What is "Beautiful"?

Society seems too hell bent these days on the ideology of the "perfect body". But my question is, what is the healthy body? Is it the body that can fit into a size 5 and look toned, thin and embody a firm skinned face with no blemishes or wrinkles? Is the perfect body one that is ripped with muscles beyond belief or is the perfect body, the more full figured person with more cushion? The answer is, no one really knows what the perfect body is. Everyone is different and unique. The media portray to us what they believe the perfect body is, as those same people also embody wealth and style. They are seen on magazines and television and therefore are epitomized to be the perfect person leading the perfectly healthy life. But you see.....there is no real answer to what the perfect being is because no one is perfect and everyone has imperfections.

It is those people who are able to embrace their imperfections and work on adopting a healthy and happy lifestyle for themselves that not only get closer to their ideal weight but also look much happier and their whole outlook on life is altered. It is important for individuals especially young women to not focus on what society would like them to be or what society classifies as beauty but to be happy with themselves and work on creating a healthy exercise and diet plan for themselves. If they are healthy and happy then there is no reason why they cannot be considered beautiful within society. After all, to be beautiful is to be healthy and happy. That is what needs to be promoted to the youth of today and embraced wholeheartedly. If you know someone struggling with their weight, their weight loss goals or any other area regarding their overall well being, instead of criticizing or merely telling them to "lose weight", be an advocate, set an example and work hard along side them. Motivate them and encourage them daily to change their lifestyle for the betterment of their health not the betterment of society. Practicing what one preaches not only frees you from hypocrisy but also promotes healthy growth and success.

Stay beautiful!

My New Found Happiness

I must say I have been rather slack on my blogs and need to get back to at least one a week, but woke up feeling really positive and happy and had an energy which I havent felt in a while and thought wow, life really is all about what YOU make it. So my goal for the remainder of this year is not to just have a positive attitude but to view the world in a positive light and realise that how you see the world is exactly what it gives to you. There is more to this then just saying "I am going to be positive", you must change your whole way of thinking and your whole approach to life itself and then one might see just how positivity can be embraced and how you can turn the bad things into something good. It isnt that easy you might say? And I thought it wasnt either, until I realised that how you react to things, how you speak and carry yourself determines your overall mood. Speaking nicely to others, not reacting to negativity and looking above the difficulties in life, is not being unrealistic, it is merely choosing to be optimistic as opposed to seeing the negative in the things around us and others. Something I am definately going to try and embrace more :)

Black Faces, White Masks

Reflections, observations and conversations with others have all provided me with the primary and secondary information to make a logical analysis on human psyche in the world of an African American. Right? No wrong. No one person can make an analysis or believe they can make a factual judgement on the behavior and psyche of African Americans in the Western World. Although some think they are capable of doing so.

After undergoing research on the history of slavery, the times of Africa in the early years and the current situations that America faces including discrimination and racism, the current psyche, mentality and behavior of African Americans in a Western World can relate as far back in history as slavery and the treatment of these people during this time. It may even scale to the oppression of the African Americans and the racism incurred in the times of the 1960's. However, whatever the case the current mindset and mentality of African Americans today is rather evident of the pain incurred for years and years and it seems generations and generations.

From the constant oppression and years of racism and discrimination it appears that the average African American person is expected to believe that they are not equal with those who are Caucasian and therefore act upon it accordingly. Not only are they more susceptible to being considered irrational, inappropriate or incapable, they do not try to prove themselves otherwise with their ACTIONS. In relation to their words and their thoughts they are more than capable of constantly proving how great they are, the success they are headed for and how much of an individual they are. However alot of the time this is never realised because they do not take the appropriate actions to do so. They then insist on blaming it on the system and how opportunity has not made a way for them. Although this may not seem right and yes the system is not always innocent, it is the constant oppression, discrimination and racism over the years that have created this mentality and the internal belief that they may not make anything of themselves.

Stemming from this internal insecurity comes the inevitable come back of attempting to assure the world of the big and wonderful things that they are doing, how they are going to be at the top soon and how exciting and grand their lives are and how everyone wants to be like them. Reading between the lines and looking closely into the theory stemming from slavery, this is merely a cover up for the insecurities felt and the lack of drive to be proactive enough to make their dreams happen rather than talking about them.

The strength of African Americans is remarkable. However, they are yet to realise their true potential, strength and abilities to be the greatest people of all time. They are different, beautiful, creative and exciting individuals and together a race that can clearly change the world for the better. Overcoming the past generations' beliefs and understandings of life and simply following their own dreams and believe in what they want to make of themselves is what needs to be done.

In order to change a mindset and individual people, it begins with ones' self. Let go of the insecurities, stop trying to prove yourself to others or make a point, work hard for yourself, to better yourself and always look at the positives of your life rather than comparing yourself to others. You will be more successful than you realise. There are no short cuts or no excuses to hard work. It begins with yourself and ends with yourself. Dont let others define you, define yourself.

Kanye West

It seems that the ongoing sagas, “tantrums” and headline stories of Kanye West stems much deeper than the artist being labeled as an award show crasher, racist, heated individual who is completely irrational. Watching a recent interview of Kanye West on the US Today Show, I picked up a much more different side of him a midst all of the frustrations, posing questions and irritation Kanye showed. What must be remembered in any case with celebrities period, is what they say will always be thrown out of proportion and will somehow be misconstrued whether it is a positive response or a negative response. Within this interview, any person who paid attention to Kanye directly would notice that he actually made a conscious effort to contain himself and compose his answers wholeheartedly. While he was continuously getting frustrated with the antics of the media, he tried to remain calm and explain his point of view and where his remarks came from. It also must be remembered when considering any celebrity, that first and foremost Kanye is an artist, alike many of the other singers, rappers and musicians. His sole purpose of creating music is to create art, not to create fame and the celebrity name that comes with it. So in understanding this, there has to be some room left for Kanye to breathe knowing that his first and foremost role and duty is to be creative, be an artist and be himself. Not one time should we expect him to be perfect in every aspect of the media and every part of the industry. Yes he should be composed, speak with respect and learn when to remain quiet and observant but let’s play a game of empathy. Put yourself in the shoes of Kanye West. An idolized, world renowned superstar and self proclaimed “chosen one” with an astounding ability to not only be creative but captivate people within his creativity and add a whole new aspect to the world of hip hop as we know it. This is what we see. Kanye West is a human being. A rational, strong and real individual who is not afraid to speak the truth when it needs to be spoken, ready to make a change within the world as it is today and willing to stand up for his rights and those who he loves and who love him. It seems the media has an ideology of what a superstar should be like, how a superstar should act and what a superstar should do without really paying homage to the true person they are. Kanye’s ongoing battle of losing his mother, the way he expresses his realness and his sharp intellect have all molded him into the great person that he is. It seems the media wants to box and group every one into particular categories and roles and this to me is wrong. Kanye West is a symbol of being who you are and standing up for what you are instead of what others want you to be. And maybe if people actually embraced this concept of thinking then the world would be a much more creative, exciting and peaceful place. I think Kanye is a visionary for what we all should strive to be like, never boxed in, always original and always standing up for what you believe in. Kudos to Kanye. You are a star!

Where is the Love?

Reflecting on life, the people who surround me, the people who are now memories and those who will be in my future, I have come to find that I have done a lot of growing and made a lot of changes and adjustments for the betterment of myself. Whether you see it as good or bad or whether you like me or you don’t others opinions seem irrelevant when it comes to the “big picture”.  

Always being a person wanting to make others happy, please family and friends and always helping others when I can, worked when I was younger, however, growing up and living among a completely different culture proved otherwise.

I have realized that being great and being successful is not because of people’s opinions, it stems from you realizing that people’s opinions and thoughts about you and your life are irrelevant. In the grand scheme of things, greatness can be determined from you believing in something enough to be willing to die for it. Being great comes from utilizing the negativity around you constructively and embracing the positivity with open arms. Greatness comes from being willing to put the unnecessary issues behind you and be confident in your actions and your dreams. Knowing who you are and what you stand for is the only security anyone needs to be happy and successful.

It seems there are too many people in the world attempting to bring others down instead of uplifting and empowering those around them. Envy, jealousy and hate stems from an individual’s own insecurities and the bliss they find from being ignorant. However, people engaging in this behavior do not seek the ultimate greatness they could in order to be as successful as they want. So you do the math.

There is no excuse for envy towards others because everyone has something unique and different to offer. There is no excuse for ignorance or hatred because everyone should seek to uplift others and there is no excuse for negativity towards yourself because if you don’t love yourself then who will? Once people discover the key to being happy with themselves’ and happy with the lives they were given, embracing all of their flaws and working with the hand they were dealt then people would be more humane, less hateful and ultimately more successful.

Worry about yourself, strive to uplift others along the way and seek the positive side before the negative and if it means weeding out those around you who bring you down or keep you at the same position in life, then do what you have to do and make a change for you. Without growth, change, empowerment and positivity, there is little room for greatness and success. Remember taking someone else’s dignity means nothing to you but it means everything to them, so treat people how you would want to be treated, focus on your own life instead of meddling in others, uplift those close to you and even those you don’t know and encourage positivity.

Life is all about living, not surviving, so make the most of it, you are more capable then you realize. Greatness is within YOU.  

You Decide

So I have been sifting through my Facebook newsfeed and have realized that many people are either ignorant of reality or just plain ignorant. Now please don’t get me wrong or think that I am crawling up on my high horse to look down on those around me because that is not the case, however, it struck me in awe…..what is the world coming to? Now for something so simple as a social media network to show people’s blatant ignorance, are these the same people working 9-5 jobs, the same people making money off their education and knowledge and the same people with families and balanced lives? Do these people have an education? What are they hoping to achieve by speaking in blasphemy or even representing themselves the way they do. Could it be tied to something much deeper? Even a lack of self esteem, self confidence or “ignorance” of reality or people just being themselves?  In wanting to understand this more, I decided to research into ignorance. I thought about it from a logical standpoint.  Ignorance can be defined as a state of being uninformed; lacking in knowledge or education and/or untrained. This is merely a definition, however, speaks truth and highlights what I also took to be ignorance through this social media network. Unfortunately ignorance is everywhere we turn but from a deeper standpoint, we can see that although ignorance is in the human nature it can also be born through human nurture. The people we expose ourselves to, the experiences we have, our background, culture and education. All of these things contribute wholeheartedly to ignorance.  While people who go to college are educated and in tune with the world around them are STILL thriving throughout their ignorance or indulgent in it, baffles me. I also see ignorance as a choice at times. Some people choose to ignore or accept reality or if it affects their lives negatively, they may also choose to overlook various aspects in life. It makes me wonder, should we just be accepting of this ignorance or should we all look within ourselves to change our ways. It all starts with ourselves. If we cannot make a change, why should we expect others to do so? Ignorance is something both natural and nurtured. It is something that we all possess whether by accident or on purpose and it is something that can at times hold us back from the success we could have. So in your belief is ignorance a good thing or a bad thing? You decide.