Words of Encouragement: Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful

You don't have to say anything..I know I've been bad. I haven't posted in over a month, and quite frankly, that's absurd! I apologize a thousand times over. When I started this blogging journey, I never anticipated the impact my words and testimonies, and even my fashion expertise, would influence and touch others. For those of you that've reached out to make sure everything is okay, and those that have cussed me and told me to get to writing (cough cough, Mom), I'm back and hopefully better. This past month has been beyond hectic. And in the midst of all the chaos, I've been forcing in some me time – starting new series on Netflix, unplugging from social media, severely sleeping in on days off. I'll be the first to say that it's working. I feel great mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually. 

I'd like to return on a positive note with this month's Words of Encouragement: Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful. Webster dictionary defines the word beautiful as (1) having qualities of beauty; exciting aesthetic pleasure, and (2) generally pleasing; excellent. We aren't, however, confined to textbook definitions. You define what you want YOUR beauty to look like. For me, beauty is defined by personal maintenance which includes pampering. If nothing else, I HAVE to have my nails done. I will literally feel unattractive if my nails have grown out too far and I haven't taken care of it, or if my polish from my pedicure starts chipping. If my hair and eyebrows aren't done, forget about it lol. Not everyone is like me. Some people love volunteering, or reading books, or exercising. It looks different for everyone, and by no means does it have to be physical. I actually believe beauty starts in the mind, and it shines through. 

Being your own kind of beautiful, however, requires you to be kind to yourself. I'm probably the leader of the "Be Hard on Oneself" Committee. Stop that, it's detrimental. Even recently I've noticed instances where I've been really harsh to myself and after taking a step back, I realized that I needed to respect myself and not be disappointed when I hold myself to non-mandatory habitual standards. More specifically, I'm sure you all have noticed that in my absence, I hadn't posted June's Words of Encouragement (Be True to You). To be honest, I've tried to write that post 3 different times with a different approach each time. It would start out great and then somewhere along the lines, it wandered off into something that didn't make sense. The message I was attempting to portray got lost every single time. I haven't been stressed about life, but let me tell you trying to figure out what to say and how to say definitely stressed me out. I felt obligated to keep up with this trend I'd started, and when it became difficult, I was frustrated. It wasn't until June 30 that I realized that it was okay – I knew what it meant to be true to oneself, but because I'm on the journey of self-discovery and self-love right along with you, articulating it wasn't as simple as I'd like. It wasn't the end of the world that I didn't have content like I hoped, and no one would hate me for skipping out on it. Maybe I'll revisit it at a later date.

As always, there's a lesson in all my rambling. Be gentle to yourself. You ought to treat yourself the way you deserve and expect others to treat you. Speak to yourself with honor and respect. Treat yo'self ALWAYS (not into a financial crisis though). You are smart, gentle, exquisite. Define what you want your beauty to look like. There are no limits, so don't limit yourself. And as for me and my writing, please be patient with me. Life has been coming at me fast, but I promise I will write when the opportunity presents itself. I appreciate you all more than you know; thank you! Until next time, xo.