Self-reflection examines and contemplates one's thoughts, emotions, experiences, and actions. It involves introspection and a deep exploration of oneself to gain insight, understanding, and personal growth. Self-reflection can be a valuable tool for self-improvement, decision-making, and greater self-awareness.

For years, I dwelled often. I don’t know why I did it. It never made me feel better. It just made me sad, frustrated and feeling depressed. I blamed my choices on others when the decisions were all mine. I blamed others for what was happening in my life. While these things may have impacted my earlier thinking, they should not have remained an excuse later in life. But it did – and things continued to happen that kept me in this negative state to where I just kept blaming the world for what was happening to me.

A while back, I completed my certification in nutrition coaching through the National Academy of Sports and Medicine. In the exam, one of the questions was the following: Which option BEST describes the characteristic(s) of a high-quality nutrition plan?

The answer is simple: A nutrition plan should be flexible, based on a person's needs and goals.

For the last nine years, I have taken biochemistry, human physiology, and pathophysiology courses, served as a medical laboratory technician, and completed certifications in performance nutrition (supplementation) and general lifestyle nutrition/nutrition specialization. I also have experienced situations where I was given restrictive meal plans to follow during my time in bodybuilding.

It all boils down to this - the best plan is the plan you can follow for the rest of your life.

Are our actions showing that we found love from within, or are they showing that we are searching for love in all the wrong places? People, substances, food, etc., will never be able to fill our void until we decide to have a spiritual presence and find the love from within. This is the first step to kicking any type of addiction - loving ourselves.

What is self-efficacy?

Self-efficacy is the ability to believe in oneself enough so that we can accomplish the things we desire. “[It] reflects confidence in the ability to exert control over one’s own motivation, behavior, and social environment” (Carey and Forsyth, www.apa.org, 2020).

Falling is ok...quitting is not ok. It's not a failure unless we completely quit. So no matter how many times we get hit by life, we must get back up, dust our shoulders off, and keep going. One moment at a time. We can do this.

No more lies. No more deceit. The Lord guides us. He teaches us. He becomes our wise council in times of need. When the devil begins to go to work, the Lord overpowers – if we allow Him to.

Merriam-Webster defines this as “someone or something that pleases or wants to please people. Often, a person who has an emotional need to please others often at the expense of his or her own needs or desires” (www.merriam-webster.com).

Are you a people pleaser? This is something I have been working on, as well as assertive communication. Those who are meant to be in your life will understand your position and that you need to take care of yourself. Others, well, maybe they aren’t meant to be where you are allowing them to be. Feel free to leave a comment. Have a wonderful day!

Sometimes it feels like no matter how hard we try, we can never get ahead in this thing called life. I am here today in hopes to share my own experiences and encourage you to do what I have to tell myself to do: Stay the Course and Don’t Quit.

Have you ever known anyone who was just negative all the time? Are they fun to be around or do you go out of your way to avoid them? Or…do you do what I used to do and go above and beyond to try and help them? Or even worse, are YOU the one with the negative attitude? I used to be. I didn’t even realize what I was doing. Nevertheless, one thing I did well was put a mask on with the rest of the world. I compartmentalized so well that I never even realized that I wasn’t allowing myself to heal. In doing that, I did myself (and others around me) a serious disservice. I had someone tell me once, “you will receive the energy you put out.” This is so true! I have tried and tested it time after time! If you begin to doubt yourself and allow things that are out of your control to control you, you will find that not only will you have a bad day, but you will also end up having an even worse life. Stop this habit in its tracks! Become aware! Then begin the journey! You are NOT alone!

What does a humble servant look like to you? Do you realize that being a humble servant means letting go of any ounce of pride? It means realizing we are not in control, but that we are led by God. We are led to be more. We are led to be something amazing. With pride, we are limited. With God, we are limitless. Lead a more fulfilled life by leading a more humble life. It starts with the willingness to start. Perfection doesn’t exist. Pride is diminished. We are able to humbly serve when we choose this walk. It won’t happen overnight, but the more we work at it, the more we will begin to see it come to fruition.

One eye can pierce the external layer of something. Two eyes can look into a person’s soul. What we choose to do with our eyes is up to us. We can use them to look at the superficial side of someone (external looks) or we can use them to look at someone while we use our ears to listen and learn more about them…pierce their soul. We choose what we learn about others. We can choose to only see certain things or we can choose to see all things.

We tend to look at angry, violent people and simply judge them. We criticize them. What we don’t do is want to help them. Read more to see why this is something we must begin to unfold. Without getting to the root of the problem, it will be difficult to change anything. It starts here. One person at a time.

According to Merriam-Webster, discernment means “the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure : skill in discerning” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discernment). This basically means that we are able to tell the difference between things that don’t serve us and things that do. We are able to recognize people who truly want to support and encourage us and people who are only in it for personal gain. While it may seem this should be an easy task, as the Bible warns us in Matthew 7:15 (ERV) to “beware of false prophets. They come to you and look gentle like sheep. But they are really dangerous like wolves.”

I remember as far back as grade school being the outcast because I wore hand-me-down clothes and wasn’t part of a family that was well-off. For the first part of my life, I was raised by a single mom. In high school, I was told no more times than I could count, whether it was due to the hardships I was going through and letting my grades go, or just letting life take over and control me in general. I had no real direction, so I followed those who accepted me. Often times, that was not a good choice. I know that now. Back then though, acceptance was important to me because most of my life, I was not accepted. In college, my dream of becoming a college basketball player was crushed when the coach told me no for getting a full scholarship (she could only offer partial, which meant I had to work still and wouldn’t be able to focus on basketball or my studies). Later on, I was told no so many times. How I even made it into the military is still a blessing in disguise.

Staying in a relationship that does not foster care and compassion is dangerous to our overall well-being. In 2019 I met a woman named Jada Jordan. She and I are more like sisters now that we have come to know and respect one another more and more each day. However, when I met her, we were both going through a journey where we were learning how to stop listening to what others thought of us and who “they” thought we were and began to listen to what God wanted us to hear about ourselves. Things like being “fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalms 139:14) and learning that in finding the Lord, taking the time to build a relationship with Him, and being good, I would find favor, but if I searched for favor, nothing good would come (Proverbs 11:27).