What Are Your Regrets??

We all have had times where we reflect back and think about the things we didn't accomplish, or didn't do or say............ and feel regret for not pursuing that "thing" that may or may not have made our life different. Or what about those words you never spoke and  now you can't because that person is gone. What about the higher level  position you didn't take at work because of fear. The girl that you let get away because you weren't "ready". You may have always said "next year" when thinking about completing that degree. So what are your regrets?

I recently saw a video on social media that was so powerful. It made me stop and think about the things I personally regret. (See video below).In the video, a chalkboard was placed on a street in New York City and it asked people passing by to write down their biggest regret. The comments were interesting. I immediately began to think about not only the things I regret but the biggest things that had a major impact on the course of my life. There are so many things and choices that I look back on and think......WOW, What if............ But one thing that I do regret was not continuing in my program to receive my specialist degree. But guess what..... its not too late. So now I must make the decision to either go for it or be ok with my decision to not complete my specialist and move on to other goals. There are other decisions that cant be changed. For example: Staying in an unhealthy relationship for too long. You can't go back and change that. But what you can do is move on, be ok with it and make better decisions next time around. I'm sure you can think of numerous things that can be put on your list and once you realize exactly what they are, then what?

When you realize your regrets, it should bring you to the  point where you decide whether or not you will change that regret to reality or let it go and move on.  Its always possible. Isn't it?  The chances you didn't take, the dreams that were not pursued, and words not spoken............. If its still possible when you come to that realization ....what are you going to do about it? Continue to dwell in regret or try to change it to the point where at least you feel better about it. Going through life with a list of regrets can cause you to feel a certain way about your overall self. Its not healthy to continue to live with a bunch of "what ifs" ....So lets make it a point to change those regrets to reality and if nothing else start yourself off with a clean slate!!!

Put all your regrets behind you......

Life Insurance...... How many of us have this?

It can be an uncomfortable subject for some, but it a necessary one. Most everyone hates the thought of dying and leaving their loved ones behind, but the reality is..... we all will die someday.  What you do right now while you are alive plays a major role in what happens when you are gone. Do you want to leave your family in debt trying to pay for funeral cost once you are gone? What about your unpaid bills. What about loved ones that need to be taken care of. We think about these things but why is it that we always find ways to justify not having a life insurance policy. I have heard everything from "Its just too expensive!" to "I just don't believe in life insurance." How we were  raised is a factor in determining our thoughts on life insurance. Also, sometimes- its just the fact that so many people have been misinformed regarding life insurance.
I have heard story after story pertaining to families not being able to bury their loved one and take care of the family once someone is gone. What if the deceased was the breadwinner in the family? What is the plan for providing once they are gone? These are questions that need to be asked...... and answered!
The absolutely best time to purchase life insurance is at a young age when the rates are cheaper. As we age the rates increase and some will find it difficult to make payments on those rising premiums.
If you currently do not have any type of coverage, its time to explore your options. Start by looking at your financial situation and figure out what type of coverage would be best for you. You have many options, but most find term life insurance to be the best value. The issue with term is the fact that it only last for a "term" or a specific time frame.  For instance, you can get a 20 year term policy for a low rate. But after 20 years the rate changes and begins to increase every year thereafter. Also term does not have any cash value. You can go with a whole life policy, but age has a huge impact on your rate. Also men tend to pay more than women. You can even explore the option of combining a term with a whole life and look at converting the partial term to a whole life over time. Also, there are some who have life insurance through their jobs. That's a great option....but are you planning to be at that particular job/position for long term?
There are many options when choosing a policy, and if you don't currently have one- make the time to talk to a financial planner or a life insurance expert sooner than later about starting a policy. In the long run it will benefit you and your family for the best!!!

The Best Relationship......

What do you feel is your best relationship? Is it the one you have with your parents? Your best friend? Your husband/wife/or partner? Is the relationship with your kids the highlight of your life? Having healthy and happy relationships is an important part of life. But did you know..... that the most important relationship in life is the one you have with yourself?

How can you possibly be happy in a marriage when you are so unhappy with yourself? Or how can you bring joy to your kids when you have no inner joy yourself? The happiness you feel within yourself should radiate throughout all the relationships you build in life. I have written blogs in the past about happiness and how its important it is to strive to be happy everyday! And everyday I try to not let things bother me, worry me, or take me away from my happiness!! I have a great relationship with myself and I build upon it daily.

 Always remember, the only person that can determine your happiness is you.... so if you are in a place of hurt, anger, bitterness, unhappiness, resentment or depression its time to start changing your thought process to reflect more positive thinking. When you change your thinking you change your life! Do you want your life to change? It starts with YOU and YOU have to start doing something to get to that happy place and learning to love yourself more. Being happy makes you feel so free!
 So I'm challenging all my readers to start today.... Make a decision that today is the day you begin that journey to Happy! Begin to let go of anything that interferes with your happiness and prevents you from obtaining that inner peace and happiness that you desire.

Many Blessings to you and Good Luck as you begin your journey to complete and utter Happiness and learning to love yourself first!!!!

I spent WHAT!!!!

How many of us can actually say we are constantly aware of our spending habits. Have you ever taken the time out to actually add up what you spend monthly, weekly, or even daily? For me, I am constantly on the go and I find it hard to cook all the time especially when I work two different places and I'm gone all day. Therefore, I'm usually stopping by a restaurant somewhere or driving through a drive-thru for a quick meal.

Recently I decided to take one of my bank statements and go through it to see exactly how much I'm spending on food. The results shocked me. Looking at my July-August statement, I had spent a total of $292.55. This total is just the results from my bank statement when using my debit card. This amount did not include the cash I spent (which I have no idea how much). So basically in one month, I spent over $300.00 just from eating out!!! Ridiculous!!!  When I receive my August-September statement, I will be doing the same thing! Hopefully I haven't increased on the amount spent on eating out, but when you are not aware of it you tend to keep the same patterns.
What I'm doing differently:
Meal prep: Meal prep goes a long way! Not only does it save money, it is much healthier than eating out. Being able to prep your meals also saves time. My goal is to do meal prep on Sunday's so that I can have more healthy/economical savvy meals throughout the week!

Watching My Spending:
There are different strategies I plan to utilize in order to track my spending. One way I can do this is to keep a certain amount of cash on hand per week. For instance if I have $25.00 cash that I spend on nothing but food for the week then that already is cutting my spending down to less that half of what I am currently spending. It will take some adjusting and getting use to but I plan to make it work for me.
Another way to help with spending is to utilize money management apps such as Mint, Pocket Expense Personal Finance, or Goodbudget Budget Planner. Apps such as these can be valuable resources in helping you to effectively manage your money. You can also use Excel to create spreadsheets of your budget and create graphs according to your spending.
Limit Dining Out:
Sometimes we go on diets to cut back on eating. Well, I could go on a spending diet to cut back on spending money eating out. If I only limit myself to eating out twice a week. Ok.. who am I kidding :) Let's try 3 times a week and see how that goes. Limiting my outings will definitely help to cut back on spending.

 Have you found other areas that you overspend in?  What are some ways you find are helpful with balancing your budget?  Share your stories and solutions!

ARE YOU HAPPY ???

Why can't I just be happy? Have you ever uttered those words before? Well what's stopping you from being happy? Did you know that we make a choice as to rather or not we are going to be happy.  Everybody goes through things.... after all....its called life. The things we go through can ultimately have an effect on our happiness and if we don't understand how to handle various situations, it can destroy us. We have to learn to  look past our trials and tribulations in life and actually embrace these circumstances as stepping stones to overcoming and getting to a new level of happiness. 
I have encountered people who have every excuse in the world NOT to be happy. These people will give reason after reason to validate their unhappiness.... when all they really have to say is "its me". Most people can simply blame themselves for the lack of happiness they are experiencing. You really just have to want to be happy!! In life you will have great moments and not so great moments. Embrace every moment and don't let those not so great moments determine your happiness.  I have been through things in my life, like we all have..... but in the end, no matter what... I still choose to be happy.

I recently watched a clip of T.D Jakes on The Steve Harvey Show ( See video link below). It was very interesting. He was talking about being happy and the fact that so many people have questioned exactly how to be happy. Bishop Jakes shared some points to being happy. The 5 steps T.D. Jakes shared were so awesome and I wanted to pass them along to you.

1.  OWN YOUR OWN HAPPINESS
Your kids, your spouse, your big house, car, money, etc..... No one or no thing can make you happy if you cant be responsible for bringing joy into your own heart.
2.  CHALLENGE YOUR OWN STORY
Change the way you talk to yourself about your life and who you are and what you are going to do in your life.
3. ENJOY THE JOURNEY
Don't focus your happiness only on when you reach your destination.  We delay our happiness by not celebrating along the way. Don't wait until you get your degree, or get married, or have a kid or whatever. Be happy along the journey and enjoy getting to where you want to be.
4.  MAKE RELATIONSHIPS COUNT
Enjoy your relationships. Especially the one with yourself. Make sure the relationships you surround yourself with are good ones.
5. BALANCE WORK WITH PLAY
You cant do all of either one and be successful and happy. You have to balance your work and play so that you can be a whole person and others can get a better perspective of exactly who you are.
Remember...Its not hard to be happy... You just have to WANT to be happy. So from this point forward.... CHOOSE HAPPINESS!!!



Link to video clip of Bishop Jakes on The Steve Harvey Show....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDQRYbINeNM

 

 

 

ASK, BELIEVE, RECEIVE !!!! It's that simple.....or is it??

While browsing through my email I ran across this message: 

From The Secret Daily Teachings........

Ask, Believe, Receive – just three simple steps to create what you want. However, very often the second step, believe, can be the most difficult one. And yet it is the greatest step you will ever take. Believing contains no doubt. Believing does not waiver. Believing is absolute faith. Believing remains steadfast despite what is happening in the outside world.
​
When you master believing, you have mastered your life.

How many of you actually BELIEVE this? How often have you wanted something so bad, but didn't believe enough that you actually deserved it. Did it happen for you? Or did you  just sink into unbelief and doubt and end up not receiving. Do you even realize how powerful it is to actually BELIEVE!!
I have began putting this to practice in my everyday life. Even if its something as simple as a finding parking spot or winning a contest.  I have practiced asking-believing- and receiving!! It actually works. You have to believe whole heartedly that what you are asking for- you actually believe you will receive.
For instance, I wanted to go to a Hawks game. While on my way to work I was listening to the Ryan Cameron show on V-103. He said to call in and be the 103rd caller in order to win tickets to the Hawks game. I began to call. As I hit redial over and over and continued to hear busy signals and operator response to try again- I continued to say to myself "I am a winner", "I am winning these Hawks tickets", "I am winning", "I believe I am a winner"..... and as I repeated these affirmations I visualized myself at the game! I saw myself seated at the game and cheering on my team. I head a voice say "V-103" and they confirmed I was the right caller. I won those tickets like I BELIEVED I would. Ok some say that's just luck. Believe what you want. I called again and won $103.00 recently and the whole time I BELIEVED I would win. #Winning!!!!

Start putting this concept into practice everyday. Learn more about the Law of Attraction by researching and practicing it daily. Begin to watch things manifest in your life. Get to know who you are and what you want- then begin to ask, believe, and receive!!! This subject is very deep and profound and my goal is to  introduce it to you  so that you may begin to get your mindset aimed toward the possibility of this concept working for you. Research it. Learn about it. Change your thinking; Change you life! If you haven't read "The Secret"  then order you a copy today!
Let me know your experiences with this concept. Do you believe it? Does it work for you?
Comment and don't forget to share!

On Memorial Day......... Let's remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice!

 Today we celebrate Memorial Day. Do you understand the true meaning of why we celebrate on this holiday? Why do I see so many people telling our service men/women (who are still alive), that they are honoring them on Memorial Day. I see tags on Facebook and shout outs. People are grilling out, drinking and celebrating being off work.  But does anyone actually understand the reason for Memorial Day?
For those of you who are not sure as to what Memorial Day is or the reason behind why this is a holiday let me help you to understand.........
Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for remembering the people who died while serving in the country's armed forces. The holiday, is observed every year on the last Monday of May. It originated as Decoration Day after the American Civil War in 1868, when the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans — established it as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers.

Memorial Day eventually extended to honor all Americans who died while in the military service .It typically marks the start of the summer vacation season, while Labor Day marks its end.  Many people visit cemeteries and memorials, particularly to honor those who have died in military service. Many volunteers place an American flag on each grave in national cemeteries.
Do you know anyone that that died while serving this great country? Or maybe you know someone who has a relative  or friend who died while serving. While enjoying your day off today, lets take time to reflect on the people who gave their life as they fought for our freedom. Let's be in remembrance of the veterans who lie in rest at Veteran's Memorial Cemetery. Lets not forget the true meaning of this holiday..... so as we prepare the grill, and tune in to our favorite station.... grab us a drink and begin the celebration......- maybe just maybe we can have a moment of silence out of respect for our fallen service men/women. You know........the one's who this holiday is really about! So please...Comment & Share!!
Everyone have a blessed day!!!