Rejection…yes it is redirection and God’s protection, but frankly that does not help change the hurt.
The thing about rejection is we tend to make it all about ourselves and not in a healthy way. We can get ourselves to a place of low self esteem and worthiness to full on self hate.
I am currently struggling through a rejection season in practically all aspects of my life . I caught myself in the negative feedback loops of what if’s and if I only was more x,y,z then things would be different. I was starting to fall into a victim/pitiful mindset.
You can internalize and make the rejection about you by choosing to be better , not bitter. Choosing to see it as protection, redirection and the following these steps:
Be accountable for your actions or lack of
Look for the lessons from the experience
Express gratitude for the experience- do so in a journal, letter or to the person
Do not compare yourself to others, comparison is the thief of joy
Take care of your body- eat healthy, sleep and get movement in
Take care of your mind- affirmations, devotions/prayers , read
Do things that make you feel confident and empowered
Lean on those who lift you up
Avoid romanticizing the relationship/ job / friendship that ended (delicate balance when looking for the lessons and giving gratitude)
Most importantly give yourself grace as you process through the emotions
Do you have any other tips?
XOXO,
Cecee
*Advice based off of personal experiences and knowledge gained from a variety of books.
Whoa! 2022 is here and for me this year feels like it will be just as transformative as being 22 was.
A fun pic of me at 22 vs now in 2022…
When I was 22 I was finishing my final year of college and trying to figure out my next chapter in life . Well in 2022 I’m yet again looking at what is next in my life. This year I have a lot of mirrors in front of me already. More to follow as I work my way through some reflection and decisions.
As always my goals for each year are Mind, Health and Spirit, but some of them could easily cross over into another category. Since that is the case I’m switching the format and just listing all my goals.
2022 Goals
Visit ALL Indiana State Parks
Visit 1 new state
Finish my Certified Nutrition Coaching through NASM
Finish the 66’ SS Impala update with dad
Reduce time on Social Media – max 2 hour per day. Past year had a limit of 3 hours.
Practice jump rope skills at least 30 mins per week
Theme Word for 2022
HOPE
My sweet friend Cori wrote inside a book that she got me for Christmas Hope to mean Honor, Obey, Pray, Encourage. I find this beautiful and very necessary for what I meant when I chose Hope. I have HOPE that I am on the right path and making decisions that will honor God, myself and my family.
In 2021 I feel I achieved more than I sought out to do. Recap of my 2021 goals:
My 2021 Theme:Love. Learn to love and accept myself where I am. I feel my affirmations and surrounding myself with nature and also the right people helped me achieve Love this year.
2021 Goals
Health:
Working on moving more with getting at least 8,000 steps in each day. This goal I improved from 2020 where I averaged in the 6k range ending 2021 in the 7k range.
Intuitive eating to maintain weight vs macro tracking I fell short here and have started tracking again and working towards mindful eating practices
Mental, which I actually mean Mindset:
Read 8 books. I did read 8 books, just not all the ones pictured in previous post as I did receive some gifts that I read right away.
Daily affirmations- write it in my journal and/or post on social media. This probably was the coolest thing to reflect upon . My number 1 affirmation was about being grateful/thankful/blessed and overall that is how I feel about 2021. See image below of my affirmations and daily prayers for the past year.
Spirit:
Daily devotional I listened to different devotionals online daily as I began my prayer time
More time in nature and taking quiet moments So many trips in nature! My favorite purchase of the year was my hiking boots.
Take a road trip with my sister My sis and I did a road trip to Wisconsin Dells and had the best time.
I have always known that nature is my happy place, but this year I truly felt overjoyed and beyond grateful to experience the beauty God created. I believe you can see the joy on my face in the images above!
In experiencing the joy and beauty I couldn’t help but think how incredible it is that God thought the world needed one of me. So in those times of struggling with loving myself and seeing the beauty of me I lean on that thought. The same God that created the beautiful mountains and streams in his image created beauty in me.
A new year and new goals, but first let’s reflect on 2020 goals. I declared 2020 my Come Back year and it was that plus more than the goals I had laid out.
Health: I believe I was successful in my health goals by 80% . I carried around a gallon jug of water for half the year and in April took back control of my diet.
Increase my water intake to 8 glasses a day. I am really lacking on my hydration skills lately.
Reduce my junk food intake. I have gotten in a bad habit of chocolates, chips and fast food.
Mental: I was successful here as I hired a mindset mentor (see Turn the Light Back On), read 1 book and listen to 2 audio books. I also bought a house to regain my peace. I still have moments where I feel I need to please, but it didn’t rule me like it had in 2019.
Increase my business skills with monthly business development courses, books or coaching calls.
Reduce sacrificing my own physical, mental, and emotional health to please others.
Spirit: This was a half win as I did do daily devotionals, but it wasn’t always 30 mins. My negative self talk improved drastically after learning to forgive myself.
Increase my God time with at least 30 mins a day for daily devotions, readings and prayers.
Reduce negative self talk. Apply what Kristin Sharpe mentioned at Linda Toupin’s finale. When a negative thought arises say out loud, Stop! Be Gone.
My 2021 Theme:Love. Learn to love and accept myself where I am.
2021 Goals
Health:
Working on moving more with getting at least 8,000 steps in each day.
Intuitive eating to maintain weight vs macro tracking
Mental which I actually mean Mindset:
Read 8 books (image below).
Daily affirmations- write it in my journal and/or post on social media.
Have you ever felt like you lost yourself?Perhaps you felt you were at rock bottom or completely broken?
That was me 12 weeks ago. I felt like I was stuck in a lifestyle I knew I didn’t want, but had no way out. I felt so much pain, anger, resentment and honestly had a victim mentality.
Today I am a different person. I noticed, my friends and my manager all pointed out my attitude and presence have shifted.
My question for you is, are you unhappy? Do you want to change? Are you ready to do the work?
If the answer is yes, I want to refer you to the ElevateU program. This program undoubtedly changed my life. In the program you will work with this gorgeous gal, Allison Vaeth to seek your truth to elevate your life.
ElevateU is much more than just a workout and meal plan. This program focuses on daily tasks to help shift from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.
Ally is much more than an online fitness coach. Ally truly is a mindset mentor/coach. She poses the questions that make you think and get to the root of your actions.
What can you expect from ElevateU? Expect to dig deep to work on your mind, body and spirit with intention. Being intentional will lead to effective change and growth.
ElevateU brought the light back out of me. I am finally feeling like my old self, but a better version! I am back to being a happy, positive and energetic woman. A ray of sunshine as I’ve been told 😊.
On a high level, below are some of the ways I’ve grown from ElevateU:
I am more aware of my energy and my intentions.
I have forgiven myself for the past and I am accepting that I am worthy.
I am now treating my mind and body the way it deserved all along. I understand my triggers for falling into unhealthy eating habits with no exercise and can now address it quickly.
Most of all I gained a support group of like minded people to help cheer me on!
Just look at this incredible group, full of joy and positive energy! We also have several incredible souls not pictured!
Boy 2020 has been intense! Moving states, squatting at different family and friend’s homes, hitting my breaking point, breakup , purchasing a home and 1 final move from 4 different spaces… also can’t forget about a pandemic, civil injustice and protests+riots.
A lot has happened in our country and worldwide in the past 3 months. This post is about what has been happening in my world for the last 6 months. I have had lots of personal transitions that I wanted to update you on.
I’m so grateful to be back home in Indiana! My time in Tennessee was really difficult as I ended up having severe allergies to my new environment. My year in Nashville lead to 7 doctor visits, lots of different prescriptions and 100 plus needle pricks in allergy testing. Only option left was to attempt shots that would take 2-5 years to build up my system for relief. My eyes would swell shut after 2 weeks, which as you can imagine it presented issues. I would drive back home to IN after 1-1.5 weeks in Nashville to heal then head back and repeat.
Fortunately I was able to stay with my company and take over a new territory starting in April. I finalized my travel in Tennessee in early March when COVID started to get more serious.
From my Tennessee travels I then flew out to San Diego, CA. While in CA announcements of businesses closing due to COVID began and I changed flights to return sooner for fear of being stuck in CA. When returning, my forced quarantine ended up being an eye opening blessing that lead to so many possibilities!
I did hit my absolute lowest point, which you can either stay down or pull yourself back up. I have God on my side and he showed me so many back to back blessings and I’m so grateful.
God’s 1st blessing was to present me with Ally Vaeth’s ElevateU Bootcamp challenge which was a great insight to her program. I am now in her ElevateU program and learning so much about Mind, Body and Spirit! Another post dedicated to this topic to follow!
My next blessing was timing. I have been looking at houses and they kept selling prior to arriving to the showing. A house in the area I had been looking posted at 10:00pm on a Friday at the end of March and I had an offer on it before Midnight. I made the decision to offer based on the images posted on Zillow (no idea of the floor plan), advice from my realtor and faith that my prayer were answered. I did get to see the house the next morning and I updated my offer in hopes to secure it! My quick judgment worked in my favor because they chose my offer, even though they had multiple offers. Next blessing was no bid war !
During the time of waiting to close on my house my Aunt randomly text me (another God blessing) offering to stay at the cabin since the numbers in Marion county for COVID were spiking. She was giving me an option to help stay healthy, but she really gave me a chance to reclaim inner peace. The cabin is my happy place that makes me feel calm and grounded.
During the pandemic God created so many possibilities for me. I am now a homeowner again, working on my mental , spiritual and physical health, growing my Mary Kay business and back in a territory I love for my job. I am grateful!
XOXO,
Cecee
*This post is not intended to dismiss the magnitude of the pandemic. I truly feel for those who have been impacted. I have deeply missed my family and friends . I am beyond grateful for my health, as well as for those who I hold dear. I am choosing to reflect on the positives that occurred during these unusual times.
A new year, new decade and new goals, but first let’s reflect on 2019 goals.
Health: I failed in this category on the frequency, but did journal on occasion.
I plan on journaling at least weekly. I will be focusing on my thoughts and feelings to continuously grow.
Mental: I feel I succeeded in this category and was validated with being recognized as 2019 underwriter of the year by one of my agencies.
Learn a new territory and new system at work
Spirit: This was a half win as I did read my daily devotional, but I didn’t travel to a new state this year.
Read a page a day of 365 Moments of Peace for a Woman’s Heart
Travel to 1 new state and possibly another country
My goal for 2020 is still broken down by categories, but I am adding a new spin to goal setting. I am going to add 3 things I want to do more of in 2020 and 3 things to do less as well as creating a theme for the year.
My 2020 Theme: Come Back: recover from a deficit.
The last 2 years I have felt that I have been going backwards. I thought my life was on the right path to achieving my goals. I had the perfect wedding, house, job, financial security and was preparing to start a family and in a blink of an eye it all starts slipping away.
I want 2020 to be my come back year and my goals for the year are:
Health:
Increase my water intake to 8 glasses a day. I am really lacking on my hydration skills lately.
Reduce my junk food intake. I have gotten in a bad habit of chocolates, chips and fast food.
Mental:
Increase my business skills with monthly business development courses, books or coaching calls.
Reduce sacrificing my own physical, mental, and emotional health to please others.
Spirit:
Increase my God time with at least 30 mins a day for daily devotions, readings and prayers.
Reduce negative self talk. Apply what Kristin Sharpe mentioned at Linda Toupin’s finale. When a negative thought arises say out loud, Stop! Be Gone.
This decade has been filled with change, pain, joy and so much growth.
In this decade I graduated from college, moved 8 times, bought and sold my first home, married and divorced, got my fur baby, a few job changes, started my blog and Mary Kay business, lots of travel, many new friendships and said goodbye to some loved ones.
Several things didn’t turn out like I had planned, yet some turned out better than imagined . The good and the bad are all part of God’s plan.
Highlights from this past decade:
Several beautiful weddings and celebrations filled with love!
Love and marriage led to lots of precious babies… seriously my friends make some cute kids!
Moved 8 times Terre Haute -French Lick- Medina- Richmond-Indy apartment- First Home in Indy- Fishers- Nashville
I played hostess with the mostest
I was a jet setter to 3 countries and 29 states! Total state count is 33 with the goal of 50 by 50.
Blessed with inspiring, strong, loving and supportive women #squad
Lessons – graduation to real world, dog mom, exploring new cities, golfing, fishing with an open face reel, fitness, overcoming obstacles, welcoming new experiences, and being grateful for every moment with my loved ones.
Began my Mary Kay business and started to regain my confidence
Overall top 3 lessons:
Put it in God’s hands
Show grace, gratitude and kindness towards yourself and others
BOUNDARIES
Cheers to the decade that shaped me.
I’m looking forward to a bright future full of love , grace and gratitude!
With Veterans Day around the corner most people will pay tribute by honoring those who have served our country.
Have you ever thought about honor and what it means ? Until today I hadn’t really thought about the true extent. Today’s sermon at church was about honor. Honor means high respect; great esteem.
Do you honor your nation and veterans regularly? Do you honor your parents? Do you honor God?
The congregation received army men today as a reminder to pray for our nation and those who have served and still currently serve. I’m so grateful for the freedoms and blessings I have due to those who protect our nation. Thank you Veterans! I’m keeping this army man in my car as a simple reminder of gratitude along with a prayer reminder. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Psalms 33:12
The Bible says honor thy mother and thy father. Kids don’t always honor their parents request. Can you imagine how much easier things would be if they did? As I get older I understand what that fully means. I am sorry to my mom and dad for the battles as I was growing up, but I’m grateful for their parenting. The expectations to follow God’s word, of honoring your parents created a strong sense of respect for them and authority figures. I think the value of respect that was instilled in me is a big driver in respecting myself and pushing to be the best person I can be.
A great question asked today was “how can you honor God?” This is a personal question for you, but how I’m choosing to honor him is by sharing my love and amazement of his work.
God has blessed me with some pretty amazing people in my life, who have helped me see his messages. I’m so grateful to have those who can help me grow in my faith. I hope God works through me to touch the hearts of others .
If you’ve been following along for the past 2 years you know my life has been filled with new challenges. Some of these challenges stretched me to grow and others, I unfortunately allowed them to break me. Through this wilderness season of many meltdowns I felt like I lost myself. I reflected that in my writing and eventually stopped adding to my blog as I didn’t want the gloom to overrun it. Luckily one of those gloom articles did spark something impactful. My dear friend Jessica saw my need and sent me a copy of Wilderness Skills for Women. I highly recommend this book if you are struggling with yourself and your faith.
My blog began as a creative way to help me through the gloom. My blog is my way of sharing with others that they are not alone in the ups and downs of life. I do believe mindset plays a big role on working through the lows. I had to get my mindset right in order to regain confidence in myself.
I’m so excited to share that I am finally seeing glimpses of myself again. The sides of me that I missed. The woman who wants to connect with the world and as many people as possible. The woman who wants to leave a positive impact and leave you smiling. The woman that is confident in who she is.
How did I get to this point? First I recognized with the help of loved ones that I needed to find something that would bring the qualities I missed back out.
What I found was an opportunity to connect with other women by helping them feel more confident. I have also connected with many beautiful souls that are helping me grow in my faith and business. I’m doing all this by becoming a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant.
Mary Kay is based on God/Faith first, family second and career third. I am so excited to share all the wonderful products that I love, connect with amazing women, strengthen my faith and grow my business!
If you are in the thick of your wilderness season know that it will not last forever!
Overall top 3 lessons:
My Confident Chaos 