Happy New Year!!! (Late you say?!?!...NOPE!)

Yeah I said it....HAPPY NEW YEAR and i am in the month of March. Most people typically celebrate the new year in January, but me on the other hand, celebrate on my born day. Granted, it's still in a new year, but i was born on March 12, 1979 at 5am and that is when life begin for me, so when better to celebrate newness?!?!

So no, i didnt make a new years resolution, but i did, however decide that i will continue to strive towards greatness and to live life to its fullist. I mean, you only get one of them. I dont want to live to work. I want to work to live and be alive. By saying that, one of my favorite quotes from Nicki Minaj, "But to live doesn't mean youre alive." I'll let you digest that.

Anyway, to start out my new year, i did it with a bang. Not the unusual, but something that i love to do and what liberates me?! Guessed it yet?!!? Probably since you already peaked at the picture below. hahaha! I shaved my hair off. Ahhh...and it felt so good.



Some may not understand why i do it, so here is a brief explanation...

For years, i was told i was a pretty girl, but i never believed it because i was teased so badly growing up. From my skinny long legs, to my deep chocolate complexion and my over bite that took over my small framed face, i was convinced all these things made me ugly. Being teased from kids in school is one thing, but then to have it come from your family, the people you love and trust is another. For years, i trusted what they said about me and i didnt believe i was beautiful nor waas i comfortable in my own skin. So i hid from everyone with silence. I tried at every cost to make myself invincible until one day....

One day, i was walking through the mall, 3 months pregnant, feeling miserable, sick and depressed about living in a foreign place (VA opposed to FL). As i was walking with my head down, a guy (or you can say girl if you know what i mean) and a girl where walking past me, and with such conviction and genuine context he said, "she is GORGEOUS!" i lifted my head and looked to see who he was talking about and to my surprise, they were both looking at me and smiling. It may seem simple, but to have a total stranger make such a statement took me by surprise.

I went home, looked in the mirror and cried because i still couldnt see what they saw. To fast forward, a couple of years went by. i picked up an Essence magazine from the grocery store and read an article by the comedian and Grammy winning actress Monique, who talked about the hard times she went through in life. She said one statement that stood out to me and i have kept it with me ever since..."I deserve to love me!" She wrote it on her mirror in her bathroom and said it every morning until she begin to believe it in her heart and her soul. I decided to do the same thing, but i did it a little differently. I wanted to go back to that little girl that was told she was not beautiful, so i shaved my hair off with no hesitation. I wanted to see what i looked like completely naked. That turned my life around and i begin to love myself and more than i ever thought possible.

So with that...Happy New Year! Loving myself...everything about me and striving for excellence. xoxoxo!!!