Who You Are vs. Who You "Ought" to Be

source When's the last time you stopped to think about how much you've grown? How far you've come? How much you've changed? It's great to have goals, hopes and dreams, but sometimes we get so caught up in how we want to be that we begin to beat ourselves up for how we are. This leads to negative self-talk and low self-esteem. There was probably a time when you were scared to do what you are doing right now. You should celebrate yourself for that. Perfection is not only unattainable; it leaves no room for improvement. Nevermind how anyone else thinks you "ought" to be. Remember that you are already whole and worthy of all good things. With...

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Love Notes - Friday 2/25/11

Choose wisely what you give meaning to. Concentrate your energy on those things that serve you, and dismiss those things that do not. Have a beautiful weekend, Lovi...

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AT YOUR BEST ~ Kim

Kim and Son, January 2009 Tell us why you felt at your best in this moment: I feel at my best whenever I’m sharing new experiences with my little guy. The innocence of a child’s excitement is contagious; they can make you feel like you’ve created magic even when you’ve done the most simple of tasks—like plan a trip. In this photo, we were on vacation at Walt Disney World with extended family. The weather was exquisite and the parks were exciting; but my favorite part of the trip was watching my son’s reactions to everything and knowing that I helped to create this memorable experience for him. How do you define beauty: Beauty is genuineness....

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PLPT GEMS: Meet Bessie Winn-Afeku

PLPT GEMS presents Bessie A. Winn-Afeku  aka "The Fabulous Do-Gooder" Social Entrepreneur. Motivational Speaker. Passionate Giver. 1.  Tell us about your background and how you came to realize your passion for giving? Honestly, I actually didn't start becoming passionate about giving until I was in college. I was taking as a requirement for one of my classes we had to complete 30 hour of community service that semester. In the process of trying to find an organization to donate my time to, I had over 50 organizations to choose from. I started to do research on the organizations and realized that there was such a great need...

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5 Ways to Outwardly Showcase Your Inner Pretty

Your inner pretty is about the beauty of your personality, your strength, your character, and all your other inner traits. But there are ways to showcase that inner pretty on the outside so that other people can see it and feel it:  Smile.Few things are as contagious as a genuine, welcoming smile. Smiling is an outward representation of your inner joy. Why not share that joy with others? Look a stranger in the eye and greet them.Often we’re so busy checking off our personal “to-do” lists that we burrow through the day with our heads buried and our shoulders braced against potential opposing forces. Just once during your day: look...

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Love Notes - Friday 2/18/2011

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AT YOUR BEST ~ GG

We want to feature you AT YOUR BEST! Send in your photos capturing a moment in your life when you were AT YOUR BEST, meaning you felt beautiful inside and out and life was good.  When things aren't so great, these are the moments we can recall to boost our spirits. By sharing these moments with each other, we can all be reminded that love is what really makes us feel beautiful. GG and Vonnie at friend's summer wedding Tell us why you felt at your best in this moment: I always feel untouchable when I'm with my friends. I've been blessed with amazing women in my life who support me and love me unconditionally. We've been told...

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Spiritual Growth: You Are What You Eat

In this month's PLPT Guest Post, Professor/Pastor Lawrence Ware helps us to become aware of what we take into our spirits, and how it affects us. source  A prerequisite of growth is the digestion of food—or, to speak ebonically, “If you wanna grow, you gotta eat.” Put another way: you are what you eat. This is not exactly a novel idea. From the beginning of time, all living beings have been aware of the necessity of eating food. Yet, for some strange reason, many consider their spiritual selves of less importance than their physical bodies. Let me explain. We digest many ideas and messages that are detrimental to our spiritual ...

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Express Love: On Valentine's Day and Every Day

 source Today, and every year on February 14th, we celebrate Valentine’s Day. In a lot of ways, Valentine’s Day has become rife with expectations of chocolate, balloons, cards, flowers, expensive dinners and exaggerated displays of affection. While this is totally fine if it’s what you’re actually into; trying to force it adds pressure that shouldn’t be present when it comes to giving. It seems that many of the gestures associated with this holiday have become a bit robotic and contrived, as opposed to being honest expressions of genuine feeling. I would encourage you to balk at tradition, and find ways to express your love for your Valentine...

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Love Notes - Friday 2/11/11

Have a great weekend! x...

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Happy Black Woman Happy Hour Recap

At the end of January, Kim and I had the extreme pleasure of attending the first Happy Black Woman Happy Hour in Washington DC.  If you're not familiar with the Happy Black Woman blog, you are definitely missing out and need to check it out immediately.  The happy black woman behind the blog, Rosetta Thurman, recently rolled out a 31 Day Reset program that her readers are raving about.  Many of us who participated in this program and live in the DC metro area attended the happy hour. It's absolutely true what they say about the importance of surrounding yourself with positive people.    The energy is...

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From Employee to Self-Employed

People in movies and on TV often leave their jobs, abruptly and without planning, in pursuit of their "dream"--or the ideal career or entrepreneurial endeavor that will finally allow them to feel fulfilled by their work. But.. ...Do people do this in real life? And by "people", I don't mean twenty-somethings with no real grasp yet on the concept of being a grown up. (I'm closely familiar with this breed of carefree human because I used to be one--to the MAX!) When I write "people" in this instance, I mean "my people"--mature adults with children and car notes and mortgages (in other words, financial responsibilities) who like to have...

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Love Notes - Friday 2/4/11

Check out these great reads about LOVE from around the web this week. Have a fab weekend!        ...

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Dating Fail: Why I Keep Attracting the Wrong Men

source In the past 24 hours, two very poignant incidents have occurred. I have been contacted by an ex boyfriend/best friend with whom I haven’t communicated in almost 2 years. Our relationship/friendship ended quite abruptly and unceremoniously and I was just beginning to get comfortable with leaving him in my past. But he just wanted to get in touch, and oh—by the way, is also requesting a favor. I’ve been told that another ex boyfriend, who recently started following me on twitter again--and is quite possibly surveying much of my online life--has decided to start a blog/vlog/website that will include “tell all” exposes of all the women he...

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