Ms. Guided in Life

As I turn another year older, I cannot help but be thankful for the life lessons I learned this past year. It has been a tough year with my parents’ health issues and taking on a new role of being a caregiver. I learned that if I take things day by day and focus on what needs to be done, it is easier to stay on track. I gained a sense of control during an overwhelming period. The biggest lesson I learned during this year is that self-care is essential.   On my way to a quick weekend trip to Dublin, Ireland, I was reminded of this when the safety procedure video touched on the part to place the oxygen mask on yourself first, then to the child sitting next to you. For many months, I was giving a lot of myself to others and I felt depleted. I have been doing a lot of self-reflecting which is something I do a lot, all the time.   I have decided to make this new year in my life a memorable one. To allow me to continue to learn and grow; to practice more self-care, and allow m...

I've been away for a bit not because I didn't want to write, it's because I've learned a very important lesson these past few months.  First and foremost, thank you for reading my little blog.  After all, writing has always been one of the ways I practice self-care. A lot has happened and most of it involves my parents' health and other responsibilities that I wasn't quite ready to experience just yet, but they are finally here and there is no turning back. Looking back, I'm surprised at how easily it is to forget to take care of oneself. I've been so busy focusing on everyone else, that I placed myself in the back burner in hopes that I would return a lot sooner than later. Five months later (to be exact), I have regained most of the weight I had lost last year, and reality hit me in the face when I looked in the mirror and I couldn't believe that I had let myself go. I lost all of my body shape from going to the gym for many months before I sto...

It's hard to put into words but I can tell you that I'm going through a transition in my life that is quite profound. In the last few months, I have conquered a few things that I thought were impossible. New projects at work and new things at home have made me grow up and have opened my eyes to who I want to be and what I want to do in my life. My mom underwent two surgeries within a four-month period and taking care of her has opened up my eyes to what's really important in life.

I love challenges and I love them, even more, when I accomplish them.  My co-worker decided to challenge us to a 30-day challenge inspired by hip-hop superstar Missy Elliott. We discovered that Missy Elliott lost more than 20 pounds by quitting two things: Bread and sugary drinks.  I have been trying to get myself motivated to eat healthier and focus more on my health this year but with everything going on in my personal life, I decided that this challenge would be a great way to get things started.

Hi everyone! I have been going through somethings in my personal life that were slowly changing my way of thinking. As humans, we are so used to looking at the negative side of things. I was slowing falling into that routine of only looking at the inconveniences of things that life brings us.  Three weeks ago, I received my jury duty summons and I got more upset when I saw that I was on-call on my week of Spring Break from work.  I was bummed out.  If you know me very well, you know that I try to take advantage of my vacation time to travel and do fun things.  I called in and the operator said that my group wasn't scheduled to appear on Monday morning.  I used that day to file my taxes and visit my aunts.  On Monday evening, I checked the county superior court website and I saw clearly that I had to report on Tuesday morning at 8:00 am.   I woke up bright and early and reported to jury duty.  I was selected to a courtroom an...

I think that almost everyone has a few things that they don't like about themselves.  I'm guilty of being one of those people. In my personal belief, there are a few things that happen to a woman when they are in their thirties that I'm calling a "shift."  What am I talking about exactly?  Let me explain. When I was much younger, I hated my curly hair. It was a nightmare to style and I envied women who could wake up, run the comb through their hair and walk out the door.  It was a process just to make sure that my hair wasn't overly taken by the humidity and my time getting ready to walk out of the door was so long. Nowadays, I love my curly hair.  I've accepted it as is and for some reason, I've learned to accept it.  I have noticed that the best hair days are when I don't do too much to it. I shower in the mornings, put leave-in conditioner, style it a little with hair gel, and let it air dry in my tight curls. Another thing I didn't ful...