Happy Self-Love Sunday & Happy 2022 family!

I know it’s been a minute since you all have seen a written blog from me BUT I always make a point to come back to my first love (writing). Writing a blog has been on my mind for months now. But for some reason I just couldn’t find the time to articulate what I needed to and wanted to in writing, well really I didn’t make the time. But this year I am making the time! I hope that 2022 has been treating you all well thus far. And if not, don’t worry. Every day provides the opportunity for new beginnings, and even though January may have not been the best month doesn’t mean that February won’t be either.

For those of you who follow my A Word Wednesday Instagram video series, the videos can also be found here and on YouTube, you know that I started the year strong discussing The Year of Intention. I am declaring 2022 as the year of intention! Being intentional is defined as doing something on purpose; deliberate. This year I want to challenge us all to move with intention and be intentional in our lives. I want us to pursue our goals and dreams with intention, build relationships with intention, and so much more. Can you imagine what it would look like if we lived our year with intention and purpose? The choice is yours, but I plan on making efforts to be intentional and challenge you all to do the same. 

With being intentional this year, I also plan on accepting myself where i am, and accepting people where they are.

As mentioned previously, as this is a year of intention for me, that looks like a lot of different things. I’ve set goals & I know that they may not all come into fruition like I plan but I plan on proactively taking strides to achieve those goals. And I know a major goal of mine involves acceptance. Continuing to accept myself for who I am and where I currently am, as my journey isn’t over. I have come a very long way & I still have time and room to grow. And I want to be intentional about accepting others for who they are & where they are currently as well.

It’s so easy to create fantasies and expectations in our minds. We decide how we want and expect things to look, how we expect situations and scenarios to be, and how we assume people to behave. Then, when our expectations are not met and when we see people acting outside of this mold we set, it shocks us. But this shock comes become we don’t always accept people for WHO they are and are too concerned about who we want them to be. And I’m not saying that we as people do this intentionally, but sometimes we do this very unintentionally. We unintentionally set these preconceived notions, often forgetting that life isn’t always as black and white as it is in our minds.

I, myself, am very guilty of not being able to accept others for who they are and where they are currently and i’m guilty of not always being able to accept myself for who I am and where I am. By why? I want grace and I want to extend the same grace I give myself to others. I know that we are all works in progress. And everyone’s walk is NOT the same. Therefore, I think acceptance is very important. We must first accept where we are in our journeys and then accept others and where they are. 

Acceptance in human psychology is a person’s assent to the reality of a situation, recognizing a process or condition (often a negative or uncomfortable situation) without attempting to change it or protest it. With the Year of Intention in mind, I employ you all to actively engage in being intentional by practicing acceptance. Trust me, I know that it may be challenging especially when we are unintentionally not being accepting. But it’s such a blessing to accept yourself, your story, your journey, where you’ve come from and where you have to go. And just how we all take pride in ourselves and the strides we’ve made, we must always remember what it took to get there. We have to remember the lows sometimes, just because every day won’t be filled with rainbows and sunshine. However, we must also remember this so that we can give that acceptance and grace to others. And I believe accepting people for who they are and where they are will lead to a lot less disappointment. So today, I encourage you all to think about the year of intention and being accepting. And remember to love yourself, because you deserve to be loved! 💋