Life is full of ups and downs. You never know how everything is going to work out, but if you trust in God he will allow you to do things you’ve never imagined. . .

While completing my Junior year at Clark Atlanta University I endured many new challenges that molded me into a woman of strength,  dedication, and perseverance. The past summer I made a decision to start my junior year out strong. I made a choice to give up things that I believed weren’t needed in my life anymore.

The first major decision I made was to give up sex. I was led to do that because I felt like sexual intercourse was such a powerful act that truly needed to be treated with high value. I ultimately decided to treat my body with love and respect and to wait for that special someone. Heather Lindsey made giving up sex an option for me by reading her books Pink Lips and Empty Hearts, and Dusty Crowns. Her books taught me to refuse to settle for anything or anyone less than God’s best for my life. She spoke about the benefits of enduring tests and trails in order to develop patience within God. Most importantly I learned how to see myself the way God sees me; loved an overcomer, the head and not the tail.

The third decision I made was to focus more on me and not worry about the opinions of others. That had to be toughest to deal with because I realized people will talk about you good or bad all day every day whether they know you or not. The thing about it is you can’t let a person dictate your life, I mean how can they possibly know what’s best for you. No one knows you like you know yourself. Don’t get me wrong receiving advice is cool but you can’t live and depend on that advice all day every day. For some time this took a lot of strength and effort because I had to change the way I thought about things. I began to focus more on my happiness and not what others wanted for me. Confidence and accepting myself played a huge part in helping me. I had to learn how to control my emotions and not let what people say change or affect my mood. I decided to truly begin living for me.