by Torrie Oglesby | Nov 17, 2015 | Learn + Grow
For about a year now there’s been this saying going around: “You’re The Real MVP.” It’s extremely popular and people use it for even the silliest situations. For example, if someone goes and gets the group pizza, the group will say something like: “Thanks, you’re the real MVP.” However the saying originated from an amazing speech given by basketball player Kevin Durant, when he won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player Award for the 2013-2014 basketball season. In the speech, he talks about his mother and the sacrifices she made to make sure her sons were fed, clothed, off the streets and being set up for success. He ends it by telling her that she’s the real MVP and the crowd applauds him while his mother is moved to tears.
This speech led me to think about who’s my MVP? Who, without their help and guidance, would I be completely lost without? Who goes above and beyond for me that I often overlook or forget to express my gratitude towards? We all survive because of other people who help us. This could be helping us with our children, helping us with our spiritual lives, helping us during hard times, and helping us by being a helping hand whenever we need one. It’s so important to appreciate the people who are actively involved in your life and to let them know that they are your MVP. I believe your MVP can change from year to year. At times, it can be your parents and as you grow older it may change to a helpful spouse or a dedicated friend, either way let’s show these people that we value them.
This week I want you to identify your MVP. Who is your Most Valuable Player? After you identify them, come up with something you can do for them that shows your appreciation. Be creative, have fun, and GO BIG! Be generous with how you show your MVP your appreciation and love! Let them know you’re thankful for all their help this year and maybe even previous years and that you wouldn’t have made it without them!
With love and big smiles,
torrie
by Torrie Oglesby | Nov 17, 2015 | Learn + Grow
Dear 20 something soul,
Something #7
APPRECIATE THE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE.
The sad truth about this life is that we never know when it’s going to end. Life is completely unpredictable and who is by your side today could be gone tomorrow. That’s why it’s absolutely vital that you learn to appreciate the people who are in your life and make your life better!! It could be your parents, your sibling’s, your friends, your grandparents, your husband, your fiancé, or maybe even your children! These are precious people in your life and even though it seems like we will all live forever we won’t. Take the time to show these people how thankful you are for them and how you appreciate their presence in your life. Write a thank you note, take someone out for a dinner that’s on you, pay for a spa day, or even simply spend time that is 100% dedicated to them and not you checking your social media accounts. People matter, take the time to let them know it.
Till next time,
20 something soul
by Torrie Oglesby | Nov 10, 2015 | Faith + Expressions
It’s amazing how music can alternate our mindsets so quickly! Here are some fun tunes that will get your mind in the thankful state of mind. If you wake up one morning not feeling too great, play a couple of these songs and I promise you’ll feel more thankful for your life instantly!
- Unwritten: Natasha Bedingfield
- Whistle (While You Work It): Katy Tiz
- Alive: Sia
- Who Says: Selena Gomez
- Blessed: Jill Scott
- Thanks and Praise: G. Love & Special Sauce
- Banana Pancakes: Jack Johnson
- Three Little Birds: Bob Marley
- Put Your Records On: Corrinne Bailey Rae
- There’s Hope: Indie Arie
- Live it Up: Colbie Caillat
- The Best Day: Taylor Swift
- Play On: Carrie Underwood
- Diamonds: Johnny Swim
- Happy: Pharrell
xo,
torrie
by Torrie Oglesby | Nov 7, 2015 | Faith + Expressions
As we are now in the 11th month of the year (WHERE DID IT GO?!?) A lot of us are looking back at 2015 and reflecting. Just like the natural seasons of winter, spring, summer and fall our lives tend to have a seasonal rhythm. Some seasons are filled with life and everything seems to be blooming and prospering and other seasons are filled with change and transitioning and often the hardest seasons are filled with nothing—silence, emptiness and death. Though the seasons change, the Sun doesn’t. As a Christian, though the seasons of life change, the SON doesn’t. How do we maintain a spirit of thankfulness even in the hard and dry seasons?
Paul said he had learned the secret of being content in ANY and EVERY situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want (Philippians 4:12) and that secret was the simplest truth of “I can do all this through him who gives me strength†(Philippians 4:13). This scripture is not new to you and actually it’s used a lot. However sometimes it’s used in the cheesy way of “ALL MY DREAMS CAN COME TRUE BECAUSE I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH HIM WHO STRENGTHENS ME.†But this scripture is so much deeper than that. Paul can be content in everything because he knows WHO GOD IS.
Paul is telling us that life is going to change. One day you may be on top and the next day you might be on the bottom but the secret to remaining content and THANKFUL in everything is knowing that through HIM we can bare it all because he strengthens us. As I look back on my 2015 there’s moments where I’m like “How did I survive that?†“How did that not break me?†and the answer is not my own strength, the answer is Jesus’s strength and Gods ever present hand! There were nights when I cried out in prayer and somehow my spirit still had a “THANK YOU JESUS†inside to let out. I truly believe that when we say thank you and give thanks even when it’s hard, those “thank you’s†carry us through the dead seasons. No matter what may come and no matter what lies behind, give thanks, in and through it all.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.â€
That scripture is a roadmap for thankfulness. Rejoice! Rejoice in your worship, in your words and in the way you live throughout the day, even if it’s a hard season because who God is demands our rejoicing. This doesn’t always mean to smile and be glad, sometimes it means to just turn worship music on and rejoice in WHO GOD IS. It then tells us to pray without ceasing! Prayers are incense to God! Tell him how thankful you are! Tell him your needs and concerns! Talk to your Father and the final outcome with be a heart of thankfulness. When we remember WHO OUR GOD IS, the only response is thankfulness.
xo,
torrie
by Torrie Oglesby | Oct 25, 2015 | Learn + Grow
It’s 2015 and women are anything but one dimensional. We have stay-at-home moms that homeschool and stay-at-home moms who don’t. We have moms running multi-million dollar companies and moms going back to school to get the degree they’ve always wanted. We have women who are getting their masters and running a startup and women who breaking norms in film and television and the arts as a whole. We have women who make money off of YouTube. Women are so amazing to me. What we do, how much we do, how we do what we do and our ability to just do it, truly astonishes me. We live in the age of #GIRLBOSSES and its inspiring and overwhelming all at once. I’m personally, a mother of two, a writer and editor for STRONG and I run my own blog. I’m constantly taking off a hat and swapping it in for the next one. In a world that seems like we can have it all, can we actually really have it all?
My answer is yes, however, it’s not an easy yes.
You see, I wouldn’t want to be a woman in any other time period in history other than right now. At the same time, sometimes I wonder how easy it must of have been when women didn’t have the options to work, go to school or build companies. They didn’t have to balance it all, but they are the reason I take balancing it all so seriously. I think of all the women who had dreams like mine, visions like mine, and goals like mine yet weren’t able to perform those goals or see their visions come to pass because the times didn’t allow them to. That’s why we must fight hard and stubbornly, to have it all. We must give every aspect of our lives attention and nurture our business, children, husbands, and whatever else we have going on exactly with care. We must give everything in our lives time and when it is time to turn off business mode and enter into mommy mode we must do it, unapologetically.
Yes, YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL, but it’s not an easy yes. It’s a yes that we have to fight for. A yes that requires attention and nurture. Balance. I believe in you! Don’t stop working on your dream, don’t stop being the best mother you can be, don’t stop making date nights with your husband, and don’t stop kicking butt in school or at work! Do it all with spunk, humility, happiness and boldness. Continue to fight for it all and have it all for the women who came before us and the girls who are looking to us. We can do it.
With love and smiles,
Torrie.
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