Happy New Year!

Well here it is, 2016 has arrived and I hope you all did something memorable to see in the New Year.

Image soured from www.pinterest.com 

Every year I get a feeling about what type of year it’s going to be. To some extent I believe that you can premeditate this, but to another extent I highly believe that your gut will always tell you what lies ahead, well not detail for detail but enough to know whether you need to gear up for battle or simply enjoy life for what it is (Always strive for the latter … regardless).  

A few years ago I decided to stop making huge New Years resolutions on lists that were as long as my arm because trying to achieve all of those things was just too unrealistic. Instead, what I did was keep it really simple and set a life mantra to ‘do what makes you happy and when it no longer makes you happy… stop and move on’.

So far, this has served me well and has helped keep a lot of things in perspective. This simple mantra also helped me to pay more attention to the things that make me happy and how I can manifest that happiness to grow in a positive way. But it has also helped me to identify the things, people and circumstances that make me unhappy and this in itself has been liberating beyond belief!

The amount of unnecessary bullshit I have been able to cut out, avoid and foresee has been life changing and has saved me tonnes of wasted time, energy and emotion.

Whatever resolutions, goals and target you do or don’t set for 2016, I hope that you all have an amazing 365 and that you are able to let go of any fears, situations and even people that have  held you back or kept you down in the past and that you are ready to receive all the love, happiness and success that you deserve for the year ahead!

Happy New Year lovebugs and thank you so much for supporting For The Love of Moi in 2015.

FYI - My gut tells me that 2016 is going to be a gooden! 

Love Sara. xxx

Monday Motivation

Happy Monday Lovers!

So a few months ago there was this photo that was all over the internet and newspapers about this lovely and cute little old lady simply living in the moment at a film premier in the States.

Image sourced form Google.com

The world became obsessed (for a short while) with the fact that while all the other people in the photo were busy capturing the moment on the smart phones, this little old lady didn’t give a rats arse about taking photos at all because she was more than happy capturing everything she needed at that time with her eyes.

Today we have become so obsessed with taking instant pictures and sharing them with the world that we have forgotten that sometimes an image simply can't do any justice to what is happening right in front of us.

Some moments aren’t meant to be captured by a smartphone camera or even an SLR. Some moments are meant to be lived so that you can feel whatever it is that you are supposed to feel in that moment and take it with you.

Image sourced from Pinterest.com

This week instead of whipping out your phone when you see something amazing, take the time to enjoy it and observe how it make you feel.

But if you happen to bump into say… Beyoncé or your ultimate idol this week then I think it’s safe to say that you need to make sure you snap that shit as we will all want proof of that moment!

Have a great week y’all!

Love Sara. xxx

Monday Motivation

Image sourced from www.pinterest.com 

Answer: Every-bloody-thing!

For some people failure simply isn’t an option and while I think it’s important to succeed in whatever we do, a lot of success doesn’t come without a lot of failure.

Failing, or not getting things right first time round is how we learn. It’s also what makes success and victory taste even sweeter.

I once read a quote (because we all know how much I love a good quote) that said;

“If success was always instant and easy, Everyone would be successful, and there would be no pride in achievement. ” – Patrick McCormick

This is so true, because things that are worth a lot don’t come easy. Think about you most important relationships in life, they are what they are because of the work that goes into them and the mistakes that all parties involved have made along the way, that important lessons we learned from; Think about when you were at school, college, uni or even work, at some point there would’ve been an essay, test, assignment or project that you may have not performed the way you wanted to, but think about what you learned from that helped you succeed next time round and the time after that.

Life is too short to try and avoid making mistakes or failing. I say we all let go and face the facts that we can’t always get it right and by doing just that... one day we will realise that we got everything right, even the mistakes and those bloody failures too, because everything will always turn out exactly the way it’s supposed to be.

Have a great week love bugs.

Love Sara. xxx

Monday Motivation

As we get older life becomes more chaotic the more we start to discover who we are in this world. Some of us leave home travel the world looking for adventure and self-discovery while some are able to find all that they are and need right at home.

But as chaotic and as challenging as life can become one thing should always remain the same... Family.

Not everyone in this world is fortunate to be born into an amazing family but everyone has the freedom to create a family that they are proud to be part of.

If you look up the word family in the dictionary you will see a range of meanings referring to parents and their children, single parents as well as marriage. While all of these definitions are true I believe that friends can also become family and hold as much and sometimes even more value than the family that you were born into.

Images sourced from www.onevelvetmorning.wordpress.com

After moving away almost 6 months ago I value my family more than ever and I know how lucky I am to have them, and that includes my friends and their families who have become members of my family over the years.

This week take some time to love and appreciate your family for all their beauty and all their flaws too because let’s face it, no family is perfect but they are always there for us whenever we need them no matter where we may be in the world.

Have a great week lovers xxx

Love Sara. xxxxx

Monday Motivation

Image sourced from www.mermagblog.com

Hey there Lovebugs!

I hope you all had a fab weekend and are looking forward to the week ahead.

Question - Does your mind ever run a thousand miles an hour generating idea after idea of the things you want to do, have or be? Well mine does and because of this one of the many things that I have managed learn about myself is that I have a very overactive imagination!

Don’t get me wrong this has its advantages, as it keeps me on my toes, but sometimes I get so caught up in it all and that I accidentally exhaust myself mentally, physically and emotionally.

There is nothing wrong with being ambitious, driven, determined and all that good stuff, but it’s important to remember that ‘You can do anything, but not everything’ .

This quote regularly keeps me in check as it’s a reminded of my talents and what I am capable of, but it also encourages me to prioritise by what I want the most and what is realistic, to what I can take on at the time.  

So if you find yourself overwhelmed with amazing ideas or even by the request of others, take a moment stop and remind yourself that you are more capable of anything but that doesn’t mean that you should burn yourself out trying to achieve it all at once.

Take your time with what’s most important to you and have a great week me darlings!

Love Sara. xxx

Monday Motivation

Image sourced from www.forthedream.tumblr.com

This can happen to the best of us at times. Losing myself is a place that I feel like I visit too often these days, but in my moments of clarity I remember that when I feel like I’ve lost the girl that I used to be, or am unsure of who I am or what I want these days, I remember that it’s ok to have these feelings because I am just shedding the skin of what is no longer needed, taking what I have learned and what I’m still learning, and am evolving into the person I’m supposed to be for the next chapter of my life.

Yes feeling like you are losing yourself on the regular can be, scary, frustrating, lonely and bloody awful, but the key to losing yourself from time to time is making sure that all of those good ass friends and family that love you as much as the air they breathe are by your side physically, emotionally or in my case virtually, to remind you how bloody awesome, talented, beautiful and loved you are in those moments when you don’t know how to remind yourself! And with that... you will never truly lose yourself all the way because these magnificent lovers we call family and friends will never let you!

Have a great week love bugs and remember, it’s normal and fine to lose your shit from time to time... just don’t lose it forever! 

Love Sara. xxx

Monday Motivation

Happy Monday Lovers!

I’ve always had this tendency to construct master plans for life which more recently is something that I’ve been working my arse off to move away from.

Having a plan for anything is a good thing, however it can also be devastating when your plans don’t seem to work out the way you expected and also can stop you from living in the moment.

But here’s what I’ve learned about making plans in life and for life; Things ALWAYS work out just the way that are supposed to even if it’s the complete opposite of what you planned.

So when you have days or moments where things don’t seem to be going your way, just take a deep breath and roll with it, accept it for what is, make good decisions, embrace it and learn from it. 

Image sourced from pinterest.com

Remember that things always unfold just the way they are supposed to, so if you’re wondering why you haven’t had that promotion or why you haven’t met the guy of your dreams despite your detailed master plan, it’s just because there is a bigger and better plan for you in the works and if you stay open and positive, when the time is right things will be exactly the way they were always supposed to be and all the things you considered to have gone wrong, will suddenly feel like things that went right.

Have a great week amigos!   

Monday Motivation

The mind is a powerful thing.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you have started with one negative thought and before you knew it, you had become overwhelmed with emotions and not necessarily the good kind?

Like I said the mind id a powerful thing and if you give too much power to your thoughts especially the negative ones you can easily end up in a places that feel emotionally and mentally draining. But on the flip side of that, if you start to think more positively you will find that you will experience emotions that feel much more energising and happy which will inspire you to hold on to those feelings for as long as you can.

Staying in a positive frame of mind all day everyday is, well, at least for me... impossible. Simply because shit happens in life and you have to go through the (e)-motions to get to the other side.

But as silly of as difficult as it may sound to ‘train your mind to see the good in everything’, it’s actually one of the best things that you can do. Trust me on this one!

By doing this, eventually you’ll realise that the things that were once big issues causing you stress, anger and heartache are actually not worth the hassle.

It will help you to put things in to perspective about who and what is important and who and what’s not. Without realising it, training your mind to ‘think happy thoughts’ (yep, just like peter pan) will open your mind and your world to things you never imagined. (Ok so you won’t be able to fly your way back to Never Never Land, but I assure you there are plenty other things you’ll experience with your feet planted firmly on the ground.)

Happy Monday Lovebugs! Have a great week and remember to think happy thoughts!

Image sourced from Wunder.co.uk 

Love Sara. xx

I Get By With A Little Help From Yoga

Yoga was always something that I’d always wanted to do however my initial reason for trying it out over 10 years ago at the infamous Pineapple Studios are very different to the reasons why I love it today.

Despite the relaxing effect it had on me and my friend in that studio all those years ago (we fell asleep!), I never quite cottoned on to the power and empowerment of yoga, I just saw it as something that was good for me to do during my days as a dancer to help keep me limber and strong, which is probably why I never kept it up as I completely missed the point of what yoga is really about.

However over the past few years I have found myself questioning so many different aspects of life and paying a lot more attention to the way I respond to life. So as a way of exploring this and finding balance and inner peace, in January 2014 as one of my new year’s resolutions I vowed to start my yoga journey and it all began with a £5 class which I had no idea would eventually play such a huge role of support in my life.  

Sadly only after a few weeks the class was cancelled and for a while I tried out a few other classes but I never quite connected the way that I did with my first instructor.

By the summer I felt like I had started to fall apart as my tank was on empty and I needed to slow down and as a result of overworking and neglecting myself in more ways than one I began to experience a lot of anxiety. I knew that what I was experiencing was simply a mind over matter situation and I was determined to restore myself in a holistic way. So I contacted my instructor and gave her the rundown on what was happening and booked myself in for a private session, but before diving straight in for a yoga session we agreed that I we would have a Reiki session that would help to understand where my issues were coming from and what areas we needed to focus on. This was and still is the most powerful spiritual healing experience I have ever had. It was the first time in what had felt like months that my mind found peace, even if it was only for a few seconds at a time because let me tell you, those few seconds felt like heaven (or at least what I imagine heaven would feel like.)

These sessions were the start of gaining back my control, managing and understanding my mind and emotions at a deeper level. Since then I have continued with my yoga and meditation practice and have had some really great experiences. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been to some yoga classes where I’ve left and at the end said to myself “what the fuck was that all about”, and I’ve been to some where my body has had a better work out than my mind and spirit, but I’ve also been to classes that have left me in tears, or have unblocked whatever may have been preventing me from feeling grateful, happy, loved or free. My latest experience involved being turned on during a session!! Which I assure you, was as much as a surprise to me as  I think may be to you! The instructor did have on some insanely little tight shorts and he did also had a beautiful voice, but after having a quick chat with my instructor back home she assured me that it was completely normal and that he (the instructor) clearly acted as catalyst for whatever was going on in my body. (Horny hormones! HA!! Can’t believe I just wrote that!) Lol, no seriously yoga has all kinds of ways of awakening your subconscious feelings, energies and emotions. Especially at times when you least expect it, you can experience all kinds of emotions.

Yoga isn’t for everyone but for me it one of my top wellbeing activities that keeps me centred and grounded in this crazy western world. Since moving to Lisbon I’ve been exploring different classes to find my right match while I’m here which I think may have finally found. What makes it even sweeter is that it’s outdoors and it's free!

If you’re in Lisbon and would love to do some yoga check out the video below!

Or if you’re at home and don’t have the time to get to a class but really want to have some kickass guided practice, check out Yoga with Adrienne! She is amazing and I regularly do her sessions via YouTube. She’s fun as has a great way of making you feel at ease with whatever level of yoga you’re at. She also has a great 30 Daysof Yoga programme which I’ve found as great way to start the day.

Follow @yogawithadriene

Enjoy and  feel free to share any yoga stories or tips!

Love Sara. xx

The People You Meet Along The Way...

One of the most exciting things about travelling or moving somewhere new is the people you meet. Some may be a little strange, some even creepy, like the boys that wait like vultures for the foreign girls to come to town so they can offer strong helping hand because of course, every female with a passport and the desire to travel is a brainless damsel in distress! But aside from the creeps, dickheads and weirdos there are some genuinely amazing people from all over the world waiting to meet you!

Since I’ve been in Lisbon I’ve met so many people from so many different places that I’ve lost track. But then there are always the ones that stick with you, like the bubbly landlord who gave me the best welcome ever on my first day. I’d barley even checked in and before I knew it we out the door and on our way to an art exhibition, a fresh juice bar and an outdoor book fair. We talked about the how amazing life, yoga and the universe are and of course boys... duh! But what was even more amazing is that 2 weeks prior leaving the UK I’d started to think about how difficult it was going to be and how lonely I would be in my first few days when I arrived, but as soon as I met my landlord all those feelings disappeared. We talked about so many things that without realising it, we were helping each other make sense of our current life situations, so we decided there and then while chowing down on some sort of green veg chocolate cake (I swear is was scrumptious), that we would write a book titled, ‘Everything happens for a reason’. And just like that a new friendship was born.

Then there’s the lovely enthusiastic Brazilian lady I met at a language exchange. We agreed to meet one afternoon to practice our language skills and I am so glad that we did because she reminded me of how excited and in love with Lisbon I was the first time I visited which helped me to remember what brought me back. It wasn’t long before I felt like I’d been reconnected with a long lost friend and again, that was the beginning of a new inspiring friendship.

When I had my weeks of weakness of feeling homesick I met an amazing group of people who have no idea how much they cheered me up! From that group of people I met a lovely free spirited, kite surfing French girl. It had almost been a month since we’d initially met but randomly one day I was on Facebook and saw her name pop up, so I took it as a sign and said hi. Little did I know she was leaving the next day so we spontaneously met up for the afternoon and as we began talking we realised that we had a lot in common. We talked about how much we love Lisbon, our travelling experiences and some of the things that we want from life. And just like that, in one afternoon, I went from being in limbo about what to do next with my life, to feeling like I had found the next piece to my puzzle!

And then there’s the 67 year old American lady who is just dying for me to meet her cat, Squeak! This fiery lady left home at the age of 18, found herself some European loving and hasn’t looked back since.

When we first met, I asked her where she was from, she replied “now that’s an interesting question”, to which she gave an interesting answer. I suppose when you’ve travelled and lived in as many places as she has it can become a bit difficult to say that you’re from one specific country, town or city, when your life has been shaped by so many different places.

After sitting next to this lady at an outdoor documentary movie while she decided to become a personal quirky commentator, mainly commentating on how shite she thought the documentary was, I knew I liked her. 

On the train back into the city we talked and talked and I realised that this woman has the most amazing spirit and I loved being around her because she honestly reminds me of what life is all about! Despite going against what society told her she should be as an 18 year old girl in the 70’s, she had the balls to go against the grain and follow her heart which has taken her on so many memorable adventures.

For me there is nothing like meeting a complete stranger and discovering you have a connection with them, even if it’s just for a moment or it lasts an entire lifetime. I live for moments like these because these random people I meet from all over the world have helped and continue to help shape the person I am and the person I will become!

Although most of us were raised on a strict ‘Stranger Danger’ policy, I highly recommend you trust your gut combined with weirdo raider and get to know a stranger every once in a while, you never know what will happen.

Love Sara. xxx

Finding a New Path

Can you believe that my first month in Lisbon has already gone?

So how did it go? – Well to be completely honest the first 2 weeks were pretty bad as I experienced the worst homesickness I’ve ever experienced in my life. I’ve always been one to get homesick but this time it felt like it was never going end which made it even worse. Immediately I stated making plans for my return home to England and how I would just carry on with my life as it was. For a while this was comforting but then after returning home for a week for a family event and spending time talking really openly with my family and two besties about what I was feeling, I began to remember all the reasons why I made the choice to move to Lisbon and give myself a break and live life in a new place for a while.

Taking myself out of my comfort zone and starting over the way I did was such huge thing to do and I clearly underestimated the impact that it would have on me, as I had gone from having a super busy job, friends, family, and social life, to having no job, plenty of time and just me myself and I to keep myself company. But as awful as those few weeks were, I got over them (thank God) and was able to start putting things into perspective, like the fact I am living the my favourite city in the world with endless possibilities!

Now a full month in I can say that moving here for the summer (or maybe longer who knows) was definitely the right thing for me to do because although I change my mind as often as Rihanna changes her hair, being here and having time alone has given me the chance to start thinking more about what I want from this new blank chapter of life, what’s most important and how I can achieve it. And yes, it’s likely that I will change my mind a gazillion times before I get to the place that I’m supposed to be, but I’m happy to say that this is a start, and for the first time in a while, I think I may be on the path that was designed just for me.

Love Sara. xx

Heeding The Signs

Hello there love bugs!

I hope you’re all well and happy?

It has been a long time since I have posted anything on here and my, my, my, has a lot changed since my last post on 29 November 2014! (What a shameful time gap!)

If you are a regular reader of For The Love of Moi, you would’ve noticed that in the posts leading up to the last one in November last year, FTLOM took a turn in the type of content that was being shared. I assure you that this was not planned but was merely a reflection of what was going on in my life at that time.

So to give you the short version, here’s the skinny on what led to the changes in the content and my life.

Now as some of you may remember in 2013 I managed to get the job of my dreams that I had been working so hard for! Don’t get me wrong it was no high flying job with the salary to match, but was that foot in the door that I had wanted and was enough for me. However the more involved I became in my job the more my body was trying to tell me to slow down, but as much as I was learning about heeding the signs of life, I sure as hell wasn’t heeding these signs until one day at our busiest time of the year on my way to work I was involved in a car crash which should have been more than enough to make me or anyone for that matter stop and say, “Ok universe, I’ve heard you loud and clear! From this day forth I vow to put my health first”, but no that wasn’t enough for little ol’ me now was it, as the very next day I was back at my laptop, (even if it was from my living room whilst propped up by ever cushion in the room.)

It wasn’t until I had a full blown panic attack in the canteen whilst at work with embarrassing visions flashing through my mind of being airlifted out of the campus and taken to the nearest hospital that I realised that I was suffering from anxiety which the doctors failed to pick up on when I told them I was having breathing problems to which their solution was to put me on steroid based medication!!!

So after going back to the doctor and telling them that the problem was not asthma, but was in fact anxiety (imagine having to tell your doctor what they should have told you! A rant for another day) they told me the best thing anyone could have ever told me at that stage of my anxiety, even if it wasn’t what I wanted to hear … which went something like this; ‘Sara, you have two options, you can either find a way of coping or you can find a new job’!

Fast forward one year and this is where I’m at; I worked through a lot of my anxiety with the support of my family, friends, colleagues who have become friends and an amazing yoga teacher and realised that there were a lot of things that needed to change in my life which started with the way that I was treating myself and the way that I approached life.

I found ways of managing my workload as well as more time for myself, I realised that there were other factors that contributed to my anxiety which I am still learning how to deal with, but the most important thing that I have learned so far, is the importance of the connection with myself which I somehow managed to lose along the way. However since this realisation I have managed to restore and continue to build this connection every single day, and yes, even on the shit days, because we all have them no matter how zen we deem ourselves to be.

As for the job, I called it a day and followed my heart to rekindle an old flame. I packed my bags, left on jet plane and to be honest, I’m not too sure when I’ll be back again!

But in mean time I plan to keep sharing my experiences and discoveries with you all, which will include the good, the bad and the hella ugly, as I know I’m not alone on this amazing rollercoaster we call life and what’s an experience if you’re not able to share it? Even if it’s only through a blog.

Love Sara. xxx 

Epiphany of Change

Last week I had a long overdue lunch with one of my mentors, who always manages to add some sunshine to my day.

Over the past few months I have experienced complete and utter exhaustion, being overwhelmed and anxious to the point where even I at times didn’t recognise myself!

Now a few months down the line I’m nowhere near ‘cured’ or free of the above, but I’m definitely on the path to a much better place.

Earlier this year I had a car accident, which in hindsight was the straw that thankfully broke the camel’s back. Unfortunately in this life its takes a negative and frightening experience to slap you about and tell you to wake the hell up to reality and that’s exactly what that accident did for me.

For almost the past 2 years of my life I have allowed myself to become so involved in my professional life by trying to keep up with those around me and what societies idea of what a young professional female should be, that I forgot about the most important person in my life… me! Sounds silly I know; how can I forget about me when I spend every single day with me? But this is easily done when you become so consumed with the day to day tasks of work and life that sometimes you forget to stop, breathe and take the time to take care of you. Well I had been doing that for longer than I can remember and when I finally realised that this is what I’d been doing, everything began to change.

As they say change is good, but what I have had to learn is that change is also flipping hard, especially when the change is so big that you know that every relationship in your life will change as a result of the changing of the relationship you have with yourself. This has been no easy ride and changes by the day, sometimes even by the hour. But with each day I have learned to understand it all a little more and accept it a little more, but here is what I learnt and understood last week with the help of my wonderful mentor.

With change there is always a loss and this is sometimes why change can feel uncomfortable. I also learnt that throughout life we have ways of doing things that have always served us well, but sometimes these things no longer serve us and this is ok. But when these things that we do and may have done for our entire lives, or the last decade of our lives no longer serve us, it’s ok to let them go, because there is no point in holding on to something that no longer works in our favour. Sometimes this can mean letting go of something that has become a part of you, but this doesn’t mean that you a losing yourself or even compromising who you are. It just means that you are making space and opening yourself up to something new that will serve you and will allow you to evolve, grow and develop in to the person who you are destined to be and that will help you flourish in your next chapter.

This is simple and deep down this was something that I already knew, but through having this casual lunch with my bubbly and supportive mentor, the penny finally dropped. By letting go and cleansing myself of certain habits and ways that I have always had does not mean that I am losing myself. It means that I am giving myself the permission and acceptance to grown into the person I need to be for the next stage of my life and I should not, regret, mourn or feel anger or fear towards this, instead I should embrace it and let it be.

These are just some of the lessons I learned last week that I wanted to share with you… There plenty more where they came from so I’ll do my best to share them with you when I can.

Love Sara. xxx

F.R.I.E.N.D.S Do we Really Need Them .... Hell Yes!!

Last week was a very trying week and my friends simply were my saviour.

Sometimes in life you need to be told about yourself, not in a nasty way but simply because you’re being too hard on yourself and sometime you need someone to talk to help you make sense of the things in your life that you just can’t figure out alone.

You should know something about me that I have only really discovered in the past year… I am an utter control freak and being the control freak that I am is currently ruining my life! Ok that was a little dramatic… It’s not ruining my life it’s just making my life harder than what it needs to be.

You see my problem is this, I know the beauty of living in the moment because I spent the better part of 2013 doing just that, but I also have this thing that I do which is called being overly ambitious. This is not a bad thing, but this usually leads to me setting my sights on something that I want to be or do, working my arse off to get it and then once I have it, not exploring it and then setting my sights on the next big thing. In short this means that I live a lot in the future which equals major anxiety. This is something that I am working on and at times I’m better at it than others. However for the past few weeks I have been failing miserably and this is where the help and support of good friends come in.

Over the Christmas my good amiga came home from uni and we had a blast! So much of a blast I didn’t realise how much I’d missed having a friend around who gets me in every way possible and best of all, is as honest as f*@#! Some people hate that, but I love it! It sets the real apart from the fake and there is nothing better that having friends that call it like they see it and believe me, that is exactly what she did.

To put it simply, my dear friend verbally shook some sense into me and helped me to remember that there is nothing wrong with having ambition and goals in life, but sometimes I just need to give myself a flipping break and acknowledge all of the great things I have already achieved and be proud of them. She also reminded me to live in the moment and to stop spending so much time worrying and trying to control the things in life that ultimately, I have no control over.

All in all, having great friends in life is a must! And I mean real friends, one’s like my good mate that I’ve just spent the last 400 odd words talking about. Friends that never judge you, friend that will still be your friend regardless of the choices you make so long as you remain true to yourself whilst making them, friends that will not only just listen to your problems, but friends who are down to help you find solutions to your problems even if means telling you to get your head out of your arse, but above all, friends that you can be your complete and utter self with and have a good old fashioned laugh about everything and nothing all at the same time!

 

Image sourced from http://easy-safe-weightloss.blogspot.it/

Value you friends lovebugs… good ones are hard to find.

 

Love Sara (A little Lady with a Kick Ass friend called Arti!). xxx

Monday Motivation

For most of us today is the first day back at work after a the Christmas break and after two weeks of stuffing our faces, drinking (all kinds of flavoured whiskey) and being merry we probably just feel like we need an extra week to recover.. oui ou non?

In recent years I’ve worked hard on breaking the habit of using the new year as an excuse to start something new or make significant changes in my life, and while I still stand by this there is something to be said for reflecting at the end of a year and deciding what I want out of the new year which typically results in me and so many others hitting the ground running and forgetting exactly what we had set out to do by February!

But last year I decided that maybe if I kept my resolutions really simple it would work, so I made a small mental list of all the things I wanted to achieve in 2013 which consisted of finding a job that I was passionate about and could grow in (Check), to enjoy my hometown (check), to find the positive in every negative (check), to have fun (check) and the item on the list that overrode them all was to do whatever feels good for as long as it feels good and when it doesn’t, just stop (check).

So with the New Year already underway and continuing with some of the items from my 2013 list that worked a treat I’ve added a few more for 2014 that are kind of similar to what I found below

Image sourced from http://www.athomeinlove.com/casual-friday-2/

 

It’s always great to set goals and resolutions but the main thing to remember is that you don’t have to wait for a new year to begin to make changes. Start small with a thought and let your thoughts become your actions… remember Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Happy New Year love bugs and have a great week.

Love Sara. xxxx

Happy New Year!

The New Year is here and I for one am looking forward to all that it may bring!

2013 was one of the best years of my life this far, everything I said that I was going to achieve I did and all be for September 2013. I travelled and had the time of my life! I enjoyed my hometown in a way that I hadn’t before, I got the job I wanted and I began my spiritual journey which continues to amaze me daily.  Not all of 2013 was peachy though, I had to confront some of the most important relationships in my life which meant a lot of tears, harsh words and real truths that needed to be told.

If there is anything that 2013 has taught me it’s to just be happy, be honest with yourself and others and above all be positive because negativity will get you nowhere fast. 

In the last 3 months of 2013 things started to change that have been stirring some unfamiliar and unwelcomed feelings, but I have come to accept that change is good and change is needed, it may throw me, have me in tears, cause mass anxiety, extreme happiness or sadness, but above all change will give me nothing short of life lessons, new experiences, growth and understanding.

I have a feeling that 2014 will be a year full of change and new challenges. This is daunting as I’ve acknowledged that I am about to step into an unfamiliar territory in so many more ways than one but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to it all!

For me 2014 will be the start of something new, something great and something fun. I will push myself beyond my comfort zone and live life a little more on the edge!

 

Happy New Year Love bugs! Thank you for supporting For The Love of Moi in 2013 and I hope that this new year brings you nothing short of love, happiness and success.

Love Sara (A little lady ready for change) xxxx

MANDELA

Unless you have been hiding under a rock for week you will know that the world has lost our probable last true hero, Mr Nelson Mandela.

I wasn’t shocked nor was I sad when heard the news, I felt what I can best describe as a sense of Joy. Not because of his death, but because he was a man who knew and understood his purpose and he did not run nor did he hide from this calling, instead he accepted it and fulfilled his purpose until his dying day.

Mandela lived a long, hard yet extremely blessed and inspiring life. He achieved so much within his lifetime that came with great sacrifice. I cannot mourn the loss of a man of such greatness, I can only celebrate the life he gave us.

Whereas so many people die before their time Mandela lived for 95 years and in those years he inspired not only a country or a whole continent but an entire world. He sacrificed 27 years of his life behind bars to do what was right. He was a man who believed in equality and was a true leader an example of what it means to forgive and to unite. 

I only hope that the life of Mandela will continue to inspire this generation and generations to come, to stand firm for what they believe in and fight for what is right.

Mandela fought an extraordinary fight that will forever remain in history.

May your soul rest peacefully for your work here is done and may your spirit live on in us all and continue to inspire us to through our fight.

Image sourced from Google

Be inspired.

Love Sara. xx 

Monday Motivation

The other day I read a quote that went something like this… ‘In life you’re always going to end up pissing someone off, so you may as well just do you and piss them off anyway.’

People are not going to like every decision you make, especially the ones that do not include them or hold their best interests at heart. Sometime you have to stop putting others first in order to grow as a person to then be able to help others.

Do not let those who do not understand this prevent you from being you or taking chances on the things in life that you want and need. Someday, they will understand and respect the decisions that you made and if not…. Oh well, because you have to do right by yourself before you are able to do right by others.

Image sourced from www.glamourousguide.com

Have a great week and do you, no matter who you might offend during the process.

 

Love Sara. xxx

Monday Motivation

Hi love bugs!

I hope you all had a fab weekend and did something outside the box, if not …..

image sourced from Google

 

Sometimes you just need to shake things up a bit, let loose and have some fun.

Have a great week my loves.

Travel Is My First Love

This is the first year in a while that I haven’t made plans for long term travel and if I’m honest I think that my nearest and dearest are quite shocked that I haven’t yet packed my bags and headed off to some new and exciting hot country to contemplate life on a beach.

Last year when I returned home for living in the Caribbean I told myself that moving away or travelling long term simply would not be an option for the next two years as it was time that I worked on building a career.

So here I am, over a year later and to everyone’s surprise still happily living in UK which means that I can proudly say that I’ve proven everyone wrong who thought I wouldn’t last… besides I said that I couldn’t leave the country long term, I didn’t say anything about not leaving the country at all!

If someone told me tomorrow that I would never be able to travel again I think the paramedics would have to come and scrape me off the floor! Travelling is in my blood and literally makes my spirit come alive and has been a huge part of the person I am today!

This year I have had some amazing adventures which have taught me a lot about myself, others and the world. But now that my last international adventure of the year is over and I don’t have anything else lined up (for now) I have to get my fix online.

I came across an amazing site called Travel Noire, and let me tell you that this site is my newest and bestest friend! “Travel Noire is a blogging platform featuring cultivated insights from a global community of black travellers”.

Image sourced from Travel Noire

 

Some of you may be saying “what’s the big deal?” But this is a huge deal? This website is an amazing breath of fresh air because people often act like black people don’t travel or that we don’t know how to travel or we only visit the countries and Islands that we’re from. These MIS-perceptions work my nerves like something you would never believe. And let me tell you why… black people are travellers, have always been travellers and always will be travellers. The first time that we set sail as a people were not on slave ships and it’s past time people stopped acting like it was. How the hell else do you think that the Moors and various tribes ended up all over the world?

Travel Noire is everything and more to a young black female like moi, because is challenges the misperceptions and misrepresentations out there.

There have been times and will be plenty more times when I have been travelling and have been the only black face for miles, but this has never stopped me from going anywhere that my heart has desired and this site is a testament of those who feel the same.
 

Image sourced from Travel Noire courtesy of Street Etiquette

Travel Noire provides and fresh and cultured platform for the black community who love to travel, learn and explore, despite all that society has to say. This site literally has me hooked and of course planning my next holiday from all their amazing tips and information.

I would highly recommend you check out Travel Noire to get inspired and get travelling! There are some truly amazing reads on there that I can relate to all too well as well as some amazing reads that inspire the life out of me.

Image sourced from www.yourdailylifeguide.com

Love Sara. (A little lady who just loves, loves, loves to travel). xxx