10 Things that Remind you Everyday that You are over 25

Running into a childhood friend recently got me thinking about my age. I love being in my twenties. It is my security blanket. It makes me feel like I still have time to do any and everything. The thought of turning thirty scares me. Yes I said it. You can judge me! Lol. When a kid calls me "miss" I find myself immediately correcting him/her by saying "No honey, It's Renée". At age 27 I am desperately holding on to my youth for dear life. When people around me turn thirty, I think "Whew, I'm glad that's not me". I then convince myself that I have years to go before the impending "dirty thirty". My peers have their own concerns too. People in their late twenties and beyond, these are their stories...

1. The weight watching
    Can someone say gym rat?! That is what some of you have become or wish you had the discipline to incorporate in your daily routines. To remain young and fit, you have to think about what you consume. If you find something from your wardrobe back when you were twenty and it still fits, you throw a party! You no longer find it easy to burn calories and drop pounds like you did in your early twenties. Chances are you were not even thinking about your weight at that time and if you were, you were only concerned about maintaining your weight. Now, you have to set a goal weight and work towards that. Bummer!!!

2. You think before you spend
    Your unlimited credit card a.k.a mom and dad have pretty much cut you off. You must now fend for yourself and that means earning your own money which we all know is harder to spend!

3. You feel a bit old when you go to some Clubs
     Night-life as you now know it is all about, well, sleeping! You make plans to go out and you think you need a power nap. That power nap then turns into a full blown sleep session which finds you waking up at 3 a.m to several missed calls and hate mail (texts) from your friends. But let's say you do go out... By 12 a.m you are yawning so much that your jaws hurt. You enter the club, you look around and see college kids and you think what on earth am I doing here? Why aren't these kids home in bed? Let's say you had a fun night out, but the next day you are so exhausted, you feel as though you partied an entire week! You think, "I'm getting too old for this!"

4. You find Jesus
    So now that you have grown tired of your heathen ways, you think it is now time to draw closer to God as if God is oh so lonely! You become Spiritual. You want a fresh start. You want to forget your sordid past and all the shameful acts of your early twenties. Best believe your friends remember, and they wont be afraid to remind you. I know someone's out there reading this and shouting a silent Amen!

5. Everybody is getting married or engaged
    Nothing much to say on this one... pretty self-explanatory.

6. Your sense of style changes
     You become image conscious. You begin to think you need more "mature outfits" and you want to always dress to impress. You may even change your hair. Some of you who have completely checked out of reality, start dressing noticeably "age-inappropriate" because you want to look young, hot and trendy. What was the last outfit that you bought? Think on these things...

7. You enjoy your own company/solitude
    Now that you can spend your own money, it means that you can now choose where you want to live and where you can designate as your own sanctuary. You even spend some of that hard earned cash on your favourite foods and liquor. Some of your best moments are times spent alone drinking your favourite bottle of wine or beverage and cuddling up with a good book, tablet or watching cable. Netflix has become the hot, sexy date on a Friday night. Score!

8. Difficulty in keeping up with the constant trends of Social Media and Social Networks
    Let's just say Facebook and Instagram is all I can manage these days. Snap who? Periscope what? I just can't!

9. You cannot hear all the words of that popular song
    You have morphed into your parents who could not understand a word your favourite artiste was spittin'. Kids in their teens are now laughing at you because you can't hear a single word that that rapper from ATL is saying. Watching BET's 106 & Park brings you down memory lane and rather than actually taking the time to watch whats before your eyes, your mind wanders off to that Ja Rule and Murder Inc era.

10. Bills
     Don't you just wish they'd go away or better yet, pay themselves!

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Do not be afraid to bare it all!!!

Hi Guys!

Yes I know I have not shared a post in awhile. I have been super busy with... Life! Arrggggh!!!

Since the beginning of summer I have been taken up with job hunting and preparing myself for what I could feel was going to be a huge change in my life. I have been blessed to be successful in my job-hunt exercise. Two job offers in two months. Thanks to the big man upstairs! I do not know if there is any scientific formula to this, but I seem to always find/change jobs during the summer time. So now that you have been brought up to speed with what has been happening with me, let me jump right into what this post is really about!

Too often we get caught up with being perfect. Now, I am not saying that we should not aspire to always look and feel our best, but sometimes we need to lay off the pretenses. There are times when I peruse the pages of various Instagram and Facebook accounts, I must admit that I too have those feelings of "thirst". I then have to mentally nudge myself back into reality because I know half of what we see online is a facade. People hide behind their social media accounts and of course they are going to post what is perfect and without flaw or blemish.

From the flashy jewels, to the fashion, the hair, the cars and not to mention the makeup. Even working has now become something to boast about...#workflow!!! I am guilty of that one. We are living in an era where it is cool to be vain, self-obsessed and superficial. Be warned! Advertising vanity can only last so long. Youth can only last so long. Virtue and Genuineness/Substance never goes out of style! We hide behind our partners(the perfect relationship(s)), the bank accounts, the degrees, the seemingly successful careers and the list goes on. What we fail to recognize and admit is that we are all in the struggle. We all experience triumphs and disappointments. It is what makes us inherently human. I too have felt that rip in my gut when I have had to pretend I don't need something simply because I cannot afford it. We wonder, did we really go to school for all those years to come out working for the man and living pay cheque to pay cheque? Who wants to travel the world? I know I do. Who wants to be able to take a month of vacation with the comfort of knowing that while you are busy relaxing, your money is working for you? I'll drink to that!

We are inching closer and closer to thirty, forty, even fifty and we feel as if time is running out on us. Shxt we all thought we would be stinkin' rich by now right? Then reality sets in and we realize there isn't enough savings in our bank accounts if God forbid we should be out of work for a few months. What have we been working for all this time? Do we go back to school? Do we explore entrepreneurial ventures? Where will the capital come from? For us ladies when we hit what I call emotional destitution, a feeling of hitting rock bottom, we begin to envy the likes of Amber Rose and her bestie Blac Chyna. The men may consider the narcotics trade or even scamming. Now that is when you KNOW things are really bad! Who or what dictates our identity? Is this something intrinsic or is it based on social media? Perhaps both? How do we deal with these feelings? What I try do is STAY IN MY OWN LANE. I have learnt that by concentrating on my own journey, I have the power to control my happiness and chart my own course. Don't pretend to be something you are not. Wealth will not fall into your lap unless of course you are fortunate enough to have been left a fortune by a deceased family member or you have won the lottery. The odds of that happening are very slim.  Be brutally honest with yourself. Be patient.  Know what you want and work your ass off for it. While you are working your way up, be careful not to step on others. Not all bridges are meant to be burnt either. Be conscious of doing good.

Live in your own truth! Now I am not telling you to go tell everyone your business simply because you want to be real! The world is not your therapist. Spare your Facebook friends' timelines from the constant emotional rants. Please do not go posting God-awful selfies on Instagram with hashtags like I woke up like this! Living in your own truth for me means taking pride in who you are and owning who you are. Sugar-coating things will not solve your problems nor will putting everything out there for everyone to see. Life is all about balance and doing everything in moderation. When you see those bags under my eyes, believe me I see them too. I do not feel the constant need to cover up because its a quick fix. I simply  need to rest. Look out for my next blog post on pocket friendly eye-creams! See what I did there? Lol!

Find people you can trust. If it is one person, that is okay. Keeping a small circle is certainly not  a bad thing. Pretending is! Whatever you put out into the universe, believe me when I say that is what you are going to get back. If you are negative, you will attract negative energy into your life. Surround yourselves with all things good, positive and uplifting. It is normal and okay to fall down sometimes. The key is to get up, brush ourselves off and continue making strides. Be good to yourselves and remember we are all working our butts off to retire early!