Whatever you want out of life, go for it! Before you know it, the creases of life will have crept upon your hands and while you lie wondering where time has gone, your dreams will have lost their season to flourish. Habitually, we put things off day after day and year after year as though we measure time and can predict longevity. Without the knowledge of either, we drudgingly scurry along being satisfied with the mere fact that we at one point in time, actually had a dream.

Have you ever had a great idea and was so happy to hear others say that they too thought that it was a great idea? I certainly have. You feel as though you've accomplished something when in actuality, you've done nothing different from the billions of people of who've had a great idea but never quite followed through on it. The idea served as nothing more than a conversational piece at dinner parties.  So how about we turn those dreams, aspirations, goals, plans and ideas into something tangible. You know, something that everyone else can enjoy and benefit from besides your very close friends and occasional drifter.

Take me for instance. Blogging was something that I'd actually thought about doing for many years but if you take a look in my archives you'll see that I'm totally just getting started. BUT I STARTED! The question now is, will you?

So do something different. Go for that thing that you've been contemplating on in the back of your mind. We're all just sitting here waiting.

-Davina

When the phone stops ringing and there's no one knocking at your door, at first you begin to wonder where have all your friends gone, but then you become surprisingly okay with it. I strongly believe that the better parts of yourself are discovered when you're alone. It's like finding buried treasure and there's no greater journey than the one you embark upon to discover the most intimate detailing of who you really are.

During dating, we get so excited because we've met someone new and the possibilities seem infinite. You get to explore another persons lifestyle and it's thrilling because it's human nature to like new things. Even if it's something that's been around for ages, as long as it's new to us, there's a flair. For me, spending some time alone births that same gratification. I learn more about things that I like and don't like. When you're constantly surrounded by people, you sometimes begin to make a habit out their habits and a hobby out of their hobby. Have you ever been introduced to doing something and when you were doing it with that person, it was the greatest time ever, but when they became less present, you found yourself wondering why you'd started doing it in the first place? I have. I'm naturally an introvert so I've never taken a liking to the club atmosphere. But after associating myself with a different crowd, I found myself going much more often than I would've had I been out of their company. When you're hanging in groups, majority usually wins. So you find yourself partaking in things that you at one point in time detested. And it's not until you've separated yourself from the crowd that you realize how unfulfilled and unpleasable it all is before you make a conscious choice not to go back.

During those brief, silent moments that we have to ourselves, it becomes more and more evident that we've lost track of those things that we truly enjoy doing that aren't necessarily crowd pleasers. They often relax us and when we partake in them we find fulfillment. Businesses sometimes get started and entrepreneurs are birthed. So the next time the wind blows and you find yourself alone, don't look to break the silence, but embrace it.

-Davina
 

How many times have you encountered a person who believes, with all reasoning, that their bad behavior and disrespect of others should be excusable because of various circumstances? We've all had or still have friends who often come off as ill tempered, spoiled little brats at times and when asked why they so carelessly disregard the feelings of their peers, point to everyone but themselves. People who hurt other people just because they feel as though they've been hurt are selfish individuals who need a reality check because we've all been hurt, but some are just a little more mature about not afflicting our discontentment upon others.

There's nothing more hurtful than being there for someone on a consistent basis, no matter what, and in return have them hang up on you, speak badly to you, or betray your trust only to fulfill the need to project versus deal with what they're currently experiencing. A selfish person will commonly mistreat others as a coping mechanism and never quite realize that they're doing it if no one actually tells them. These people often go on for years offending family members, strangers, and friends who except them because they believe that some people are just like that, but what they really are, are people who hold no accountability. But wouldn't the world and more specifically, your life, be more pleasantly operable if we gently made them aware of their sometimes outlandish behavior? After all, these people are usually great people when they're not being not so great people. And you wonder and fight with yourself when you're considering a disconnection, how awesome they would be if only they weren't so rude. I know a lot of wonderful people when they're being wonderful, turn into something gross when they're behavioral pattern become that of a toddler.

The easiest and effective way of dealing with harmed people who harm innocent bystanders is to be straight and upfront with them. Be honest about your feelings and what their behavior is doing to the relationship. Two things will happen, they will either become more aware of the way their treating you and change or just simply put, they won't. Then it becomes your choice to keep someone in your life who disregards your feelings and disrespects you or to have enough respect for yourself to walk away until circumstances change.

Davina

We all experience those moments when we say enough is enough and everyone whether near or far begins to get a taste of our vigilante wrath. This usually occurs after allowing true feelings of discontentment to lie doormat. We become at war with ourselves for suffering in silence and those around us, unfortunately become collateral damage. Some people are blessed with the natural capability of telling others what is exactly on their mind without a moments consideration of the repercussions. But for the laidback, nonaggressive personality types, that ability sometimes shows up too late. Things become more aggressively handled because emotions have risen to the center. How can a nonaggressive personality type then release themselves early on, without feeling too confrontational?

In my own experience, when I found myself lashing out at people who'd done a series of offensive things over time, I had to take a step back and look not only at the buildup, but why I waited so long to say something. I began to look more closely at what confrontation was. Confrontation is a hostile or argumentative meeting or situation between opposing parties. That wasn't what I would've been doing at all had I only spoken my mind early on. We tend to assume sometimes that people know when they're being offensive. Not everyone does. So in those moments, you just have to convey the message directly with the person. Although, there will be times when you approach someone and no matter how softly you put it, offense will still be there but it's usually temporary. Just like you needed time to speak, they'll need the same amount of time to receive. We've all played on both ends.

Davina