FOUR-tunate
On 5, you ready? 1.... 2…3…4, Say Cheese! Did you do it? Are you smiling? Sometimes smiling is just involuntary reactions or responses to something, but they can be pretty contagious as well. That’s why I spend my days mentally reminding myself to smile. Plus I hate seeing people sit bitch faced all the time. Since I have you ladies smiling, I have to confess it was a setup. I wanted you smiling because I have something to say that you might not be happy to hear. Now I know I promised that this wouldn't be one of those blogs, but this week I’m bringing it out *stands on soapbox*. Not to preach, but just to serve as a reminder, a reminder not only for myself, but one for all my lovely ladies as well. As yall know this blog was created kind of as a dedication, it is meant to be a platform, and a showcase to support my sisters of the struggle, my sisters of the hustle, my sisters with goals and my sisters with dreams. I created this blog because I honest to God want everyone to be successful and I wanted to do everything I could to possibly help you get there. I swear influencing someone and helping people are some of the things I strive for. Pinky Promise it is. However I will admit that part of the reason I started this were a little selfish. A part of me was curious to know how many other ladies were out there working to make their dreams come true. I wanted to find people that could relate to me and where I am in my life. I guess I figured that I couldn’t be the only one going through this struggle. You know the struggle when you realize that the cotton candy happy little dreams that you have swirling around in your head came freely, but the hustle to achieve them was sold separately. They must have put that at the very end of the daydream credits and in the tiniest fine print of the goals contracts. I don’t know, maybe I just woke up too soon and didn’t read every line when I signed up for these fantasies of mine. Don’t get me wrong I knew it wouldn’t always be easy, but lately the struggle has been real. I’m going to be honest with yall because I know a lot of people seem to think I have everything together and all figured out, but I really don’t. My life is fair from perfect and I can prove it. The other day I checked my bank account and saw that I had $1 in my checking account and $1 in savings. I grabbed my purse went in my wallet and there was one $1 bill sitting in it and $1 in change. I sat there for the longest time just looking at my bank slips and my wallet then I did something I couldn’t even believe…I smiled. I had $4 to my name and I was sitting there smiling like it was $4,000,000. At first it didn’t make much sense to me, but then it was like a light bulb went off. Like literally it seemed like it finally clicked in my head and I realized how much I have grown and matured and how strong my faith has become since I’ve begun. So much has happened since I started on this journey and now I finally realized my worth. That’s something I struggled with understanding for a long time. Having confidence that went deeper then the physical, knowing that I was important and that my life mattered beyond reasons that I yet understood. That $4 made me connect the pieces of my psyche. I sat there and I started thinking back and I realized how much 4 had been a part of my life. I am the youngest of 4 girls and when I was in school typically I was 1 of 4 little chocolate faces in the crowd. 1 of 4 is how I was identified for a good amount of my life and it’s how I began to relate. I felt like I was just ¼. That’s it. I wasn’t a whole person I was just part of a group, a piece of a puzzle and nothing more. Now, I know I am so, SO much more. I think a lot of times we forget how important we are and we need to be reminded how fortunate we are. Today’s generation seems to be mistaking being fortunate with having a fortune. We focus so much of having the picture perfect life that we don’t acknowledge the frame. A picture may very well be worth 1000 words, but without the frame to protect it then it won’t be worth much very long. What I guess I’m trying to say if you don’t speak metaphors is take a step back and look at the whole image. Ask yourself are the dreams you are going for and the money you are out there chasing worth more then you are? Your dreams are your pictures, but you are the frame. I know girls who make $500, $700, $1200 and more a night dancing on stage, but they aren’t the same girls that I once knew. They’ve lost their worth for the worth of money. I’m not knocking anyone’s hustle, but I just know I’m worth so much more then the pieces of paper we throw around. To me there is no dream that is really worth losing myself to gain. No matter how glamorous the life may seem there is so much more to live for. Right now Love Yours by J.Cole is probably one of the realest songs I’ve heard in a minute and it’s currently on my hustle soundtrack. If you haven’t heard then pleaseee click the video below and listen! I didn’t interview anyone this week, but last week I was influenced by the images and beauty of Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, and Audrey Hepburn, but this week I want to showcase the beauty of their words. Read some of my favorite quotes from these ladies and what they mean to me below. I sincerely hope that they inspire you the way they inspired me. I’ll talk to you ladies next week.
J.Cole Love Yourz
Inspirational Quotes:
“Beneath the makeup and behind the smile I am just a girl who wishes for the world.” –Marilyn Monroe
I discovered this quote when I was 13. I felt solace in how regardless that she was constantly judge even though she was a super nova she still identified herself as just a girl. Her beauty was iconic and lives on today. This quote is one of the ones that remains in my brain and influences me that no matter how successful I become I will remember who I was when I started out.
“To all the girls that think you’re fat because you’re not a size zero you’re the beautiful one It’s society who’s ugly” – Marilyn Monroe
The inspiration that I got from this quote was obvious. It spoke to me when I was in middle school. I was about a size 14/16 and struggling with my confidence. This was hard because I was super skinny when I was in elementary school then I ballooned. Now I am smaller, but I still struggle with my weight. Today society promotes the Barbie Disney Princess shape so I know many girls still battle with weight images. To all the girls out there I want to say you are absolutely beautiful no matter if you’re a 2 or a 20 and all the sizes in between.
“Imperfection is beauty madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous that absolutely boring” –Marilyn Monroe
This quote encouraged me to be myself. Which in all honesty is pretty damn crazy. I had always felt like an odd ball from the start especially being in honors classes. I was already about one in four of the darker skinned tone students. I mean it’s hard to blend in when you are about 5’11 with a chocolate complexion. My creativity has always caused me to be alone and a little secluded. Now I would rather be happy, alone and unique then sad, with a bunch of friends, and bland.
“I don’t entirely approve of some of the things I have done, or am, or have been. But I’m me. God knows, I’m me” – Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor’s quotes I didn’t fully connect with until I was in my freshman semester in college. I was what most consider a good girl until this one weekend freshman year. I just decided to go for all the things I had talked about, but never had the nerve to do. That Thursday I had sex for the first time then that Friday I got my first tattoo, and that Saturday I got my tongue pierced. To say the least I turned up. Looking back I don’t regret any of my choices because that weekend I learned a lot about myself. Who I am today stems from that weekend.
“When people say ‘she’s got everything’, I’ve got one answer – I haven’t had tomorrow” -Elizabeth Taylor
One of my friends looked at me the other day and told me that she was jealous. I found it hard to believe. All I could do was look at the text message for a few minutes. I eventually asked her why she felt that way and she proceeded to tell me that I was living my dreams. I was flattered, but maybe I’m too close to my life to see everything that I’ve accomplished. To me I never feel like I’ve done enough I always think there is more to be done. I will never believe that there is something more that I can do. Elizabeth Taylor said it best while I may have a lot I won’t have tomorrow.
“Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick, and pull yourself together” –Elizabeth Taylor
This is probably one of my favorites. It’s one of the best pieces of advice I’ve been given. Even when I’m in my darkest moments and my saddest days I will pour myself a glass of wine, fix my face and get back to work. No matter how much I would rather pour myself some Tequila, keep my yoga pants on with no makeup and stay in bed. I know my dreams are worth so much more then another day off.
“Happy girls are the prettiest” – Audrey Hepburn
This quote is simple and to the point which is what I like about it. No matter how ‘bad’ a female is if she’s not happy then what’s the point? I would rather people call me ugly, talk about me all day long, and still smile. Happiness is the most important pat of success without it to me it seems pointless.
“Make-up can only make you look pretty on the outside, but it doesn’t help if you’re ugly on the inside. Unless you eat the make-up” –Audrey Hepburn
Image is a piece of us, but this generation seems to be running comepletly off of appearances. Which is why people are using makeup to recreate themselves into entirely new people. Ten pounds of makeup won’t make you anymore beautiful if at the end of the night when you wash it away you still have no confidence, no joy, and no love.
“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says I’m Possible” – Audrey Hepburn
This quote is one of my daily contributors. It is my reminder that I can do this. If I stay focused and keep my head just as high as my heels I can make my dreams come true. I’m sure all of these people that I idolize once looked at the people that influenced them the same way. They may not have believed they would make it either, but they did. So keep going ladies you can make your dreams come true.