FROM @SELAHDIARY
Confidence of God.
first seek spiritual balance
“By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.
BE YOUR OWN
muse. the world is your canvas, your pain is the paint, create art, from the cracks in your heart, and the suffering flowing through your veins. stroke by stroke, YOU, ARE THE ARTIST OF YOUR WORLD.
in my bag and in my bible too
ow s gr me
ap ply pr ess ur e
in ll w sma . t er fas
c E m b heri r a c sh t e e he day ver . y m ome nt.
more life, less internet
only cuffing season for accomplishing goals
l & l s a l l i e k c s n s a t e h c i e n . f t e y i r per tivit u p m a i e cr
C o n s c i o u s l y 1.
The Design: Focus on the vision and a game plan. Give thought to what you want to give to your future. Regularly write down what you want. Ask yourself and answer it on paper - What is the coolest thing that could happen? Refresh your mind with your answer at least twice a day.
2. The Habits: write down in your strategy journey, where are you now, where do you want to be, and are your habits sufficient enough to get you to those goals? You are now putting the trajectories into your brain. There are daily action steps to make in order to make things happen.
3.
The Follow Through: How do you stay on tract when you get off tract? Check back and see if you did the daily goals and track it to make sure it is done. It could all be so simple. Consciousness can benefit you in the long run if you're mindful and take control of the small tasks, one day at a time.
Design your life
u a person or personified force who is the source of inspiration for a creative artist.
M
s to muse is to consider something thoughtfully. As a noun, it means a person — especially a woman — who is a source of artistic inspiration.
e
my [ /mī/ ] belonging to or associated with the speaker.
un·dis·closed
[ /ˌəndisˈklōzd/ ] not revealed or made known publicly.
sto·ry
[ /ˈstôrē/ ] an account of past events in someone's life or in the evolution of something.
ex·clu·sive 1. 2.
[ /ikˈsklo͞ osiv/ ] restricted or limited to the person, group, or area concerned. an item or story published or broadcast by only one source.
Soul of a Woman: How to Cultivate Beauty, Power and Purpose Through Understanding Your True Soulful Self
Cultivating soulfulness is internal work. Self acceptance is the first step. Healing and mastering ones self is how I gain control; by focusing internally instead of externally. Discerning distractions and knowing when they appear is key. You have to be aware of where you are mentally and be aware of your capacity to access freedom. Mindfulness is how you take your power back. Self awareness and consciousness helps us to clearly and responsibly set our intentions. Once I gained self awareness is when I began to learn my power, value my weaknesses as strengths and wield soft power with my femininity
Practice being centered and being in alignment with your spiritual gifts. I have three unique gifts that God has already given me and I use them to amplify my work. I was already born with these gifts that are inside of me and no one can take them away, so I chose to use them for good power, instead of evil doing. Understand your qualities of life that you can add and use what God has already given you. Sometimes you have to go back to your childhood and become childlike to remember what you are good at. In this very moment, I choose to use my gift of shepherding to lead people to who they truly are and to be impactful with inspiring those of my own life & path. I decided that if I'm going to have a platform, why not use it for goodness and share my transformation along the journey.
To have light in the world, is to have understanding. Understanding is light. God is light, therefore understanding his mind/character (the word) is to have understanding of him & ALL things he has created (i.e you & me). Truth and accountability will be like a light unto your path. Intentionality about God is often hidden.. why is that? The creator hasn't failed me yet and that is why I include him in everything. He is greater than the illusions of this world. Keep watering yourself. If you expect for someone to tend to your garden, you will find yourself disappointed. Don't get too comfortable that you forget about you. Set peace of mind as your highest goal and organize your life around it. The closerI get to God, the closer I get to the truth. He is the truth, the way, & the life.
How I cultivate my soul & use my spiritual gifts?
d o G f o y r o l g e h t r o Leverage this season f
Every wait has a worth. instant gratification is short lived you may have to wait but you never have to settle. a t u o h t i w e r a u o y e p o d w a o h r o w o , n s k n o a i t t t a o l g u t a r you g n o c , n o i t a d i l . n va o i t a r b cele They thought they h ad you figured out b u t t h e r e are levels to you, dimensions unseen to those op erating in assumptions. n e e s e b o t e v a h t ' n o d u o y , e l o h w e r a u o y n e wh to be felt.
WHO WOULD I LIKE TO BE IN A WORLD FULL OF illusions?
I would only want to be me in any life.
What does the word of God say I am ? n a h t s u o i c e s g r n p i h t e r e o h m t s i l l t e a o n Sh d n n a A c , s e e i r i b s . e ru r d e y h a h m t i u w o y e r a p m o c
Human nature is naturally self-consumed. We stra in our necks for approval and avidly practice comparison, lacking the outward flipped perspective required to understand who we really are. We question who we really are - what our value is and what our purpose is. The pre-requisite of our identity can be found in godly priorities. By aligning our everyday lives to biblical truth, we set our inte rnal GPS to His will. Through Scripture, creation, and purposefully placed peopl e, we begin to discover who God says we are. The story of the Prodigal Son spotlights God’s lo ve for us. Like the father who chose to welcome his son home despite the son’s mistakes, Go d so welcomes us. Although He knew we would forever fall short, He chooses to love us without end. His only Son, Jesus, died sacrificially to leave heaven’s door swung wide o pen eternally. Greg Morse wrote beautifully of the prodigal’s return: “The wayward son braces himself for a slap but receives an embrace.” God says we are: …loved (John 3:16) …His (1 John 3:1) …worthy (Zephaniah 3:17) …purposed (Jeremiah 29:11)
Walk in your power.
How to Develop Authenticity Being authentic means that you act in ways that show your true self and how you feel. Rather than showing people only a particular side of yourself, you express your whole self genuinely. That means to succeed in being authentic, you first have to know who your true self actually is. And this requires self-awareness, mindfulness, and self-acceptance.
God does not call the equipped, he equips the called. You are chosen.
What does the Bible say about my identity? God, who spoke the world into existence, wants to talk to us. We are woven into the tapestry of all He has created. Being made in His image explains our innate desire for something more than ourselves. We’re built to seek and live life in communion with Him and are called to fulfill a unique purpose. Allknowing, just and perfect, His will for our lives reflects the loving Father that He is. The pain and consequential suffering in this world are unavoidable, but never trump God’s desire and ability to work all things for our good.
Who are we in God’s eyes? Liberated, loved, and redeemed for who we are . . . right now. Jesus took every sin we would ever commit to the cross with Him. Nothing can negate His perfect sacrifice for our eternal freedom.
What Does God Think about Me? In Isaiah 43:1b, we’re reminded: “I have called you by name; you are mine.” God shaped us as a potter does clay (The NIV Cultural Study Bible). God has not only created us but formed us and called us to serve Him in specific ways, tailored to each life.
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28).
God sees the perfect creation He intended but knows we always fall short. As we go along life’s journey in pursuit of Christ, He will help us recognize our true reflection through our daily pursuit of His Word. The Bible is the Living Word of God. There’s no shortcut to wisdom other than to sit with the Author of it.
Speaking your opinions honestly in a healthy way. Making decisions that align with your values and beliefs. Pursuing your passions. Listening to the inner voice guiding you forward. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable and open-hearted. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable and open-hearted Setting boundaries and away from toxic situations Take personal inventory & evaluate self/needs to thrive Be present - Focus inward Build your social support system - authentic social circle Speak your truth assertively Daily planning to take action towards authenticity Take a step back to gain perspective - Reflect Recognize internal vs. external influences When you learn how to be real, you also create genuine relationships. You express yourself honestly, and therefore, attract like-minded people who support you, for who you really are.
au·then·tic·i·ty
Why Authenticity Matters
After spending the last year researching and writing my new book, The Power In Being: On Foot For God & Your Brand, I'm now convinced that it's harder for us to be our true selves now, in the technology age. We are constantly bombarded with media that tells us who to be, what to want, and how we "should" express ourselves. All of these influences slow chip away at our ability to be our authentic selves.
But by being someone you are not, you are telling yourself that who you really are isn’t okay. So hiding or suppressing who you really are can end up leaving you feeling lonely, disconnected from others, or even worthless.
How We Lost Our Authenticity
We are constantly balancing inner and outer aspects of ourselves in order to better fit in, to become more successful, or to find love. We are driven to find “our place” in society, and we want to be respected for who we truly are and what we have to contribute. Many of us are propelled even further, desiring to know and live our purpose, to find deeper meaning in our lives, and to feel the fulfillment that comes with becoming a more authentic person.
But at the same time, we live in a society that values superficiality, strives for perfection, and defines success as by the dollars in our bank account and not by how well we live our values every day. So how are we to be authentic in spite of the messages that try to convince us to be someone else?
Why Overcoming Inauthenticity Is So Hard
We were molded as children by our parents, teachers, religions, peers, and society to "fit in." As a result, we developed beliefs, thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that keep us acting in the ways we were taught to act—not in the ways that make us feel like our authentic selves.
This version of ourselves can be thought of as the "Adaptive Self"—the self that prioritizes fitting in, getting along, and generally doing what we're told. This self is not without value and purpose—it helps us be functioning members of society. But if you're feeling inauthentic, the Adaptive Self is running your life. To reclaim your authenticity, you need to discover your “Authentic Self”—the self that prioritizes living according to your values, pursuing your purpose, and fighting for the causes you care about. For most of us, our Authentic Self is buried deep in our unconscious, where it remains hard to identify and let out.
4. Identify discrepancies to develop authenticity. Try to 1. Observe yourself objectively to develop authenticity. Learn to observe yourself like a fly on the wall. Watch become aware of discrepancies between your actions and your yourself as you live in the present moment, observing how beliefs. If you catch yourself making a racist, sexist, or otherwise hurtful remark, ask yourself whether you really your “Adaptive Self” behaves, what it believes, how it believe the words you speak. Are you just saying these reacts under pressure, and how it responds to challenges. things because someone else taught you to? Practice noticing which of these responses feel authentic,
and which ones feel inauthentic. By identifying which Remember, the Adaptive Self just wants to fit in. So it can responses are adaptive vs authentic, you can begin to often act in ways that are inconsistent with our authentic notice the falseness and begin to see the glimmers of truth selves. This is normal. But if we want to be more authentic, we have to notice the address the discrepancies underneath. between our beliefs and our actions.
2. Examine family belief systems to develop authenticity. If you acknowledge what is true for you now, then you can Most people were raised in some sort of "family-style" better live your life according to the needs of your environment during their earliest, most vulnerable years. Authentic Self. But that kind of authenticity requires Think back to episodes in your childhood, episodes that led self-awareness and self-honesty. you to stop being your authentic self and instead adopt
some other way of existing in this world. By examining 5. Examine your doubts to develop authenticity. When where our behaviors come from, we can learn a lot about our exploring your Authentic Self, you may feel unsure of how to go about it. You may question whether it's even possible authentic selves. to change what feels so deeply ingrained within you or is
invisible to you. So keep an eye out for feelings of doubt. 3. Open a dialogue between the Adaptive Self and the
Authentic Self. Invite the two aspects of yourself—the Doubts can be like breadcrumbs that lead you to your Adaptive Self and the Authentic Self—to have a discussion Authentic Self. If you doubt something—a thought, behavior, as part of a meditation or thought exercise. Respectfully emotion, experience—reflect for a moment to find whatever introduce both: Thank the Adaptive Self for helping you is underneath. Is your Authentic Self trying to tell it to function through some difficult and confusing times, and "stop it?"
thank the Authentic Self for helping you feel whole, real, 6. Develop the courage to face your fears. Humans tend to and self-confident. be most comfortable with what is familiar. The unfamiliar
is often challenging, at least at first. Examining your Now invite each part of yourself to share. Ask a question, inner core beliefs can be like exploring a foreign mentally, while urging each side to express itself fully, landscape you are unfamiliar with. So when you touch upon a and then listen patiently to the responses. Encourage disconnect between your Adaptive and Authentic Selves, your dialogue so that you may comprehend both points of view. heart may race or your hands could get clammy. You may
naturally feel afraid to look too deeply into yourself for Try to be open to what both sides have to say, as they may fear of what you might find.
reveal things you're not expecting. For example, the Our Authentic Self often has a lot of fear, sadness, and Authentic Self may be afraid of rejection and therefore anger—our true selves were hurt and that's why the Adaptive afraid to come forward. Or your Adaptive Self may be Self took over. However, the difficult secrets we hide from caretaking, trying to protect you from feeling hurt in the ourselves are what make us who we really are. So as much as ways you've been hurt in the past. These parts of ourselves possible, and as slowly as you need to, courageously are running our lives this way for a reason. In this explore the truth of what makes you who you are. exercise, try to figure out what those reasons are. This Identifying, experiencing, accepting, and letting go of may help you understand why you act the way you do, so you these buried emotions is exactly what fuels your Authentic Self. can decide if you truly want to act differently.
7. Explore your values. Integrity, ethics, and living our personal values is an effective way to live more authentically. The trouble comes when we are so far from our Authentic Selves that we do not even know what our values are. So explore your values and figure out some ways to start living them.
8. Love yourself and have compassion for others to develop authenticity. Because it takes self-love for our Authentic Selves to emerge, embedding more love and compassion within yourself and your life is helpful. One way to increase your self-love is to set aside some time to take numerous deep breaths each day. You can add this into an existing meditation practice if you like.
Slowly deepen your breathing and when you are feeling fully relaxed and receptive, call love to yourself from your environment. Imagine each breath infused with loving energy. Whether as balls of energy, or bursts, or rays of light and love, invite love to enter your body via your breath. Draw love into your lungs and disperse it throughout your body, or send it directly to your Authentic Self. Keep breathing consciously until you feel the lightening and lifting energy of these "love breaths."
Once filled with love, share some of it with friends or loved ones. Sending love to others tends to expand the love within!
9. Recognize that developing authenticity takes time. Examining our true self is a process—perhaps a life-long process—because we are ever-evolving human beings. It takes quite a while to winnow out beliefs and behaviors that no longer serve you and replace them with more authentic actions. But with some effort, you'll soon find more genuine alignment with your true self.
10. Release patterns and beliefs that no longer serve you. When you do come across a thought, emotion, or action that doesn't represent your Authentic Self, work on letting it go. Visualization is a good tool for this. You can place the thought, emotion, or action within a bubble or a balloon and let it rise until it disappears. Or if you are more hands-on, you can write it on a piece of paper, cross it out, and crumple up the paper—a physical action that helps your subconscious understand your intentions.
11. Ask yourself what you truly believe. Another pro-active approach is to simply start with pad and paper (or it can be a mental exercise) and begin listing your beliefs about yourself, beliefs like "I am not good enough" or "Nobody loves me" or "I'm stupid, fat, ugly, etc." Then examine each one, expand upon it, and think back to how and when you acquired that belief, who gave it to you, why you continue to hold on to it, and whether it represents "the authentic you" that you want to be today. Now create positive alternatives to those negative beliefs, such as "I am good enough," or "I am drawing to myself a partner who loves and respects me," or "I am perfect just as I am," etc. And repeat the beliefs as positive affirmations to get them to stick. 12. Take it slow to develop your authenticity. Sometimes we are shocked by what we discover within our subconscious that has been hidden. Such sudden new raw awareness can disrupt our lives in unexpected ways. So use moderation and proceed cautiously. When you discover a belief or memory that has been thwarting your authenticity, allow a few days for you to adjust to your new realizations and view them with self-compassion.
How to Maintain Authenticity Now that you've got a better sense of how to be authentic, here's how to stay authentic. 13. Make telling the truth a habit. This is such a simple suggestion and yet it makes a huge difference! It's so easy to fall into a pattern of lying for convenience's sake—to further some agenda, to cover up some embarrassment, or to save face. These seem like "little white lies" that do not hurt anything. However, the more little lies we tell, the less we are accepting our Authentic Self, a self that is flawed. By being honest, we tell our subconscious that our imperfections are acceptable, therefore we are acceptable.
14. Make statements and decisions consciously. In this hectic world, we are making decisions all the time. Unfortunately, a lot of these decisions are made hastily in the moment with no forethought. So slow down and make sure each of your decisions supports your Authentic Self. And don't let anyone push you into making a consequential decision before you are ready.
15. Speak your truth. When you speak your truth, authentically, you show others that you are responsible, that you can be trusted, and that you trust others enough to show your genuine, vulnerable self. The response from others is often positive, which helps make it easier for you to continue being authentic. 16. Develop yourself in authentic ways. I can't tell you how many times I've been given advice for how to advance in my career—advice that is not suited to my Authentic Self. And whenever I follow this advice, ignoring my Authentic Self, I get lost. Your goals may also fail to fit the typical "upward trajectory" or "career ladder" often promoted by society. So as you pursue your goals, pause to ask yourself are you pursuing the right goal, in the right way, for you? If not, you'll likely have a hard time enjoying either the process or the outcome.
17. Continue to monitor yourself. If we can keep a behind-the-scenes monitor that remains self-aware at all times, we will be in a position to catch those "off moments" when we veer away from our Authentic Selves. Even if we have no time to examine what's going on in the moment, we can note it down for review later, when we have time.
Take Authenticity to the Next Level Ok, so you're working on creating a more authentic life. Here's how to keep digging to bring out a more completely authentic self. 18. Strive to improve yourself. If you want to progress, you will need to develop a growth mindset and learn from each lesson presented to you before you can move on to higher insight. If you do not do your daily homework of paying attention to what life has to teach you, you will continue to get the same lessons over and over until you learn them. By being open to new knowledge, you can grow more quickly and find the best routes for you to achieve sustained authenticity.
19. Listen to your inner guidance or intuition. People call inner guidance many things—the soul, god, intuition, Tao, and so forth. Following this inner guidance is key to discovering the Authentic Self. It is only when our Adaptive Self silences our inner guidance that we lose track of who we really are. So try to keep an open mind and ear for the guidance that you hold within you.
20. Find your life purpose. Authenticity and purpose are closely linked: A deep sense of purpose can help you to express your authenticity while developing authenticity will often help you discover your purpose! You may discover the courage of your convictions, and want to burst forward with passion to accomplish some worthy goal that moves you deeply enough to champion some particular sort of positive change. You may have an invention you want to promote, a company you want to develop, or a vision you want to manifest. So open yourself up to living authentically, and your purpose is likely to become more clear.
you get better with time
Creating yourself can become repetitive but it is innovative in a way that if something you try new doesn't work then who cares, just try a new way. How you identify with yourself is only how you feel internally. However you think of yourself within is what will pour out into your work and relationships.
How I leveraged in content curation on social media is how I began to design myself and manifest the woman I am becoming. Content curation by virtue of its own definition aims to create shared value, by gathering, vetting, organizing, adding value and presenting collections of information artifacts that address a specific topic for a specific audience. I am my own inspiration and muse, therefore when I tap into my inner being, I'm able to naturally put together imagery that relates to my feelings to be able to tell a story so others may relate as well. I go with the flow and every since I started rebranding myself over and over again, I've been able to measure my growth overtime. Products and fashion forever re-invent themselves and I'm never afraid to re-create myself, so why should you?
I believe that anything worth having takes time. I see that as I continue to believe in myself before anyone else does, the development process has become worth it. I'm able to understand myself and know who I am before anyone else can tell me who I am.
Whatever your interests are, I know that if you put in the time to cultivate it then when you look back, you will have reached your goal and overcame every milestone.
Move with grace. Anything is possible.
EVERY TUB HAS TO STAND ON ITS OWN BOTTOM, YOU KNOW AND IN THAT RESPECT, WE ALL GET TO DO WHAT OUR PASSION IS
SEE THAT'S WHAT PRAISING GOD IS ALL ABOUT. IT IS ABOUT DOING YOUR PASSION
YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT USELESS, WORTHLESS RITUAL, YOU KNOW, MONOTONOUS RITUAL....
IT'S DOING YOUR PASSION AND FULFILLING YOUR PASSION..... THAT'S HOW WE'RE THANKFUL.... THAT'S HOW WE SAY WE APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE ALIVE
AND I'M JUST GLAD THAT I, YOU KNOW, I DON'T HAVE TO SLAVE ANYMORE - LAURYN HILL
Letter to my younger self
Dear self, Become who you are called to be. You can't be put in a box. You won't be a conformist because you will set the wave of your own path and be dedicated to pursuing God's will while experiencing heaven on earth. Your father owns all things, therefore everything is in your grasp, it is already in reach. Whatever you do, always speak life because your words have power to manifest for good or for bad. Be careful what you say because your words can make or break things (make a dream happen or kill a dream). Be intentional about yourself always, even if others don't have anything left to pour back into you. Always be mindful of what you put into your mind. This means to protect you peace at all cost. The mind is a valuable tool to waste, so feed yourself wisely. If it doesn't feed you spiritually, then you don't want it (it takes maturity to understand this). Add value everywhere you go. What builds you is to not be afraid of trial and error or losing to gain. Surrendering to the unknown teaches you how to trust yourself. So surrender to God; be open to the unknown, for it's the only way to truly find out what is really for you. Submit to God and be obedient to bare good fruit and reap a successful harvest. Ask God for wisdom because it is worth more than gold, and put your faith into God always, all ways. Everyone won't understand the vision God has given you. It's really not for you to prove anything by making them see your light. The things that you seek, they seek you (You just have to be ready to recieve it) Understand that your path is more difficult because your calling is higher. You must recognize who you are called to be, and understand your process may look different than everyone else's, so don't compare God's way to there way. Go deeper inside for clarity to revealed. The way to yourself and wholness is through your creator. You will find the true meaning of self and life. Trust the source that sustains you and your being. Forever, seek higher.