Skip to main content

Glowing Up and What It Means to Me.

Glow Up.

What does that mean?

On this week’s episode of The Friend Zone (@FriendZonePod, twitter), my favorite podcast hosts talked openly about what it means to glow up. It was a conversation that I wish I was present for because it is a topic that I am passionate about. Hell, one of the purposes of my blog is to encourage myself and others to grow and glow! But, what exactly does that mean? Fran (The Friend Zone & heyfranhey.com) challenged listeners to think about and write down what it means to glow up and I was so excited to  take on this assignment, that I thought I’d share!

To me, glowing up is about growth and how you feel inside.

Yes, glowing up could be physical or financial – all of which Fran, Dustin and Assante mentioned (I was at my desk giving them high fives in my head lol) – but what good is having all of that if you don’t feel good on the inside?

About two years ago I decided that I wanted to feel better. Not because I looked good, or had a man, or loads of money…I actually wanted to feel good DESPITE those things. My relationship at the time ended. I still hadn’t reached my fitness goals. I wasn’t (and still am not) making the amount of money I would like to be making. But despite all of that, I wanted to be happy AF! I wanted to glow up.

I decided that if I focused on improving my emotional, mental and spiritual health, everything else will fall into place at the right time. So, that’s what I did.

I spoke affirmations until I believed them. I prayed, I wrote in my journal, I spoke positively over myself, and I did things that I loved and enjoyed – sometimes that meant doing nothing.

It felt amazing!

Now, I don’t want to paint this picture that it was this amazing, awesome journey and I felt over the moon every day as I ran thru a field of flowers. Nah. It was hard. But, it was necessary and after I pushed thru the difficult parts (and continue to push thru them), it felt better than anything I had every felt before. I started glowing up.

I created a certain kind of happiness that I wasn’t able to receive from anywhere else, and it showed. On my face. In my attitude and my energy. It allowed me to not only speak better to myself, but to others as well.
When you glow up internally, a lot of things happen. For me, I started to realize what I wanted and things that were important to me, I had a clear vision of things I wanted to accomplish and not only decided the kind of person and woman I wanted to be, but knew who I was becoming and what I needed to do to continue on that path. And the things I wanted, I started receiving and/or working towards. And two years later, I can see and feel the difference and I’m still glowing up.

My glow up is a result of growth.

Yes, my promotion at work was great. Of course I love my man and being in a relationship that I enjoy and am happy in. I am still working on the making more money thing and the health thing (good food in moderation also makes me happy, obviously lol), but I believe had I not pushed myself to grow and glow up in ways that mattered, I would not be where I am today experiencing all of these great things.

Glowing up is not always about “the bag,” or changing your physical appearance, or suddenly being able to afford nice things. Not knocking them – all of those things are great! But, what if you had and did all of those things and still were not fully together on the inside – mentally, emotionally or spiritually? Yes, it always feels good when people can look at us and the things we have and see it as a glow up, but I assure you, nothing feels better than looking at yourself and seeing your glow up and the growth and knowing that when you start going after what you want, you’re doing it for no one else but you and you’re happy, healthy and living your absolute best life!

I encourage everyone to GROW and GLOW, take on Fran’s and check out this week’s episode of The Friend Zone: Glowed Up!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Power in Pressure

Pressure. We all feel it from time to time. It makes diamonds, right? At least that has been the saying for as long as I could remember. But what about when pressure makes things, people and situations crack. I myself have been feeling a lot of pressure lately. Mostly self inflicted, but pressure none the less. The pressure to reach my financial goals by the end of the year, quickly find a better job that pays more, be present for my friends/family/significant other, and most importantly for myself has me under a lot of pressure and some days it’s heavier than others while others it’s easier to manage. My boyfriend and I went to church this past  Sunday  and it is no surprise that Pastor Furtick spoke directly to me regarding this issue. Luckily, I was able to walk away with a better perspective to help me navigate through the pressure and actually find the power in it all. Pressure can be looked at from both a positive and negative perspective. In a good way, it can push and moti

Vital For Survival: Quality Time With Your Girls & Why It Matters

It is the story line women of all ages are familiar with. One moment you and your girls are brunching it up every weekend, partying at the hottest clubs, getting together once a week for TGIT and planning vacays one year after the next and the next thing you know time passes by and weekly plans turn into IG comments, unanswered text messages and the only time you see one another is when one of your children has a birthday party. Many things can cause time and distance to separate friend groups from other another such as careers, romantic relationships, children and dream chasing to, unfortunately, unresolved issues. No matter what the cause may be, it is important to resolve matters quickly and keep your girls as important figures in your life. This can be seen in the movie Girls Trip . Four friends get together for a long overdue weekend in New Orleans for the Essence Festival. I saw the movie with my girls and was reminded why making time for your friends is vital for survival.

I'm Glad I Didn't Give Up On Myself

I'm glad I didn't give up on myself. On July 28, 2017 I took a leap of faith and wrote my first blog post, Vital For Survival. I was really inspired by the movie Girls Trip, the message I took from the movie and seeing numerous women bond and laugh together while watching such a groundbreaking film. While I was inspired, I was also terrified. I was so scared to share my thoughts with other people that I almost did not push the Publish link. I actually clicked “Publish” by mistake and had a 5 minute panic attack (typical me). I was so nervous as to what people would say about something that I created – my words, my thoughts, my opinions. The thought still gives me the worst anxiety when I think about it. It is a fear that I push through week after week because I needed a place where I could be myself, share my thoughts and in turn inspire others to share with me and others as we grow and try our absolute best to navigate through this thing called life and try to be better