by Altimese Nichole | Nov 17, 2015 | Learn + Grow
In life, it’s so easy to express appreciation and gratitude when things are going well, all of our loved ones are healthy, and the journey is going smoothly. However, what about the times when it seems like our backs are against the wall, our children are sick, and it appears as if there is no end to the chaos?
Here are some tactics that can help you maintain a heart of gratefulness while dealing with moments of difficulty:
- Mediate on Good Things
When facing hard times, we often worry about the outcome which leads to us speaking about our concerns. This actually places more focus on the issue instead of minimizing its presence in our lives. When going through a trail, be intentional about your thoughts. Cast your cares and mediate on the good things in your life—even if that’s simply focusing on the gift of life in your body. By mediating on good things, your problems will receive less of your attention and your gratitude will supersede its presence.
- Be Intentional with Time
Difficult circumstances make it hard to maintain positivity and focus on the other great things in our lives. It can be easy to simply flow through your days but these are the times that intention matters. Going with the flow creates an environment that is reactive vs. proactive. Come deliberate with your time and what you choose to focus on. Spend more time reading books that address how successful people overcome and less time watching reality TV drama. Become self-aware of the thoughts you have—cast down the negative ones by replacing them with counter thoughts that create positivity. If we truly attended to personal growth and development as we should (in addition to our normal roles and responsibilities), we would have no time for condemnation and self-pity.
- Volunteer
A few years ago, I volunteered at a women’s shelter in the city of Atlanta. We provided a nail spa day for the ladies and many of the women shared their stories with the volunteers. One woman shared with me that she graduated from Howard University with a Communications degree and worked at some of the most reputable household and entertainment brands. During the course of her career, she connected with a group of people who introduced her to drugs (one of those drugs was crack/cocaine). As a result, she lost her home, her job, and ultimately the life she knew. Through it all, she had such a huge heart full or gratitude. She spoke with me with tears in her eyes through the pain and a smile on her face because of her gratitude. She said that she no longer gets to pamper herself, especially with manicures so my attention toward her made her day.
Spending time with her and many of the women who had similar stories reminded me of grace and mercy. Through all of my situations that I was facing, it was only because of grace and mercy that I wasn’t me. I am no different from her. WE are no different. That one experience changed my perspective for the better, helping me realized that we should never take anything for granted. Even when things seem at their worst, we can always find a glimpse of hope and gratitude.
- Create a Gratitude Jar
Have you heard of a gratitude jar? It’s a DIY project that can spark creativity while taking your mind off of today’s issues. Additionally, once the actual jar is designed to your liking, you write thing that you’re grateful for on little sheets of paper. Do this whenever you think of it and have the time so when you need a pick-me-up, you can reach for your jar and read the things you’re grateful for. I put dates on mine to help me remember the great things through my journey.
Here’s an example of a gratitude jar. You can also create a gratitude journal (these actually exist for those who are not DIY’ers) or a faith book which highlights favorite scriptures, faith testimonies, and answered prayers.
What are some of the things that help you maintain gratitude through difficult storms?
by Altimese Nichole | Nov 10, 2015 | Learn + Grow
Do you know the difference between being kind and being nice? To be nice means to display an agreeable demeanor or to appear friendly. Kindness is an act of intent to show a loving gesture toward another through behavior or good deeds.
As we’re quickly approaching the holiday season, we often think about great food, great laughs, and quality time with our loved ones. Unfortunately, this time of year also brings a lot of painful memories for many who suffer in silence.
It time for us to go beyond the surface of being nice to others and become more intentional through acts of kindness. For 30 days, I challenge you to complete at least one kind deed for 30 days. Here are some ideas to help you get started:
- Pay for the person’s coffee in front or behind you in the morning
- Pay for someone’s lunch
- Help someone bring grocery to their car
- Offer to help a friend with a tedious project or task
- If you know a family with a newborn, cook them a meal and bring it to them
- Offer to babysit for a night to help a couple have a much needed date night.
- Encourage someone to pursue their goals
- Write a letter of recommendation via LinkedIN for a colleague
- Surprise someone with a card in the mail
- Spark a “Pay It Forward” Sticky note challenge in your workplace
How and for who is totally up to you but feel free to use some of these to help you get started!
Do you have any more to add to the list? If so, please share them with the STRONG readers! We would love to hear them!
by Altimese Nichole | Nov 3, 2015 | Learn + Grow
Have you heard of The Law of Attraction? It’s a thought philosophy that like attracts like. This simply means that in life, we attract the things that we are within us. Whether good, bad, or indifferent—we attract the things and people that are merely a reflection of what’s within.
Although the theory is debatable by many, I am a firm believer that that is true because I’ve seen it play out in my life personally. Additionally, the philosophy has a foundation of belief – which further reinforces truth behind the concept that we attract what we put out. For example, in the word of God, we’re told to BELIEVE FIRST and we will SEE it manifest later. Regardless of the circumstances, we’re told to stand on faith and believe that our perception will become our reality. It all starts within.
I’ve lived this out for years. A professional mentor (that’s a CMO of a globally recognized company and home brand) share with me one of her secrets to success:
“I don’t think about where I am. I visualize where I want to be. I go beyond visualizing through living my life as if it’s already happened. For every promotion, I’ve found someone in the company that had the type of role I wanted next. I would observe and study the person’s behaviors, how they interacted with peers, and learned more about their work ethic… and I would imitate them. I’d put my one personal spin one what I found as my next professional stepping stone. You can’t have what you don’t believe you deserve or you can see. If you can see yourself there, then it’s yours.”
From marriage, to career moves… her wisdom has held great truth for me. I’ve taught myself to live my life through the lens of my future self, and my physical and current circumstances will simply align with time.
Have you experienced the Law of Attraction in your life? Share with the STRONG leaders how it’s had an impact on your life.
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.
by Torrie Oglesby | Oct 25, 2015 | Learn + Grow
Dear 20 something soul,
Something #6
BE THERE FOR YOUR FRIENDS
Time is too short. Life is unpredictable. The time you have with your friends now may not be there forever. People move, get married, get promotions and time vanishes. While you have the time be there for your friends. Boys come and go. Unless He has put a ring on it, don’t ever pass up a moment to be with your girlfriends for him. He can wait. Your friends matter. How you treat them matter. If you want to be close in your thirties then care about them, make time for them, and be there for them in your twenties.
Till next time,
20 something soul
by Altimese Nichole | Oct 25, 2015 | Learn + Grow
Every day, we have great power through the use of our words. We can speak life to our circumstances or we can speak what we see and feel into the atmosphere. Our words can brighten our day or remind us of the gloom or difficulty in our lives.
Although much easier said than done, here are some tips that can help you fuel your words to the direction you desire.
- Read your Bible
The Word of God is full of amazing words or wisdom when it comes to the power of words, our thoughts, and our feelings. If you’re struggling in this area, I encourage you to read with the clear intention and direction. Make it a point to find all of the scriptures involving our words and study those scriptures. If initial studying is slightly difficult with you, check out our articles called Using SOAP with God.
- Review Yearly Goals
Writing goals help us to stay focused on the things that matter when our feelings of motivation as left us. Reading and reviewing our goals help us to keep in mind the bigger picture when the journey becomes tougher than we expected. When we remind ourselves of our WHY, we encourage ourselves through the HOW.
- Listen to motivational videos and podcasts
Though technology, we can chose to be reactive to the information we receive or be intentionally proactive with the type of content we let into our lives. Through Facebook, our timelines are full of things and people we CHOOSE to follow and connect ourselves with. Want more positivity? Simply add more positive things and people to your friends list and pages, while hiding the negativity. Simply click the hide button over status updates or go to the person’s page and click unfollow updates. This leaves the friendship or connection intact without the interference of your desired timeline environment. YouTube “Motivational videos†and the “Power of Your Word,†and prepare to fill up with great content.
We all get off course with our words, and that’s okay! It’s up to recognize when we get off course and be intentional about getting back on track. Use your words to fuel your success, love life, and future. Your words contain power so be very intentional about the power you’ve been given.
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