I had so many plans for this year, how I believed everything would go( with no consultation from God might I add). But above all, on New Years Eve, with my older sister and her friend, we prayed. 

And I prayed for discernment and wisdom and a successful academic year. I placed emphasis on praying for my relationship and was so confident it would all work out because duh I had prayed for it, with all of my heart, how could it not? A week later, we officially ended things. It knocked me and left me stunned. How after all the praying? So I detached myself from everything for a while. School was difficult. More difficult than I had expected it to be.

 I pitied myself, all the time. Was wondering when I would catch a break from it all. Considered giving up and for a very long time my mantra was simply "If I could get through this year, I could get through anything". And it only hit me recently, the significance of that prayer on New Years Eve. I asked God above all for the right relationships to be carried to fruition and for everything that simply doesn't bear fruit to be cut off but for the longest of times, I was upset because He did just that. I could not decipher why He would bestow so much heartache when I felt like I had asked for the exact opposite. 

But looking back, I get it. I appreciate it. Everything to date has taught me the art of letting go. Listening above all and letting go of things that no longer serve you or better you. Understanding that no matter how much effort and work can be put into something, it sometimes is simply not for you. It is simply not God's will for your life. I have had to surrender so many times. I've had to accept the things I cannot change in my life and simply tell myself "You only have control over yourself. You only have control over how you react to situations. You cannot control what anyone else does but your reactions so take full control of that."

 I've also had to step back and evaluate why all my past relationships have a common pattern and I was listening to the Black Girl Podcast (These 5 women are the Holy Grail, give them a listen, you won't regret it) and Rebecca said "You repeat what you don't repair." And I felt that sentence in my gut. So I've tried to be very conscious of who I am, what type of men I attract and who I let into my space. 

I'm motivated to be consistent and deliberate with my posts on here. And to have transparent and honest conversations, whether it be about relationships, spirituality, student life, navigating into various career paths as a young individual. All of it. Join me. 

NEW YEAR, IMPROVED ME!

Image taken by Ntisocl 

The mantra is no longer new year, new me because we aren’t trying to change ourselves altogether but improve the parts of ourselves that need work, whether it be in our self-confidence, attitude or lifestyle. Walking into a new year gives me some sort of peace. Knowing you have a blank canvas to start afresh. Rewrite it all if need be or just tweek bits and pieces to let your true greatness shine through. If you’ve been a little short tempered in the previous year, you can change it. If you’ve been pushed around a little too much for your liking, you can learn how to react to such situations and set the tone of how you should be treated. You can reinvent yourself or build onto the strides you’ve taken in previous years and even follow through with your long -term goals.

 How are you going to manage to get it all done?  Well here’s the approach I’ve always followed.

 • REFLECT- too often we move on without taking a moment to ourselves to actually understand what exactly went wrong and how we could do better. Before this year ends reflect on everything-the good and the bad. No point on leaping into a new year only to make the same mistakes that could have been avoided.

• I’ve always believed there is so much power in writing things down. By writing things down you subconsciously hold yourself accountable. Write everything you want to achieve down, preferably in a list format and put it in a place you will be able to see everyday, even if its for just a couple of seconds. This will serve as a daily reminder of what is the end goal. Keep the goals realistic too.

 • DIARISE, DIARISE AND DIARISE! It is perfectly normal for life to get the best of us sometimes but by actually keeping organised, it’ll get the best of us less often. There are great free printable calendars available all over the internet. You can also download a daily, weekly and monthly planner/to-do list here. You won't regret it.

 • Laura Lacquer from A little bit of Lacquer  once said do the things you have to do in order to do the things you want to do and I agree 110% with this advice.

 Some goals are not simply career/ school focused but might be simply based on getting out of your shell, making new friends, handling your anger and those goals are a little harder to achieve because A) They aren’t the same old generic goals which have a step by step formula B) They require you to dig deep But every goal begins with a single step and that’s what you just need to remember daily. It all starts with a single step. Here’s a couple of my goals for the new year. I hate calling them resolutions because by March everyone is telling you how they’ve quit their new years resolutions which guess what? It’s completely discouraging.
Here are some of my 2017 goals:

•    Kill it academically
•   Get out of my shell.
•   Be more happy in who I am, as an individual, without a partner and really become self-aware.
•   Read more 
•   I dread writing this one but like I said earlier, keeping yourself accountable. Eat write and gym more.
•  Lastly, reach a greater audience and build a community via my blog.

 I'll be sure to give you guys a details of how everything goes. I hope you all can do the same and achieve your goals in 2017.

Image via The Chriselle Factor/Follow The Chriselle Factor on Bloglovin'

HOW DID YOU SPEND YOUR CHRISTMAS?

Yesterday was Christmas as many of you already know and my family decided a little get away to Sun City would be great for the weekend since we didn’t have any plans these holidays. PS: Always try to plan something for the December holidays or else you'll find yourself bored as ever. We got super lucky in terms our last minute bookings and found a nice 2-bedroom place at the Sun City Vacation Club Resort.

Too bad the weather was a little gloomy but we tried to make the most of it. On Saturday we ate a little fancy breakfast at The Palace. I’d never been so I was particularly keen to see how it looked inside and the vibe of it all. As we ate our breakfast a pianist was playing relaxing tunes. As we waited for the rain to subside we decided to spoil ourselves with a full body Swedish massage. Heavenly to say the least, which ended up with my sister and I dozing off.

Hallelujah! The rain had finally stopped so we hit the waves and enjoyed some lax time in the sun. Christmas was spent indoors solely due to the fact that it wouldn’t stop raining but that didn’t stop me from dressing up.

Overall it was great to get outside of the house and enjoy a little weekend away, regardless of the rain. I would definitely recommend the Vacation Club as a group of friends and there’s many activities such as quad-biking and zip lining to keep busy.

WELCOME!

Welcome to my blog everyone. I've wanted to do this for the longest of times but never had the courage until this year. Join me on my journey where I will just be sharing little snippets of my everyday life. Hope you enjoy the content but above all I hope I can continuously share- whether it be the good, the bad or just everyday challenges. Love, Lerato

That's me!