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Motivational Monday Moment – 05.21.18

I saw this great quote that I wanted to share this week for my Motivational Monday Moment. The quote states “The past can not be changed. The future is yet in your power.” – Unknown

I love this quote because it reminds me that I can’t forget the things that have happened no matter how hard I may try. The past can’t be changed. It can’t be rewritten or redone. It happened. But, what I an control is my future. I can write a future more befitting of someone who has survived and still stands. That’s what I can do. That is what I choose to do.

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What about you? What are you doing with your future? Are you accepting of the past and rewriting your powerful future?

 

Want to keep in touch? You can find me on social media at the following links: Twitter @mskeeinmd, Facebook page A Thomas Point of View and my Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/mskeeinmd/.

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He’s Not Your Man – Part 1

The other night I had dinner with my best friend. I’ve mentioned before that I have two best friends (a man and a woman) that I have known 30 years this year. We are ecstatic because honestly how many people keep in touch with people from 30 years ago? We remain constant and our communication is consistent.

My male best friend works nights so we don’t spend as much time because he just got full custody of his two children in January (I’ll write about that soon) and he’s busy ripping and running with his children. My female best friend and I get together a couple of times a month. With or without our children, we find time to get together and have girl time.

That being said, my male best friend decided to come over and hang out. We ended up going out to grab a quick bite to eat at Friday’s. I was catching up with him and we laughed and joked and had a real good time. Before dinner was served he looked up and said that he sees someone he knows, excused himself and went to greet his friend.

After dinner, a woman approached our table and began talking to him. I was paying no attention as I had looked at my phone. I heard him say “Listen, I’m not doing this here. I’m having dinner with my friend and you can either have a seat or leave.” He then said “T, this is C” and I waved at her and said “Hello.” She looked at me and said nothing.

Okay, I realized that this may have been one of his women and girlfriend was mad that we were spending less than two hours catching up. I continued to look at my phone and he repeated what he said. She left. I put my phone away and asked “What was that about?” He responded that it was one of the women that he is dating and she was mad because we were hanging out. He said that the woman that he spoke to earlier is her sister and her sister must have called her and said that he’s up here with another woman and she rushed up to check it out.

What? I was floored. Really girlfriend? I couldn’t believe that in this day in age with a woman in her 40’s that she would just show up and show out over a random.

A random is a man that you are dating and you have no actual relationship with. You may claim him, but he doesn’t claim you. He sleeps with you and he may or may not sleep with other women. 

In my friend’s case I asked him what was up. Was he sleeping with her? He said “Yeah, she’s cool but she has a lot of trust issues.” I asked “Does she know about me?” He responded “Yeah, I’ve told her about you and have had conversations with you in front of her so she knows that nothing is going on.”

Uh huh.

I began to ponder why women are threatened by other women and the process by which we assume that we are the only woman because we are sexing a man the majority of the time. I wanted to talk to this woman because I wanted her to know that there was no need to be threatened by me, but furthermore to let her know that she played herself. She played herself in front of me and in front of him.

Dating is a game. You need to learn not to play yourself. Now, I don’t think they are on the same page, I think she wants him to court her and he’s dating her. Jay talked about it in his post:  Courtship vs. Dating: The Breakdown

I gave him my two cents. I’m his best friend. Want to know what I told him? I’ll tell you more about it tomorrow.

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-To Be Continued-

Want to keep in touch? You can find me on social media at the following links: Twitter @mskeeinmd, Facebook page A Thomas Point of View and my Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/mskeeinmd/.

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Is He My Type?

Dating is hard. Heck, not much has changed since I’ve been in a relationship with my love. I get it. We all want that “perfect love”. That person that brings out the best in us. That person that we can just click with. The person that knows how to love us and love us right because we’ve all been hurt from prior relationships. Does this person exist?

Yes!

That person does exist. But, do you know the type of person that you should be dating? Have you spent time reflecting on your love language, your dating style, your compatability? Have you focused on finding the type of person that fits your personality?

I didn’t at first. See, when you’re in your 20’s and enjoying the great times of being young and career focused you don’t get the benefit of knowing who you are and what you truly want if you are randomly dating guys. You just enjoy the company, but you are more focused on your career. You have an objective to focus on love later.

I was in my late 30’s when I divorced and a lot had changed. I still didn’t know anything about me. I tried learning and dating was rough. The possibilities and the wrong selections felt overwhelming. I was drowning in a sea of the wrong ones.

At least that was my story.

That story changed when I found myself happy and in love after my divorce. Something that I never imagined possible. Not that love was impossible. I wanted to love again, but the happy piece – seemed impossible. The genuine happiness of feeling that I have an incredible partner that shares my journey with me. A man that helps me rewrite my thoughts about love and life each day because of his continued support of me.

I am a work in progress, but I have to tell you that I have learned a lot about myself after my divorce. I have been called “controlling” by men. Controlling is part of my nature. I think because of my abuse, I’ve learned to survive by controlling the aspects of my life that I can. My life. Not others. I live by the planner and calendar. It’s all I know.

But, that is only one piece of who I am. I discovered that I’m an alpha female. I talked about women who are alpha females and discovering that I was one in my post a few years ago and how that explained some of my behaviors. I wasn’t perfect, but I don’t think I was as bad as some may have described. Learning more about myself helped me to realize that there was nothing wrong with being who I am.

I’m strong and that’s okay. I’m an alpha female and that makes me self-assured and enterprising. I work for what I want. At all costs. That makes great determination when looking for a partner that will have your back.

In learning my personality type, I also learned my love language. My love language is quality time. If you don’t know about the 5 Love Languages, I suggest you take the quiz and learn your love language. This is part of learning who you are and what you want out of a relationship.

Arming myself with the knowledge of who I am and what I need helped me to be able to stand tall and speak what I wanted in life. I was able to determine who I am and what I need out of a relationship. The next step was figuring out were we compatible or not. That’s where my journey led me to Mr. C.

 

Want to keep in touch? You can find me on social media at the following links: Twitter @mskeeinmd, Facebook page A Thomas Point of View and my Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/mskeeinmd/

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Motivational Monday Moment – 03.19.18

I’m back! I’ve missed you so much. I’ve been sick this last week and now I’m trying to get back in the swing of things. I’m a work in progress as I’m trying to keep peace in my spirit because I can’t take the stress. I’m scheduled to have surgery in the next couple of months and I know that my doctor won’t do it with high blood pressure so I’m working on releasing my stress. That’s why I didn’t post last week.

I ran across this post that inspired me and I wanted to share it with you in my Motivational Monday Moment. It says “Peace is the result of restraining your mind to process life as it is, rather than as you think it should be”. This is so accurate. This is where I want to be. However, I am not.

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I think of things in terms of absolute. I’ve told you this before. Things are black and white. They are or they aren’t. There are no shades of gray with me. This causes major issues when I deal with people that don’t make sense. When I deal with irrational and non-reasonable thinking people I get overwhelmed.

I wonder… how can you think like that? The answer is simple. You are the cause of your own issue. Don’t you see that?  They don’t. But, I’m stressing myself out wanting them to somehow be different. Is it possible for them to be different? No, yes, maybe?

I’ve learned that I need to stop trying to overthink and over analyze it.  It is what it is and the unnecessary frustrations that disrupt my peace are a result of my own doing. I am responsible for me. That’s it. I can’t make a square peg fit into a round hole. I have to protect my peace and retrain my mind. Things are as they are and not how they should be.

It’s hard. It’s really hard. I know. I get it. My girlfriend said that her therapist had told her that she needed to realize that her ex was an orange and will always be an orange. My therapist refers to it as me having expectations of other people. She says that I should expect that they are who they show me. Do you know people like that?

Well, my Motivational Monday Moment is about encouraging us to find our peace. Our “Peace is the result of restraining your mind to process life as it is, rather than as you think it should be”. Can you do that? I’m willing to try.

 

 

Want to keep in touch? You can find me on social media at the following links: Twitter @mskeeinmd, Facebook page A Thomas Point of View and my Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/mskeeinmd/.

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Comeback Advice

Woohoo!

It’s Friday! If you woke up this morning and you’re reading this…Be Grateful. There are those that didn’t wake up and further those that would kill to be in your position. Life’s rough. We all have setbacks that are setups for a comeback. Are you working on your comeback or are you still settling in your setback?

Trust that everything happens for a reason. Although we may not understand it in the middle of all the chaos,I promise that if you get up and get moving you can make it another day. Isn’t that what we all want? To make it through another day? To pull ourselves out of the funk and keep going?

Do it. There’s nothing like the present. You can only change how you deal with things.

I’ve been consumed by the drama before. Letting it affect and stress me the hell out. I am deciding not to do it. To get out of my own way and create my own peace in the chaos. And you know what? I have that right and so do you.

Let me tell you that sometimes all you can do in the middle of a storm is yell out “Not today Satan. My faith is rooted in the ONE who promised me victory.” Really, that’s all you can do. You can’t let the pain of your situation embed deep in your soul and destroy the very fabric of who you are. You are amazing. You are worth more than the bulls*it that people throw at you.

You are pretty darn awesome! Focus on moving forward. Your comeback is greater than your struggle. You have to trust that in everything that you do there is a season and you have to trust that the season you may find yourself in right now, will not always stay the same.

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Want to keep in touch? You can find me on social media at the following links: Twitter @mskeeinmd, Facebook page A Thomas Point of View and my Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/mskeeinmd/.

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I Hate You So Much Right Now

Remember that great song by Kelis – Caught Out There? Aww, it was a great song to show the rage of women after being lied on or cheated on by their significant others. It was an anthem for women. You don’t have to take it. She screamed. She destroyed stuff. She showed her emotions. Haven’t we all been there before?

But, that’s not what this post is about. LOL. It isn’t about hate. It is about you. Choosing you. Choosing to forgive and choosing to create your life with boundaries.

See, a few weeks ago a friend and I were having a conversation about forgiveness. He said to me that if I forgive someone then I should be willing to share my personal space with them. I laughed. I explained that forgiveness is for self and not for the other person.

If someone commits an egregious act towards you or does something that just doesn’t sit well in your spirit, you have the right to protect yourself. Your first obligation is to you. It is and will always be. Think about when you fly and they tell you that if you are flying with children and the oxygen masks deploy you should put your own mask on first and then secure the child’s. You’re no help to anyone if you don’t take care of yourself.

Some of you may be asking, what are personal boundaries? I searched and found the perfect definition from Z. Hereford in the article Healthy Personal Boundaries and How to Establish Them

“Personal boundaries are the physical, emotional and mental limits we establish to protect ourselves from being manipulated, used, or violated by others. They allow us to separate who we are, and what we think and feel, from the thoughts and feelings of others. Their presence helps us express ourselves as the unique individuals we are, while we acknowledge the same in others.”

Sounds simple right? It is. I know that you may think that it is hard to really do, but trust me when you choose yourself first that it really makes it easy to not allow your personal boundaries to be crossed. Setting boundaries allows you to no longer be a victim. You become the leader of your own life. You become responsible for your own happiness.

I have to be honest. Setting personal boundaries was not a lesson that I learned early on. I learned to establish boundaries at 41. Can you believe it? I don’t want you to wait. I don’t want Munch to wait. You have to choose you.

I started to choose me first. I started to realize that I would not allow someone else’s feelings or thoughts about me impact my life. I choose to re-evaluate my life and relationships to remove toxic people. I chose to live my life on my own terms without giving a care as to who felt otherwise or didn’t like it.

I chose me.

It can seem overwhelming when you create boundaries and try to enforce them, but you need to remember that it is part of your personal responsibility. To yourself. No one can make you happy but YOU. So, the power lies within.

You have to take responsibility for how people treat you. You have to know that if you continue to allow disrespect and you don’t want it then it really is your fault. Stop letting people tell you that you have to have a relationship with someone that mistreats you because they are a relative or you are connected through children. You don’t. You just live your life choosing you first.

Forgiveness for me honestly means that I don’t dwell on the negativity, pain and hurt you caused. It means that I remove you from my life with little to no contact. I don’t allow you the opportunity to hear my voice or be in my presence. I set the tone. I set the rules.

Trust me when I tell you that this is the most freeing way to live. I actually dated men that I allowed to walk all over my boundaries and then justified their behavior and rezoned my boundaries. Yep, I was crazy. Why would I ever allow someone that kind of power in my life?

Because I subscribed to the belief that I had to be this ever forgiving doormat for others to walk on. I believed that otherwise people would think I wasn’t nice. I was trying to live up to an image others expected. Now…I don’t.

I live for me. My life. My choices. I forgive. I keep my boundaries firm. I choose me. You need to do the same.

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Want to keep in touch? You can find me on social media at the following links: Twitter @mskeeinmd, Facebook page A Thomas Point of View and my Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/mskeeinmd/.

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Finding the Beauty in Broken Things

This was one of the topics my therapist and I discussed a couple of weeks ago. She was telling me that I needed to find the beauty in the broken things and stop being so pessimistic. I couldn’t help it. I literally felt like everything around me was falling apart and that life was dragging me along.

I felt alone.

I know you’re probably thinking, “T, how can you be alone if you have this great guy that you love and adore and is good to you?” Easy – he’s not always there. We don’t live together so sometimes I am the one fighting for his attention when he has many other things going on. Not that I’m jealous. He takes care of a lot of people. I know that. I support that. But…

Sometimes my mind makes me believe that there is no one when I’m going through the storm. I can sit there and call my top five people and they are all busy. They will usually call back, but in the middle of my self-imposed crisis, I feel like I’m drowning. In the ocean with no raft.

That’s when my therapist told me that I needed to change my mindset. That I was being consumed by the negative and I needed to see the beauty in the broken things. She was explaining how there is a Japanese art form called kintsugi that uses gold to fill in the broken pieces of bowls. “The Japanese art of kintsugi teaches that broken objects are not something to hide but to display with pride.” – Steffano Carnazzi , LifeGate

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That’s what she wanted me to remember that life may seem broken and I may get overwhelmed, but I need to sit back and see the beauty of all that is around me. There is beauty within me no matter what. She said you’re like that bowl.

She said that I need to stop being overwhelmed by the issues/situations that are affecting me and celebrate some of my successes. So, I’m doing that. Here are three success that I’m sharing with you today:

  • I’m a TODAY Parenting team contributor. I’m truly excited about this. Baby steps.
  • I wrote two grants for my son’s school last year that were approved and will be funded. Pretty cool huh?
  • I pitched two pieces last week and I’m hoping that they will be picked up. Hey, the worst they can say is no, right?

That’s about it. I know that I have a lot of people praying for me and Munch and I truly am grateful. I just need to change my attitude and start counting my successes more than my failures. There are a lot out there and I’m just in awe of God’s grace.

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Note: I do not own the rights to these photos. A Google search showed on kintsugi images showed them.

Want to keep in touch? You can find me on social media at the following links: Twitter @mskeeinmd, Facebook page A Thomas Point of View and my Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/mskeeinmd/.

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Motivational Monday Moment – 01.22.18

Hey Everyone!

I’ve missed you all so much. Sorry for the unexpected hiatus. I had an accident and was out of commission and I’m just getting back in the swing of things. All is well and I missed you. I’ve learned a lot in my unplanned break and I realized that I hadn’t motivated you in the new year. Can you believe it? It’s the fourth Monday in 2018 and I haven’t given you a word of encouragement.

I am sorry. So, my motivational Monday moment is about the good. Finding the good. Seeing the good. Loving the good. Experiencing the good. Not just in today, but in everything. In you.

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I get it. Life gets hard. You feel overwhelmed by the surrounding bills, lack of job opportunities or emotional stresses of your marriage and/or family. But, you woke up. I know it’s rough, but you have to take it day by day and hour by hour sometimes. You have to see that you can get through this situation and not let it break you because joy comes in the morning.

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You have to be strong. You have to love the person looking back at you in the mirror. You have to see that you are worth it and know that you will survive. You have to feel that strength from the bottom of your feet and let it radiate through and around you. You can overcome this obstacle. You can overcome any obstacle. Thank God you don’t look like what you’ve been through.

Do you think I got married thinking that I would be divorced? Nope. My biggest fear was being a single mother. Why? Because I grew up in a single parent home when my dad walked out. I held out on having a child because this fear was real and present and I didn’t want to end up like my parents.

But I did.

I felt like a failure as a wife and a mother. I was repeating the cycle of having my son grow up in a broken home, but the love I had for Munch outweighed all my fears. Even when I couldn’t control the tears of my pain thinking that I was destroying my child, I knew that we would be okay. I needed to straighten my back and love this beautiful boy looking back at me because I knew that God never fails. I knew that I was finally free.

Free to be me. The real me. The me that doesn’t want to be bothered sometimes. The me that realizes it is okay to be perfectly imperfect. That’s when I started to grow stronger. To see that I could do it. Realizing that although my marriage failed, I wasn’t a failure. I was a survivor. I did it.

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I started to realign my thoughts, vision and faith to know that it will be okay. Fear is normal and I wanted and needed to be strong for Munch. It didn’t matter that I was met with anger, hurt, judgement, nitpicking and resentment. I had to keep pushing forward. But, you get that in anything right?

Whether you survived a bitter divorce, job loss, death or a dysfunctional relationship. You’ve survived something. Think about how it would have been so easy to give up and give in – but you didn’t. You are stronger than you think and give yourself credit for.

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No one’s life is easy. Everyone has survived something. You have to remember that there is strength in the survival and your past is just that. Your past. It serves only to remind you of how badass you are for surviving.

Now what? You’ve survived. Your self-esteem may have taken a blow. You may have lacked the courage to get up and keep moving for a while. But, you have too. You have to love you. You have to focus on you. You have to be the motivating force in your life that allows nothing and no one to stop you from loving you.

When I learned to love myself…to truly love myself, it allowed me the opportunity to receive and know love from Mr. C. I knew me. I loved me and as much as I love and adore that man, nothing was going to stop me from loving me more. Me needs to be okay to be able to love and support him. Me needs to be a priority. Self-care and self-esteem need to be at the top of my lists in order for me to be able to be a good mom, a good manager and a good girlfriend.

I’m happy to say that I’ve been there. I’ve survived and you will too. Trust that your relationship with yourself sets the tone for every other relationship you have. What kind of relationship do you have with you?

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Want to keep in touch? You can find me on social media at the following links: Twitter @mskeeinmd, Facebook page A Thomas Point of View and my Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/mskeeinmd/.

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A Force to Be Reckoned With

It’s a new year. It’s time for a new you. Not literally a new you, but you must revamp and revise who you are for 2018. You’ve got to have gone through some things that have enlightened you in 2017. What did you learn? Can you now take that lesson learned and apply it in 2018?

I’m setting some basic goals for me with regards to this year. I want more experiences, to create more memories, to take more photos and to grow both personally and professionally. I am grabbing the bulls by the horn and proclaiming that 2018 will be my year. The year that I will own my voice.

We all have a voice. I have a voice. You have a voice. You must be a force to be reckoned with. It’s time to get serious about you. The real you. The you that cries at stupid commercials. The you that actually loves romantic comedies. The you who realized that you made a mistake by ending the relationship with the last person you dated.

that’s the you that it’s time to reckon with. It’s okay to have made mistakes, we’ve all done things we wish we hadn’t. But, you can’t stay buried in the pain or in the poison of your misfortune. Own it and move forward. There’s no right or wrong way to live your life. You just have to be determined and unmovable in your goals and desires to elevate yourself. Get off your butt and put one foot in front of the other. Whether physically, emotionally or spiritually it is time to move.

Be courageous. Be determined. Be you.

Be blessed loves!

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Want to keep in touch? You can find me on social media at the following links: Twitter @mskeeinmd, Facebook page A Thomas Point of View and my Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/mskeeinmd/.Want to keep in touch? You can find me on social media at the following links: Twitter @mskeeinmd, Facebook page A Thomas Point of View and my Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/mskeeinmd/.