Reclaiming Beauty: Love is appreciating you for you!

Here is a link to Leah Darrow’s blog:  http://www.leahdarrow.com/reclaiming-beauty/.

Beauty is not something accepted by mainstream.  Fashion is.  Beauty in it’s purest form is something that comes from peace and appreciation for one’s self.  Beauty comes from accepting yourself and your flaws and learning to “work it!”  This was a beautiful post spotlighting an amazing project.  

Feel free to click through the link she posts on “Positive Exposure”.  It is just inspiring the way this photographer is spotlighting and drawing awareness toward these different disorders.  Worth sharing!

❤ CatMan

 

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Love is Supporting

A girlfriend of mine is trying to raise money for a great cause!  Please consider supporting her:

Come support the GFO Bowl to Give event NEXT Sunday September 22nd, 2013!!! This will be an incredible time of fellowship and recognition for the accomplishments achieved towards supporting the GIVE FIFTY ONE Vision Bus!! The event is from 1-3 PM at 10 Park Lanes on 1700 Montford Dr Charlotte, NC 28209. We still have raffle tickets for $20 a piece. Winner will win a $1000 cash prize. Online donations can be made at https://www.youcaring.com/nonprofits/bowl-to-give/78889. Be sure to check out our page too or message me for more info. Have a great day everyone!

 

Bowl to Give

http://www.youcaring.com

The Bowl to Give event will be a friendly competition to continue to raise money and awareness for child homelessness in Charlotte.

Use your words…I am enough

You know a realization that I came to the other day?  The english language is one of the most difficult and dynamic of languages with such an extensive array of desired words for any occasion, feeling, or inanimate objects and yet one of the most misunderstood/underused language at that.  With this being said, I feel like we limit ourselves greatly when we choose not to take advantage of learning how to communicate to the fullest ability using a larger vocabulary instead of words that are over used and negative.

Communication is something that is very much-needed to develop solid relationships.  Communicating when you appropriately love someone verse getting angered, sad, or any other emotion you are trying to convey is key to making sure the other clearly understands what you are trying to say.  I feel like a lot of times people in general cannot peg their own emotions; therefore there lies a lot of confusion trying to express their feelings when they cannot properly label it themselves!  Have you ever had that happen to you?  I know it has to me!

My first suggestion, get to know yourself better.  Start separating out what is emotional, physical, mental…start deciding what makes you feel certain ways.  Start identifying the triggers to which set you off (diffuse them), makes you happy (embrace them), makes you calm (learn and seek them), makes you upset (address the root of the nature and act accordingly to fix), and what sets your heart on fire (keep that of which keeps you alive the closest!).  The only way to translate yourself is to literally get to know yourself to the best of your ability.

Once you learn to translate and identify the little idiosyncrasies that your individual self has, you start to bring your awareness and recognize those qualities in others.  You will be able to intelligently make connections with others and inadvertently bond.  You can see your strengths, your weaknesses, your imbalances and where improvement can be made. For me personally, I realized emotionally I was out of balance.   Awareness was key to make that weakness better.

In any given day, have you ever tracked what words you use the most in your vocabulary? Have you ever given it any thought to the implications of these words as they have an effect on your audience?  Are your words predominantly positive or negative?  Do you swear?  Do you belittle people?  Do you try to boost your ego?……all of these questions take honesty.  Figure out why you act the way you do and address the problems.  Work through them.  Working through the problems is hard and takes a great level of honesty. Not everyone is ready to be honest with themselves enough to acknowledge their faults.  It is not a fun feeling dealing with an ego blow…yet when we do face an ego blow, it is one of the most liberating ways to experience freedom and progress!  It is truly a beautiful feeling!!

How you communicate with others will determine how they receive you and perceive you. If you desire a positive perception, act accordingly.  Be kind.  Be loving.  Be yourself unapologetically.  You deserve solid relationships which begin with you.  Do your best always for God and for others.  Remember, you are enough!

❤ The CatMan

True Humility

So, in this poking and probing of the meaning of LOVE, I have come to understand actually in order to love you must be selfless.  This doesn’t mean to forget or not take care of yourself as much as it is to develop your gifts and talents for use. Not for your OWN use, but in that of such a way to make a difference in other’s lives.  This to a certain extent requires all prideful emotions and notions to be set aside.

First, we must recognize our pride in the many forms it takes and manifests in our very core.  Once we are able to define and acknowledge where these prideful actions occur or reside, it is only then to which we can begin to cut ties and learn how to live out humility.

Pride can be seen most apparently through self-flattery and vanity.  I am most definitely a victim of this.  I look and what I see is a glorified person.  I shouldn’t be desiring others to see me; however I should be desiring others to see God’s reflection and likeness through my body.  You see as humans we are the vehicle for delivering God’s messages, healing hand, compassion and actually embracing all of these wonderful emotions feelings in witnessing to the very Truth to which he has provided us.  This sounds way easier than it really is.

As humans, due to sin, we really make a mess out of our lives.  We are damaged, hurt, and sometimes we wallow in our misery.  When we wallow, we are just sitting hurt and doing no good for ourselves and others.  I was taught to let that go.  Let as much negative emotions go.  They only weigh you down.  A good friend brought something to my attention in regards to feeling sad or hurt.   He suggested redirecting our hurt into making someone else’s day brighter.  He also suggested always trying to see the good in others no matter what.  How many times a day do we sit there talking badly, gossiping, or commenting on how someone is doing a task or living their life?  That is not fair of us to do that as now we are judging them.  We do not know their circumstance.  In fact, we should be trying to see the good that is in them and setting an example.  This can be hard when this person is someone we don’t get along with well.  We are called to love them anyways.  Love our enemies, love our friends, family and strangers all alike.

It takes true humility to love.  It takes true and genuine humility to make strides forward and it takes a tremendous amount of courage to stand for the Truth as God proclaims it to be.  Once we are able to take our ego out of the picture, see that we are just the vessel to which God works and realize that is the only such way to discover a deeper love.

Letting go of my pride and hurt is hard at this point.  I am really pouring my energy into it so I can do myself and others a favor.  I know it is something I need to do.  The past is finally the past in my mind, soul, and body.  Here is to a new page in this chapter of discovering what it is to really love!  🙂

http://www.themindfulword.org/2012/love-hug-the-eightfold-path/

Here is a good resource for anyone seeking more information on humility.  I like the way it is broken out.  http://www.chastitysf.com/4humility.htm

Bring your awareness up to the plate and do something nice for someone else today!

❤ CatMan