Time flies!

Sooo so much has happened in the last couple of weeks! My life is a roller coaster of ups, downs, highs, lows, and everything in between...and I wouldn't change it for the world 😊

Last month was definitely an exciting one! For the last two years, I've been working on self-publishing my own book. I knew there was going to be work involved, I had no idea just how much is actually involved when you're self publishing. Let's just say it's a lot. Yet low and behold, it is now complete, and on sale! http://www.blurb.com/b/7692205-falling-isn-t-failure-pages?ebook=612284 

This past Tuesday, I actually returned to the United States after spending almost a week in New Zealand. Yep, you heard right, NEW ZEALAND 🇳🇿 It was glorious, but the jet lag coming back is a mother! 

Now look, I'm not a wealthy woman by any means. I do, however, want to grab life by the bull horns and soak up every minute of it. My point is, in a world where we stress about this and that, ask ourselves if we have enough money, or even if we are allowed to do what we want, sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and just go for it. 

If you honestly,  in your heart of hearts , want something or want to do something, you can do it. Just remember, it's never to late. For example, I wanted to write a book and send a message of hope to the world. Two years later, I did it. A year ago my fella and I were talking about heading to New Zealand. Guess what, a year later, we did it! 

Dreaming is great, aspirations are fantastic, YOU just need to make it happen, and you can! It can be a little scary and intimidating at times, but completely and utterly possible. 

Take charge of your life and the adventures you want to experience. It's a new day, it's a new you, and there's a WORLD of experiences just waiting for you to uncover! 

Nicole 

Distraction

dis·trac·tion

dəˈstrakSH(ə)n/

noun

1. 1.

   a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else.

   
   

   "the company found passenger travel a distraction from the main business of moving freight"

   synonyms:

   diversion, interruption, disturbance, interference, hindrance "a distraction from the real issues"

   • 
     
2. 2.

   extreme agitation of the mind or emotions.

   
   

   "he knew she was nervous by her uncharacteristic air of distraction"

   synonyms:

   frenzy, hysteria, mental distress, madness, insanity, mania; More

   You see the definition above, distractions prevents someone from giving full attention to something. Distractions aren't necessarily a bad thing. They help us out when we're going through things, they help with pets, babies, children, conversations, and so on. However, they can also stop processes, eat away at valuable time, meeting deadlines and much more.   

   

   Recently, I've found myself getting more and more distracted throughout the day. Have you ever gone on Facebook with the intention of doing one thing, then you see a post by someone or an advertisement and the next thing you know, almost an hour has passed and you've just been scrolling away? It happens a lot with YouTube and other social media sites (don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about ). 

   

   
   

    It happens. Everyone at some point has gotten way distracted and killed minutes, hours, even days,  never completing what it was you were trying to do in the first place. So you see, distraction can be a vicious cycle. But does it have to be? Whenever you're distracted, there's a point during your distraction where you know you need to stop, yet continue on in what you're doing. What if in that moment, you stopped the distraction and got back to the task at hand? It's absolutely doable, you just have to make it happen. 

   

       With that said, I think I'm going to take a page out of my         own book. This blog has now come to a  close and now.         Instead of going on the internet and spending hours               looking at stupid websites, I'm getting ready to work out and be productive.

      Nicole

1. 
   

Fact: You are older, you are wiser, the world is yours

One of my many escapes is sitting back and taking in a good movie or TV show. I love wrapping myself into the world of cinema and just disappear for awhile into the world I'm watching. The other day I was watching "The Office", and one of the main characters gave the line "Fact: You are older, you are wiser, the world is yours". Now despite what was going on in the scene, I thought that was a pretty good line.

 There are many one liners I've heard hear and there that have been anthems for me throughout my life. Many of them you've heard, because they're famous. Then there are others I've tucked away in my memory vault I like to bring back from time to time. Just because I need a little inspiration today, I decided I share a few of my favorites your way. I hope you enjoy 😊

Jem and The Holograms

(She makes an Impression)

Ferris Buler

(Life Moves Pretty Fast)

Audrey Hepburn

Lion King

(The Past)

Scrooged

(The Miracle Can Happen)

Willy Wonka

(We are the dreamers)

The Princess Bride

Hope you enjoyed!

Nicole

Keep moving

My grandmother was a very interesting woman. She was the type of woman, that if you hurt or wronged her, she would hold a grudge over you and never budge. It was actually a running joke with my family and her friends. I never really realized how bad it was until I started to get older. I loved that woman, but man was she stubborn. Now I know where I get it from.

Holding on to a grudge was something I never thought I really did. Usually if I ever got in an argument or disagreement with a friend, I'd just stop talking to them and that was that. Little did I know, I was holding a grudge. I thought it was normal to think "well, they hurt me, I'm not wrong, and we are no longer going to speak."  Piece of cake.

There's a saying about forgiving and moving on, "Closure happens right after you accept that letting go and moving on is more important then holding on to what isn't".

The past is the past for a reason. We forget that we can't change the past, so therefore we should move forward. 

It's hard to move forward from a ruff situation. It's even harder to forgive some unforgettable situations. Holding on to the past with any sort of resentment or feelings only hinders yourself. By not forgiving and letting go, you just become a ball of toxic feelings and energy. Why would you want to hold on to a feeling that just makes you mad? What joy is there in an ugly feeling?

At times, your brain flashes back to once was, it also can be realistic and show you what is no more. Leave your grudges behind and look toward the light of a new tomorrow. It may take some time, but believe you will get there, and you will. Stop holding on to the bad and start gathering up the good.

Nicole

Words can sting can't they?

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

Unless you've been living under a rock, you should have heard this expression. My grandmother told it to my mom who eventually told it to me. Growing up, that saying was always in the back of my head. I'd think about it when I was at the playground and some kid would say something mean to me. I would also think about it whenever I'd go to auditions, and not get cast because I didn't have the right "look" or whatever the casting directors didn't like. No matter where I was in life, and no matter what anyone said, I could always go back to that saying and be ok for a bit.

In our everyday lives, there are different things we hear that we're able to let go of. And there are other things we hear that aren't. Maybe the older you get, the easier it may become... or maybe not. I'm certainly becoming more sensitive with certain things I hear. Personally, I'm finding it just a little harder at times to just let it go.

Just because words don't leave physical bruises or scars, they can leave lasting mental and emotional ones. As my parents say "That's the thing about words. Once they're out there, you can never take them back". Have you ever found it difficult to remember what you wore to school or work two weeks ago? Yet, have you ever found it easier to remember something hurtful someone said to you almost six years ago? ... yup ... still with you.

Now look, not all things people say to you or about you is warranted. Those words could be brought on by a slew of things like jealousy, false information, anger taken out on you (hunger and a bad mood are weak excuses), love, stress, etc. Then there are those times when we are in the wrong. When that happens, we get the authoritative, truthful, and sometimes "hard to swallow" words. The words where you feel attacked and ask "how could they", but when you're in the wrong, shouldn't those words be validated? Sure you may not agree with what is being said, but again it was YOU that is in the wrong.

Words can hurt, they can sting, they can burn, they can effect. That's the big thing to remember, they can effect. Think twice when saying something, be wise about the words you put out. There is another person on the other side of them. If you were the ear receiving them and not the mouth saying them, how would you take them? The choice is yours.

Nicole

"And now that it's over.."

Now that 2016 is ended, shutting the door on this past year and opening the next one, 2017 feels pretty darn good.  We are now in the double digits of this month, and the new year is rolling along. Going into this new year, have you asked yourself yet if you're holding on to any bad juju from the last year? Did you start with a clean slate this year or are you still caring any unnecessary baggage?

The other day, I was watching these dance videos and workout videos I had sent myself last year. When I first watched them, I would get inspired. That inspiration slowly turned into resentment. I was getting jealous of the people in the video and what they were able to do that I wasn't. Their bodies looked like the epitome of health, and mine was somewhere in the middle. I told myself as the year was coming to an end that,  going into the new year I'd buckle down and focus on building muscle and control. That means, daily exercise, eating properly, drinking more water, etc. I told myself "There's is no need to feel those bad feelings when I watch dance and workout videos, go back to being inspired and motivated."

The new year started, and I have a positive mindset. My goal is to get stronger and improve, not to get mad and jealous. Then the other day, I pulled up one of the workout videos from last year...not good. My bad attitude came back. I realized I haven't let part of my bad attitude go yet.

Holding on to some of those bad feelings from last year won't help me improve. They just hold me back. At the same time, going into the new year easy breezy, isn't always that simple. Attaining that mind set however, is completely doable.  If anything, make sure to remind yourself of that. 

Nicole 

love yourself, even if it feels hard

Earlier today, as I was working out, and my play list was blaring, I started to notice a theme. All the songs I had randomly picked, dealt with loving  yourself. I had been working out to this play list, that I had created, for almost two weeks and never noticed it until now.

After this discovery, a question popped up in my head. Why is it so hard to love ourselves? For majority of Americans, this is something that feels at times, impossible to achieve, but why? Why is it that when we look in the mirror, nine times out of ten we immediately start cataloging all our "flaws"? Instead, we should be looking at what we think are "flaws" as what actually makes us unique and who we are. Sure, you could blame the media and what their idea of "beauty" is, and why your so critical about your reflection. I mean, women have an entire empire built on beauty. Men aren't far behind either.

It's so easy to criticize ourselves. Why we do it? I'm not sure. I just know, that when we look in the mirror we should feel good and empowered about ourselves. Aside from our physical features, we should also be proud to be look at our reflection and know that we are a good person.  The person we see in the mirror should be the very best person we know.

Its time to feel good about yourself and those around you. Be the best version of you, you could possibly be. Which is guaranteed to bring pride and humility to the person you see in the mirror...YOU!

In the words of Kendrick Lamar:

"I love myself"

When you ignore the silly things you think are so major, for example your nose being a little crooked,  and just focus on loving ourselves, and doing good in our daily lives and interactions, then we bypass years of staring into the mirror and  secretly praying for a do over.

Well put,

Nicole