My Personal Update

Hi everyone, I hope everything is good with you all. I know that I have been away from my blog for a while. My last post was informing my readers of the personal tragedy of losing a loved one. I have not been open about his death because I needed to come to terms with the fact that he is no longer physically here.

My dad died from a strange illness when he came back from work, he was an entrepreneur and a very busy man yet he still made time for his family. When I heard of my dad passing, I was in my final year  preparing to write a 12, 000 word dissertation and going through other trivial issues. For the first month, of my dad's passing, I experienced a lot of pain, agony that caused  sleepless nights for me. During the day, I put up a brave face for my friends and class mates who knew of my tragedy. I hated feeling like the object of their sympathy or being weak even though i knew they were only trying to comfort me. After two months of my dad's passing, I started to have a bitter and complainant attitude in my prayers. I felt like I did not have everything that I wanted, so why should my father die? I accepted my father death rather too quickly in order to avoid the pain yet the pain became intense. It was only after hearing that an acquaintance of mine lost her loved one and it caused a lot of financial instability that I realized that my situation was not so bad after all. 

In this period of agony, God strengthened me to carry on with my school work and he showed me reasons to be grateful for being alive despite the trials I was facing. God used family, friends and people around me to comfort me in my grief and I slowly started to find reasons to be happy once again.

Despite the horrible trails I have faced, God helped me to cope with the situation and graduate from University. I have not been updating my blog because I was mourning, trying to complete my degree and I  was trying to figure out myself. My hope is that I will commit to this blog and engage with my readers. Leave your feedback in the comment section.

Here is a photo of I and my friend graduating. To God be the Glory

Thanks for reading and have a blessed day

Best Wishes,

Peace.

I Miss You

Dear Readers, it has been 7 months since I last wrote on this blog. It does feel like a lifetime ago. I had to stop blogging in other to get my thoughts right. Alot has happened to me for the last 7 months. I am grieving and still trying to be strong for myself and my loved ones. I am not one to share my personal life with the world but I consider my readers part of my life. I am not very open when it comes to these things but I will let you know in future posts how I have survived during these grieving times.

I love what my photographer Lydia did with these photos, I chose the concept and I loved how peaceful the environment is. I like my new hairstyle faux locs. For more information on my hairstyle, leave comments on this blog posts. 

Thanks for reading and stay blessed.

Best Wishes,

Peace

On The Mountain Top 3

Story Time- I was reading Bella Naija a couple of days ago, I came across this story that touched my heart of a young lady who is frustrated with her love life and not meeting the right man for her. I thought to myself that, I have to make a response to her story. My dearie, I have 4 suggestions for you.

1. Pray about it: I know some of my viewers are not believers and I understand and respect your decision. However, the person I am speaking to is from a religious background. I believe a problem shared is half-solved, praying for guidance in choosing the right person to invest your time and effort is important.You do not need to settle for anyone who is not on the same page with you.Therefore, talk to God about it.
2. Love Yourself: How can you love someone without loving yourself? Thats my point, take good care of yourself and accept that you will never be perfect. Loving yourself should be seen in the way you carry yourself and the treatment you accept from others around you. In practical terms, decide how you should be addressed by significant others or how friends should speak to you.Once you start loving yourself, others will follow your lead.
3. Be Positive: Being positive will help you appreciate your life better and be happy with the things in your life. Stay away from toxic people who remind you of your shortcomings or things you do not have. Alot of these people are unhappy in their relationships yet they paint a fairy tale story of their lives on social media. I want you to surround yourself with positive family or friends who will encourage you to be your best.
4. Learn a new skill: You spoke about not having a job and still relying on your parents. This is a golden period in your life, to learn new skills that will help build your CV as well as self-confidence. Also, Mr Right will need more than a pretty face and hot body to consider investing his time and effort in you. Overall, learn to love yourself and enjoy your own company.

What I wore

Dress- Oasis

Skirt-Asos

Sandals- Old

Necklace- Old

Thanks for reading and have a blessed life

Best Wishes,

Peace.

A Story To Tell............

The go-to outfit for under £150

Hello my dear readers, I hope everything is fine and you had a pleasant Sunday, if all didn't go well as you planned, I pray that this post will cheer you up and make your day pleasant. I have been researching on the type of fashion posts to make and I came across different videos on YouTube talking about  looking good on a budget or barbie on a budget, as most of you all may know. This particular idea was inspiring to me because I have so many friends [ mostly students] who complain about the prices of fashion items and how looking good costs lots of money. I know that most people in the real world, earn the money the spend and it is hard to spend money on fashion items that are not in your budget or are completely unplanned for your pocket. Also, I am aware of the recession that has affected most countries of the world and inversely has caused caution into the minds of retailers, business people and consumers to handle their finances properly for a better future. In the month of May, my sister advised me to watch how I spend money because she said money doesn't grow on trees. She gave me a month challenge concerning my spending habits on fashion items and told me to go a month without shopping fashion items from the stores in the city center or online stores. At first, I was in denial concerning my spend drift attitude and I decided to prove her wrong by taking up the one month challenge. I did pretty well for the whole month, by not buying any fashion items from stores in the city center or online stores but at the last day, I broke my promise buy purchasing a lovely skirt I saw on sale. I know that I made a quick decision, may my sister forgive me,however its quite hard to be honest but I sure thank God for the courage to be honest to you the readers concerning this issue. Many of you the readers, may be going through one financial difficulty or the other, but it doesn't mean that you should look like your in difficulty. It is not a 'must' to buy the expensive items to look beautiful or elegant to any place you are going to, you can get the items that are within your means but if you are able to afford the expensive things, then buy them because I am firm believer that if you can afford it, buy it.However, some people often complain of how fashion is expensive, well they are right. Fashion is expensive but style is affordable, fashion comes and goes but style is eternal in the words of  ''Yves Saint Laurent', this is kind of ironic for a brand that sells its shoes for at least £300. Well, he was right because he knew that, everyone should look nice but not break their bank accounts.There are so many fashion outlets like vintage stores, thrift stores and so on that sell affordable items in your local area, so there is no need to be complaining about the prices of items in society.  I hope you enjoy this post and the petty jokes I have made and don't forget to leave your helpful feedback in the comment section.

Budget Calculator

Dress- Was £28 Now £15, Hat- £8, Necklace-£10, Jacket-£20, Bag-£16 and Boots-£60= £142

Dress- Asos

Hat-H and M

Jacket-Primark

Boots- Autograph [Old]

Bag- Gossip

Necklace-Gossip

All photographs were taken by Sabrina Ahmed

Thanks for reading and have a blessed life.

Best Wishes,

Peace.

GOSSIP, RUMOUR AND SELF-EVALUATION.

Are gossips all lies? Should rumours be believed? We need to check ourselves....

Hello my beautiful readers, I know that this is not my regular fashion and beauty related posts but I am into talking about issues of life, my personal experiences or my views of regular problems of the society.

Gossip.

This topic I am about to analyse, is a topic that everyone can relate to and this has affected the lives of various people.This is a topic that has broken friendships,caused quarrels and fights, instigated people against each other and has caused the death of its victims.Nevertheless, we should consider the fact that in every line of gossip, there is 30% of truth in it and before smoke there is fire.I know that most people will be double minded about what I have written but it is something worth considering.Sometimes, we as human beings behave in certain ways that we are not aware of and we do things that are offensive to others but do not admit to our faults.Most people get highly offended when they are corrected on a bad habit or get aggressive when they are reprimanded on a bad attitude.If a person cannot be approached on his/her flaws, it results to whispers behind that person's back.On the other hand, some people enjoy wrecking a long term friendship, self-esteem or personality or may be they are not courageous enough to confront a person who has an attitude  problem or probably are cowards to walk up to a person and give their opinions but we all know that this could be risky and result to violence.Sometimes, people say things about others as a form of entertainment. However, gossips should be placed where they are and should not be taken seriously based on your own decision or temperament.In analysing gossip, I would say that we shouldn't believe every thing we hear others say until we see and experience what has been said because people who believe gossips are often manipulated, deceived and cajoled to do the selfish desires of others.In my opinion, I would say that people who are quick to believe gossips are people who choose not to think for themselves/do not have a mind of their own while those who do not want to be corrected or hear what another person has to say are people with conceit and arrogance in their hearts.

Rumour.

One of the most interesting activities in this recent world is to talk about celebrities, re-known people in the society or people of great personality.There are websites and TV shows dedicated to sorting personal information about peoples lives, most especially people that have made an impact to the society or people who are heroes, heroines or villains of the society.How enjoyable it is for us to hear the juicy rumours that are carried about these group of people? but have we paused and thought for a minute that some of this information carried could be false? have we ever considered that this maybe just lies that are carried around to destroy a personality or an image?However, there is always a percentage of truth  in a rumour. After all, no body is perfect and most of these people in the spot light   have double lives.They appear to be perfect at the outside with their flashy life styles yet in the inside live in confusion,addiction, depression and loneliness.Overall, let us not judge because we never know how it feels until an individual is placed in that situation, we shouldn't believe every single thing we hear about a person and his/her lifestyle.As mentioned above, gossips should not taken seriously neither should rumours be, these things should just be a warning to people to be careful on how to react to personal information about these group of people and how we relate this information to other people that are around us.

Self-evaluation

According to NDT resource centres 'Self-evaluation is the filling up of self evaluation forms,journalism, taking tests,writing revision work, asking questions and through discussions for the purpose of discovering your strengths and weaknesses.It is not my intention to make this writing academic but to give a well refined definition of this topic.This definition also applies to our daily lives and our interaction with others. Also, it enables us to discover the strengths and weaknesses of our personalities and know were we lack good and proper judgement. In my opinion, I have decided to be a blameworthy person who admits to any fault of mine that is brought to my notice. After all, there is no need to be a hypocrite who casts judgements on other people's  characters with out given a proper evaluation of mine.Therefore, this is a measure that people who talk about and those who are being talked about should apply.It is unfair and unjust to carry information about some one to various people, therefore damaging a person self-esteem and image and it is not right to seat on a high horse to analyse another person's character without giving yourself a total character check. It is also pigheaded not to properly analyse the criticism or displeasure of others.In this topic, one must learn how to do a lot of mind and soul searching to see if there is anything one is doing that is offensive to other people around us,to discover your good and bad side and to see how to reduce our faults and put our weaknesses to better use.There is no need to be ashamed of our weaknesses.It is present whether we agree or disagree but a piece of advice don't live your life based on other peoples opinion, have your own opinion. After all, you have a mind of your own and you are  able think for yourself.

Conclusion

In conclusion, gossips are not totally lies,it should be analysed properly and put into consideration based on your own judgement but if you feel that it is false,then don't take it to heart. Rumours should not be accepted because some people have ways and words of destroying a person's image.Most of all,we need to give ourselves a proper character check in other to avoid a life of hypocrisy, gossip and hatred.Finally, we should analyse ourselves before analysing others, get good and visible evidence before believing in certain information that are passed in our environment and minding our business.

Best wishes from Peace to the readers.

Dealing with fear and failure

         My experience on fear and failure

This post is not going to be my regular fashion related updates, or on how to and style but this post is focussed on the daily struggles of life and my personal experiences on how to deal with fear and failure.Firstly, I will start by saying that my approach on this topic will be come from a religious and inspirational point of view.

On the 27th of April 2011, was the beginning of my final exams in high school, the first paper of that exam was  Mathematics.I have always had a bitter-sweet feeling about this subject, it was a subject that made my parents employ tutors for me, it was a subject that kept me awake all night with the determination to succeed, it was a daredevil subject to me, if  I am to exaggerate, I would say that this subject literally held my self-confidence.I had done pretty well in this subject before my final year at high school but I started to fail in the subject and this began to destroy my self-confidence. I always had a competitive spirit even though it  could be fashioned towards irrelevant matters or petty girly beefs but for me to be failing in a key subject in the school became a major concern for me.My then mathematics tutor, who was  my personal tutor was a pastor and a strong believer in the word of God.Although, he was a pastor, he wasn't the best motivator or adviser, he often used negative force on me and this brought me into tears and doubt of his support.At that point in my life, I was not a great Christian or enthusiastic lover of the bible.I was just an average teenage girl who desired to do what others were doing and to be in a steady relationship with my ex-boyfriend. However, my tutor was aware of my failure and advised me, to pray and fast about my problem in Mathematics, so that I do not fail my final exams. As I mentioned above, I was not the best Christian so I found this a bit extreme and had feared for the worse but regarding my Sunday attendance to church. I had heard, seen and noticed  the power of God and I had a feeling that he would help me with this problem.Therefore, I decided to pray and fast for him to show me mercy, my other Christian tutor who lectured me in accounting had told me to have faith and trust in God, but it wasn't as easy as they said. Sometimes, I heard voices in my head telling me that I will not succeed and telling me that I would chicken out like before.Other times, i felt the cold hands of fear in my heart and the irritating voice of doubt.I went to my tutor for advise on these voices and he told me that fear is not of God.He reassured me that Jesus Christ will only want me to trust and have faith in him. He told me to recite this verse in faith whenever the evil one came with his tricks of fear and doubt,''2Timothy1:7- The spirit God gives me is not timid, instead his spirit gives me power, love,faith and self-control''.This verse helped me to overcome the fear of failure, it helped to realise that I was not alone in this journey of life and made me accept the priceless and free love that God offers to us all.On the day of my final exams, I was studying and reassuring myself that God will help me, as I walked into the examination hall, the examiners ushered us to our various seats and gave us the paper to start the exam.As I looked into the paper,fear gripped my heart and my hands were sweaty and shaky, the spirit of fear had come to overcome me but I remembered that verse and I recited it in my mind. My heart echoed ''Lord, help me''. At that moment, I began to solve equations that would have scared me and I finished the paper before the time.This was my own personal experience with fear and how God  had rescued me from failing my final exams.

In conclusion, I advice that the readers of this blog should not allow the fear of striking to prevent you from being in the game.I recommend that if you are scared or afraid of failure or you are on any kind of pressure, go to a reputable elder to advice you, go to your pastor, go to your priest, go to your Imam or any  spiritual confidant that will help you from the pit of fear.When you are advised, pray in faith to God for help in your struggle and I assure you that he is listening to you,he will answer your prayers.Do not be overconfident to feel that you could tackle fear on your own or be under confident to think that there is no remedy, bear in mind that you are not alone in this world and that you will be rescued.Finally, If you have taken these actions, be certain that fear will not overcome you.