#BeSureSundays- Tribute to M.L.K. 2015

Since Martin Luther King Jr. Day is upon us, I thought it would be perfect to use one of his quotes for our #BeSureSundays.

Sometimes we feel inadequate and as if we can't make an impact in this world. I know that is a normal feeling, but we shouldn't let it prevent us from trying. If every "great person" had that mentality, imagine where our society would be. Would we have complex highway systems (they amaze me), the internet, Wii gaming systems, x-rays, or airplanes? Probably NOT!

I wouldn't even have this blog if I believed I couldn't make an impact. When those doubts start to cloud your thought process, remember our lesson for today, "If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.” Even if you think what you are doing is insignificant, do it to the best of your ability. You will never know your impact until you put yourself out there and just do the damn thing. As a wise woman once said, "Don't Die Afraid!"

What are some small things you are doing in a great way? What keeps you motivated to do those things?

New Semester

New year, new semester, new start.

Spring 2015 began on Monday for some college students (next Tuesday for lucky me).  I am an absolute nerd and LOVE the first day of classes. It is refreshing to have a clean slate and the opportunity to receive an abundance of knowledge. My preparation for the new semester goes a little something like this:

1. Review the syllabus before class if it is available on Blackboard. I make sure the textbook will actually be used before purchasing it (those expensive things). Gauge how much time I will need to dedicate to the course based on the listed expectations.
2. Get a lot of rest the night before. I take three hour evening classes after I get off work so I need to make sure I have enough energy to last until 8pm.
3. Wear brand new or lucky undergarments and a professional (and cute) outfit of course!
4. During the first day of class in the margins of the syllabus or my notebook, I take little notes about the professor. First impressions are everything to me, so I write down characteristics like: seems like a tough grader, makes corny jokes, has an interesting background, awww has two children, good dresser.

My first class of my grad school career, my professor shook each student's hand and introduced himself. That left a lasting impression. Those types of genuine interactions with professors display how much they care about their profession and students.

Congrats to all those entering their last semester (especially my logo designer Kenish) ! Graduation is right around the corner, stay strong! Also congrats to those entering their first semester of a program (Mr. Fearless). Adjusting to being back in school can be a challenge but remember it is a new step in life that will allow you to be supreme!

What were your thoughts going back to school? Did you have any rituals? Am I the only one obsessed with buying under garments? haha! - Just checking to see who reads these =)

#BeSureSundays- Don't Be Jealous

Earlier this week I briefly mentioned jealousy is a disease. It sounds weird but let me break it down for you. According to Merriam-Webster a disease is:

• a condition that prevents the body or mind from working normally and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms
• a harmful development
• a problem that a person, group, organization, or society has and cannot stop

Jealousy prevents us from being our authentic selves because we are concentrated on the possessions of those around us. It is detrimental to our growth and cannot be stopped. Diseases can be stopped since there are cures and medications for them, but jealousy is a special type that I believe cannot be fully eradicated. Even on an individual level, regardless of how "sure" you are with yourself, there is always an ounce of jealousy hiding somewhere. You can stay in denial if you want but if you can't be genuinely happy for someone's success then that is a sign of the green-eyed monster. The craziest part is you might not even want what they have!

This Fearless Family will do our best to put that heart of envy to the side. If we stay on our grind and focused on our paths to success, we won't have time to be jealous. Always remember, the grass is greener on the side you water.

Do you think it is possible to live a jealous free life? Why do we become victims of jealousy? How can we stop being jealous?

Global Health Fellows Program II Internship

When you know of an opportunity, you should share it with others! Want to know a little secret? I haven't always thought this way...I used to suffer from a disease called jealousy. Yes, you read correctly, I called it a disease. I will go into an explanation of that during my next #BeSureSundays. Just wait for it! Jealousy prevented me from sharing with others because in the past I thought I wasn't good enough. I was fearful that if I told others about an opportunity, it would decrease my chances. According to probability it will because the selection pool is now larger (duhhh), but if I am really confident in myself that shouldn't bother me. Thanks to my fearless journey so I Don't Die Afraid, I have gained faith in my abilities.

Now don't get me wrong! If you are applying for your dream job, don't share the link to the opening with your 800+ Facebook friends. However, if there are multiple positions open and you know someone who is unemployed and really wants to get back on his or her feet, then of course spread the wealth!

If you know anyone passionate about public health like myself, please share this internship with USAID for the Global Health Fellows Program II. The deadline is Thursday January 8, 5pm EST, so get those applications in! I applied because obviously it will look outstanding on my resume to work with a well respected organization such as USAID, but it also seems like a positive environment that will foster my personal & professional growth. Listening to previous interns reminisce on their experiences made me believe this internship is really how I should spend my summer. The application process is no skip through a flower bed, wish me luck!

Are you a student? If so, how will you spend your Summer 2015? If you aren't a student, do you plan on traveling? If so where to? Let me know in the comments below!

#BeSureSundays- Don't Ever Give Up

Welcome to 2015! First of all if you are reading this, I am grateful for you! I started Don't Die Afraid this year and it continues to evolve thanks to loyal readers like yourself. Thank you for your unwavering support and we hope you remain an integral part of the Fearless Family for years to come!

Now back to the regularly scheduled post which is about perseverance . Today, we lost Stuart Scott, a legendary ESPN sports anchor. I don't usually follow sports, nor do I watch ESPN (unless Mr. Fearless has it on). However, when he shared the news with me I was sad for him because he really admired Scott and obviously felt sympathy for the Scott family. I just experienced the loss of my grandmother, so those feelings are way too fresh for me. However, as I quickly learned about Scott's legacy through the touching tributes and heartfelt memories shared by his colleagues, I received an understanding for how genuine he was.

Then I learned some history about the Jimmy V Perseverance Award which Scott received just a few months ago.  Jimmy Valvano was a legendary college basketball coach who also battled with cancer. In 1993, he made a powerful acceptance speech for the Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award introducing, "The V Foundation" which was co-founded with ESPN in the hope to cure cancer. The motto of the organization is "Don't give up, don't ever give up."

I thought this message would be perfect to share for our #BeSureSundays because both men embodied the mantra of "Don't Die Afraid" by living each moment fearlessly, even during the toughest times of their lives. My condolences to Stuart Scott's loved ones. Let his life and Jimmy Valvano's encourage us to fight through every obstacle.

You can donate to The V Foundation in honor of Stuart Scott.

Are you an admirer of Stuart Scott? If so leave a comment about your favorite memory of him. If you are a sports fan, who are some of your favorite sportscasters?

#BeSureSundays - Fall in Love

Christmas has passed and it is time to ring in the new year! As stated in my last post, this season is for rebirth. Many people take this literally and promote strongly a, "New Year, New Me" attitude. However, my motto for the year is "Fall in Love With Yourself." Instead of trying to create a whole new "(Insert Your Name Here)", how about just loving yourself? Yes, none of us are where we want to be in life but SO WHAT? That is the point of living, we constantly evolve!

For the new year join me in loving and celebrating ourselves! Let me define what loving yourself consists of-- expressing more gratitude, having faith in your abilities, rewarding yourself after a victory even if it is small, finding at least one positive in every "negative" situation, laughing more, eating healthy,  exercising, and most importantly being FREE!

The last call to action, "being FREE" was inspired by a YouTuber, Charmaine (@MissCharmsie). I agree with her 100% that all my life I've dealt with freedom to be myself unapologetically. Fear is ultimately the reason preventing most of us from being free, that is why I started this blog and my journey to not dying afraid. So when I heard about her campaign #FreeYourMind2015 , I knew I wanted to be a part of it.

I hope you, my fearless family decides to join me in this journey!

Do you have a theme for this year? How are you celebrating the new year? What are some other ways to love yourself?

#BeSureSundays- Rebirth

Christmas is this week! Yay!!!! I absolutely LOVE Christmas! The music, decorations, gift giving, joyful spirits, food, activities, gatherings, sweaters, scented candles...literally anything that has to do with the season, I am all for it! Christmas signifies the birth of Jesus and usually we associate New Year's Day with the "rebirth" of ourselves. People make New Year's Resolutions and claim that the new year will be better than the last. Some individuals like to broadcast their goals so others can hold them accountable. I'm already seeing posts on social media outlets about people wanting to improve for the new year. My only question to those individuals is, do you really keep the same momentum for these goals throughout the full course of the 12 months? Or is this excitement over by the 1st of February?

I am not one who shares my goals publicly because I am not looking for the approval of others. I AM my biggest critic so I don't need anyone to hold me accountable. I don't want to depend on outside forces to check me when I am not living up to the standards I have set for myself. I have a small collection of mentors who I approach for advice, but they are the only group I trust with the responsibility of having a large hand in my growth. I don't expect everyone to agree with my mentality and that is fine because we have different paths.

So my suggestion to all you fearless people out there is instead of just looking at New Year's Day as this time of rebirth, use the whole Christmas season!

1. Relax-  the days you have off work/school just have "me time"--do those mindless things you are always too busy to do...that can include watching your favorite sports game, playing games, leisure reading, or a Netflix binge 2. Recharge- pamper yourself 3. Renew- make a list of improvements you want to work on in the new year and set dates to have them done by 4. Restored- throughout the year rebuild your plan as you find necessary, always keep your goals fresh

Do you make New Year's resolutions? Do you set goals throughout the year for personal development? If so, how do you evaluate yourself? What is your favorite step in this 4 step process?

I Love Personality Quizzes

Who loves games?Ashley loves games. Is it true? Is it TRUUUUE?  MMMHHMMM! I DO I DO I DO-OOH!

My Nana raised me on Jeopardy, The Price is Right, Wheel of Fortune, and Who Wants to be a Millionaire?....As a teenager I spent hours watching the Game Show Network. As a college student I organized game nights with Taboo, Scattergories, Apples to Apples, Cards Against Humanity, UNO, Spades...you name it and I will play it. Now as a young adult my "gaming" consists of personality quizzes online haha. I know those are far from qualifying as a real game, but it is when there is only one person (yourself) and you are bored.

I play them for two reasons: 1. To see how accurate the results are and 2. To read the questions and try to assume what result they will lead to.

For example, in the quiz I took about what Chinese food takeout am I, one of the questions was "Who would play you in a movie?" I was thinking to myself, "How does that establish anything related to Chinese food?" haha, but I loved the results! Now I have to go try Kung Pao! It sounds delicious, just like me. =)

I took one this week titled, "What is your most dominant character trait?"--From analyzing the questions I thought  my results would deem me "caring" or "loyal"...something mushy like that. However, it resulted in "Courage"- I pray for an abundance of courage every day and the reason I started my blog was because of the fear I harbored. So for a little personality quiz to tell me "Courage" is my most dominant, I must be doing something right!

Below is a list of some cool quizzes I found this week!

Blah, what should I do with my life?

What is your dominant trait?

If you were an ugly Christmas sweater, what would it look like?

What type of lover are you?

If you were Chinese takeout, what dish would you be?

 How do you feel about personality quizzes? Take one of the quizzes I shared and write in the comment area below what your result was, I would love to hear!

Are you a huge gamer like myself? If so tell me in the comments what your favorite game is.

#BeSureSundays- What Love Leaves

There are only 11 days left until Christmas, the most joyous season of the year. Family, love, gifts, celebrations, travel, cookies, laughter, and tradition are the first things that come to mind when I think of Christmas. However, this time usually signifies the hardest time for individuals grieving the loss of a loved one. Whether you lost the person recently or years ago, it is nearly impossible to not miss them during the holidays. Yesterday, I found out my Granny Phil passed away. Death has never been a concept I can easily grasp. I literally just saw her three weeks ago for Thanksgiving and now I have to accept that I'll never see her again? That's bizarre to me and I don't know how long it will take me to accept. I couldn't help but think about the families of all the young black men who have been killed in the past couple of years that we are marching/protesting for. At this time, not only do I pray that our (Black) lives will matter to ALL people but I also ask God to send their families peace of mind during this Christmas season. Even though their futures were stolen for no reason, I pray that their loved ones realize that NO ONE can steal the love and memories they shared.

My old suite-mate Chloe just lost her mother, so I send this prayer to her and to all of you remembering a loved one that is no longer with you this season. We are a fearless family and will get through this tough time. *HUGS*

#BeSureSundays- Snooze Button

So today Mr. Fearless and I went to church and the sermon was about Advent being the start of the Christmas season. This period was compared to a wake up call because it is the time to prepare for the coming of Christ-- salvation, hope, and the gift that comes from improving ourselves. The difference between an alarm clock and a spiritual wake up call, is that we can easily hit the snooze button on an alarm clock but a wake up call is inevitable. Most of the time we can envision our dreams, but we fear taking the next step to actually making them real. Fear of failure, not making enough money, not having enough followers, and not wanting to venture into the land of unknown possibilities...

So this week's #BeSureSundays message is to stop pressing that snooze button of fear. 2015 is coming and we need to be ready and sure of ourselves. Get up and do the damn thang! Achieve that greatness, Don't Die Afraid!