HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 2012 is here let's get it!!!

This article was shared with me and I have found it very interesting and I hope you do too. Keep these points in mind as you make your new year resolution(s) and please try not to make unrealistic goals because that will only make you more frustrated if you are not able to accomplish them. HAPPY NEW YEAR once again!!! I pray that you have a better 2012. Enjoy the article...

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Six tips from your future self

The Good Philadelphian Woman!

People have always asked me the season I enjoy most and with unabashed excitement, I tell them its summer.  The days of 90 degrees weather, a resurgence of shorts and slippers and of course, barbecues.  Winter is the least liked of all the seasons-I’m sure you know why. Anyways, I was sipping hot coffee, thanking God that I was finally in my office, away from the biting cold when looking through the window in my office, a scene caught my attention.  An elderly lady in wheelchair had stopped abruptly, while I was not certain, I’m guessing she was tired. She sat in the biting cold in her wheel chair as people kept walking by her. After what seemed like the longest 3 minutes, a lady walked up to her and offered to help her. I was fascinated as the young lady wheeled her on. Impressive I told myself.

The event brings to mind the good Samaritan woman. Human beings have an unlimited capacity to do good things, if only we are willing. Everyone has been endowed with talents according to their abilities. The usefulness of a gift is measured by the impact it has on your life and more important that of those around you. The question thus becomes what are you doing with the gifts, position and talents you have? How many lives have you touched on account of your financial or material prosperity?  You are as intelligent as can be, the question to ask yourself is how many students or colleagues have benefitted from you God given intellect and the list goes on and on.

We have gifts so you and I can be answers to someone’s prayers, the bridge to take that person to Eldorado, to lift that ailing hand and support that feeble knee.

Make a deliberate effort to use your gift to benefit someone this week.

Have a wonderful week.

KJ (Goke) 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Everyday should be a day to be thankful however, today is a special day that has been set aside as "Thanksgiving Day" in the United States. There is a lot to be grateful for each day........

So the question today is, what am I thankful for??? I am very grateful for God's presence in my life and all the blessing that come with knowing him, family, friends, life, food ,water, shelter,  the ability to think, blink, smile and the list is non-exhaustive.

Things might not always go the way we want them to but I hope that today you can take out time to reflect and think about all the things that you are thankful for and realize that you are indeed blessed. As you continue to anticipate and work towards more things to be thankful for.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND GOD BLESS!!!

What Makes YOU Happy? Part III

Now the grand finalle to the question "What makes you happy?"

Thanks for taking out the time to check out my blog and watching these videos. I hope you have found the posts useful and that you can share it with other people. Do feel free to leave useful comments. Last but not the least, I am very grateful for everyone who took out the time to make this happen, thanks and may God bless you all.

What Makes YOU Happy? Part II

As promised from my previous post here is the second video of responses to the question posed, I hope this is giving you something to think about... 

Hope you enjoyed the little clip of dance entertainment that we enjoyed. Stay tuned for the conclusion  :)

Lets Talk About It with VICKY TAS: What Makes YOU Happy?

Lets Talk About It with VICKY TAS: What Makes YOU Happy?: Have you found yourself feeling down frequently and unable to figure out how to be happy like people around you? Ever really thought about h...

What Makes YOU Happy? Part I

Have you found yourself feeling down frequently and unable to figure out how to be happy like people around you? Ever really thought about how to change the feeling? maybe now you can get a few tips to help you discover your personal outlet...

Here is a video that may give you something to think about... hope you enjoy it

Stay tuned for  more interesting videos

FORGIVENESS IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL

What does the word forgiveness mean?

Forgiveness is a conscious decision to let go of resentment and thoughts of revenge.

We are human beings and we wrong each other either purposely or unknowingly. People will do things to hurt you and make you feel like you can never possibly let go and so you hold a grudge for however long. It is very understandable to feel hurt or betrayed, however, the problem is that a lot of times the other party may not realize this or quite frankly does not care about your feelings and as a result they are doing their own thing and enjoying their lives while you are wallowing in your misery, in your little corner cringing and sinking in your anger. Even worse sometimes we are our own worse enemies. We cannot forgive ourselves for things that happened in our past that we choose to blame ourselves for. 

Don't let hate and anger consume you. Live and let live. Set yourself free from these feelings .

How can I do that you may ask? Start by confronting the source of the anger if need be (e.g if it was an argument, betrayal etc), communicate your feeling as civil as you possibly can with the other party, try to come to an understanding and then let it go. Yes, the person you are trying to reconcile with may be resistant to your efforts but do your part and find it in your heart to let it go and pray that they come around. If you had a little misunderstanding with someone or have hard feelings against someone else just because you feel like it then suck it up and let it go, its not even worth it.  Trust me I know it is not easy to forgive if someone has wronged you, our natural instinct is more likely to want to seek a revenge but God forgives us regularly when we sin against him, how much more us forgiving each other. He has made his grace available to us and we just need to ask him for the grace, humility and strength to forgive and move on. 

I have been in some situations where I am so tempted to hold a grudge but the moment I choose to let go I feel like a ton of bricks have been lifted off my shoulder. I am sure some of you can attest to the feeling of this great relief. The truth is that you cannot change what has happened in the past but you can make a big impact on your tomorrow. Do not let the bad experiences from the past affect your future by keeping you bitter, angry and robbing you of all the happiness and freedom you deserve. 

When you are able to forgive you can form healthier relationships, have less stress and hostility, lower your blood pressure, feel less pain and depression and overall you are a much happier person.

You should try this out sometime! Let go, be at peace and free yasef!!!

until next time people....

I solemnly declare........

Copyright  Keemz collection

HELLO GOOD LOOKING!!!

The moment I decided to write a piece about this topic the song "beautiful" by Christina Aguilera came to my mind and I knew I had to put it on here

Contrary to what you have been told recently or in the past or what you have been led to believe about your self... YOU are beautiful!!

Knowing that you are beautiful, walking tall and confidently is associated with high self esteem and should not be mistaken with being proud which is thinking that you are better that others or better yet feeling superior to others and no one can tell you nothing.

We are quite often faced by what the society considers beautiful or what people tell us about ourselves that we get misconstrued to believing that we do not meet the criteria and we are inferior to others... no one is perfect but truth be told you are just perfect the way you are because God created you. Speak positively against the negative balls, words and pictures thrown at you and keep reminding yourself that you are beautiful.

Look in the mirror and see all the beautiful things about yourself inside and out... all the positives that you are made of and the unique person that God has made you to be and tell yourself "I am beautifully, wonderfully and carefully made"

Remember for someone else to love you and for you to love someone else back completely, you have to first love yourself. You are the first and foremost compliment giver and inspirational speaker in your life. Ugly words that other people speak of you should not matter. It says more about them than it says about you. Therefore do not listen to negativity. If God says that he made you in his own image and that you are fearfully and wonderfully made then who is anyone else to judge you or tell you who you are. You are uniquely made and there is only ONE special you. God expects the best from you and knows that you are capable, so you should also see that in yourself.

I read and loved this quote in a book titled "You are all that" by Paula White:

"As part of practicing self respect, speak well of yourself at all times. Treat yourself like the most valuable person that you know. In truth you are important, valuable, worthy and lovable. You are all that and a bag of chips"...... love it !!!!

The phrase misery likes company is so true... Some people try to bring you down to misery with them because of their own insecurities, dont let them. The next time someone tries to put you down politely tell them to go and take care of their own insecurities first.

Walk with your head up high until next time... smushheeesssssss!!!

                                                                   PSALM 139:14

Quote of the week

When you have a messed up concept you will end up in messed up relationships. When you value yourself, you will not let others devalue you.

                                                                                    - Jeffrey A. Johnson

Relationships

Are you unhappy in your relationship? Do you find yourself making excuses for your partner even though you genuinely feel like something is not right?

It is time to reconsider the relationship.... yes yes yes I know nobody is perfect and two people from two different backgrounds coming together will definitely have differences. We all have faults but some things you just cannot compromise on. If you cannot deal with it now you most likely will never be able to deal with it. 

Myself, and I am sure many other people have found ourselves in situations where we make excuses for our partners like " he hit me because I made him upset"..... or " she misses my calls because she is always sleeping" or some other ridiculous reasons we find ourselves making up... let me tell you something, we do have intuitions and when you deeply feel like something is not right more than likely it is not. I am not talking about insecurities where you use your past relationships to judge the person whom you are currently with. 

I read a nice analogy that caught my attention...." dogs eat things that they should not ingest, and it makes them sick, then they mope around, roll around and act all sad and crazy because they are sick and finally they are able to vomit it all out. However, after a little while of feeling better they forget about what made them sick and go back to their own vomit to ingest the same thing that got them sick in the first place" and of course you know what will happen all over again.... hmmmm I know... I know... long analogy but here is my point......

This is the same way we have issues in our relationships that we know is not right for us or belittles us and we still decide to overlook , forget about it for the moment and keep making excuses, but truth be told it will remain the same especially if the other party is not trying to do their part, therefore we keep getting back in the same situation. This then becomes a continuous cycle of ups and downs, sadness and seemingly happiness. Why put yourself through all of this headache and heartache when you know that you truly deserve to be happy in the right relationship...

Keep in mind that the longer you are with Mr/Mrs wrong the longer you are putting a barrier on the door to letting Mr/Mrs Right in. As long as you remain entangled in the bad/wrong relationship, the longer it will take for you to get in the right one. The sooner you disentangle yourself from that relationship the sooner you can meet the right person and be genuinely happy in your relationship.

So what do you do in the meantime after liberating yourself from bondage and living the single life? 

Just work on yourself  to be a better person, love God, love yourself and enjoy life with great expectations. Be strong people! Until next time...

Be Inspired!

Fashion

So part of feeling good involves looking good as this can help boost your confidence. With that said I have a young lady and need I mention my sister, who had a passion for accomplishing this in the lives of men and women and has started working with that passion which birthed the company now known as Debratas collections.  She has definitely shown me that you can do anything you set your mind to do, all you have to do is take that leap of faith and the sky will be your limit. She inspires me not because she is my sister but because of her drive.  Please feel free to check out her website through the link below for a sample of her works and attached are also a few more of her collection. Enjoy !!!  

www.debratas.com

www.debratas.com

Exercising

We hear talks about exercise exercise exercise… whats the big deal? What are the perks of working out? Why should you even bother?  Well here are some reasons:

* Manages weight

* Improves mood and decreases stress levels

* Fights chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetes, osteoporosis, decreases cholesterol and decreases chances of cancer

* Boosts your energy and strenght

* Improves self esteem

* Promotes better sleep

* Fun for the whole family. Hehe!!!

Speaking of exercising, lately I have gotten several inquiries on how I lost weight or how I have stayed in shape. Hmmmm well let’s just say even though I did not realize what was happening to my body at the time I was on a plan that got me to where I am today.

From my personal experience and professional advise the first key to losing weight is to trick/confuse your body by mixing up your daily exercises and make sure to hydrate regularly. Have I been starving? NO, not really. If you ask those who know me they will tell you that girl Victoria loves her food, haha! And yes I do not mess with my food but I would say that I have definitely tried to cut my consumption of soda to a minimum, try to eat fruits and veggies and make some other subtle changes to my diet. Please please pleeaassseeee do not starve yourself because your body will want to hold onto the little you eat and possibly gain even more weight in the long run and besides it is not healthy because we need our nutrients, so bad bad idea to starve.

Positive attitude and focus will get you there.That’s my little two cents and I hope it helps. Look below at the workout regimen I used. Goodluck peeps!!!

Day 1	Day 2
CARDIO: Treadmill - 20 mins Stepper - 15 mins Toning/Weights:  For abs Torso rotation 50 crunches (10 sets of 5) Seated abdominal Ball crunches	CARDIO: Eliptical - 10 mins Bike - 25 mins Toning/Weights: For legs Hip adductor Hip abduction Glute Laying crunch
Day 3	Day 4
CARDIO: Bike - 15 mins Stepper - 25 mins Toning/Weights: For arms Pulldown Row Tricep press (inner grip) Roman chair (knee raises)	CARDIO: Treadmill - 15 mins Eliptical - 30 mins Toning/Weights:For total body Leg press Shoulder press Ballsquats (3 sets of 12) Hyperextension
·         In addition to the above do 4 sets of 12-14 repititions of light/mild weights (dumbbells) ·         Each work out session took about 60-100 mins ·         Besides the major ab day (day 1), I always included a little ab workout at the end of each toning session because I wanted to focus more on toning my abs.

Welcome Welcome Welcome!!!

Goodday everyone,  

I am super excited about starting this forum to help you realize how great of a person you truly are. We face so many obstacles daily in life or should I say we go through different stages in life but I am here to inform you that these situations should not determine whom you are, instead use these situations to press forward and be the best person you can be. You are God's creation and are not made to be less than that, you are made to overcome any downers or negativity and use those things to be a bigger and better person. The key to achieving these goals is remaining positive, cheerful, hopeful and ultimately keep your head up and do not give up. Life is grand and you are unstoppable. 

With all these said please feel free to post any comments, concerns and words of wisdom that you have and let us work together to discover the YOU that you know that you can be and in my opinion the YOU that you are. Be blessed...