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What do your voices tell you?
Tonight I had the good fortune of hearing Jon Acuff speak at Brentwood Baptist Church during Kairos. Jon is fantastically real and I knew that he would give me a good word when I ventured 30 minutes to attend service after work.
He spoke about HATE. As in, Haters Gon’ Hate! According to Acuff there are three types of hate:
1. External Hate —The outside world hatin’ on you. This type of hate gets loud the minute we do something that matters. The second we buck the status quo you will hear this voice emanating louder than any other. We have a tendency to block compliments and absorb criticism. Jon calls this “Critics Math”—1 Insult + 1,000 Compliments = 1 Insult. Get it? Maybe you need to tell some of these external voices, “I’ll miss you.” Why do we focus on the bad and let people create a hateful environment for us? Read Matthew 10:4. Apparently, Jay-Z ripped off Jesus with “Brush your shoulders off.”
2. Internal Hate—What do your voices tell you? Nobody has a positive internal voice. Nope, not one person. Not even “that guy” with the two thumbs and an overinflated ego. This voice is always nagging at us, ” Who are you to do that?” or at the other extreme it is telling us to “Do it perfectly!” and often it is saying, “It’s too late.” First, perfection is a dragon that we can’t slay. “90% perfect and shared can change more lives than 100% perfect and trapped in your head.” This quote by Acuff sums me up about right. Tweet @jonacuff and tell him what the voices are saying in your head. My voices? Well, they say the following:
– “You are never going to be enough.”
– “You should be doing better.”
– “You are an imposter and someone is bound to find out.”
-“You’ll never accomplish that dream.”
– “Don’t mess up!”
– “You are unattractive and no man will ever love you. You might as well buy a cat because you are going to be single forever.”
Aren’t they just peachy?
3. The last type of hate is hate we generate.
Social Media has inspired an incredible amount of hate generation. We have the ability to know at every minute of the day what others in the world are doing and more often than not, their life looks significantly better than ours. That comparison leads to hate. Why do we not have that person’s life? Because God didn’t see fit to give us that life. Deal with it. “You make all things work together for my good.” If we are going to sing that then we must believe it. He’s working it out for us all the time and we can’t even comprehend the plan He has for us. Take a knee and let the Man do His job. Unfortunately, hate has residue and it very rarely stops with the source. It seeps into harmless interactions that are the antithesis of hate. We have to let it roll away or we will be haunted by its memory throughout every aspect of our lives. That isn’t healthy, fair, and it certainly isn’t necessary. It is also not allowing us to trust what God has for us in this world.
So, what’s the status of hate in your life? Are you allowing it to affect your life? What can you do to “shake the haters off” including yourself? I know I have some work to do especially in areas #2 and #3.
Tweet: @jonacuff
Blog: http://www.jonacuff.com/blog/
Blessed to have been named as one of the five finalist for the NELA in the Education industry. The ceremony takes place on July 26th and I’ll be sure to keep you posted. I really feel fortunate to even obtain a nod for the work I do in Student Affairs at Vanderbilt University.
(Source: http://istalkfashion.tumblr.com)
I purchased these today from Target. I know, I know but I had a cardigan and a dress in my basket that I decided not to purchase. Just the shoes and that to me is a small win. That will be ALL for June! I think ;).
Nashville is delicious!
So, remember my goal of eating myself through Nashville’s 70 Best Restaurants? Well, I’ve been making great progress and I thought I’d share my faves thus far in this adventure towards elastic waist pants :).
– Wild Hare— Don’t judge this place by its outward appearance. My Grilled Chicken Salad and side of Mac & Cheese covered in jalapeno gouda sauce was the best lunch EVER! My friend had an excellent lobster pizza.
– 1808 Grille —Dessert-Strawberry Shortcake! Tortellini was tasty. Located in the Hutton Hotel and would normally be out of my price range but it was a free professional dinner.
– Tavern —Brunch! Yummy! Went after church and it was super busy but worth the wait and we saw a Bachelorette contestant.
– B&C BBQ— Hmmm, needed to roll myself to the car especially after inhaling a gallon of sweet tea and I could have taking a dip in a vat of the grits. Staying awake at work after this lunch was quite the chore.
– Valentino’s —Fancy $$$$, the Groupon was appreciated. Lovely atmosphere and the salmon melted in my mouth.
– Cabana—Great Girls’ Night deal on Wednesday night.
-Cantina Laredo—Get yourself a margarita. You’ll only need one but you’ll probably want more.
– Whiskey Kitchen —Sit outside on the patio. Try a pizza.
Since I moved to Nashville a little over a year ago I’ve eaten at 21 out of 70. Luckily, I’ll be staying in Nashville for a while cause I’ve got a whole lot of noshing to do.
Since I wasn’t shopping for the month of May I was forced to reframe my existing wardrobe and make it feel like new again.
I discovered my “go to” pieces. The workhorses of my closet.
1. Striped Tops- Blue & White and Red & White (Stylemint pictured above)
2. Leopard flats- similar to having a neutral shoe that can be paired with many colors and, thanks to style bloggers everywhere, I feel comfortable pairing them with stripes
3. Jason Wu Black Pleated Skirt- pretty, easy, and can be dressed up or down plus if I spin I feel like I’m 5 again
4. Fuschia handbag by Maja—I love this bag and wearing it with other bright colors. I wor an orange J.Crew dress with a camel Merona jacket, and flat neutral Merona sandals on my flight home to VA. Compliments were given ;).
5. Cardigans- I have a rainbow of cardis but my favorite ones include bright pink (J. Crew), Leopard print (Merona from Target), Orange ( J. Crew), and taupe (NY & Co.). I throw these on over a dress, sleeveless top, wrap it over my shoulders to instantly class up any ensemble.
6. LBD- I have a great standby from The Gap that I can throw on with any pair of shoes and a colorful bag
7. The Dolce Vita Wedges pictured above, I mean HELLO! Love these shoes and can wear them to work or out on the town.
8. Colorful pants from Old Navy and Target. I have blue, green, and Nantucket Red options.
9. Chambray Top that can be thrown on with any of the pants mentioned above, the Jason Wu skirt, different shade of jeans or open over a tank to add a layered effect
10. A colorful, fun dress that is easy to slip on and change the tone with a few accessories from day to night
Notice, that nothing I mentioned was overly expensive and some of these staples I’ve had for more than a year.
10 items that can be remixed to create a variety of new looks. Luckily, I had a great foundation that made the Fashion Fast more bearable than I thought.
Blog Talk
Back Down South is a look at the style of the South. Caroline Fontenot, does a fantastic job of photographing native and transplant southerners in their environment wearing their personal wardrobe. The fashion and the “models” are accessible and have an enormous amount of swagger. I also love the blog because my cute friends Allyson and Christina along with their sweet roomie Caroline are regularly featured. Ashlyn Stallings from one of my favorite blogs EVER,writes guests spots. The blog isn’t all about fashion as I am, at this very moment, grooving to a Spotify playlist called ”Go Back Down South” which is a compilation of “Music Monday”, a feature of the site that highlights southern artists. Volunteer Traditions, Cordial Churchman, Harding Lane, and Brier & Moss are just a few of the staple brands of the blog. The Dirty Guv’nahs, Alabama Shakes, and Matthew Mayfield made it into my music collection because of this blog. Great fashion and music inspiration! Check it out!
peculiarpearl 