Thought of the Day
"Hate is too great a burden to bear. Hate injures the hater more than the hated. "-Coretta Scott King
Life is so precious. Why live with hatred in your heart?!
Stay well and be blessed
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Makeup Bag Essentials
Do you have the needed essentials for those busy days? Check your bag and throw out anything old, only carry what you need on the go. Refresh any of your products with new ones.
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Such a Hurry
Such a Hurry
A Tanka
Why such a hurry
People move in a scurry
No time for hello
Passersby in a flurry
Sitting I watch and worry
Such a Hurry is written in response to Sadje’s prompt.
Image credit: Антон Воробьев @ Unsplash
As always, thank you for reading! 
Do You Respect Your Partners Conflict Style?
Conflict resolution is a part of life and happens to people in different ways. We all process and deal with conflict differently. Some people encounter a problem and fly off the handle. Others, take a beat and use that time to process, dissect and digest what has just occurred.
Who has the better way of handling disputes? Honestly, there is no right or wrong answer. As people, we all process differently and since our personalities are not the same, our ways of handling disagreements differ.
Take this example:
A couple is disagreeing about which set of parents to visit for the holidays. Up until now, they have never really planned it out, they just went with it. However, this year 1 of the two are not in agreement. What do they do?
After going back and forth about it they cannot seem to come to a mutual agreement. They start to use some choice words and still have not come to a resolution.
Tasha is the type to hash out the disagreement right then and there. No waiting to think it over and revisit the subject later. We are going to talk about this now! Tonight! We are not going to bed without figuring this out is Tasha’s point of view.
Corey is the type to take in the information, think about it and process everything. Talk about the dispute the next day. So, you can imagine that Tasha wants to have nothing to do with waiting. This in itself creates more tension because she wants to talk about it now.
Do you think Tasha should just respect the fact that Corey is not ready to discuss it now. If being continually pushed, Corey might say some things that he cannot come back from. So, is it best that Tasha gives him the time and space to figure this out? Or should Corey talk to Tasha now?
In the meantime, Tasha has been waiting and now decides that she no longer cares to discuss it. Corey is livid at this point because he feels like he has had the chance to think it over and now ready to discuss but Tasha is no longer interested?!?!
What do you think? Do you respect your partners conflict style? How do you come to common ground and find a happy ending?
Thank you for reading!
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Where Are You From?
Moving from one state to another is something that we see often. There are many cities and places in the world where it is a melting pot of people from different areas who have set up shop and made a home away from home. A person who moves to another place is referred to as a transplant.
How much time should pass before you consider yourself from the new area? I hear differing opinions on this. Some people say if you are living in a new state for 5 or more years, you are from that place. Some say 7 years or more. I have even heard less time than that. 
What do you say? For me personally, I will always say my original place of origin is where I am from. What about you? Do you adopt the new location and cite that place as the answer to the question,, "where are you from?". Tell me your side of the story. Please share how you feel about the subject.
As always, stay well and be blessed
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Balance My Lunch #2
Balance My Lunch
What can be added or taken away from this lunch to make it healthier?
Featured lunch
Fried wing dings
Green beans
Yellow rice
Can you answer this? What is your networking style?
Do you prefer to network in person or online? Maybe a combination of the two is more like it. Of course, the more connections you make the more opportunities present themselves.
Are you a people person who prefers the more personal one-on-one approach? Some people find that the in person strategy is most effective because you can look at the person you are speaking with and gauge from their response, if they are interested in your collaboration or not. Another clue would be their energy. The person may not seem enthusiastic in what you are saying and unsure about how to let you down easily or relay the disinterest.
On the other hand, some people find great success in networking online. I think it depends on the kind or business you have and are trying to grow. Building your brand and networking online gives you a reach of people that in-person networking cannot achieve. The trick is making sure to align with people interested and building in your field of interest.
So, what is your networking style?
As always, thank you for reading! Stay well and be blessed
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Elevating Life with Louie Hicks
Welcome to this special episode with my first special guest, Louie Hicks. Elevating Life with Louie Hicks gives a glimpse into his views on friends, family and life. Also, he talks about his clothing business, LHJR. Check out the website at www.lhjr.square.site. The podcast he started titled, Connect the Dots Podcast on YouTube. Last but not least, he shares about the podcast he co-hosts with Ock the Barber called Da Hip-Hop Barbershop presents on Apple
Thank you for watching! Stay well and be blessed. 
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Corner Store Bodega
The door to the bodega
Opens with lyrics
Aguanilè
Aguanilè, mai mai
Feeling like you stepped right onto an island
The groove moving up your spine
Bop your head move your feet
Lips turning upward forming a smile
Let me get a Ham with American cheese
And a buttered roll on a Kaiser bun
A grape strawberry Mistic, a quarter water too
Aguanilé
Aguanilé, mai mai
Waiting for your meat to be cut
The lyrics fill the air
You start to dance, salsa or two step
You get to the front to pay
Bum at the counter beggin’, “let me get two loosies man!”
In a hurry to get back, you get mad
Then you hear
Aguanilé
Aguanilé, mai mai
Forgetting the unfolding drama
You move your feet, your hips, your butt
While waiting you go to the lottery case
Slipping a piece of paper to the cashier, play these pick 3 numbers
Oh and a pack of watermelon, grape and apple Now and Laters
Aguanilé
Aguanilé, mai mai
The door to the bodega
Closes behind you
Ears flooded with police sirens
Horns blowing
Arguments and expletives
Feeling like you stepped back into a war
As always, thank you for reading!
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Being Stumped By Change
—Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will. —
Change is upon us every day. Whether we are ready for it or not. It happens. Sometimes in that changing, we get stumped. We may not know what direction to take or what exactly we need to do.
It is not easy to change things about ourselves. The uncertainty and not knowing what will happen next. I just implore you to follow your heart. Love yourself and others.
Stay well and be blessed. 
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Balance My Lunch
What would you add or take away to make this a healthy, balanced meal?
Featured Lunch
Tuna on Honey Wheat bread
Orange
Bottled Water
Share with us about what you would change about this meal. Would you add yogurt or some kind of vegetable? Maybe a salad would top it off. The bread would be healthier if it were whole wheat, what do you say?
Thank you for reading!
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Delicate Flower, She Be
Delicate Flower, She Be
You see her walking down the street
Purpose in her eyes
Meaning in her walk
Strut like you have never seen
Delicate flower, she be
Wearing her armor of protection
The look in her eyes lets you know
Back up or I will cut you
A face that tells you she means business
She ain't here for the games
Delicate flower, she be
Like the weeds that grow in your garden
The dandelions that grow in the empty lot on the corner
Growing in between the cracks in the ground
She rises up
Delicate flower, she be
Having the nerve to go where you wouldn't expect
She stands tall and firm
There are years that ask questions and years that answer
Looking at her reveals both; question and answer
Delicate flower, she be
Hard pavement of the concrete
Matches the hard look on her face
Meeting your gaze she stares back
Not a smile anywhere to be found
Delicate flower, she be
Inside she is just waiting for someone
Someone that sees her and brings out the smile
Simultaneously holding her delicately and firmly
In full bloom as delicate as can be
Delicate flower, she be
Delicate Flower, She Be is written in response to the W3 Prompt #148: Wea’ve Written Weekly. Violet Lentz asks us to write about elements of the human condition and include at least 1 of 3 quotes in her guidelines.
Human condition elements I wrote about are emotions, social interaction, resilience and growth. How people can look so hardened on the outside but are really loving and kind on the inside. A smile is just bursting, waiting to come out at the right circumstance.
The quote I chose is by Zora Neale Hurston, “there are years that ask questions and years that answer.”
Image credit: by Josch13 from Pixabay
As always, thank you for reading! 
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What Would You Do?
Can you answer this? What would you do if you see your friend is hurting and you are not sure how to help?
Would you do nothing
Secretly pray for them
Offer help in a way you think is helpful
Of course, a friend is someone we love and never want to see in pain. If you are unsure of the best way to help them, what would you do?
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Near and Dear to My Heart
Near and Dear to My Heart
beautiful to see
love, warmth, kindness, protection
only moms possess
keeping offspring safe, happy
indeed, the eyes tell it all
Near and Dear to My Heart is in response to Sadje’s prompt.
Image credit: Leandra Rieger on Unsplash
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Theoretically Speaking of Morbid Curiosity
Theoretically Speaking of Morbid Curiosity
Theoretically speaking, you wonder if
Happenstance has come to the forefront
Eliciting answers about this thing
Offering no more cues than when it began
Responding with conjecture, whispering, gossip
Entertaining the masses with your theory
Trying not to let others around you
In on the fact that you want to know
Curiosity killed the cat
And still, you don't stop
Letting your mind drift about the situation
Learning that this is someone else's reality
Yearning for truth about today's morbid curiosity
Theoretically Speaking of Morbid Curiosity is written in response to the word prompt by Sammi Cox.
Image by Alexandra_Koch from Pixabay