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| Throwback LOL |
Today is officially my 25th
birthday (well technically not at the exact moment I’m writing this, it’s
actually 3 weeks to the day away, but it’ll be August 14th when I’m
posting this, lol)! It’s crazy to think that I’ve lived a quarter of a century;
time has flown by and I’m grateful to God that He’s brought me this far to see
a new year! I may still have a baby face (similar to the throwback you see
above) and not look my age but I believe that God has blessed me with wisdom
beyond my years (you’d be surprised at the amount of people that think I’m 16
and still in high school, I guess it could be taken as a compliment… but just
one I would prefer to receive later in life; when someone says it now I just
want to say I’m Grown Y’all!!! Lol, but in reality I just take it in stride)! I
usually don’t have pre-mediated blog posts prepared because so far, every post
I’ve written was on the spot the same day of post with God given inspiration,
and this post was a God-inspired idea but I’ll be honest…I wanted to have
something written before I forgot and I just want to enjoy my day 🎈🎂.
But anyway, in celebration of my birthday, and seeing that my blog is called
“Reflections with Eb”, I figured it would be great to look back and reflect on
some of the things I have learned and things I was able to do during my 24th
year of life:
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| I was cheesin so hard in this pic, but it was a genuine moment of happiness meeting Lilly! |
- To start things off, I’ll shine light on the person that actually gave me some inspiration for this post with a YouTube video she made a few years back for her birthday… I got to meet one of my all-time favorite people on the planet: Lilly Singh aka IISuperwomanII! I found her YouTube channel randomly browsing one day over 3 years ago and after watching a couple of videos I was hooked! She’s funny and one of the most genuinely kind, beautiful and hardworking people in her space! I could honestly write a whole post about how much I admire her and I probably will at some point down the line, but for the sake of not making this post way too long, I’ll just link a couple of her videos at the end of this post so you can see for yourself how awesome she is!
- Even when it seems like life is at a standstill moment, God always has things He’s working on behind the scenes on our behalf. When you look back over the course of time, you’ll begin to see that you really weren’t standing still at all; just moving at pre-destined pace by God.
- Nothing in life happens by mistake; even mistakes made or tough moments all serve a purpose!
- It is okay to speak affirmations over yourself and highlight all of the great things you possess (physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually); be your own biggest cheerleader, but not to the extent of becoming self-righteous and putting others down!
- Back tracking a bit to
the start of my 24th year, I brought in my birthday with a surprise
celebratory weekend with all of my close friends from college (#FAMUly)! I
honestly had no clue and I still relive that moment of walking through my door
and seeing all of them in my apartment, and just smile. God has truly blessed
me with some amazing friends, forever grateful!!!
- There is nothing wrong with having a scheduled routine and enjoying the functionality of structure, but be willing to break the routine from time to time and be spontaneous! As long your top priorities are taken care of, then it’s ok to spend some time with your friends on a weeknight and skip out on binge watching Netflix or YouTube videos for the evening!( I’m slowly but surely working on it.. LOL)
- Don’t let the absences of
others have you miss out on opportunities that may not come back around for a
while or even at all. I get that in some cases it feels awkward riding solo and
you’d prefer to be accompanied by others, but if it’s something you really want
to do... just do it; it may be uncomfortable for a moment, but I highly doubt
you’d regret going instead of missing out!
Hanging Out with June's Diary at a Personal Meet & Greet back in April (I was so shy and quiet but they were so sweet!) - Remember what I just
stated for #7… well getting to meet and hang out with the beautiful and
talented ladies of June’s Diary was one of those moments! I became a fast fan
of them when I heard their cover of Jodeci’s “Stay”… every last one of these
girls can SING and they were all so sweet and down to earth (Kelly Rowland
& Frank Gatson couldn’t have put together a better group)! Their sound as a
group definitely brings back the feel of 90s R&B but with a modern twist
and I see great things ahead of them for the future and wish them so much
success! It was definitely a stretch out of my comfort zone to go out on
weeknight (Reference #6 lol) and it took me a while to warm up and come out of
my shy shell, but it was absolutely worth it! (Listen to a snippet of Stay in the video clip at the end of the post!)
- Live your life for you, and no one else! We can get caught up in trying to please others and live out their projections and expectations that they’ve expressed to you. At the end of the day as long as God is pleased, go forth and leave the opinions of others behind you (I promise they’ll be alright, lol… when God is for you, who can be against you)!
- Sometimes we get caught up in thinking that God can only speak to us in a grand way, but many times He can speak to us in the little and mundane situations of everyday life. As I stated in my last blog post, if you’re constantly seeking God, all you have to do is just listen (if you haven’t got the chance to read the last post yet, check it out in the archives along with my other posts)!
- I started the pursuit of my master’s degree in Marketing with a specialization in Digital Marketing and Advertising back in January! Going back to school in a new online environment was an adjustment to make but God has helped to sustain me with managing my time and being successful thus far! By no means do I regret my decision to further my education, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want my freedom back... (May 2018, please come with a quickness lol 🎓)!
- God loves me (and you) far more than anyone else on this earth can! Always remember on the days when you may be feeling the absence of love in your life (whether it is from family, friends or a significant other), that love that comes from other people is no match for God’s love!
- Totally random discovery
and fact but I have become obsessed with pretzel Goldfish… not regular pretzels
or Goldfish… but Pretzel Goldfish (They’re amazing and they have become one of
my favorite snacks aside from my usual sweets, 🍬🍬🍬)! If anyone that is a
representative for the Goldfish/Pepperidge Farms brand happens to be reading
this post, feel free to contact me and hook me up with a lifetime supply as a
birthday gift… just kidding! ( but not really… find me @reflectionswitheb on
Instagram…**awkward smile emoji**)
Wynwood Walls Art District in Miami on the 4th of July! - After being a lifetime
resident of Florida, I finally made the trip and traveled down south (twice
now) to visit Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and all of the other surrounding cities to
spend some time with the bestie 😊!
- Speaking of heading down
south, one of those occasions was to see Jo Jo (Leave (Get Out) from back in the
middle school days… yes that Jo Jo lol) in concert!!! She finally stepped back
on the scene with some new music and her voice and presence in the music industry
has definitely been missed, she’s just crazy talented!!!!
- God can truly show up, show out and bless you out of nowhere! Some of the biggest blessings to ever happen in life can happen when you least expect it! I’ve witnessed it in the past and I’m continuing to believe it for the future!
- Surprisingly I’m not really into traditional television as much anymore. It kind of started after graduating from FAMU and coming back home and becoming obsessed with YouTube! I found I enjoy the more authentic and genuine nature of content on YouTube then the so called “reality” shows that TV has become flooded with (no shade... just my personal preference 😅). Aside from my handful of shows that I still watch on cable TV, I definitely think I’ll stick to being a YouTube and Netflix kind of girl to be entertained!
- I feel like I have become
the perfect mixture of being a serious adult while still managing to be a kid
at heart! I’ll find the most insignificant and seemingly un-funny things
hilarious and bust out screaming laughing like a child, but can also switch it
off and make sure my needs and demands of adult life are handled seriously
(#SwitchUpGameStrong lol)
Meeting Kev after is comedy set in Tampa back in June - I got to meet one of my long-time favorite funny guys, Kevin Fredericks aka KevOnStage! I’ve been a fan and supporter of his for years since The Playmakers (remember the video “How to Shout in a Black Church” too funny)! A lot of his videos are generally light-hearted and just for laughs poking fun at pop culture or the everyday happenings of life but I also have such an appreciation for how he can tackle serious topics while still managing to make you laugh in his videos! It’s been great to witness his popularity continue to rise and flourish and I wish him and his beautiful family nothing but the best!!
- Stepping out of your
comfort zone is necessary for growth! I’ve heard it’s been said that anything
great that you want in life requires you to step outside of it. I’m slowly
taking steps out, and I see it’s not so bad… with God’s help I’ll continue to
keep stepping out of it!
Loving the Natural! - After growing out my hair for about a year and 10 months, I finally cut off the last bit of my relaxed ends and I’m 100% natural now! I have to admit it took a minute to adjust to (mostly the curl shrinkage), but I have no regrets and absolutely love my hair and its versatility! Low-key I probably should have gone natural a long time ago, because my curls are poppin lol, but better late than never!
- Thank God for the little things! It’s so easy to take for granted different aspects of our lives (good health, a roof over your head, possessions, and healthy relationships)! No matter how much you think someone has it better than you; I promise there is someone out there that would love to be in your shoes!
- No matter the circumstance, God is good, all the time, and all the time God is good! I’ve known this for quite some time, but a reminder never hurts! With all of the craziness that’s happening in our world today, even with the very recent displays of hatred, racism and supremacy which all stems out of an evil spirit of fear and ignorance #Charlottesville; God sees and hears it all and even when we don’t understand it, trust that it will all work together for the good because He is still good!!!!
- Last but not least, I finally started this blog!!!! By the grace of God, I mustered up the courage and abandon my fears of being judged or perceived differently by others and just did it! I’m still learning as I go, and so far, so good. I’m so grateful for all of the love and support thus far, but this is still just the beginning!
This list wasn’t in
chronological order, but it was nice to reflect on all of the things that
happened over the course of a year! It may not be intentional but we can forget
some of our greatest highlight moments within the course of a year with the
usual everyday routine. God has truly been good to me and I have extremely high
hopes to see what God is going do in the duration of my 25th year of
life! Whether your birthday is coming up soon or has already passed, hopefully
I can inspire someone else to look back on their previous year to highlight
some of their life lessons and things that they have done! I know this was my
lengthiest post yet and if you’ve made it this far, thank you for sticking with
me! It’s a special occasion so just consider the time you’ve spent reading as
my birthday gift, you don’t have to get me anything else (unless the Lord lays
it on your heart to do so of course)! Lol, I hope you enjoyed reading and
reflecting with me! Until next time…
Much Love,
Ebony💜
Check out some of the video links I mentioned in my post here:
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