Empowerment

Back in December my family and I sold our home and we rented a big, beautiful house in upstate New York. But rather than being overjoyed and grateful for the opportunity to enjoy a fresh start, I went into one of the deepest depressions ever.

As we approach the end of the New You in 31 Days challenge and the 31 Day Blogging Challenge for me, I am overjoyed with my own personal results and sincerely hope you have enjoyed the content shared here this month. Today, is the perfect day to talk about some specific things to focus on while in the midst of a challenge or challenging situation: Focus for Success!

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” —Maya Angelou (Inspirational Author/Poet)

I have been enjoying the concentration of self-development on the site this month. On this 26th day of our new you in 31 days challenge, I'd like to personally invite you to open your minds today. To what? Well, that 's up to you. But I have a feeling that you know exactly what new ideas and concepts have been hanging around lately. The may be things that go against everything you've been taught or believe at present. That's OK. The point is to open up to things that are out of your comfort zone and not the usual.

If you know me at all, then you understand my passion for taking care of my skin. Though I've used many quality brands of skin care over the years, I've never come across any that offer satisfying results with a natural element...that is until I met Shelly Henley and tried her line, Joyful Girl Naturals. It was nearly five years ago that I first experienced her products and beautiful spirit and personality. And, with my newest Joyful Girl order, I'm even more pleased with how my skin feels and looks after only a few applications.

Belief about anything doesn't just start one day without some sort of thought, idea, influence, experience, or suggestion. What we believe about ourselves is really the most complicated version of all belief.

Wow, we've made it to day 22 of the New You in 31 Days Challenge! Personally, I haven't been perfect in achieving my goals, but I wasn't going for perfect...just improved. I hope you feel the same way about your new endeavors. Trying to be perfect doesn't really help you to change, it merely encourages self-criticism and the feelings of failure when you don't hit 100%. Like that beautiful flower in the feature photo, you can not achieve any greater perfection than you already posses at this moment.

TRACEY CHANTEL MARSHALL is another super duper inspirational lady. Originating from a more humble background, this amazing lady was born in Harlem and raised in the infamous Queens bridge Housing Projects single-handedly by her mother. Her father passed away when she was two. She has two sisters and a daughter of her own to say nothing of four bright and talented grandchildren.

I want to talk to you about us...you, me, our neighbors, our enemies, sisters, brothers, bosses, children, parents. Yes, us and each and every person we come in contact with. But, it starts with you and me and how we acknowledge ourselves. Like lovers acknowledging their love, we must find a way to discover, embrace, and care for ourselves.

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Half way through our New You in 31 Days Challenge I've noticed my own attempted excuses to either put off or not carry out my intentions for each day. "I'm tired," or "It's too late. No one will read my post now," or "No good ideas are coming to me." And where exercising is concerned, they are nearly endless. "I don't want to get sore," or "I don't have time," or "You can just do it tomorrow," and "I need someone to exercise with." Really? I don't think so. I'm just stalling and putting off what will actually change my life. And, you all know when you do it, too. Don't make excuses for your excuses, either!

Hi my lovelies! I'm honored you are here today! Today, I want to do a brief check in for those of you who are following along with the New You in 31 Days Challenge. Even if you haven't visited every day, I'd love to here about your goals, progress, setbacks, and future aspirations. I will be personally contacting each of you who have commented on any of the posts in the challenge, so be looking for an email from me.

Today is the day that we need to look at our beliefs about what is possible in our own lives. If you truly want to be a different person next month, than you have to change your mind first. Do you believe you can change your life? I mean really believe? No matter where you are, you can improve on something in your life. However, before that happens, you must believe deeply that it will happen. Your mind is so powerful that it can and will moves mountains to see your dreams come to pass.

As I was looking through some old writing of mine, I came across a free-writing I did back in 1989 when I was age 24. I recognized immediately my deep thinking and constant analysis of life - Why? Where? How? When? In other words, I've always been a philosopher at heart - one who wants to know everything and how it all fits together. Interestingly, at this time in my life, I had little or no exposure to any religion or views on consciousness or enlightenment, yet, I showed signs of my soul understanding that we create our future and that I should not give up.

Today is a special day for me. I actually overcame my fear of being on video. Because I've spent most of the day working on this inaugural video, I did not get much time to write a post today. So, instead of trying to start from scratch with a different topic, I am posting the best articles about overcoming fear. Hopefully, my video will be finished tomorrow and, for the very first time, I will present my readers with a video blog. I hope you are all still working on yourselves and focusing on your goals for the week or month. Remember to share your goals, dreams, progress in the comments so we can connect and be accountable to each other. Here's the best of overcoming fear! Love you all!