Maya Angelou visited my Alma Mater today. Since I couldnt be in attendance. I will dedicate this post to her . ENJOY!

Love All Over Me

My day was going fine. I was cleaning up the house. I turned on the television . Watched VH1 Soul . And to my surprise it was the Monica Soul Story. They played her old school jams and it got me reminiscing . I was jamming. Then "Love All Over Me" came on and it changed my whole day. This is one of my favorite songs by her . I think it truly captures the feeling of what love should be. You can hear it in her voice. As I watched,I remembered that , Shannon Brown , the lead guy in the video is now her real life husband. Just last year this time she broke up with her boyfriend and the father of her children Rocko. I have been thinking about this scenario all day. The guy who pretended to be her husband...is NOW REALLY her husband. How awesome it that? This taught me a few things. Be careful what you do or say cause it can turn into reality. The second lesson is that break ups are meant to elevate you to a hook up. All that time she spent with someone who didn't really value who she was. According to blogs, he was always guilty of infidelity .She finally decided to let that go and found someone who adores her. I figured if GOD could do that for her ...I know he can do that for me. Sometimes in relationships both men and women , we hold on to whatever we can. We will settle for whatever we can get. Just to have that person in out lives ...afraid to lose them . When sometimes its better to admit its not meant to be. I have had to make a decision. Do I want to be with someone who I have to force to fit or someone tailor made for me? The time I spend pulling teeth and begging ..I could use with someone who wants to shower me with a new beginning. From the ugliest heartache can come a beautiful surprise. Monica sparked something in me today. She gave me hope and renewed my faith in relationships and love. It also reminded that what GOD has for me is for me. Relationships were designed to teach a lesson ..to propel you to the next person your supposed to be with . Love is a journey with bumps and glitches along the way ..but once you reach the final destination one will find it was all worth it in the end. The moral of today's story is that love can find you and it can be beautiful. At least I hope so.

Expiration Date

"When people show you who they are. BELIEVE them the first time"-Maya Angelou .

As 2010 ended , I found myself trying to see the good in people around me.Attempting to look past all their imperfections and shortcomings in their relationship with me . Giving them a second chance. Hoping for the best because I wanted to to. But to no surprise , nothing changed. GOD uses people in our lives to show us a few things. That their season has expired or its time for you to move on. There is no sense in holding on to friendships, associations, or relationships that has no purpose. I guess in the end when you have wiped your hands clean of a failed relationship. You can at least say you tried..right ? But to what emotional expense? I love the saying , " When you know better , you do better" . If someone in your life has a pattern of being inconsistent , insensitive, indecisive, untruthful , conniving, malicious, or hurtful. Thank them. Now you know which course of action to take ..... your expectations won't be so high. As 2011, takes off , I will take all those lessons of having high expectations of people. And use them as a stepping stone to growth and knowledge. People take the lead from you. They treat you how you allow them to.

Stress Factors

For the past few weeks all the things I have been stressing over, have been coming right together. Ill stay up all night for a test. Worried losing sleep. When I walk into class the test is cancelled. My agenda is filled and I can't detect whether I'm coming or going ...and then out the blue the events get cancelled. At that point ..its a sigh of relief . I'm starting to really understand the saying that what GOD has for me is for me. I learned over the weekend from a mentor these simple things. Why are you stressed and worried over things that GOD has already designed. Why do you think that you can dictate and plan your life out just the way you want it to;When you didn't even have control your own birth ? That stuck out for me . How can I be so preoccupied with the unknown. Its UNKNOWN for a reason, and there is no need in losing valuable sleep over it . What good is a movie or book when you already know the ending?Gotta stay tuned or keep reading to get to the end.

Stripped

All good things must come to an end. The question is whether or not you are brave enough to let it go? But, just because they come to an end doesn't mean they wont come back around. Life is all about seasons. Drought , famine , overflow and abundance are all apart of life . I sat in church on Sunday and the pastor delivered an awesome message about hope. Hope goes a little bit further than faith . Faith is the substance of the things hoped for . But , hope is an attitude. Hope is even when your in the mist of going through, you still believe that things will get better. Hope is letting go and knowing that whatever you think you lost GOD will replace with something bigger and better.

In my two decades of living , I have learned that as soon as you let go ... GOD will bless you. There is no need holding on to something that is dead . It's like this ...would you rather hold on to something that you want ...or hold on to something that GOD has planned for your life? It takes GOD snatching you from your comfort zone and stripping you of affiliations and relationships to elevate you to where you need to be. Imagine being on an island all by yourself. A small piece of land, surrounded by water on all sides. Just you. Stripped of everything. No car. No clothes . No computers. No music. No people. Free of distractions. You would be forced to survive. Forced to make things work. Forced to make do. Forced to find new ways to live.Forced to let GOD guide you. At some point in our lives GOD will put us on our own personal islands, in a world of chaos and reality. He does this to transform us into our better selves. Distractions deter us from where we need to be, and the sooner you let those things go ..the possibilities are endless.

Love Hunt

Every little girl dreams of the knight in shining armour that will come rescue them. With a gold plated chest, dreamy eyes and hair blowing in the wind. Just like something out of a movie. He will come riding in with gifts and love . From there live in a mystical castle living happily ever after .That's until you wake up ..realize its a dream and come back to reality. For the last few weeks I have been trying to decipher why I have this infatuation with love?

According to the dictionary, love is defined as a strong regard or emotion for someone. Ultimately , I believe love is such a strong emotion it defies definition. Its relevant to whomever is in it. If I had to design love , I would craft it to be everlasting, unconditional and unbreakable. It would be constructed to bring out the best in individuals , helpful and forgiving. The special features would include an unspoken language and so strong bribery is not included.

Whenever love comes up in a room of soon-to-be successful young impressionable women...we all say the same things about ourselves. We have obtainable goals set, beauty and brains, speak eloquently , can hold an intelligent conversation..blah blah blah the list goes on . We have yet to FIND someone who can appreciate all the things we have to offer. As I start to get older I realize that's the problem . WE shouldn't be looking for anything. We should be found. Such a hard concept to understand...I'm 22 and I'm just starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together. I want to be right where I need to be , so when he finds me ...he wont have to look any further.

Love is something you don't go searching for. When you forget about it and just live life .It finds you when you least expect it to. There are negative images of love and commitment theses days. With Tiger Woods and his infidelity. can't forget the Chris Brown/Rhianna ..Drunk PUNCH kinda love. But then there are also positive ones like the popular Barack and Michelle Obama and Will Smith and Jada. They are like the saviors for Black love. Even with the ugliness that love sometimes brings , I still see the beauty in it .The ability to love is a gift. One that I'm not willing to give to just anyone. Sometimes spending time loving the wrong people, carrying baggage and not letting go of the past is a hindrance to give love a chance. Love can be a gift and a curse. Spreading it all over the place isn't wise. But I can say, I wont go looking for it in the trees, small crevices and corners , or dark alleys. I'm going to let it find me...instead of going on a love scavenger hunt.

PRETTY People Do The UGLIEST Things

It's so funny sometimes how relationships that you once had ...soon fade to black . How someone you love ..hurts you the most . I have come to the conclusion that jealousy and envy bring out the worst in people. No matter how talented , beautiful, humble or well off they are . Sometimes a person must step outside of themselves ..to see how UGLY they truly are. It's like life has a sense of humor. How can the one thing that is supposed to bring individuals together ...snatch them apart? Witnessing the love that you once had for people turn to hate ...is such a hurtful process to endure. NEVER allow anyone to get the best of you.

I found this awesome Chinese proverb it simply states, " He who seeks vengeance must dig two graves: One for his enemy and one for himself." It means that when you take the time to hurt others who have hurt you...you only end up hurting yourself. One of the most hypocritical things one can do is become a reflection of the people they despise so much. Never taking into account their recent transformation. Turning the other cheek is easier said than done but, its the healthiest route. The amount of time your using to lose sleep , you can be planting into something else like purpose. Enemies can only do to you...what you allow. My father always told me ...don't allow people to rent space in your head ...with YOUR permission. Be the bigger person. Move on. Let it go. Fighting fire with fire only causes a larger flame...so let it die out slowly. God will use your enemies as your foot stool to elevate you to higher heights. You should never have a hand in someone's downfall or seek revenge. No one can take care of your enemies better than GOD.

These simple sayings are so profound. Treat others the way you want to be treated and what goes around comes around. Don't do to others what people has been done to you. Be reassured that GOD will take care of those who cast evil against. The sooner these lessons are learned the better off you shall be.