Take Your BLINDERS Off….

 Most of my life I had one defense mechanism: seeing things the way I wanted them to be rather than seeing them the way they were. I got by because I ignored what was and delighted in making things what I thought they should be. At best, I can say I spent a lot of my time pretending. Now, I knew the reality of things, but it was so much easier to deal with my sugar coated version of affairs. I’ll give you an example!!!! If someone was mean to me, I tuned it out, and I focused only on moments when they were more pleasant. Most of my friends would be like, “I don’t see how you do it?” I knew exactly what they would be referring to, but I’d still focus on the way I wanted things to be. Now that’s good in its place. However, there is a time when facing reality is important. Ignoring the problem just won’t make it go away. Seeing only the bright side won’t cast away the dark times. Sometimes you have to man up, take those blinders off, and face things just like they are.

Ro-

When Broken is BETTER!!!

I will keep this simple. This is something that I am still learning. In this blog, much like all the others, I am trying to speak to you while also speaking to myself. By nature, I am a FIXER. When things are broken, I try to fix them. I want to “Olivia Pope” my life as well as the lives of those around me. I love to help people FIX things that are wrong with their lives. When I feel like I have successfully fixed something, I feel this inner peace that is indescribable. Oh but when I fail at fixing what I want fixed, I feel defeated and I feel like a failure. AND I HATE TO FAIL. 
Recently, like always, I have been trying to fix something, and every effort at fixing it seems to make it worse, and the worst it gets, the worse I feel. Well today, I got to thinking that not everything needs to be fixed. Some things are just better off broken!!!  
I know it is easier said than done, but sometimes you should just face the fact that whatever shattered should remain shattered and keep moving. This goes for relationships, friendships, jobs, and other involvements. You are just not equipped to fix everything, and let’s be real, sometimes the MASTER FIXER is the one who broke whatever it is you are trying to fix. You cannot “out fix” the original fixer. STOP TRYING TO FIX EVERYTHING: IT WILL ONLY HURT YOU MORE.

Most broken things are like glass. Sometimes it is better to leave them broken instead of hurting yourself trying to put it back together.  

Let me go get some bandages for these bloody fingers of mine. 

 

LOVING YOU!!!

Very few women, if any, will admit that they are always looking for ways to improve themselves. We will spend hundreds for the latest tone correcting makeup, hundreds for the latest bundles of non-shedding/non tangling foreign hair, hundreds for the latest fashions (handbags and designer shoes). For most women, life is merely about being the best version of themselves that they can be. Enough is never enough. We want to look good, feel good, smell good, and most importantly be good.

The sad truth here though is that there is not a shoe on the market that can truly make you feel good. There is not a lipstick sold that can truly make you be the best you that you can be. Shoes, and we know how much a woman loves a good pair of shoes, can honestly and sincerely fill those gaping holes that we feel when the makeup comes off. See the real truth is that feeling good is a matter of the heart. If you are not emotionally and spiritually feeling good then the outer appearance is just an expensive façade that can never make you feel complete.

To really feel complete, to really feel whole you have to be your own best friend. You have to be your own lover because the truth you really don’t love anyone else if you don’t love you. You are not anyone’s friend if you are not your own friend. When you are completely and utterly in love with yourself, then the harsh blows of the world won’t be as painful.

I know from experience that the best kind of love is self-love. Self-love helps you to be able to comfort yourself when things didn’t go as planned. When you are disappointed you can dust yourself off and fearlessly try again when you really love yourself because there is no fear in love. You can forgive and not hold grudges when you love yourself. You can smile for no reason, dance randomly in the grocery store, shamelessly listen to trap music and not feel judged because when you love yourself, nobody’s opinion of you even matters. (Yes I dance in the grocery store. I mean full fledge twerking!)

Life happens, and you will fail, you will be heartbroken, someone will hurt you, you will cry, you will fall; however, you can bounce back so hard when you choose to love you. Your enemies will even have to say “she’s not my favorite person, but she’s happy.” This happiness will show whether you have on $500 shoes or $5 shoes. This happiness will show whether you are single or have a man who adores you. The most important part of intrinsic happiness is that NOBODY CAN TAKE IT FROM YOU!

I urge you to choose you. Remove things from your life that hurt. Forgive those people who hurt you; try to understand their plight. Be happy. Smile. Love. If feels so good. The best thing a woman can do for herself is choose to love herself. Undeniably, the second best thing is to buy a nice pair of shoes. You may as well look good while loving you.