10 Life Lessons

1. Don't be quick to fall in love. In fact don't be quick with anything that involves giving a  part of you to another person. Take your time to get to know that person and vice versa. Guard your heart jealously.

2. Little steps make the journey. If you have a goal in mind, remember that the wall of China was not built in one day. It took one brick at a time so like each brick take it one step at a time. Think it, plan it and put it into action.

3.Self reflection is important. It is important to search your heart. Evaluate yourself, the things you do and say and where they come from. It is so easy to point out the flint in someone's eye and forget the log in ours.

4. Listen more , talk less. When you talk too much you end up saying things you shouldn't or talking about yourself all the time ( Like the person you're talking to wants to hear all of that). It is draining because it isn't all about you all the time and you never know the next man's problems. Listening is an amazing skill so next time just listen more you will learn more.

5. Be yourself. This is one thing I personally struggle with but I've learnt that not everyone will like you and when you're different a lot of people won't like you. Be yourself because you only have one life and life is too short to give people all that power over your time and your person.

6. Be a dreamer. Having a dream and creating the space for that dream to happen is not easy, but don't live in fear. Make those dreams a reality.

7. Fear is not an option. Living in fear will destroy your ability to dream. Fear tells you you can't do it. You can! If you walk in fear you will live a mediocre life. Fearlessness however doesn't mean recklessness.

8.As you get older your circle gets smaller. This came as a big shock to me when it started happening. Remember that some people come into your life for a season and a reason. Everyone you meet and interact with ,is in your life to teach you something about yourself. Some people will hurt you , some people will love you and some people may be indifferent towards you and even reject you. Never let a person break you.

9. Failing is a part of life. Now you have to decide if you rise again or fall. I see failure as a chance to learn not what to do or where I went wrong. Don't wallow in self pity for too long. Failure is not the end of the road. I believe failure is there to make us want it ( whatever that might be) more. Failure makes us fighters or quitters. Failure builds faith.

10. Love yourself. You have to because sometimes it will feel like only God and you love you. If you don't love yourself then how do you expect to love others? Be kind to you. Accept who you are. Take time to get to know yourself.

Well I hope these 10 points help someone out there. Writing them down gives me a reference point to check myself. This is by no means everything I have learnt in life but it is a starting point. I will be sharing more soon.

Care to share some of your knowledge?

Love and light
Tiwi

Let's talk about :anger

Anger is something we all have to deal with at one point in our lives. From short bursts of anger to rages that take time to brew. Short bursts of anger all the time can be damaging for you as an individual because they can lead to violence; my advice would be to realise what triggers these outbursts and figure out the best way to deal with them. I personally have found that God is my most effective medicine. Now I know some people don't believe in HIM and are skeptics . But I do and it works for me. Anger is something that controls you, it can eat you up and change you into an ugly person. Believe me I have been there , done that and have more than 1 t-shirt to show for those disgusting moments.

I can recall a recent event. It was sometime in May and I was going through my first break up ( which was complicated and very painful) I was angry. I was enraged and I spoilt my friend's confirmation because of that . What basically happened is : I was the camera lady for the day , but where I was sitting in the cathedral didn't allow me to take clear pictures of my friend on what should've been one of the best days of  her life. Two lovely older ladies tried to advice me to move to an area where I could get pictures of my friend and I carelessly snapped at them that  was fine where i was sitting and i didn't want to move. I didn't even stop and think that I was being extremely rude but a friend tried to correct me and I basically went H.A.M on her in a church! I had a hushed moment of telling her exactly where to go with her 'that was so rude moment'.Needless this was really a low point in my life. I am not proud of it. However I did apologise the next day to the two lovely ladies and I got the best gift  from them. One of the ladies talked to me about my anger, she knew things about me that I haven't told a soul and she prayed for me and blessed me with healing from GOD. Since that day I have started changing. A lot of positive things are happening in my life and I have definitely seen a different more positive side of myself I didn't know existed.

Long standing anger isn't worth holding onto . Especially if it is with another person. By holding onto your anger towards this person or people, you are allowing them to control your life while they forget about you and move on with theirs. A friend of mine told me the other day ' don't rent out your space in your mind to someone who doesn't matter, you're allowing them to reside in your mind rent free'. Anger leads to hate and hate leads to you being bitter and a person that people try to avoid. Forgiving the person who hurt you is the best medicine, because : a) you choose to let go of them and therefore forget about them and b) you learn so much about yourself and you expierence personal growth which is a beautiful thing.

My pastor once said in a sermon 'anger is like a rotten stinking shoe' lol at that one I know. But he was right. When your angry you will tend to walk around looking like you are in pain  (it's not like experiencing anger is sweet, it hurts!), and you will take it out on other people around you most likely the people closest to you. Anger leads to hate which leads to bitterness and stunted growth as an individual. You not only hurt yourself but those around you. You can be so  blinded that you will not realise the opportunity for positive changes in your life or personal growth.  Some people ( me included) dwell in situations that are negative and keep rehushing the bad things that have happened to them over and over again. I call it the 'oh woe is me' complex. Dwelling in that situation will not help you. I don't know what verbs , adjectives or nouns I could use to emphasize this point. All I can tell you as someone who formerly had this problem is that it will hold you back in progressing and reaching your full potential. You will be so busy dwelling in your moment that you will let life and all those good opportunities pass you by.

In summary :

• Anger isn't worth it guys. Let it go and enjoy the rest of your life.
•  And remeber that there is always someone out there whose situation is worse than yours.
• Stop dwelling in your negative situation and start living your life
• Forgive . Let go and let flow ( it works I promise you)
• Be happy  there are people that love you. And even if you don't believe in HIM God does love you
• And lastly if you really must dwell .Dwell in today not yesterday.

On that note. I would love to hear feedback from you guys. What are your thoughts on this

Love, peace and happiness

The new reinvented Tiwi x

Snap judgement

One thing I am learning this year is patience.
I realised this year that I am not a very impatient person. For one if I fancied a guy I would go up to him and let him know. I learnt the hard way that I will personally never let a guy know I like him unless he does the chasing and I am 100% sure that they have clearly stated their intentions.

Believe me I do not ever want to look back and regret my decisions, because
a) I have to live with myself and I can't run away from me
and b) do you know that you are your own worst critic and have to deal with the consequences of your choices?

So no snap judgments. I don't know about you guys, but I am the sort of person who can think about doing something for a long time and then on a random day decide to go ahead with the plan. Usually when I am not ready mentally to deal with things. This is how I started this blog, I didn't really think about it. I just did it.

Now this is a good and bad thing in my opinion. Why do I say this. Because you are really motivated when you start out and will have that drive and push to go for it. However if you haven't really thought about what you are getting yourself into you might lose interest in your venture. So I have learnt to think carefully of what I get myself into and how to make good balanced decisions.

Snap judgement can pan out if you are sure you have the drive and motivation to do carry on with the course of action you have taken. However , I am going to try out this patience thing and maybe, just maybe it will help me stop living in my head and start living my life.

I would really be interested in knowing what you guys think. Let me know

Tiwi x