What did I learn today? Lessons on the Journey to Unconditional Self Love

Sometimes, people have to be removed from your life, so you can see your own: beauty, strength, purpose, and power—more clearer .Lalah Delia I look around my life now and I see so many changes in the people that are now around me. Some by choice and some by force. In some instances I was holding on to people being in my life due to history, due to fear, due to ignorance, due to ego. What I have learned is that as we change, as we evolve, as we rise, there will be others around us who will not move in the same direction nor the same pace. And that is A-OK. I now know that people are in our lives for a lifetime, a reason and a season. Once I can discern the difference, it makes the journey so much more pleasant. Gone is the need to hold on to relationships which have run its course, to force friendships, to feel ashamed if a relationship has ended, to pretend and to dishonour myself just in order to keep people around Friendships and relationships are now based on honour of sel

  Affirm what is good! You have no idea what is possible from where you are! MOVE! Take a step. If you can clearly see how to fulfill your dream, dream a bigger dream. If that is the case that you can see it all and know it all, dream bigger, there is no room, there is no reason for the unexpected, for the miracles, for the people you haven’t met yet, for the faith, for the resources you don’t even know about or dream about, You will not know all this from where you are. We get  a sense that we are being called to do something that is bigger than we are and we cannot most times imagine how we are going to do it. That causes angst and hesitation but that is what happens when you are called to do something and you follow the calling. Where you are going is not a place, not a specific location, not a geographical location, not a job. You are moving towards a state of awareness, a state of being which only gets revealed on the journey. The “what” you are to become is

Self love is the foundation of everything. Without it we don't value ourselves and then we cannot truly value or love others. Self love generates self esteem, self care and self confidence all necessary to thrive in life. Alicia Rodriguez Someone sent me a document with the caption - "this is perfect for you" It was a call for proposals on providing services for female empowement for the Government. I looked at it, I said thank you, it really did excite me reading the summary. I develed into the website for additional information and - confessions on the journey- I started to panic and doubt myself. It seemed like such a long story, so many requirements, so many things to put in place. I was ready to run as far away as possible. I sent my friend a message that I would be bowing out. After I press sent, I realised that the self-dount caught me. I was doubting whether I would make the grade and make the cut, doubting that I could excecute something that I have been fa

Spirits aren’t created to be controlled. Carnival is here, our annual festival which involves copious amounts partying.and events and energy The country comes almost to a standstill to celebrate and I am here for all of it! I love the vibe, the energy, the innovation, the revelry that comes with our Carnival. It is a time of very little sleep and lots of partying culminating in a large two day street parade with costumes, loud music trucks, drinkig and feting. I will be taking it all in so you may see me on the blog in and out, I will be enjoying the festivities It really is the only time of the year that I get to "free up" with my friends and family. The important stuff They fly in from their various destinations to be here for it all So Happy Carnival to all See you on the flip side Peace Have you read any of Akosua's work? What Did I Learn Today? Lessons on the Journey to Unconditional Self Love Nyabo (Madam) - Why Are You Here?

You are not for everyone. No, you're for yourself and for the people who love you. There is something much worse than being misunderstood or disliked: not understanding or liking yourself. Focus on your own wholeness—that's what "integrity" means—and let the rest go. Keep moving. Maggie Smith The past few days being around different people has been an eye opening. Eye opening for me is embracing diversity and accepting it. Seeing different ways of doing what I would do and what I have known and accepted growing up and being around my own tribe. Acceptance is sometimes tough for me. Accepting that my way is not the right and only way throws up feelings of being wrong and sometimes feelings of guilt and of course others being wrong and strange. When I break it down, my response is really a choice. A choice to stay stuck in my own ways, rather than looking at new approaches. So many of our issues stem from wanting others to do things in the way we know, wanting ot

Your body is the vehicle that houses your mind, heart and spirit.The vessel that carries you through life. The body will reflect what's going on in us and our environment will reflect what is going on in the body From the Ground Up I love learning, I love the clarity that knowledge brings, I love it even more when I can implement the knowedge in my every day life and so I pay attention to keeping an open mind and learning from everything an everyone around me. There are times that the lessons are tough and there are times I resist the lessons due to fear, ego and judgement. These are the times when I know I must be paying more attention rather than running off. I have been paying attention to the signs of my body and learning from it.  This has been my focus over the last few days. Lessons from and of the Body. Our bodies are amazing, the most amazing piece of machinery I have encountered, it runs with all different parts even when we don't take of it, abuse and neglect

Nature doesn’t waste anything. When you’re in tune with nature you learn how to use ALL of your experience both good & bad to make yourself stronger. Ebonee Davis Yesterday I had a meeting in a rural area in Trinidad and Tobago, my usual attitude is to rush, rush to the meeting, rush back, get to doing something. And so I started off with that usual habit, I rushed to the meeting, I let the Chair of the meeting know that I have exactly one hour and then I had to rush off. I started looking at the time when the hour was up. I jumped into the car and started driving, looked out of the window and realised OMG, the ocean is on my right for the entire stretch of the drive. What am I rushing around for? I stopped the car and walked down to the beach. On a Wednesday afternoon, the beach had quite a number of people, couples lying on the sand, families of tourists sunbathing, music blaring and men dancing. People telling me hello, good afternoon. Is this what I am missing when I a

Rest assured, distractions will not work until you work through the feelings you are trying to avoid. From the Ground Up Why do we tolerate other people's bad behaviour? Why do we allow others to challenge our boundaries? Why do we find rationale and justification for other people's bad behaviour? I found myself asking this question yesterday. Letting others run amuk in our lives for the sake of peace, saving face, financial considerations is pure self disrespect, more so when we know they are doing it. Many times we don't know, we think its normal behaviour especially of we grew up in it or it was taught to us by the school or the church or our families. The usual indication of something not being right is our health We get migranes, pains, asthma and other niggling injuries due to stress Pain is a sure sign to pay attention However, once we know its bad behaviour, we tolerate and let it pass, we reward it We moan about it, we complain, we say what they sh

Making mistakes is built into the foundation of being human because that is the way we learn. The only real mistake you can ever make is failing to learn from and correct the mistakes you have made. Whatever ugly, messy and awkward things you have done in the past should stay in the past. Life gives you and endless supply of “do-overs” and they are free! Use as many as required to move forward and self-correct in a powerful and loving manner that keep you moving in the direction you are headed. Iyanla Vanzant One lesson I learned on the journey is - mistakes makes masters. Part of the human experience include making choices and decisions that turn out differently than we want or anticipate. The growth is in how we respond to these detours Do we beat up ourselves? Do we hide behind them? Do we find ways to justify not moving forward? Do we withdraw? What do we do? Do we learn? Do we learn? Do we act? Do we act? Do we grow? Many times we don't have the tools to resp

It is often the responsibility of the more conscious person to break the cycle of reactivity. How can we see where others are on their path, related to lessons we have already been through and not go into preaching, diagnosing, advice giving, fixing, judging and moral superiority Maryam Hasnaa This weekend I made a conscious effort to feel all of my feelings. Confessions on the journey- Anger frightens me, I think it comes from the feeling of losing all level and manner of control. I let it all loose when I am angry, and I have seen angry people around me who made some pretty poor decisions and paying the consequences for those poor choices. Anger I have learnt is when someone disappoints you or fails to meet your expectations, anger is the most common response. It is also the emotion that rises to the surface when you feel hurt or, when you are being held responsible for something you did not do. Learning this, I now know that sometimes the feeling that I am feeling is not

more often than not we are taught to ignore, deny or avoid what we feel, particularly if our expression of the feelings makes others uncomfortable Iyanla This week I have been learning about the power of the mind and the importance of feelings , about how feelings can be a guide in our lives, I have been fascinated by all the discoveries and lessons thus far. The mind is the centre, everything we see started with a thought. We think it as an idea, in our imagination and with the action, discipline and support the thought manifests into reality. This  goes for everything,  both positive or negative  thoughts -that is how powerful the mind is Our feelings guide us, they have valuable information imbedded in them. We don't always have to act from that space, from that feeling, We can take a pause before we respond. It is so important to know and be aware of what we are feeling. Awareness allows us to process our feelings in a more meaningful manner. I have learnt that when we

You have shown no knowledge or appreciation of your uniqueness. Yet, you are the rarest thing in the world. God Memorandum We beat up on ourselves. We want to do get it right, do it right, speak right act right. And when we don't we beat up on ourselves, there is sometimes shame and guilt around doing it right. According to Iyanla - surrender the need to do it right. Start where you are with what you have and learn as you go Many times the need for perfection is a fear The need to justify also sometimes can be us judging a situation, the people involved and even ourselves. So how do we surrender the need to do it right? By remembering that where we are has use, that what we have is also useful, and to focus on our inner guidance even when at times it makes very little sense at all. your right may be someone else's wrong. your wrong maybe some one else's right So, give thanks and proceed! You will be guided- divinely so Peace Have you read any of Akosua'

Bodacious - audacious in a way considered admirable. In March of 2020, the NiNa Programme will host its second annual Bodacious Girl Gala. The Bodacious Girl Gala was an opportunity to celebrate the ladies of the NiNa Programme, to let them be seen and to raise funds to carry on our programme. we believe that all bodacious girls deserve meaningful relationships; loving and supportive friends; a decent place to live and to be able to explore their natural environment. On 1 March, we will return to Castle Killarney (Stollmeyer's Caste) for an evening of local fashion, food and festivity as we gather as a village to offer support to transitioning and current residents of the St. Jude's Home for Girls who are part of the NiNa Young Women's Leadership Programme.   The aim is to continue our entrepreneurship holiday camp and extended social support during the year. Additionally, we will be closer to achieving the dream of providing suitable accommodation for youn

Sharing an article off Medium by Erik Rittenberry which resonated with me deeply Feel free to share your thoughts Peace If you’re in the same boat as the typical American, your dilemma might look something like this: You’re enduring some type of chronic illness, over-stressed and rushed, unrewarding job, little or no savings, greatly in debt, fat mortgage, two vehicles in the driveway with a 5 or 7-year loan on each, lots of gadgets and toys to keep you occupied, huge TV, little free time for yourself due to your career and a demanding spouse, weekends filled with church and/or senseless entertainment, and a bathroom cabinet heavily stacked with pharmaceutical tic tacs to help cope with the emptiness of it all. This is probably you and it’s OK. This is considered normal in America. You are a success. You’ve achieved the American Dream. Your obedience and education and hard work have paid off. Congratulations. But the problem is that you’re miserable and shallow and