk in my purpose. At this point in my healing journey, there’s a constant state of healing old wounds and not being present. Of course, things will come up that I either still need to work on, or that’s another part that needs healing. As it is a work in progress, nothing stops. However, it’s essential to realize when you reach a point in life where living needs to take center stage as there’s only so much healing you can do within a vacuum. The true testament to your healing journey is how well you interact with the outside world around you. Staying insular won’t save you, but the outside world will show you how much progress you made. I want to slowly ease my way back into writing and revamping my blog site. What I learned the most on this healing journey is not to overwhelm myself but to listen to my heart and mind when I need rest. I’m a human, not a robot, and I don’t need to bounce from one thing to the next. Stopping and smelling the roses is no longer a cliche but a mantra I will start living by.
I want to hear from you. What are your plans this year? What goals would you like to achieve? Let’s discuss this in the comment section below.
During this time away from writing, I’ve been holding myself back from creativity. I keep waiting to feel in the mood or waiting for inspiration to smack me in the face. One of my favorite artist St. Vincent conducted an interview the other day. She stated if you wait to be in the mood, you’ll never be creative. It got me thinking if I could truly call myself a writer if I haven’t written anything in months. Whenever I get the urge to write something, nothing comes out, or I hate whatever I put together. I built up this thought of perfection in my mind that’s impossible to reach. My unrealistic standards are setting the mood, having an idea in mind, creating an outline beforehand, creating bullet points of the topic, proofreading within the following two days tops, and then publish the blog post. There’s no wonder why I haven’t written anything as all that is too much pressure. Sometimes you have no idea where the thought is going, and it’s best to let the mind wander. The best inspiration may come from just getting your ideas out and then fine-tined the piece later.
My purpose for writing this post today is to tell you to keep going. Even when you feel like giving up and when you aren’t in the mood. Keep going, especially when you aren’t in the mood. It’s easy to feel motivated when you’re happy and in a great headspace. The struggle comes in on the lazy days and when the only thing you can muster is to eat and go back to sleep. Given the current climate wanting to go back to sleep and not do anything sounds fantastic. However, there are times when you need to get your head back in there and go after those goals. That is the actual test of your motivation. I saw an Instagram post a few days ago, and it discussed how people seek advice, but they lack self-discipline. For example, you know what you need to eat if you want to maintain a healthy weight. You don’t need nutrition advice, but you need to develop better self-discipline habits. Create a plan for yourself and stick to it. For example, if you need to study for a test, tell yourself the sooner, I study today, the more of the rest of the day I have to myself.
Inspiration doesn’t just show up at will. You have to be in a mindset for it to flourish. You have to dedicate time to the things you want to occur. For example, I set aside two hours today to start writing to create this post. I honestly had no idea where I was going with this when I first started. I allowed for the thoughts in my head to come through my fingers and create this post. As I got further along with how I wanted to craft the reminding elements, this post started to take shape. I allowed my mind to do as she pleases, and I was able to take something unexpected into a gem. I believe this is how inspiration is supposed to happen naturally. You don’t force it but make room for it to come to you. Once it finally comes, you will be able to create something when you least expect it. If you aren’t working on something constantly, you can never hone your craft or get better. Things get better over time, but that’s impossible to do if you aren’t putting in the work.
Breaks are a necessary part of life. There are times when you’re hitting a brick wall, and stepping away is the only way to come back from that. The trick is not to allow that break to become permanent. Once you stop something cold turkey, it can be rough to start it back again. It doesn’t mean it’s impossible to correct, but it will require more effort on your part to overcome. My advice in this situation is not to allow the breaks to go too long. Create a designated timeframe of when you will return, as this will get you to commit to continuing on your goal. For example, I took a break from exercising this past week. However, I made it a point to tell myself and my instructor; I will be back the following week. That will keep me honest and accountable about my goal.
If there is a lack of commitment, it will be challenging to maintain a plan and see it to the finish line. A goal without a plan is a wish. Wishes aren’t actionable, and when there is a lack of action, there’s nothing to measure your progress. To tell if you’re moving in the right direction is through an actionable plan. My new motto is to state the goal, plan out the steps to achieve the goal, measure the steps to achieve the goal, and include a goal completion deadline. Without this much attention to detail, I would struggle to get anything accomplished. Now, I’m going to apply this same logic to my writing.
Throughout my rumbling, I hope that you found something useful to apply to your life. I wanted to share somethings that helped me recently, and I hope they can help you. During this pandemic period, it has been difficult for everyone. Trying to stay motivated and not get bottled down in negativity is an extraordinary feat. I clamber myself at times, and I took several social media breaks. People can be miserable at times, and I was trying my best not to entertain that drama. I wasn’t successful all the time, but I made attempts. If I’m honest, this impacted my ability to write. I didn’t know if anyone would care what I had to say or even if it would be well received.
People’s attention is elsewhere, so at times I felt who would even care to read a blog. There are so many other important things going on in the world. I had to remember that the people who want to seek out your post will and the others won’t. You can’t focus on would people care because the person that matters is you. Whomever this post is meant to touch, it will reach them. Let this be a lesson to you. You don’t stop something because you hold someone else’s opinion in higher regard than yours. You never know whose life you will impact by being yourself. Go out there and show the world the most beautiful person they ever saw. The inspiration that you possess could be a beacon of hope to someone else.
Happy 2020 and I hope things are going well so far. It’s been a busy few weeks for me since the year started. There were a few things I wanted to work on to improve my self-confidence. I’m going to start Invisalign in a few weeks. I’m having issues with my bite, and I’m obsessed with having straight teeth. Now that my wisdom teeth are gone, it’s time for the process of my year and half of treatment to begin. However, I’m excited to see the results and have confidence in my smile back. I feel self-conscious about the facial hair on my face. I always wondered if that was the first thing that people noticed about me. Maybe not, but I feel like people are judging me based on my face. Laser hair removal is very pricey; however, I’m hoping my insurance covers the cost. In my case, this isn’t cosmetic as my mom has the same issue (good old genetics). I’m currently waiting for the Dr. office to get back to me on what the insurance will cover. If not, I’ll have to pay out of pocket. It’s not ideal, but this is something I’ve wanted for a while. It’s going to happen either way, but hopefully, insurance will cover the cost.
Having acne is something I’ve dealt with for a large portion of my life. I want to clear up my face, and I believe my issues are hormonal. I’m currently working on changing my eating habits and drinking more water. However, I think there’s more to it in my situation. I went to a dermatologist a few weeks ago. I’m on a regimen where I have a cream at night and a gel in the morning. I use the products after I complete my regular skincare routine. I honestly see results so far. I go back in March to check my progress and see if my current prescription needs to change. So far, so good, so I’m praying everything continues to move forward positively. Due to my sensitive skin and eczema issues, it was essential to see a Dr. I struggled in the past with finding the right products to use. The products would irritate my skin or cause my eczema to flare up. Since my Dr. is aware of my issues, I’ve been prescribed products that didn’t cause the above concerns. Once my face is precise, I’ll do a before and after to show the results. Hopefully, it can inspire that clear skin is possible if you struggled with this your whole life. Going to the Dr. is okay, but you have to be disciplined and stick to your treatment plan if you want to see the desired results.
If there are things that you want to fix that you may feel is holding you back, then change it. With this new year, there’s no point in continuing to be unhappy. Take baby steps, but if the change has financial impacts, there is a possibility that all the changes can’t occur at once. Pace yourself and do things in a comfortable and achievable manner. Most items are challenging to do because we talk ourselves out of it. Mental toughness is a real issue that we don’t discuss often. If we allow too many outside influences, it can hurt our internal speech. Sometimes it’s best not say anything until it’s complete. Not everyone will be happy, and they could even talk you out of making the necessary changes. Stick to your guns and don’t let the doubt of others block your blessings. Your dreams/goals that you want to achieve is on the other side of your comfort zone. Go out there and live your life NOW! If something is bothering you, get it fixed ASAP. Improving your self-confidence is a fantastic feeling and anything that impacts that is an obstacle to remove.
How do you plan on making new strides in this new year? Are there things that you want to improve on or new goals for this year? In what ways will you implement these changes?
What a ride 2018 was for me and I’m sure for many of you as well. As I look back on the past year, I made a lot of strides both personally and professionally. I started a new job which next month will make it a year within the role. My blog is turning one year old next week. I traveled to four different places. I met new and old friends along my journey throughout the year. I further my love for horror by attending three horror conventions. As humans, we tend to focus on the negative and completely negate the positives that have occurred. One thing, in particular, is how much I’ve grown throughout the year. I first started this blog as a way for me to help others by sharing similar situations and feelings. Little did I know that the person who would benefit the most would be me. I learned so much about myself through this journey of being a blogger for a year. I learned that to be successful; I would have to open myself up to how and why I’m at this point in my life. There were things that I allowed to hold me back from accomplishing my goals. I had to go through a self-discovery where I had to look myself in the mirror and be honest. I had things about myself that I didn’t like and I needed to correct. I’m still a work in progress, but the most important part is that I’m working on making the necessary changes.
Instead of waiting for the “New Year.” I started to implement those changes before the start of 2019. It was the best decision I ever made. It’s not
perfect by any means, and unfortunately, I do fall short here and there. The
critical piece to remember is to continue to try your best at whatever you are
doing. Obstacles will come your way but keep it moving as not to derail your
purpose. Keep your eye on the prize and never forget the reason why you are
going for the gold. The difference between the person who goes after their
goals and the person who doesn’t is all about willpower. Mental willpower to be
exact. Mentally you will have to push through as there will be times when you will
want to give up. There will be times when you are tired, unmotivated,
uninspired, and don’t want to do it. Those are the times when your mental
willpower will have to kick into overdrive. We are human, and of course, you may
want a break. However, taking a break can turn into a few days, weeks, months,
and then years. You don’t want time to pass by, and you are still waiting for “next
year” to achieve your goals.
The power of the mind is mighty
as well as the power of the tongue. Think it and then speak it into existence.
You manifest what you get in life. It sounds insane to say that your mind is
powerful, but it’s a very true statement. If you think and speak negatively,
that will consume your life, and that’s all that you will become. Change your
mindset towards a more favorable outcome, and you will yield different results.
Manifest what you precisely want and watch it blossom. Nothing good will come
unless you believe it first. Cheers to 2019 and to all the wonderful blessings
to come!
Thkeya's Reflections on Life 