new year | Diva Nina Writes

Life always moves forward regardless of circumstances. Even if you become stuck and are trying to figure out a solution, life lives on. And sometimes the best solutions are patience and time. Patience to allow the universe to align in your favor and time to allow the work to transpire.

But when you are in the thick of it, it is easier said than done. No one wants to be stuck, feeling emotionally, mentally or physically trapped without answers. It’s a painful, lonely and gut-wrenching experience.

I know. This same feeling has intermittently disrupted my life for 38 years since when my Mom passed in my teen years, and I felt abandoned, unloved and rejected by my family. I’ve been stuck more times than I care to remember trying to navigate life. Sometimes because of circumstances, bad timing or just plain, poor decisions.

But what has been constant in all my travails is my ability to learn, grow, recover and renew. So, when it was time for me to again reflect, plan and identify my yearly guide word, I knew “THRIVE” was my word.

Thrive (verb) \ˈthrīv \

1: to grow vigorously : FLOURISH

2: to gain in wealth or possessions : PROSPER

3: to progress toward or realize a goal despite or because of circumstances

I remember when I was going through an especially difficult hardship a few years back and feeling depressed, a woman who hired me to do freelance writing said, “you are thriving; you are making it, and that’s something to be proud about.” And more recently, I had a college friend tell me that I make rebounding seem easy, so others can’t see or don’t understand my struggle.” In both those scenarios, I was so caught up in how I felt or what it looked like, I didn’t even see that I was indeed moving forward and thriving in my life at the age of 53. As my peers are winding down, I’m gearing up and thriving, looking youthful and feeling good. That’s a true blessing and one that should not be taken for granted.

Me at work holiday dinner, South City Kitchen, Midtown Atlanta; December 2018. Photo by co-worker.

So even though it never feels easy or fun to me because I’m living it out, my heart chooses to intentionally thrive in all areas of my life in 2019. My #Dream2018 efforts won’t go to waste because patience and time are on my side. As a matter of fact, several of my dreams began to manifest last year, and I look forward to seeing them thrive in 2019.

#oneword365 #nevergiveup #stayfocused #believeinyourself#

What’s your word for 2019? Pick one and find your tribe at oneword365.com. Let’s keep life simple and enjoy every moment!!!

I am not a fan of new year’s resolutions for obvious reasons; I don’t think they work. However, I do believe that individuals should make yearly personal goals that they are committed to, and the beginning of the year is a convenient and logical time to evaluate progress, make changes, or add new goals.

So I have a few new commitments for myself in 2014. In a previous blog, I mentioned to consistently write in my blog. Previously, I’ve had lags of years of posts and then I only had a few posts at that. Well, I’m going one step further. I just found out about a 32 day writing challenge that began on January 1. I saw a fellow high school classmate and blogger mention it and I was curious, so I, go figure, Google’d it and this is what I found https://www.facebook.com/pages/32-day-writing-challenge/235997794397. Apparently the challenge was inspired by an article of a writer in the Washington Post. I have some book ideas and thought I’d use this challenge to just start writing and see what happens. I am starting on day three of this challenge but I think the goal is just to start writing and commit to it for 30 days. This writing will be separate from my blog posts and I don’t plan to post updates about my progress on FB but will go there for motivation to stay encouraged. So if interested, please don’t be dissuaded because you did not begin on January 1st. For me, finding out about this was just motivation to act on something that has been in my spirit for a long time.

The second challenge I found interesting was the 52 Week Money Challenge (https://www.facebook.com/52WeekMoneyChallenge) that again I found from a fellow high school classmate. (I love Cass Technicians!) Now I admit to being “short-term savings challenged” so this seems pretty simple and straightforward for me to do, and something that I’m very excited about doing. You have to begin somewhere so I hope this inspires a lifetime of savings for me. I mean, if I’m committed to buying a Mega Millions ticket every Tuesday and Friday, surely, I can do this!

So to you, I say “Happy Goal Setting” and make every moment count to becoming the best you that you can be.

Peace…