Start Within

Mavis Writes: Alright, we are genuinely truly doing this. It is absolutely nerve wrecking to see the feedback I am getting for this challenge. I feel a certain kind of pressure, because it is like stepping out of a safe haven and entering a world where I will attract readers of all kinds. I have grown accustomed to my monthly readers and it somewhat became my safe space. A place I knew that whoever visits my blog is generally in search of self-love or self-awareness, yet here we are. Stepping out into the unknown and trying out new things. It is my hope that whoever does visit these Guest Writers material on my blog will stay and explore more content, of which there is plenty! Happy reading!

Okay, our second guest writer is Ernest, a man with a heart of gold that I met some time back. Ladies **wink wink.. Okay, enough playing. He too is a blogger and it is exciting to have him on here. He writes on love and all things self-awareness. Let's get to know him;

GUEST WRITER QUESTIONNAIRE

1. What is the one thing you wish people knew about you?

I am a hopeless romantic. I am the type of guy who likes things like taking a girl on a picnic, just to get to know her and what not. I am big believer of courting someone and sadly, in the modern world, most people are just about the hook up culture.

2. What motto do you live by?

Every sinner has a future and every saint has a past. I apply this saying a lot in terms of potential. I I believe that everyone has the potential to make something of their life. We must never underestimate others, but rather encourage them to push towards their dreams.

3. Who inspires you and why?

My mother is my inspiration she works an 8 to 5 and runs a side business. She is a hardworking black queen that has put us through school. When I make it in life I'll spoil her rotten and I think I get my business ''gene'' from her.

4. What is the hardest lesson life has taught you?

When the grass is green people want to graze in the garden of your life. However when things go south you'll see them walk away one by one. In a nutshell hard times test your relations a lot. I lost my job last year and I was surprised at how fast so called friends disappeared from my life. I am grateful that it happened though because I know the genuine people from the seasonal ones.

5. What was your happiest moment

(the first thing that comes to mind)?

The first time I fell in love, it was a beautiful feeling. Falling deeply for someone and you weren't even looking.

ERNEST WRITES

Start Within

Do find yourself moving from relationship to relationship and nothing seems to work out for you?

"I have come to understand that self-awareness is key.

In the past I used to find myself moving from one women to the other and I wondered why things generally would not work out. After one particularly traumatic experience, I opted to some time out and do some soul searching. The soul searching and meditation assisted me in digging into self and deep into the abyss of my soul, I then discovered something was amiss. As simple as it sounds I had lacked self-love. Self-love has to do with having a belief that you are a valuable and worthy individual. It also deals with having a regard for yourself and your own interests. Very often as human beings we go out into the world looking for material possessions and relationships to “complete” us. But after you become self-aware and look deep within yourself, you come to the realization that - you are all you have.

All the external factors we use to self-medicate like friends and relationships cannot complete you. These external factors are meant to complement our lives and not complete us. In order to attract Mr Right or Ms Right, you have to take a hard look at yourself and work on the areas of your life that rid you of self-love to ensure that comes into your life gets to meet a great version of you.

"One should find comfort in solitude." - Ernest

Being alone develops your self-love and makes you less needy of others. Once that self-love grows, you learn to do more of what truly makes you happy and you compromise less. It is an amazing epiphany, when it hits you. There’s develop an internal glow and you ooze much more confidence. Developing self-love is an important step many folks fail to teach their offspring while young and more we need to place more emphasis on it.

Love is a gift that you cannot give unless you own it. Hence I say - love yourself first before you can love others as it all begins with you. They say knowledge is potential power and its best applied and shared.

Guest Writer - Ernest

Read more of his work - Ernest's Blog

Do you want to become a Guest Writer? Check out how you can - here.