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.

The Day I Became A Kidney Donor

About a year ago, I had a dream my dad wanted to talk to our family about something serious. I wasn’t sure what he wanted to discuss, but I knew it was something I needed to prepare myself for. Around the time after I had this dream, I remember stopping by my parents place and sensing something was going on that they weren’t telling me. I tried to dismiss what I’d been feeling, but I couldn’t shake it. Something serious was happening. As I returned to my home after visiting them one day, I was in my kitchen washing dishes when a heaviness hit my heart like nothing I’d ever felt before. Something’s wrong with dad. That’s what that dream was about. God, what’s going on? As I continued washing dishes, I started crying and praying. Then in mid-spring, my dad held an unexpected family meeting that would change all our lives forever. He hesitated at first, and as his voice started cracking and he started crying, he said, “Well, I wanted to talk to ya’ll to tell you that I have kidney disea...

I’m Glad I’m Not Married

When I was about five years old, I was sitting in the backseat of my dad’s car when me, him, my older cousin (my aunt’s son), and my aunt (my dad’s sister) caught my aunt’s fiancé with another woman. My dad had been driving my aunt out to run some errands since she didn’t have a driver’s license or a car. When she spotted her man with another woman, she told my dad to pull the car over, got out of the car, and immediately addressed him. She wanted the keys back to her apartment and was done with him. The other woman she caught her fiancé with slapped him when she realized what was happening, and that was that. When my aunt returned to the car, she was clearly and understandably upset, and the ride back to her place was quiet. Although I was too young to fully grasp what was happening at the time, I knew it wasn’t good. And now, at 34 years old, I can’t imagine how much pain she was in. Her wedding had been planned and paid for – and she never made it down the aisle. My aunt was a beaut...

How To Respond To A Nasty Email

Technology has made many people bold, rude, and incredibly messy. Often to the point where some may hide behind words they’ve typed instead of verbally communicating a message they want to convey. Such can be the case when it comes to sending emails. Ah, emails. You know what they are. Electronic messages that can be quickly drafted, sent, and misinterpreted (because you can’t always interpret tones or emotions through them). Which is why it’s key to know how to respond to nasty emails if they should ever come your way – especially in the workplace. As a working professional, there have been plenty of times when a coworker or superior sent an email my way that was petty, mad disrespectful, and unprofessional. And before I learned how to properly utilize email etiquette, my first instinct would always be to clap back. I just felt the need to respond and to communicate that I wouldn’t allow anyone, no matter who they were, to disrespect me. And while I haven’t taken t...

Making Waves