Self- Discovery Challenge

Hey guys!

It's been a minute, but I'm back with a new blog post!

I came up with a new challenge for the blog and my followers on social media and it goes a bit deeper than the mental wellness challenge. This challenge is about self-discovery and being honest with yourself about your attitude towards things, how you handle situations, pain you've been through, etc. 

This year I've really been on a journey of self-discovery, self-acceptance, and self-love and it has been super beneficial and rewarding. I'm more at peace with where I am in life and where I'm going than I've ever been and part of the reason is because I've been able to be honest with myself. Being honest with yourself and your feelings is one of the best things you can do for yourself and other people in the long run, and hopefully this challenge will help you do that!

So two of the questions on the challenge that I would like to share my answers with you all are: 

1.) What do I love about myself?

2.) What do I need more of in my life right now?

For the first question, this question has become a lot easier for me to answer in the last year or two because I've really been focused on genuine self-love and not just saying I love myself for social media. One of the things I love about myself is my ability to let things go and realize that everything happens for a reason and it is apart of God's plan. Romans 8:28 is something that I stand firmly on which is: All things work together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. Whether you believe in Christ (which I do) or the Universe, all the things that you go through, good or bad, and all the lessons you learn along the way, they work together for your own good. 

The next question is what do I need more of in my life right now and I have to say, I need to keep and maintain the notion of "positive vibes only." I know it sounds cliche to say, but it's completely real! Now we aren't always going to have days where everything is going right, but we do have a choice of focusing on the negatives or being grateful for the positive things that are going right, and that's really what I've been focusing on. I want to maintain the level of peace I'm at by focusing on the right things!

Well guys...that's all I have for this post. I will be back with more content as the challenge goes on and I have a blog activity planned as well, so stay tuned! 

-xoxo

Angie

Mental Wellness Challenge: Day 4

Hey everybody!

If you've been following my mental wellness challenge, you know there's been some really cute things going on each day. Today is day 4 of the challenge and it's no different, today I am challenging you all to create yourself a journal!

This journal can be fancy or simple as long as you start it, that's all that matters. The next 10 days after today, things are going to get real as far as answering questions about your relationship with your mental wellness. A journal would be great to have so that you can get really get all your thoughts out and answer questions that are geared towards much needed self-reflection.

With that being said, let's talk about one of the journals that I have...
Feast your eyes to the right on my "Cultivate Gratitude" journal! In addition to the notebook journal I made that I talked about in the My Best Friend Changed My Life blog post (I included the link just in case you hadn't read it), I also use this journal as a part of my time with God.

One of my good friends and fellow blogger Haley (here's her blog link :  Essentially Haley Blog. She has great content especially for new moms and essential oil junkies like myself)  was telling me about this really cool planner that she got and sent me pictures and I was instantly intrigued! So I moseyed on over to the online store and purchased the planner. I kept scrolling and I came across a really cool book bundle and my journal that I am going to discuss today!





So with this journal it has a front and back side for each day that you write in it. In the "today is" section, you can put the put the date or even something like "a good day!" Next is the I'm grateful for box, you can choose to put one thing or however much can fit in that box, whatever your heart desires.

So each day you write, the journal gives you a scripture that is grounded in gratitude or thanksgiving. Whether it's about God's mercy, grace, love, forgiveness, etc., it gives you an opportunity to be grateful in a biblical way. I usually write the scripture out and if there is anywhere that I can personalize the scripture to where I am giving thanks, then I switch it to "I."

When you flip the page over, at the top of the page, it's asking what is on your heart today. Since I have the other journal where I go in depth in my prayers and letters to God, I try to express what's on my heart pertaining to whatever I put in the "I'm grateful for" section. At the bottom of the page, it has a section for a word of the day and I never really know what my word is going to be until after I am finished writing out the scripture and expressing the gratitude that I feel.

Well guys, that was all for this post, I wanted to keep it short and sweet because how you set up your journal or whatever you purchase should cater to what you need. If you are interested in any of the products I discussed in this post, I have provided tons of links below!

You can find this journal here --> [Gratitude] then the Cultivate + Make it Happen book bundle, and my bomb Goal Planner! If you want to browse their shop for other products the link is... Cultivate Shop. They have so many awesome things to help you cultivate a meaningful life, meaningful work, and a meaningful relationship with God; even things for the kiddos!

Until next time...

-xoxo

Angie

Mental Wellness Challenge: Day 2

Hello all!

So today is day 2 of the #13914MWC and this one is also a "fun" one depending on how you're feeling or where you are in life's journey, as I am encouraging you all to make a list of 10 things that make you happy!

I say that it depends on how you are feeling or where you are in your journey of life because sometimes it's so easy to let things get us in a funk and not count our blessings or you could be going through something where you don't know what makes you happy. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to get transparent and keep it all the way real with you all...

Life comes at you fast chile. I had this thing about calling people "weak-willed" and never understood how people let themselves get into a situation where their life's plans were contingent on the person's they were with...until I became the person I talked about. In my last relationship, I started out super ambitious, I had a plan of where I was going and what I wanted to do. We were together for awhile and eventually I let their plans for our life and their career goals take more importance over my own. After all, his plans were more "practical" and made the most sense, provided better for the life we lived and planned to live. Things happened along the way and I no longer recognized myself. I was caught up in that person and what I thought they wanted and needed me to be as well as living up to other people's expectations for us and timelines, until one day  had enough. I didn't know what made me happy, the lines were blurred as far as what I ACTUALLY enjoyed and things I enjoyed because we were together. I think when you don't know yourself getting into a relationship, that can be a gateway to a disaster, so it's super important to have an idea of who you are by allowing God to define you and not other people, so that you don't experience what I did.

Now that I've taken awhile to get to know myself, build myself back up, and began seeing myself the way God sees me...I am happy. I am content with where I am, where I am going, and the work that he is doing within me! I am by no means perfect and I still have character flaws that I am working through on a daily basis, but I am at peace with myself. A year and a half ago I think my list would have been SUPER sparse based off the head space that I was in. Now I am at a place where making this list was difficult because I had to narrow it down. Being in a space where you find joy in the little things is so beautiful, less exhausting, and definitely the space that I want to remain in! So with that being said...

In no particular order, here is my list of 10 things that make me happy:

1. Writing.
2. Music.
3. Spending time with my family and friends.
4. Alone time to reflect.
5. Champagne.
6. Great food.
7. Seeing and feeling the results from working out.
8. Seeing God's artwork through nature.
9. Giving back/ doing philanthropic work.
10. Educating people on various things.




So a quick break down of my 10:

1. I  L O V E writing!
I've loved writing since I was about 5 or 6. Fun fact: my first grade teacher Ms. Athey told my mom I was going to be an author, I believe it. Whether it's a book manuscript, television script, movie script, or blog post..you can find me stressed ( good stress...if that's a thing lol) trying to perfect it, but happy I'm doing something I love.

2. MUSIC ... Man music is something I honestly can not live without. 90% of the time when people ask what I'm doing my response is, "Sitting here doing blazae blazae and listening to music. I love every genre of music, I could listen to Anita Baker, Biggie, Kirk Franklin, and Luke Bryan all in one day.

3. Spending time with my family and friends is one of my favorite past times. They really bring me joy and laughter and there's nothing like being around people who know you and love you. I'm super family-oriented so my future husband has to be the same way.

4. Alone time to reflect is one of my favorite past times as well. Singleness definitely taught me to enjoy my own company, although I stayed in my own world in a relationship too...that's neither here nor there. But I have always loved spending time alone to reflect on life and just take in the moment.

5. Champagne is definitely an acquired taste and I only know one other person, my Line Sister, who loves it as much as I do. I love the sound of the cork popping and taking in a crisp sip of bubbly!

6. Great food makes me happyyyyy chile. I L O V E food. Like...love it! People are always like how do you stay so small and eat so much...I just want to thank God for genetics and the BAWDY he has blessed me with. lol.

7. Seeing and feeling the results from working out is on my happy list because I used to hate working out, until one day, I decided I was going to work out for myself and not because I felt forced to. So seeing the results from my hard work, my abs pushing through and my tush looking RIGHT...makes me smile.

8. Seeing God's artwork through nature is one of those things what I mean enjoying the little things. Blessings don't always have to be extravagant or materialistic. Have you ever just stepped out on a balcony and looked a sunset or looked up at the stars covering the sky all while listening to the waves of an ocean, JOY.

9. Giving back and doing philanthropic work definitely feels good to the soul and makes me happy. So many of us forget that we have basic necessities and then some, while families are homeless, hungry, don't have clean water, their health is declining, etc. One of the ways I love giving back is through my foundation, The Sorella Foundation. You can click the link if you'd like more information!

10. Educating people on various things is one of my favorite things to do. I love having insightful conversations with people and doing little things like sharing "On This Day" via instagram stories. That goes for music, sports, race relations...just anything I find interesting or something that I connect with that I think people should know!

Well I hope you all enjoyed this post, as I have really enjoyed being transparent with you all about a tough time and I pray that this post actually speaks to someone as they read it!
Until next time...

-xoxo

Angie