Life.

Life.  There are hundreds of words and phrases used to describe it.  Precious, living, short, the longest thing we’ll ever have.  It also brings with it questions, like what is the meaning of it?  Why are we here?  Who are we? What’s it truly all about? Then to add other things to the equation like cultural and symbolic meanings, religious and spiritual aspects, we can quickly end up in a hole of confusion.

Simply put, life means the existence of an individual human being or animal. But because we are who we are, human and all, and because of the intricacies of our brains, we’re always going to make it more than just that.  

Things have to make sense, like numbers, analysis, proof; these are tangible explanations as to what and why.  Like statistics.  Aha, yes, statistics.  Now to some, these are the holy grail to the meanings of and the reasons why.  It’s just who we are. Below are some interesting stats regarding life that I read about on List25.com and becoming minimalist.com  Take a look.

• If you sit for more than three hours every day, you’re cutting almost two years off your life expectancy.

• People who have a true village of friends live nearly four years longer than people who don’t. 

• If everyone on Earth properly washed their hands, almost 1 million lives would be saved every year.

• Today our homes have more television sets than people.

• The average American throws away 65 pounds of clothing per year.

Makes you go hmm right? See, if you’re like me you were nodding your head going “right”  or oh" okay, that makes sense."  Does it really?  Or are we okay with it because somewhere someone has put in countless hours studying and researching all this information, so it has to be right!  It’s okay, I feel the same way.  

What are some statistics you’ve read or heard about?  Share and drop em below in the comments section.

Positives Impressions

Happy Wednesday Peeps! It Queen She known as Me here hoping this day finds you well.  Do you ever meet or see certain people who you’re curious about beyond the initial meet and greet?  They not only catch your attention, but are able to hold your attention?  It could be something they say, or the outfit they’re sportin, their lifestyle, or it could be anything.  Maybe you’re riveted by the way they converse.  Whatever the reason is, there is something about them that leaves you captivated and holds you in mental bondage in a state of wondering.  I find these humans interesting.

I’m not easily impressed.  I’m not hard to please; I’m just not moved by people, their social status, their job titles or their material possessions.  I am easily impressed with how you treat others, how you help others, or how you love on people.  How do you reach a person in need of direction?  How do you teach a person so they can in turn teach someone else? 

There are a few people who genuinely impressed me.  I’ve either heard them give speeches, or I’ve read something they’ve written, or I’ve watched them in action be the greatest motivator or philanthropist ever.  These people come to mind instantly:

1. Oprah Winfrey, actress, producer, media proprietor, philanthropist

2. Denzell Washington, actor, director, producer, philanthropist

3. Jamie Lee Curtis , actress, author, blogger and philanthropist

4. Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama, American Lawyer, writer and former First Lady of the 

5. Barack Hussein Obama II, American politician, 44th President of the United States 

6. Thomas “Tom” Bilyeu – American entrepreneur, Empowerment, Lifestyle Coach 

7. Rosetta Thurman – Global Personal Development Coach

There are many, many more I’d like to list, but if I did the list would never end! Who are some inspiring people to you?  Drop a few names below in the comments section, lets share the inspiration.

You Can.

Hello Diva’s and Gents!  Queen She known as me here, and I’m wishing you a happy and prosperous week.  We all need positive motivation from time to time; me I welcome it. In this life our drive and ambition take hits every day.  There is always something or someone ready and willing to kill your determination, or push your enthusiasm off the roof in hopes you’ll follow, or turn your I can into a I can’t.  And who knows why? 

The most important thing is for us to know ourselves.  Learn how to motivate ourselves.  Learn how to love ourselves…unconditionally.  Taking into consideration our individual circumstances, it can be hard for us to climb out of pits of despair, but we can try.  All it takes is for us to be disciplined, be determined, be focused, diligent, and consistent. Encouraging someone, helping someone to reach their full potential is a very rewarding act. Remember God is watching us.

So I wanted to place a motivational quote up; if this is all you’ll read today then good, at least I will have sowed into you a seed of get-up-and-go.  Go reap your harvest!

Time Waits For No One.

"Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don't wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it's at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored."-Earl Nightingale

Happy Monday! Tina here, Queen She Known as me, and I hope your day is going well. 

The last couple of weeks I have been on a mission to use my time wisely, be more productive, efficient, and most of all consistent.  When you’re a mom with young children, it sometimes feel as if we have a hundred times more things to do than the children we are managing; how many of us know that when they are older, it doesn’t change? My children are both adults, and it still feels as if time slips away from me so easily.

I’ve incorporated more me time in my morning routine, now I have to twiddle with my evening routine so I can maximize the time with it!  I am a ferocious planner; I plan everything from the meals I will eat, the appointments I’ve set to the due date of bills, and that helps tremendously with maximizing my time.  Now that I’ve made some changes in how I do things, these five points have ranged out the loudest for me:  

1. Put God first in everything you do.  He was the one who said to us He knows the plans He has for our lives; He even goes on to say, they are plans to prosper us, and not harm us, plans to give us a hope and a future.  So put Him first. Jeremiah 29:11.

2. Be smart with prioritizing your day.  Look at what makes up your day, write it down.  See if you can rearrange things.  Tackle important and urgent task first, then make you way down your list to the lower priority things, all the way down to the lowest priority things. Knocking the bigger more challenging things out of the way first, give you a sense of accomplishment, and makes taking on the smaller things, or less important things seem doable and easy.  

3. Invest in a planner, any kind, whatever size is comfortable with you.  I am a scrapbook fanatic, and I love being able to decorate my calendar, it makes me excited to look in it, so this works well for me, but more and more people are using their cell phones for calendars and organizers, and if this method works for you, then please by all means do what works! Just maximize that time!

4. Limit who can have your time and who can’t.  Get rid of people and things that distract you.  Write down what some of your distractions are.  Do you surf the web?  Facebook?  I’m an Instagram queen!  I was constantly checking updates of everyone, always going back and forth to it, so now Instagram gets one hour per day.  I can break it up however I want, or spend the entire hour on it, but I only get that time to dedicate to it.  Because as much as I enjoy people watching, it’s a time stealer, and it kills my productivity.

5. Say No.  You are the HPIC (Head Person In Charge) of you.  If you have to say no to an invite, or any request because you are prioritizing and taking care of what’s urgent for your well being, then never hesitate to say no.  Be firm in this. And never apologize for it.  I learned from a very poplar successful life coach that people often times look to us for directions on how to treat us - yep so they look to us to see if it’s okay to waste our time while making the most of theirs.  Ouch, that hurts.  So take control, and say no.

Remember there are only 24 hours in a day.  That’s never going to change.  We only get 24 hours; we can't stop it,and we can't control it.  All we can really do is be thankful for the time we get, manage ourselves so we make the best of these hours, and live the best life possible for us.

  

How do you manage your time? Give us a shout down in the comments box, and help us all be super shero women and hero men!

The Beauty In It All.

An Orchid grows in the air rather than in soil.  It doesn’t think of competing with the orchid next to it.  It doesn’t tear down the orchid next to it so it won’t grow.  It just takes in the air, and blooms.  And when it stops blooming and enters dormancy, it is not dead.  It takes in more air and re blooms on old spikes and often times a new stalk still emerges to continue to take in air and bloom. 

I say all that, to say this: breathe.  Take in air.  Blossom into whatever it is you want to become, but while you’re blossoming, teach someone else to breathe and take in air so they too can blossom.  That’s the beauty in it all. 

I am the owner of my words, not of this image.  Google images.

Blog Blog Blog

Blogging can be rewarding in so many ways.  It's not just for businesses; you can get just as much gratification from personal blogging.  I started blogging in 2010 while I was home from work on a six week sick leave.  I was bored, desired communication with the outside world, and I had already watched the first three seasons of Sons of Anarchy on Netflix during the first two weeks of my leave!  Trust me I knew it was time to wake my mind up and make it feel alive and useful before I turned to more mindless...but good...entertainment. 

I've always thought of myself as a good writer, but a terrible speaker; I think I thought of myself as a better writer because when I would write I got to think about what I wanted to write, I got to organize my thoughts and think about what words I wanted to use to express myself.  I truly believe that writing has helped me become a better speaker though, for instance I desire now to communicate with eye contact, and have face to face conversation. 

Most of us never know how good we are at writing until we take the words out of our heads, out of our journals and place them in internet outer space for everyone to see.  We get to attract audiences, engage people and in some instances build rapport.  If making money is more of a thing for you, then that can be done as well through blogging.

Right now I can name at lease ten people I know that should be blogging.  Don't worry, I won't call you out because you are comfortable reading my blog instead of creating your own; and I really appreciate the readership! but it's time for you to get on board and say hi to the world through your writing and tell your story, share your world with avid readers like me.

4 Reasons Why You Should Start A Blog in 2018   by PROBLOGGER author Darren Rowse is a great tool to use if you're thinking about starting a blog.  Even if you're not, and you're an avid reader of all things good, read this awesome article anyway, and maybe send it to someone who you know wants to start a blog.

I hope to become a reader of your blog soon. What are you waiting for!  Get on up and I'll see you in Blogger land.