growing up, my mother used to say

“time waits for no man ” and to be honest, I never believed her As a child, time feels like forever but that all changed in 2022 I joked in January 2022 that the year was almost over I blinked twice and suddenly I was marinating the turkey in December 2022 ready for Christmas dinner Time really does not wait for man For most of 2022 I was running on a treadmill trying to keep up with day to day tasks, not to talk of running a business and releasing a magazine

This issue should have been released a year ago but time was not on my side I did also wonder if all this was even necessary, but then of course I got subtle reminders that it was From the black patient talking about how they did not feel listened too or recently listening to an episode of the "I said what I said" podcast where they spoke about reasons why there was either little or no, research or treatment for diseases such as sickle cell anaemia These diseases predominantly affect black people In the West where the majority of people are not black, what motivation is there to perform research or find solutions for these conditions As black people we have to do the work ourselves and become advocates of our own health

I cannot pinpoint a single factor that led to the delay of this issue Was it the low iron levels, was it being the first born daughter of a Nigerian household with barely any time for myself (we all know how that goes) or was it the 13+ hour work shifts?

To be honest, I think several factors contributed to the delay with discipline and time, high on that list Whilst creating the first issue, I was bursting with energy and motivation to launch the magazine with plenty of time on my side Everything seemed new, possible and exciting. Then naturally life got busier and days seemed shorter

Unfortunately the luxury of school holidays and time that feels like forever has been replaced by full time responsibilities, commitments to others and the need to get 8 hours of sleep at night I'm not the biggest fan of the saying "we all have the same 24 hours in the day" because for some that 24 hours might be filled with an assistant to arrange your calendar, a chef to prepare your meals and a nanny to look after the kids. But for others, you alone are the personal assistant, chef and nanny Twenty-four hours looks very different depending on who you ask

With that said, discipline plays a powerful role in managing time Discipline teaches you how to manage your time well, swapping 30 minutes of scrolling through Instagram with 30 minutes of reading and replying to emails

Recognising my need to learn some new skills to become more disciplined, I joined an accountability group and set out clear goals for 2023 - both personal and for The Health Palette (shout out to Dior - life coach and accountability Queen!)

So whilst there might have been a slight delay with the release of this issue, we always make sure to produce super relevant and up to date information. Afro Hair is the theme of this issue To the black community, our black hair will always be relevant

Choosing this theme was almost personal as one of my goals for the year on that aforementioned list was to grow back my edges Ask me at the end of the year for an update on how that is going!

Our cover star is the beautiful and graceful, actress and model, Vanessa Vanderpuye We chose her specifically as she has been able to navigate the entertainment industry whilst maintaining beautiful natural hair styles She is not afraid to be herself and that includes with her hair.

I always say there is a lesson in everything, because there really is a lesson in everything. I guess the lesson here is that a delay should not stop you from doing what you truly believe in

After all, delay is not denial but simply a time of preparation