2016 A New Year A New Me

2015 was not a great year for me... Not one of my worst year but not real growth was created in 2015 so I have big plans for 2016! I'm starting a New Year A New Me campaign in my life and my business'. I want to feel like an adult, a woman, a human with feelings again. With everything that has happened to me, I shut off my ability to care, to love, to feel. The consequences to shutting myself off was that I lost most of my friends, lost people I have loved and most of all I lost myself. Most days I have sat in my chair or any chair, feeling as numb to people as my hands do on a daily basis. It's not healthy for my mind or body.

So big changes are in store for 2016! I have been listening to Gretchen Rubin's "The Happiness Project" on audible and have laid out a game plan for 2016. Some months will be harder then others but I want to smile again, to love and be loved, to feel happiness through my body and my life. 

As my poster states: This Year.....

A bad habit I am going to give up is eating snacks late at night or when I am stressed!

A new Skill I would like to learn is how to create professional makeup looks!

A person I hope to be like is the best self I can be!

A good deed I am going to do is continue to volunteer with Soldiers Angels!

A place I would like to visit is Disney World!

A book I would like to read the newest Nicholas Sparks book!

A letter I am going to write is to my children!

A new food I would like to try is jumbalaya!

I am going to do better at paying off my debts!

Now it's your turn whether you comment below or write them down for yourself to see, I encourage each of you to find small ways to better your life in 2016! 

My Return to Blogging

It has been a year since I last blogged and though I have had thoughts of writing in the past something always came up and I would put it off until another day. There has been a lot of ups and downs in the past year and way to many changes for the bad. The past couple of weeks, I have been working very hard on changing those negative experiences into a positive experience and life.

I am human, I got overwhelmed and pulled into the deep, dark hole of negativity that has surrounded me. With every negative situation, I would get sucked deeper into the self-pity. Self pity is a party of one and not a pretty place to live. Instead of happy, positive affirmations; all I could hear myself saying was "my life is horrible", "I am broke", "  I am a failure", "I am ugly and fat" and many more. How could life be good when I just kept saying those horrible things to myself? I cried myself to sleep more then once and even cried to my friends.

At my lowest point, I figured out that I need to pick myself up and start fixing myself and my life. No more negativity, no more crying and no more pity party for one! I started to read positive books again which gave me ideas of how to incorporate positive affirmations into more of my daily routine. I created a wishboard (which I will be explaining further in a future post) and hung it on the wall across from my bed so every morning that is the first thing I see and read. My next idea was a positivity jar.

The positivity jar is my way of focusing on a daily positive affirmation every day starting in the morning. After hours of research, I printed out tons of affirmations and quotes plus wrote some of my favorites and placed them in an old mason jar. I am placing the jar on my night stand so every morning the first thing I will do is pick an affirmation out of the jar and read it. This is my way to start my day on a positive note from the moment I open my eyes.

I believe in children leading a positive life in a world full of negativity especially school aged children. My Lily is 7 going on 17 and has had issues with self confidence since starting school. She has been picked on because she has to go to special classes for reading help, clothes she wears or that her single mom can't afford to take her places that other kids get to go. My heart has broken for her to go through this at school at such an early age. She is in a new school this year which she loves but I want to help boost her confidence so I started a positivity jar for her as well.

I am excited to see how this added boost of positivity will change our lives. I am going to do this for the next 62 days (until the end of the year) and post the affirmations on my Instagram, Twitter and Facebook pages. Once a week, I will write a post about positivity and update how these changes are making a difference in our lives. I hope this will inspire others to make positive changes in their lives.

Change Your Thoughts: Inspirational Wednesday

When life is getting you down, changing a single thought from negative to positive can change the outlook and outcome of the situation. I truly believe in the power of positive thinking and how its power can change your life for the better. Every situation may not be ideal but if you can see the positive in it then you will feel better about yourself and your life. Try to change one thought into a positive one today and tell me how you feel?

Facing Your Fears

Everyone fears something whether its bugs, darkness, airplanes, relationships (me) or anything else in life. There comes a point in your life where you must face those fears and conquer them. This time might be one that you choose or one that you are forced into but either way after you conquer that fear you come out a stronger person. You are not alone in facing your fears, everyday someone faces a fear but the difference can be whether we run from the fear or conquer it! Don't hide from your fear, Go out there and conquer them!

When One Door Closes, Another Door Opens

When One Door Closes, Another Door Opens! This is something that I am a firm believer in after many years of ups and downs in my life. At the moment of defeat, I do not always see that open door. The open door is right there smacking me in the face but I want to focus on the door that just closed. Well  right now in my life, one door is about to close and I am trying to find my open door. Summer months are never very high for retail sales, which is costly on my home bills. Due to weather either being rain on the weekends or extreme high temps with high humidity, people haven't been in a shopping mood. So now we are facing eviction from our home. Now don't think that I am looking for sympathy because I am not. This is just showing people that the US economy is still in a place where people are secure in their finances but there is always light at the end of the dark tunnel. Life is never perfect but if we make it the best we can at this moment then we can be proud of our lives. So continue to look for your open doors because they are always there!

Here are some open doors that I like:

Everyday is a New Beginning

When I saw this quote on Pinterest yesterday, I knew that it was speaking to me because I was in a state of frustration in my life. I try to keep positivity  in my life as much as I can but I am a human and have my breaking points. As a single mom that works from home, I have my highs and lows. I absolutely love being able to get Lily off the bus everyday, attend the programs during school hours that most parents miss because they are working, taking Lily to the park when it is quiet and letting her play without fear of the older kids and so much more. At the same time, I struggle with the balance of working and family time and sometimes I don't realize that work is getting more attention then it should at that moment. The factor of business being slow doesn't help this balance. There are nights that I get so frustrated at my slow times and bills stacking up that I want to throw in the towel but there is always something that reminds me that I have a talent and gift that I get to share with others. Not everyone has the talents that I have so I am the lucky one to share them with others. 

So when the day is tough, no matter what time of day it is, just take a deep breath and remember there are many things in your life to be grateful and they outweigh the bad things. Each day is a new start and each moment is a new beginning so re-start your day with a new beginning now and smile because you are unique and amazing!