Make the change!

To the women of the world: I have been in your shoes.

I have been on dates that now go down in history as "Did-that-really-happen?" moments.

I have had relationships end in ways that I never could have even created in my wildest imagination.

I have had friends hurt me.

I have had terrible jobs.

I have ever overdrafted my bank account. Yes, even that.

I have been hurt. I have been betrayed. I have lost faith.....

....but I got that faith back.

Would you like to know how? I don't have any gimmicks for you. I also can't tell you that the answers all come immediately. I still have "a-HA!" moments on a weekly basis from situations that occurred months or years ago in my life.

However, I will tell you this: things DO always work out. I know, I know. It sounds so cliche, right? Well, there is a little trick: you need to own up to your actions. I used to be passive aggressive and non-confrontational with people who wronged me. I used to want to change myself so much that I HATED myself rather than LOVING myself. I would make excuses for others AND for myself.

It was time to stop that.

It was time to realize that if I kept dating the same type of guy and those relationships kept failing, PERHAPS it was time to understand MYSELF and figure out why I kept going down that path. If I had conflict with friends, I needed to look at what I did  to determine if it was up to me to make amends. If I wasn't paying off my debt, but making money to do so--it was up to ME to make the changes to start fixing that.

Now, this might be heavy for you. You are probably thinking, "Wow, Nicole. So you are telling me to find all of the things I am DOING WRONG and fix them....sounds painful". It may sound painful, but here is the beauty of it: when we change our lives for the better, we also must FORGIVE OURSELVES. We will never be perfect. Our experiences (I won't say "mistakes", because they are purely experiences!) made us who we are. Yet, we need to continue GROWING and LEARNING from those experiences rather than closing our eyes, mind, and heart to the possibilities that are right in front of us. When we forgive ourselves, and realize that those "experiences" were purely that: experiences to prepare us for something GREATER, we become peaceful. Things start falling into place.

Things change for the better and continue to flourish.

Look in your mirror. Think about your life and what you want to change. Then smile, tell yourself "I love you", and make the changes. You can do it. You are meant for greater things.