To my younger self

Dear Young One,

You are special, honored and loved: People love you for who you are. You dont need to pretend to be someone else, or dress in a certain way, get a certain hairstyle, to make people like you. God loves you, Your family loves you and more importantly I love you and will always love you.

Dance like no one is watching, and Laugh out loudly: I know you feel like you dont have coordination but baby girl it gets better. Be confident and just go on and dance like no one is watching. Enjoy the jokes and laugh when you can. Laughter is the best medicine and will leave you feeling better in a short while. Enjoy every moment of life that you can because dear one, this is how we survive. This is what makes us human.

Friends are important: You will make many friends in your life time, with these guys you will have some of the best most cherished moments of your life.You will laugh, cry, grow and share everything. Cherish the friendship and be a good friend to your friends. For they will be there for you when the world seems dark and bleak. They will lift you up and put a smile on your face when things seem difficult.

Guard yourself: Take care of yourself. Your body is a gift.Take care of it, nurture it. I also mean that you have to be careful where you hang out, eat healthy, do exercises, yeah I know skiving games right now seems more appropriate but trust me honey, just take care of Barbara. Take your time to love, dont be too quick to love. Before you love somebody else, practise that love by first loving yourself for how can you love someone else if you cant love yourself?

Believe in Yourself: Girl your all that, and more. and dont let anyone tell you anything different. You can be ANYTHING that you want to be, anything that you believe that you can be, You WILL be. Don't worry, because I will be with you every step of the way and I mean every step.

Believe in Intuition: You are blessed so go ahead and believe in your own intuition, If it doesnt feel right it probably isn't, wear the shoe where it fits, wear only the cap thats your size, and If you like it and you can have it, Have it... as long as you are happy.

Dont Worry be happy: It will all work out, dont you worry about anything and any time you feel discouraged, you have to hold your head up high and think positive. don't worry, You wouldn't come across anything you cant handle, I will be here for you.

Be silly, be crazy, Dance in the rain: Do not be afraid to act your age, be gentle to yourself, love yourself, love the skin your in. For life's moments are best remembered in those times when we truly lived. trust me babe, you will look back at these times and smile, so just dance and sing in the rain and dont be scared to be silly.

People will treat you how you treat yourself: I know this may seem too complex for you to understand right now, but you are smart, people will treat you how you treat yourself, You know you are a winner, so begin loving yourself, and believe that you are indeed a beautiful girl and other people including that boy whom you think doesnt notice you when you smile, he will begin to treat you as you are.

There will be sad times: When nothing will seem to make sense, when you will be betrayed by friends, when you will be hurt by people you love, I am not even going to warn you about these moments because you are so strong and you will be able to move through this, you have always been smart, you have always been intuitive, and you will overcome all these situations. and even those times when you feel like the whole world is on your shoulders, I will be here for you, I will hold your hand.

Lastly, EAT:: LOVE::PRAY. Enjoy your food and eat well, Love and Be loved and Pray all the time.

Remember that you are beautiful just the way you are, maybe this may not make sense to you right now, but in time darling it will all make sense.

I love you Little one.

PS;; This entry is dedicated to my little sister and my little self, both of whom I love dearly.

Below is a poem I came across, it has encouraged me a great deal (I hope it will do the same to you) I read it everyday so that the words are engraved in my mind:

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 frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabolous?
Actually, who are we not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn't serve the world
There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people dont feel insecure around you
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us,
Its not just in some of us, it's in everyone.
And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission todo the same.
As we are liberated from our own fears, our presence automatically liberates others.

Adapted from :- A return to love by Marianne Williamson.

All I ever really want is to inspire and be inspired.

I am loved, honored, I am special, I am success, I am blessed so who needs stress. First, I must admit though that I need to be writing more often. Some time back, writing was my emancipation, I used to go to a coffee shop and just sit down and write, yeah, some may say that I was a loner, maybe I was, but I think I was me. Recently on twitter there has been a crazy debate about the new Erykah Badu window seat video, which was grossly misinterpreted by many. However, at this point, Ms. Badu has begun this sensitisation campaign about "Groupthink". Groupthink basically means that Individual creativity, uniqueness, and independent thinking are lost in the pursuit of group cohesiveness, as are the advantages of reasonable balance in choice and thought that might normally be obtained by making decisions as a group. During groupthink, members of the group avoid promoting viewpoints outside the comfort zone of consensus thinking. (via Wikipedia). Maybe I fell a victim to this, Hey girl do you wonna go out? In my head I'm thinking 'No, I dont want to go booze myself silly.... and hate myself later on' but groupthink forces me to go for what I dont need, what doesnt inpire me, what doesnt feed my soul. There's definitely no need for groupthink. At this juncture, I feel it wise to share some of the views being shared on twitter at the moment about groupthink.

> a body of individuals with individual brains yet act with one brain.Don't think outside the box.Conformists. I.e.Idiots. (via @2mi_Soyinka)

>the individual is often alienated or thought to be crazy/weird when they are really the only 1's making progress (via @SeraPhoenix)

>it'll make those individuals seem like polka dots in a sea of squares (via @KrowdPleaseHer)

>Societal Labels (sexuality, race, national policy) R The Biggest Examples of #GroupThink. &they are our daily life (via @ConnorODay)

>#groupthink can kill an individual. it'll make you feel like you really did something wrong. (via @TEEWILLO)

>#groupthink is only negative if the mass has no higher goal or higher "self" destination (via @dysiresdeelight)

My own coined definition based on my own experiences would be leaving early from work when I really just want to stay and plan for the next day because everyone else is leaving I leave is #groupthink, Believing everything that I read and see in the media is #groupthink, Not going for poetry because y'all dont think its cool is #groupthink. I know that I am a victim to this, and I will be trying as much as possible to break free from this.


So at the end of this, I ask myself, who am I? when pulled out of the masses of people driving to work in their suits each morning? what difference have I made in this life? and even better, what legacy have I left behind?

Break free from groupthink, Be who you are, be who you are supposed to be.