Passionately Driven... A Lifestyle and Wellness Blog

              Seeking love or companionship, when you haven't learned to love yourself, conquered your own insecurities and embraced your flaws is a dangerous position to put yourself in.... I have this conversation with both women and men quite frequently, actually. The conversation of understanding your decision-making and the power of emotions, self-concept and self-image. If you've ever read any of my other entries, then you know that I'm all about being transparent and honest with yourself. So, let's be honest. Are you someone who feels that you can't be single? Do you feel like you HAVE to have a man or woman in your life, in order to be happy? Have you made decisions to be with someone, because of those thoughts?.... How did that work out?... The first step is to love you, who you are and the skin that you are in. I'm sure you've heard people say "How can you expect someone to love you, if you don't love yourself?"...

I am in no way a sketch artist. However, I had this vision of communication being the roots of a relationship, sprouting branches of longevity, commitment, loyalty, love, trust, etc..... So let's discuss this "thing" called communication. It is an idea, a concept, a living entity, necessary/mandatory for any type of relationship to begin, be sustained and/or end. It is birthed and either nurtured or abandoned, causing it to become either positive or negative. There are three types of communication : Verbal (Talk to/with me. Tell me what's on your mind. Don't just talk "at" me) Nonverbal (I see how you look at me or fold your arms in a negative manner or how you hold/kiss me to express your love...) Written (Text. Write a note, etc) I am so literal, and I love the definition that I found for the meaning of communication. The verbiage "exchanging of" and "means of connection" are almost poetic to my brain. Communicatio...

A SMILE A FROWN                               VS How many times have you been walking down a hallway or into a store, and someone told you to "Smile, it'll make you feel better" (or something like that)? Were you in "one of those moods"? Did you scowl harder, thinking "why doesn't that person mind her/his own business"? Surprisingly enough, whomever that may have been that attempted to encourage you was also looking out for your health! Smiling has been proven to be beneficial to our health in a number of ways. Some of the benefits include:           Lower blood pressure Relief of Stress, by the release of endorphins that cause us to be happier A stronger Immune System Aaaaaand, better relationships, which is definitely better for our health than negative ones A little research to back up all of this knowledge that I'm dishing: ...