YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW

YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW

There are two days in every week about which we should not worry.
Two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension.

One of these days is yesterday with its mistakes and cares,
Its faults and blunders, Its aches and pains.
Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control.
All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday.
We cannot undo a single act we performed.
We cannot erase a single word we said. Yesterday is gone.

The other day we should not worry about is tomorrow.
With its possible adversities, Its burdens, 
Its large promise and poor performance.
Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control.
Tomorrow's Sun will rise, either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds, 
but it will rise.
Until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is yet unborn.
This just leaves only one day . . . Today.
Any person can fight the battles of just one day.
It is only when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternity's -
yesterday and tomorrow that we break down.
It is not the experience of today that drives people mad.
It is the remorse or bitterness for something which happened yesterday 
and the dread of what tomorrow may bring.

Let us therefore live but one day at a time.

~ Author Unknown ~
(Possible author Jennifer Kritsch)

Does Life begin at 40?

It has been almost 2 months since my BIG 40!!!  I did not post on my birthday. I approached turning 40 as this  glorified event, hoping that my life would magically change. Oh it has...I've have to make some big girl decisions and really face some of my fears.

What 40 now means to me... it means that I am still searching to find out who I am. It means, not being negative and learning to accept change.  It means, not using "can't", "hard", and "fear" as go to words in my everyday vocabulary.  It's about learning how to say "no" without guilt. It's about asking for help without feeling like a burden or a failure. It's about learning to let go and taking chances.  It's about seeing what is beyond your front door.  Turning 40 is about...ME!!!

Appreciating Everything

Appreciate those who have hurt you, because they strengthen your heart
Appreciate those who deceive you, because they improve your wisdom
Appreciate those who slander against you, because they improve your personality
Appreciate those who whip you because they arouse your will to fight
Appreciate those who abandon you, because they teach you independence
Appreciate those who make you stumble, because they strengthen your legs
Appreciate those who denounce you, because they remind you of your shortcomings
Appreciate those who give you strength

- Unknown

Life Begins At 40

I just filed for divorce. I'm divorcing my past, divorcing my pain, divorcing my doubt, and divorcing my setbacks. The judge gave me full custody of my destiny, full custody of my call, full custody of my life. Divorce yourself from your past so that your future can be released...

3days, 17hrs, 40mins, 10sec until my 40th Birthday!

A Mid Summer's Night Pampering Dream. 21 Days of Pampering Bliss...For Your Mind, Body, & Soul.

pam·per verb \ˈpam-pər\transitive verb: to treat with extreme or excessive care and attention.

Pampering isn't only about getting a mani and a pedi. Pampering is an expression of self- love, self -discovery, and selflessness. The pampering experience should engage the entire being, as it is a holistic form of self-care.  It's also about feeding your mind, body, and soul. Pampering should be a priority in one's life!   It shouldn't be viewed as something you have to put on your "to do" list. It should come as naturally, as washing your face and brushing your teeth. 

Is pampering really that easy?  It can be...but not if you're not catering to your mind, body, and soul.   If you are only paying attention to the outside, and your appearance, and not nurturing the inside, and feeding your spirit, then the pampering experience is a total failure. Why? Because then you're focusing on  superficial characteristic and not your entire spiritual being.

For 21days, starting today, I will post 21 pampering gems that will catering to your, mind, body, and soul!   Ladies... there are GIVEAWAYS as a part of the 21 Days of Pampering Bliss!  My first giveaway is a gift basket from Raw Ingredients. It contains Sexy Body Butter, Sexy Body Scrub & Mango and Coconut Soap.  Click on Raw Ingredients link to learn more about the products.http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kinky-Kurly-Naturally-Me/190655580968229#!/pages/Raw-Ingredients/309837959704

See contest rules...http://naturallyme40.blogspot.com/p/21-days-of-pampering-bliss-contest.html

The Power Of One

The Power Of One

          One song can spark a moment,
         One flower can wake the dream.
        One tree can start a forest,
       One bird can herald spring.
     One smile begins a friendship,
    One handclasp lifts a soul.
    One star can guide a ship at sea,
    One word can frame the goal.

    One vote can change a nation,
    One sunbeam lights a room.
     One candle wipes out darkness,
      One laugh will conquer gloom.
        One step must start each journey,
           One word must start each prayer.
               One hope will raise our spirits,
                  One touch can show you care.

                         One voice can speak with wisdom,
                             One heart can know what's true.
                                One life can make the difference,
                                   You see, IT'S UP TO YOU!

~ Author Unknown~

Bump in the Road...And this too shall pass.

I missed my six month nappiversary post on June 20, 2011.  I hit a road block and I know that this too shall pass.  The roadblock wasn't about my hair...it was about life.  Sometimes, life gets in the way.  Just when you think you have it all under control...BAM! You hit a roadblock.  The worst thing that you can do when life happens is to panic.  I had to let go and let God... This hasn't always come easy for me.  I was always considered the "strong" one.  A "superwoman".  Well, it's not what it is all cracked up to be.  I have taken off the cape and relinquished my "strong, black, woman" title. 

As I have stated in previous posts, I am trying to find out who I am.  I will no longer allow others or labels to define me.  Boy, it has been a rocky road.  But it is a road that has to be traveled.  Some will come along and others will be left behind.  All I know is that I will keep the faith, and ask for help along the way.  Asking for help is not a bad or weak trait... a real "strong woman' that will ask for help.  As my four year old daughter said to me, "Mommy big girls can't always do everything by themselves, they sometime need to ask for help." Out of the mouth of babes often comes gems!

The Awakening

Photo Courtesy of PhotoMedia Diaries by Dani

http://www.photomediadiaries.com/

The AwakeningSonny Carroll There comes a time in your life when you finally get it ... When in the midst of all your fears and insanity you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere the voice inside your head cries out "ENOUGH! Enough fighting and crying or struggling to hold on." And, like a child quieting down after a blind tantrum, your sobs begin to subside, you shudder once or twice, you blink back your tears and through a mantle of wet lashes you begin to look at the world from a new perspective. ..........This is your awakening.

I always try to post some inspirational pieces that coincides with my journey in hopes that whomever reads it can relate.  I share this because...I want to, I need to, I have to.

"I Am Me and I am okay!

My Declaration of Self-Esteem - "I Am Me"
Virginia Satir

In all the world there is no-one else exactly like me.

Everything that comes out of me is authentically mine because I alone chose it.

I own everything about me; my body, my feelings, my mouth, my voice, all my actions, whether they be to others or to myself - I own all my triumphs and successes, all my failures and mistakes, because I own all of me.



Photo Courtesy of PhotoMedia Diaries by Dani

http://www.photomediadiaries.com/



I can become intimately acquainted with me. By so doing I can love me and be friendly with me in all my parts. I know there are aspects about myself that puzzle me and other aspects that I do not know, but as long as I am friendly and loving to myself, I can courageously and hopefully look for solutions to the puzzles and for ways to find out more about me.

However I look and sound, whatever I say and do, and whatever I think and feel at a given moment in time is authentically me. If later some parts of how I looked, sounded, thought and felt turn out to be unfitting, I can discard that which is unfitting, keep the rest, and invent something new for that which I discarded. I can see, hear, feel, think, say and do - I have the tools to survive, to be close to others, to be productive, and to make sense and order out of the world of people and things outside of me.

I own me, and therefore I can engineer me - I am me and I am okay.

What is your deepest fear?

Kinky, Kurly, Naturally..Me, the blog is not only about hair, it's also about the journey...mostly about the journey. Kinky, Kurly, Naturally Me... is a platform for me to share my journey and to inspire others in their life's mission.  Here is another inspirational piece that I have added to my journal and use it as an affirmation!  Enjoy!

Our Deepest Fear

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others."

~ Marianne Williamson - from "A Return To Love" ~