by Altimese Nichole | Sep 23, 2015 | Learn + Grow
What are some of your ways that you release unaddressed emotion? What is your routine for reflecting on your day? Pondering on our day-to-day experiences help remind us that each day is a gift that shouldn’t be taken for granted and journaling is one way to reflect upon our gift of life.
Have you ever thought about journaling? Here are a few highlights of the many benefits for journal writing:
- The ability to get it out
Throughout a day, we encounter many different interactions, moments, actions, and emotions. The majority of us deal with it all and simply move forward—or worst, we’re so in a routine that we don’t bother to truly experience the days we’re blessed with. When we keep a journal, it helps us to capture the moments throughout the day. It also helps us to truly stop and think about what we experience, and how it impacted our feelings.
- Increases healthy personal expression
True expression and communication takes courage. In today’s society, we’re encouraged to embrace true identity as the media and magazines remind us of what this should “look” like. Social media, although amazingly innovative through connection and engagement, it can also hinder our ability to truly express ourselves through true communication. Journaling creates a private platform where we can share true feelings (without fear of judgement or reaction) and work our way through healing. It’s a form of personal therapy and can help us to effectively express ourselves with others because we grow to have a better understanding of ourselves.
- Looking back to see how far you’ve come
As you create a habit of journaling, it is truly an amazing experience to go back and read your prayers, hurts, disappointments, and defining moments. My husband and I got married in April and I had to purge some things in the house to merge our lives together. While purging the office, I came across my journals from high school and college! Can you image that?! I read through the pages—so completely humbled by the young beautiful woman that wrote those letters to God—and blown away by how each prayer was answered. Some took months, some took years but they manifested. I’m so grateful for that beautiful moment that day on the office floor. I wouldn’t have had that without my journals.
Journaling is a wonderful way to reconnect to your core. It can happen wherever you are, whenever you want, however you want to do it. It’s our personal way to give love and time to our hearts while blessing ourselves with the ability to look back on the progress!
Want more inspiration that can help you journey and get your story out? Join us for STRONGchatLiveAtlanta on September 26, 2015 from 12:00p-3:30p! Let’s learn to write to live!!!
by Altimese Nichole | Sep 21, 2015 | Faith + Expressions
It is said that you can tell where one’s heart resides by the things (or people) he or she spends the most time and money. It’s a very true statement but can I be honest? As I type this I feel conviction in my spirit. As a woman of God, I say (and truly believe) that God is the most important in my life. But is that reflecting in my time with him? Do I talk to him daily and allow time of silence so I can truly hear His voice when he responds? What about my time in His word. Can that be better?
Absolutely.
However, in all transparency—I knew that I had to do more than simply read. I had to STUDY. I did a bit of research on how to truly study the Word of God as a beginner (meaning a newbie at truly studying and digesting the context of God’s word). While searching, I found this amazing method called SOAP.
The acronym, SOAP means “Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer.†How amazing is that? It helps the people like me create a bit of focus and structure to my study time. I seek a scripture that I want to set my mind on for the day, and follow the soap method to go a bit deeper into my time with God. It’s helped me a lot with doing more than just reading—but truly finding ways to apply what I’m reading to my life.
What methods do you use to study the Bible?
by Altimese Nichole | Sep 16, 2015 | Learn + Grow
Life is real and sometimes we face challenging times that make us feel as if the next step forward is a thousand miles away. When this happens, here are a few ways to help you during the difficult times in your life:
- Hit the Reset Button
When we hit road blocks in life, the blow can hit us so hard that we lose focus on the bigger picture. Understand that this is okay. It’s called life and the longer we live, the more we experience. When we experience curve balls in life, take a moment to step back and remind yourself of the WHY in your life. This is called hitting your reset button. Your WHY is the things, people, or mission that keep you motivated in life. By taking a moment of reflection (the sooner the better), the more you can embrace the inevitable while remaining in grace and focus through your process.
- Fight thoughts of Negativity
Sometimes we can become our worst enemy through our condemning and self-destructive thoughts. The battlefield begins in our minds; we can make ourselves think we are in the best position possible or the worst circumstance imaginable. Make the effort to cast down negative thoughts that linger because they will simply make root in your heart. To fight your thoughts, speak to them. (Sounds crazy, right? Good. Try it.) When thoughts arise to remind you of the problem you’re facing, speak life (or your desired outcome) aloud. It’s impossible to have your thoughts contradict your words—eventually one must align and words take precedence. Speak life to your situation and watch it shift, first with your mind and then into your reality.
- Find Your Happy Place
Think of the things that make you happy. Is it cooking? Singing? For me personally, my happy place is reading, writing, and nature. They’re my place of escape when I desire to mentally take a break. Seek your happy place to help you find your balance. It can’t make your problems go away but will help shift your mood while you’re in it.
- Spend time with your Core Loved Ones
Relationships matter and the within the core of our hearts reside our core support system. When life gets a little difficult, tune in deeper to the people you love. In addition to reminding you that you’re never alone, they help you cope with moments of hard times. Stay connected and spend time with your core.
Although adversity is inevitable, it’s up to us to ensure the direction of how the issues of life impact us long after they are gone. We can allow them to make us bitter… or better. The choice is ours. Since the only way through it is “Through It,” add these tips to your resource tool box for those rainy days.
by Altimese Nichole | Sep 16, 2015 | Family + Relationships
From the moment we inhale our first breath of life, relationships are formed. Our young minds soak up the value of relationships through the visual behavior of the adults in our lives. We either learn the invested time needed to create strong relationships or we learn a lack of significance in maintaining the connections with others. Either path chosen, this all shapes our vision of relationships.
No matter how you decide to slice it, dice it, or divide it…relationships matter. They remind us that we’re never going through the journey alone. They help us grow. They help us move closer to our purpose. Through the good and bad, relationships are the very foundation of life- first beginning with our relationship with God.
Relationships are like gardens. They require time, patience, and a heart to nurture. Gardens that are unattended to eventually die and simply return to dust. They go through seasons of little growth and seasons of fruitful harvest. When we invest serious time, if we’re lucky—the seeds we plant become so deeply rooted that even when it “looks” as if there is no growth or activity on the surface, the roots continue to run deep.
Relationships are no different.
If you find yourself unsatisfied with the relationships that you’re surrounded by, evaluate the amount of time and care that you’re investing toward the core source of life.
Roll up your sleeves and nurture those gardens that we often call relationships.
by Altimese Nichole | Aug 27, 2015 | Learn + Grow
Feelings are undeniable and inevitable. We all have them and it’s unwise of us to ignore them. Feelings remind us that we’re human. Although they have a way of reminding us we’re still among the land of the living, they also remind us that people can hurt us, let us known, or completely upset us to no end.
We have no way to control the feelings we feel. They’re natural and valid when they arise. However, we can certainly choose how we respond to those feelings. The behaviors that follow how we feel internally express the emotions that accompany how we feel. Most of the time that’s a great thing! Some of the time, that can be a destructive thing as well.
Never confuse a feeling with an emotion. Feelings are internal; emotions are displayed externally. YES. Acknowledge those feelings. When someone hurts or disappoints us, respect the feelings and honor them. In addition to giving our feelings a chance to come and go freely—it is also an internal expression of self-love and self-worth. We have every right to feel how we feel and face that feeling with embrace means it’s worthy of validation. Feelings are neither right nor wrong. They are simply in existence to help us FEEL the life we’re blessed with. Once you honor those feelings, truly think about your external response to the feeling—because we’re responsible for the emotions that follow. It’s the art of self-awareness.
Have you ever witnessed a person calmly communicate their disappointment or pain while conveying how they feel with respect and love? It’s a beautiful thing that takes self-awareness. The act of self-awareness means to have a conscious (or intentional) knowledge of one’s own character, feelings, motives, and desires. It’s critical that we become self-aware of our feelings so our emotions aren’t detrimental to our relationships— or cause our situations to become worse as a result of our response to the circumstance.
Self-awareness isn’t automatic and it takes practice. So when you encounter life’s experiences, feel it and then practice the act of self- awareness. Strive for an intentional knowledge of your feelings, motives, and desires. Seek understanding behind the root of your feelings. Crave the exposure of core motives and desires. Do all of this before a response. Once we respond, we can’t undo the emotions that are shared with others. Also- if we truly act in self-awareness, it helps us to not point fingers for the feelings we feel and helps us to address WHY the feeling manifested.
How do you start to work on self- awareness? Practice, practice, practice and then be kind to yourself when you don’t meet the mark that you’re striving for. It will happen. Again, it will happen. So when it happens- repeat this process with kindness and love– toward yourself.
Feelings are intended to allow you to FEEL the beautiful journey of life. Become very familiar and welcoming to those feelings—as you master your response to them through self-awareness.
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