Happy Friday!!!

I love this song.  It's grown, sexy, flirty, and fun.  And, hopefully, it will inspire men to dress up in a suit and tie every now and then.  If he is in a suit and tie ladies,  that means a fun and sexy night is ahead.

That is always a good thing.

Enjoy!

Midlife Victory

Janie says it best in Their Eyes Were Watching God, "Ah wants tuh utilize mahself all over."  Love that book and especially that quote- translation- I want to make the most of myself.

We are made to make the most out of ourselves and this life we have.  It doesn't feel right to us when we are shortchanging ourselves- when we are not living our full and complete life.

When you are young, you think it is normal to wake up, sit in traffic, go to work, come home, and do the same thing the next day.  You saw your parents walk that path, and you saw them come home pissed and going off about one plate being in the sink.  That anger came from frustration out of feeling incomplete- out of knowing they should be doing more.  And then you tend to think that this is life.  You don't know there can be another way, but by the time you realize it, you have a mortgage, bills, a family to provide for, and to top it off, you are not sure how to make it happen.

One of our charges in life is to figure out how to make it happen, to utilize ourselves all over.  If you don't, you are going to die.  Not have a heart attack, far worse, a slow painful drawn out death.  Each day you don't pursue whatever it is for you, you rot away a little bit more on the inside.

Hitting this magical time in our lives, it is our duty to ourselves to go after it.

I would love to feature those of you who are making it happen - whatever that is for you.  The courageous ones who have the faith and the optimism to believe in themselves enough and in their dreams enough to go after it at this fabulous wonderful time in your life.

We don't do midlife crises, forget that.

We only do midlife victories.

Tuesday Truth Session

I am very interested in hearing the beliefs and truths from people who are highly successful.  When you are successful, you have an obligation to share your story with others.  To inspire... to motivate..... to provide a real life testimony to others.  To show others that if you could do it, they can too.

You give life when you do.

Sean Combs aka Puff Daddy aka P Diddy has achieved great success in his life.  While we may get distracted by the shiny suits, the partying, and the seemingly narcissism; underneath all of that is a man who has laser like focus, a belief in God, himself, and a work ethic that makes all things possible.  Faith + Action= Miracles

A few pieces of his truth:

1. If you are chasing your dream, you are not running fast enough.  Run faster.
2.  There's no ego in getting this paper (pursuing your dream or goals).
3.  One of the secrets to my success - I don't worry about what anybody else is doing.  All of y'all on the Internet that's worrying about what people are doing, you're wasting your time.  That's time that you could be putting into yourself.
4.  I'm a marathon runner; I am not a sprinter.
5.  I believe so strong and so crazy.  I believe in God the most and after that myself.
6.  I never doubted myself.  I go into it knowing I am one of the baddes m'fers who ever lived.
7.  Let's go- let's keep going forward.  Let's take it up another notch. Let's stop procrastinating.
8.  Lock in on your dream.
9. I want to try to show my people we can do it if we put the time behind it and the work behind it.
10.  It was a hard time when I was pursuing my dream, but I would just stay focused that I was going to make it one day.

Word.

Happy Friday!!

I love this song.  Maybe it's the simplicity.  Maybe cause it's a headbanger.  Or maybe because of the message.  All I know is that it is hot.

Started from Monday, now we here!!  It's the weekend, baby.  Let's get it!

Age Ain't Nothing But A Number

This lady is 76.  Just let that sink in for a moment.

Mrs. Ernestine Shepherd. 76 years old.

When we hit 40, we think it's too late to get in shape.  We accept what we are because, hey, that's just how it is.  Ummmmm, that would be a lie.  If you are blessed to be able to move and you are healthy enough to do so, then you can make it happen.

Mrs. Shepherd did not start working out until she was 56.  Let that sink in for a moment.  56. 

She started going to the gym with her sister.  After her sister died of a brain aneurysm, she was devastated and stopped going to the gym.  With the help of a friend, she decided to return and was determined to get fit. 

The outcome?  In 2007, at the age of 71, she entered her first bodybuilding competition and took first place.  She has been on a mission ever since.

She runs, strength trains, and is a fitness trainer.

I love her story because she is evidence that you can be healthy and in shape at any age.  No excuses.

Just get started where you are.  Be your own hero.

Attitude

I really love Earl Nightingale.  His voice is perfect to listen to and his message is perfect for life.   Here he expounds on the importance of having the right attitude.   Listen and enjoy.  Oh, and have a notebook ready.  You'll want to take notes.

Sugar Really is Evil

Pretty, but oh, so evil.  Seems to describe most of the women on reality tv.

Yep, that pretty much sums it up.  

My favorite game as a kid.  Why?  Because I would imagine what the sweets would taste like.  Yeah, I got it bad.

 I love sweets.  It is a problem.  A habit.  An addiction.  And to add to it, I recently discovered a new cupcake shop near my home.  Houston, we have a colossal problem.

The cupcakes are cute and delicious, and I went for three days straight.  The only reason why I missed a day is because they were closed, but I went back the next day.  Yeah, buddy... I mean no, buddy- this is nothing to celebrate.

I would like to break up with sugar.  Tell that good for nothing dog to leave me alone and go bother someone else's sweet tooth.  But it be callin' me (in my Pookie voice).  UGH!!

Yes, it causes weight gain.  Yes, it causes spikes in energy, and you crash.  None of that bothered me, but this one right here..... this evil little thing causes wrinkles!  Hold up... now, you have my attention.  I can lose weight, but wrinkles???  Those bad boys will stay unless you do botox- no needles in my skin- or get a facelift.  Umm, that would be a negative.

Sugar speeds up the aging process.  I've known that for awhile, but now that I am about to hit 40, it has really sunk in.

Years ago, I bought The Perricone Presciption by Dr. Nicolas Perricone.  He provides a very detailed explanation of what sugar does to the skin.  Basically, when you eat a food high in sugar or a carb that converts to sugar quickly in the body, your blood sugar shoots up; and the process glycation begins. Glycation is when sugar attaches to collagen (helps to give skin its resilience), and it makes the skin tough.  The skin becomes more suspectible to aging.  WRINKLES ON DECK!

So, I am really going to watch my sweet tooth.  My plan is to stay off the sugar crack for a month.  It's hard to escape sugar completely because it is in EVERYTHING, but I don't have to add to it by eating cupcakes and cake pops and frosted cookies and chocolate.  Lord, let me stop before I do something I regret........

I suspect the first few weeks may be difficult as I will be going through withdrawal.  I am sure I will be a beast each morning as I drive to work, but it will subside.

I am not saying that I am never going to have anymore sweets because that would truly be a lie.  But I am going to lessen my intake quite a bit.

Oh, did I mention it's Girl Scouts cookie time?   The Universe is trippin'.

Very informative.  Bottomline, sugar sucks.