Bachelorette Guide To Living Your Best Life

This year, I’ve lived intentionally.

I’ve put myself first, prioritized my well-being, maintained my snatched waist (5am workouts are a sacrifice but they do pay off #praisethelord 😊), gone after different things I’ve wanted, had the courage to walk away and say no to different opportunities that were not God’s best for me, taken risks, made changes, improved, moved through challenges, endured disappointments, and crossed a lot of different goals off my list.

I’m actively living my best life and have been able to encourage other bachelorettes to do the same.

It’s exciting to have rich experiences and adventures to call your own, be able to grow through challenges, and increase your confidence and self-esteem. And if you’re a single woman, I encourage you to decide to live your best life too. Hold your head up high. Don’t put your life on hold for anyone or anything. Be unapologetically selfish. Go out. Go out alone if you can’t find someone to tag along or if your friends cancel on you or don’t follow up. Get dressed up. Attend concerts and music festivals. Book trips and travel. Meet new people. Make new friends. Date around… or decide not to date if you don’t want to. If you find someone special, appreciate them, but don’t let yourself go or lose yourself in the process. Remember, you’re whole on your own with our without someone else in the picture. Get healthy and stay fit. Budget your money. Treat yourself and splurge sometimes. Pursue and work towards your goals and dreams; persistently and tenaciously. Enjoy not being tied down to anyone or anything you don’t want to be tied down to. And really make sure you live. You have the freedom to do what you want. And I encourage you to maximize it.

By the way, if you’re childless, unmarried, and single, especially happily single, there are going to be different couples and parents who will sometimes say snippy, thoughtless, rude, and obnoxious things to you about why you’re single, childless, and unmarried. The most reckless of them all may even be bold enough to write mean-spirited social media posts about how you’re living, because, apparently, people with kids or people who are married have it all figured out. I can assure you that underneath their criticism usually lies different levels of envy and insecurity because they’re unable to move and live the way you can, which isn’t your issue. They made a choice to be a parent or partner or both. Anyways, you might get upset, but I encourage you to ignore their comments and unsolicited advice. Keep living your best life and enjoying your freedom. You’re amazing.

Dear Young Black Professionals

As you embark on your career, I want you to know some things and stay woke about what you’ll be up against. Please understand that no matter what, you have value, and you matter. Always remember that. As progressive as this world and different workplaces may seem, every workplace has a culture. You’ll be in different places where a lot of people who don’t look like you will be in the room. But know that you belong in those rooms too. Spend some time observing and studying those spaces and learn as much as you can. There will be people you work with who will make presumptions about your competence, education, and ability to fulfill your job duties. There will be more who will think less of you because of the color of your skin and try to disqualify you the moment you make an error, mistake, or ask questions about things you may not understand. This will all feel uncomfortable and you may get insecure, feel like you’re all by yourself, and think you don’t belong there, but ride it out...

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Making Waves