1. Overthinking. Wait, should I even; no, let me continue. 🤔🧐🤯🥴 2. Overlisting. A gang of to do’s and goals listed in my phone’s notepad or physical notebooks. 🗒✔️ 3. Overworking. And if not working, then planning. 😏 4. Overstimulating myself trying to multitask. Try working with students and trying to stay attentive in a virtual training at the same time. Yes that was me the other day. 🙃 5. Overwatching the same old tv shows or letting them watch me. I always end up falling asleep. 📺
I am good at these, but working to be bad at them.
I’m charged up and ready to write! This evening, while I fast tv, I am going to do some reading (just a bit) and writing (just a lot). I am excited because after having experienced writer’s block in my writing journey, lately, I have been flowing. God has graced me to crank out either a blog post here or a poem or song there. And now I’m back to writing short stories.
Oh, I forgot to mention: I will be writing while eating me some Chinese food. My favorite Shrimp Egg Foo Young and Shrimp Fried Rice.
I am additionally working on new pieces for a new series titled Persevere and an additional collaborative series with my bestie titled P’osies Cafe.
I love cooking and baking. While I’ve made everything from cheese biscuits to cheesecake, my absolute favorite and easiest dessert to make is my banana pudding. I’ve been making it since my early college years, and it has become a delicious and reliable staple in my life.
It’s my go-to dish for any church or family gathering. I even made it for my cousin’s wedding, and it was such a hit that it disappeared almost instantly.
What’s funny is that even though it’s always a crowd-pleaser, my siblings still ask me if I put bananas in it. The secret? Most of the time, I do—I just blend them in so they don’t see them! I also add cream cheese and Cool Whip for extra richness. While I don’t make it entirely from scratch (I do use instant vanilla pudding), the combination of a dash of vanilla extract and a whole lot of care and compassion makes another delicious bowl for the people I love.
Recently, my other new favorite dessert to make is fudge brownies. I love chocolate brownies, and I think from now on, I am going to stick to making my own. I baked a batch from scratch the other night, and my mom said they were my best yet. I’m so excited that I finally perfected the recipe!
I’m even working on a Google Doc to share with my sisters, who sometimes call my mom and me for recipes. I’ll probably share my full brownie and banana pudding recipes here soon, too.
For now, I encourage you to find a dish or two you can perfect and share. There’s nothing like a meal made with love to bring people together.
I added strawberries this particular time to my brownies.Made this banana pudding for one of our family reunions.
I am seeking continual healing. As I mentioned before, healing is a process and an ongoing journey. And healing isn’t just for your body, but for your mind, your heart, your spirit, your finances, and your relationships. And I want healing to permeate every area of my life.
Healing is crucial to have a clear mind, light heart, and a different outlook that allows you to respond from a healed place, not from a place of pain, projection, or fear.
And I am seeking security. When you are healed or continually healing, you feel more secure. Security or feeling secure pertains to feeling safe and having certainty, soundness, and stability.
Like many women, and due to my own trauma, I want to feel secure. But to be honest, I will assume that all human beings, male or female, want to feel safe and sound. I want to feel safe and not just physically. I want to feel safe to be myself and express my heart. I want a stable future. I’m not aiming to always be in survival mode but in thriving mode.
“I am seeking security and healing… and adventure will follow. Life is an unfolding adventure, and I choose to walk it whole.” – Tannika Nikeya
And so I am seeking security and healing. And I am taking the necessary steps for such. Acknowledge pain, sin, and fears. Seeking counsel and taking accountability. Setting boundaries and learning to enforce them. Doing the work to create the life God and I approve of. Healing my finances and allowing God to also heal my heart. I’m getting my affairs in order as the saying goes. This is all healing homework.
And with the healing journey and our preparations for the future and making things right in the present comes adventure. Adventure will tag along through every lesson, blessing, ups and downs, storms, setbacks, revelations, memories, and moments. Life is one big adventure, and I pray grace for us to all to trust God, grow, heal, learn to pivot and persevere, and live life to the fullest.
Today, I decided to take off from work to rest and allow myself to grieve. I recently lost my furbaby and cousin. And this season has seemed, if not the most difficult, the most straining.
However, when I saw today’s prompt, the answer immediately came and I had to respond.
“What’s the oldest thing I am wearing today?”
my skin
and my scars
In my body dwells my spirit, and my body is covered with my skin. I wear my skin daily. It has been with me since I was in my mother’s womb. Unfortunately, some parts of my skin have scars, and so does my soul.
My skin and my scars have plenty of testimonies from trials, tests, and time. So, I try to care for my skin with not just cleaning and lotion, but with God’s Word and promises.
I have a lot of scars: some are visible, and some are not. But they will not be despised. Some have healed. Others will heal and become less visible over time. And, some will remain visible but remind me that I am human. These scars will also remind me that I overcame and persevered with God’s grace and love.
It started with introducing my first self-published poetry book, Setting The Captive Free, as well as sharing my journey of faith, growth, and writing.
It later expanded to also wanting to further my writing skills and experience.
It allows me to share my writing, new and old, from poetry to feature articles. From words of encouragement to skits. From sharing learned lessons to moments to remember.
4. To encourage others to take one day at a time along their journey of life and healing.
6. To get used to using my voice.
5. To remind myself and others who struggle with anxiety or even depression to rest, persevere, and hold on to God to get you through the fight.
7. Lastly, I blog because it allows me to let my hair down a bit. And whether I am blogging about beautiful moments in nature and around me I have taken with my camera or blogging what I learned from spending time reading my Bible while sitting down to a cup of hot water, honey and lemon, I can express it freely with my writing.
One thing I hope people say about me is that I am authentic. And I hope people continually say what people have said about me and to me. That it is easy to share things with me or talk with me. I am trustworthy. They can count on me.
That Part
However, I am reaching that part of my life where concerning myself with what people think needs to hang out the window by a thread or be my view from across the street, and not my focus. Worrying about what others think can cost you living life and cost you your peace. Their opinions will be louder than God’s perspective and wisdom. You may be giving, trustworthy and serving like myself but mix people pleasing, anxiety, overthinking, and some unhealed factors into the mix, things can go haywire, and one can suffer unnecessarily as well as your authenticity can dwindle. So, be humble as well as chew the meat and spit out the bones of others’ opinions and advice. Heal and grow, and don’t worry about what others think. But do be authentic and do be kind.
Proverbs 29:25 MSG
[25] The fear of human opinion disables; trusting in God protects you from that.
The Healing Continues
So, I will now spend more time practicing what I say to myself. What do I hope I say about myself? And last but not least, what do I hope Jesus has to say about me.
WJWS, I Pray
“Oftentimes, she was afraid. She even stumbled, but she persevered with my grace and love. She overcame. Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Philippians 4:6-9 NLT [6] Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. [7] Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. [8] And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. [9] Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Life gives us experiences that can provide us with knowledge about living and give us lessons for ourselves as well as others. So, I am always grateful for advice that is from life’s experience, wisdom, genuineness, and compassion.
Here are some of the best pieces of advice I have received:
You can’t please everyone. My mom once gave me this advice. And she was right. And, although I have made major progress in my people pleasing reform, I still have a ways to go in my journey. You can’t please everyone, and everyone may also include those you love. You will go nuts trying to accommodate and please everyone. And even if you set out to try to please everyone, someone still may not be satisfied.
Take one day at a time. I don’t remember where I exactly got this advice, but it is definitely something I have come to learn as well as it is my life’s motto. It is often said to break a large task or goal into smaller tasks or steps as well as to study something in chunks. Life to me should be dealt with in the same manner. Take one day at a time. Do what you can today. Don’t overwhelm yourself or your schedule. Focus. Prioritize. Know when to rest and know when to go. Don’t rush life. You miss important lessons and moments. Don’t skip any steps in your journey of life, healing, etc. Don’t let life’s worries keep you in yesterday or force you in tomorrow (although I know it is easier said than done). Take one day at a time and keep living while doing so.
Do what is best for you. My best friend gave me this piece of advice, and it was words I needed to hear. Let’s put a disclaimer here: it doesn’t mean to neglect your responsibilities or those you love. Or to do what is best for you that will harm someone else. And sometimes, we don’t know what may be best for us, so we need to seek God. Yet choosing you and doing what is best for you is necessary when you know or are learning what is best for you. When you know your deal breakers, goals, and purpose, and you are not going to compromise. When you have to protect yourself and maintain your well-being. When you remember that you are the one who has to live with the decisions you have made. When you remember that your comfort (sans comfort zone) and peace too matter.
Alright, those are my best pieces of advice. I would love to know some of your best pieces of advice.
What daily habit do you do that improves your quality of life?
I will get straight to it. My daily habits that improve my quality of life are:
Making my bed every morning. It is a small discipline that makes a big impact. “If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another”–William McRaven
Pray or acknowledge God. Let me be honest. I am not always stopping to pray in the morning but better believe by the end of the day, I have sat down with God in my heart to say thank you, share my heart, pray for my self or someone else. And I am learning to listen more because prayer with God is a dialogue and not a bringing of a list of wants. Yes, come to Him with what you need and even discuss your wants. To clarify, bring to Him every content of your heart (everything including fears, disappointments, goals, etc.) but make sure you learn to listen to what is in His because He knows what is best for us. His purposes always come to pass and His plans always succeed. Moreover, prayer is about getting to know God and inviting Him into every area of your life.
Read the Word of God. I don’t care if it is the YouVersion scripture of the day or a random chapter or a chapter or three of a God-led lesson I am currently studying, I read His Word. Have I missed a day or two or three? Honestly, yes, but it makes so much of a difference when I sit down to read and hear His Word.
Another daily habit of mine is making a list of things I am grateful for. This puts things in perspective and lifts my spirit as I list all of the things I am grateful for, no matter how small they may seem.
This isn’t daily but I go over my goals list. I have always been goal oriented and like to reflect on and assess my goals and where I am in accomplishing them.
I also journal or work in my planner. This helps me to sort out my thoughts, plan and stay organized.
Lastly, I make a daily habit of choosing to get up and choose peace and to better myself. Thank God for His grace to be able to do so.
Let’s Take This One Day At A Time Planner Available at Amazon.
Tannika Nikeya 