Get Into It: With Love, Jia!

I have been searching for motivation and inspiration since the beginning of the year. It's the reason I read and reviewed "The Happiness Project" and started my Gratitude Jar. I decided that 2014 was going to be the year of positivity in my life and I truly believe that when you ask the universe for things, the universe delivers. Since I have adapted this way of thinking and being, things have been looking up. I could not have asked for more when Jia tweeted about her new venture, "With Love, Jia." I was intrigued so I signed up. Yesterday, I received the first official love letter, "Love Letter I: Focusing on the Positives in 5." It was the first thing I saw that morning and I needed it. The love letter focused on something we all can identify with: self doubt. The way we can rattle off ten things we dislike or would change about ourselves. I loved the way it was written. Jia has a way with words. The newsletter called for the reader to write down 5 things they love about themselves physically and emotional/mental things. This wasn't as easy as I thought it would be but I did it. I wanted to share them here:

The five physical things I love about myself:

• I love my pale legs. I am constantly teased about the color of them but I love everything about them. 

• I love my cheeks on my face. When I am really happy, my cheeks are so full and my eyes become very slanted. I love it though. My cheeks are fat and cute.  

• I am so in love with my natural hair. Whether it's a braid out or a bantu knot out, I love it. And, when my hair is perfect, you really cannot tell me anything. At all. 

• The three beauty marks on my right thumb, wrist and arm. I call them the Holy Trinity. I just really love them. 

•  Last but certainly not least, I LOVE my boobs! They are amazing. Love, love, love them. 

The five mental/emotional things I love about myself:  

• I am a great listener. I don't just listen until it's time for me to talk. I listen so I can help.  

• I give great advice. My family and friends always tell me this.  

• I love the way my mind works. I am intelligent and I am a thinker. I like to figure things out for myself.  I truly like myself. I have no problem being alone because I am never lonely. I enjoy my own company.  

• I love my relationship with music. The way I hear it and interpret the lyrics. 

• I love the way I can lose myself in a book.  I am a reader. It's my thing.  

Life can be pretty hard. I know I can be tough on myself. I don't know one person who couldn't use more inspiration and motivation. It is something everyone can benefit from. On New Year's Eve, I simply decided that I was going to be happy, no ifs, ands or buts. Everything I am thinking, doing, pursuing has to fall into the happiness category for me. Jia's newsletter helps me with that. This newsletter can be that for you as well. The first love letter asked us to share it so, I decided this blog post would be the perfect avenue to do just that. If this sounds like something that you need, join in. You can sign up via the website. You can also follow the movement via  Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.  Get into "With Love, Jia" today!!!

#30in30: Stay In My Corner

"Stay in my corner. I won't let us down. I need you around. Hold me close. Never let me go. Stay in my corner." - Keith Washington

The lyrics of that old Keith Washington song resonate with me. That's all many of us want: someone to stay in my corner. How many of us have at least someone who is in our corner? On a bad day, that's all a person needs. One person who always holds us down. If you're lucky, you might have a few of them. That would mean that you are blessed abundantly. It's something no one should ever take for granted.

It can be very hard to let someone, any one in on your dreams, goals and fears. It seemsHaving someone on your side and in your corner can be amazing. It's like your own little cheering section. Having just one person there for you can make the world of difference. I am beyond thankful for my group. They are all unique in their own way..
But, they all encourage me without judging me. They just have my back. That's an incredible feeling. My people have continued to stand in my corner, year in and year old. They stayed faithful to my cause. Thank God for placing such angels on Earth and more importantly, in my corner.

Words of Wisdom

To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else.
Emily Dickinson

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.
Henry David Thoreau

Where there is love there is life.
Indira Gandhi

To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funnybone.
Reba McEntire

Life is nothing without friendship.
Marcus Tullius Cicero

Have a heart that never hardens, a temper that never tires, a touch that never hurts.
Charles Dickens



Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.
Hans Christian Andersen

A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed.
Henrik Ibsen

If you cannot be a poet, be the poem.
David Carradine

In the book of life, the answers aren't in the back.
Charlie Brown

Everything has been figured out, except how to live.
Jean-Paul Sartre

Life is a foreign language; all men mispronounce it.
Christopher Morley

Life is what happens to you While you're busy making other plans.
John Lennon