My birthday has always been tough to bear growing up. I pretend it does not bother me when my mother forgets my birthday every year. Even now in my adult life she still forgets, and my siblings also forget to send me birthday wishes. Therefore, over the years I have denied myself the joy of celebrating and enjoying milestone years living in grace. In hindsight, I should have told my mother and brothers how much it hurts me instead of letting it fester for years because I was trying to avoid making them feel guilty. I do take great joy though in the efforts my husband and son make to show that it really is a day worth celebrating!

When am having a tough day at work or struggling with simple daily life challenges, I find my heart aching for uplifting, encouraging words in music.  While most faithful people will seek the words of the Bible, I turn to Christian music to seek refuge to calm my insecurities, uncertainty and sing songs of hope and praise.

Affirming the children in your life is so critical. Unfortunately, I did not always have loved ones around me who were well-intentioned as I strive to be with my son, basically to feel secure and encouraged rather than punished. With the right words, I could have overlooked seeing the ugly in every picture that was taken. It took a very long time to learn that. I am very lucky to have been blessed with my husband and some loyal friends who intervened and helped me to see myself the way God sees me.

Early childhood foundation years are critical to the growth and development of children. Unfortunately, my early childhood years were filled with physical & verbal abuse that has scared and had ingrained failure, weakness, and defeat in me. Yet, with grace in my life growing spiritually and surrounding myself with friends who built me up, I continued working on getting self-help. That, combined with a great husband who had seen my potential and how far I can go and push myself, has changed my mentality and removed the myth and freed me from the self limiting beliefs & blockage in my life.

My friends and my husband know me as the person who does not like to waste a day without being productive and accomplishing what is on my daily to do list. However, there are days when all I want to do is check out and simply do nothing but watch series of shows with a glass of wine and a snack in hand and that’s what I call my ultimate bliss: loving my own company and enjoying a much needed mental break.

When I am looking to connect with people, I like to get to know the person 1 on 1; sharing pieces of my own life and opening up in a deep and authentic way. Some people might call it over sharing but I say “sharing is caring”. However, when it is a crowded room setting, I tend to stay silent at first, becoming more of an observer and an active listener as I love to scan the room and read the audience in order to get comfortable and find my space.