Lifestyle: Never Stop Believing In The Beauty Of Your Dreams.

We live in a world where people are quick to let go of their dreams and aspiration either because someone did not believe in them enough or they saw someone doing better than them and they gave up. We live in dark times right now, the world is filled with naysayers, negative people, toxic energy, energy vampires, and Ill-Wishers who enjoy seeing others suffering and struggling- believe me I have come across people like this so I know exactly what I am talking about.

Lifestyle: Everything In Life Begins With An Idea.

A good idea becomes great when you let it out, many of us today are stuck with loads of ideas but unable to get it out and make it a reality, we are sometimes scared of our own thoughts and ideas, I always say if it is a good idea, let it out, set it free, let it fly and watch how it would glow.

Interior Styling: Simple Ways To Style Your Home And Create Beautiful Vibes Around You.

The easiest way to create a designer look in your home is to add personality using home accessories- for example- Vases, Figures, Coffeetable books, Unique Luxury Items. The great thing I love about accessories like these is that you can change them with the seasons.

When styling your home, It's always good to mix textures and materials in your home to create depth and contrast, and when it comes to colour, be mindful of the shades you use if you want to achieve that high-end look. For Example - If you like magenta, add a pop of the colour here and there, don't paint the whole house with it, when you overdo it your home ends up looking a mess, but the home should feel comfortable, loving and welcoming, so always keep that fact in mind when styling your home. Another thing I love to see in the home is "Mirrors". Mirrors make a huge difference when styling the home. Brighten and amplify the light in a room with mirrors on walls opposing light sources. I love mirrors because they double the visual square footage of any room. Hang a series of three or four mirrors opposite a window to reflect the incoming light as well as the view. When it comes to updating your interiors, place a mirror on your largest wall to reflect as much light as possible back into the room, I love looking at mirrors in the home but not for vanity reasons, but to remind myself to be grateful and to live life in the moment while enjoying the little things. Adding a touch of luxury to each room is my number one tip when it comes to getting that designer look. Glitters and metallics add a little bling and work well in smaller rooms as features will reflect off them, giving the illusion of a bigger space. Don't forget to play around with lights, candles, fairy lights, Lamps etc, I love using these once in a while because they help set the right mood, add dimmers on all of your lights. Bright isn’t always right. Lightings like - table lamps, chandeliers, candles, battery-powered lights ― bring a lot of style into a room!  I am very spiritual so I like to meditate a lot or just sit and admire the stars at night, and When I am unable to do this, I create a magical environment in my bedroom or study room. I love how lights and lamps make the room glow, you would feel like you are in another dimension, just forgetting about the worries and spending time in the moment is the best feeling, It's not normally easy especially during this period , but we must try to do everything to stay sane. Lastly,  Remember  "Less Is More". The term "less is more" means that having less of something makes a stronger and more enjoyable experience in the home. Strong colours and patterns, though sometimes amazing but can create a better effect when used sparingly in interior design, than when people cramp things up together in one place. The same rule also applies for mixing styles of furniture. I am always happy to read or hear your opinions and tips either via Email or In the Comment Section. Don't forget to share, Have a lovely week ahead.

Lifestyle: Are You Doing What Makes You Happy and Feel Good Inside Out?

It has been a while since I blogged, I had to take a break from social media for a little bit to detox, once in a while I always recommend a detox from social media and apps because it can become overwhelming and distract you from what is important. Today I want to quickly discuss the importance of doing what makes you "Happy", this is something most of us take for granted, we often leave ourselves and feelings behind while doing everything for everyone else and we forget that to make others happy = we have to be happy.

I like to brew a good relaxing tea to start with like "Chamomile" tea, It promotes good sleep trust me, Chamomile tea relaxes nerves and soothes the nervous system, therefore helping you sleep better. It lacks the addition of caffeine and is best consumed before sleeping, but as an added benefit, it also reduces stress, boosts immunity, reduces muscle pain and spasm, gives you clear skin.

Detox Your Skin and Body :

Detoxification is about resting, cleansing and nourishing the body from the inside out. By removing and eliminating toxins, then feeding your body with healthy nutrients, detoxifying can help protect you from disease and renew your ability to maintain optimum health through a range of methods including yoga, meditation and more. 

It also gives you a glow up, detox helps you radiate a wonderful energy through your skin and aura. It's not easy but start from somewhere, remember you are what you eat too.

Even while trying to detox and cleanse, staying happy is very important, if you do all these and you are still bitter inside then it doesn't work, Lately a lot has happened in the world that can easily get you down, but know that there is a reason for everything that happens.

Ways to stay happy even during these tough and hard times:

1) Be with others who make you smile. we are happiest when we are around those who are also happy. Stick with those who are joyful and let it rub off on you, avoid negative people with negative attitude, sometimes when people see others happy they do their best to dampen your spirit, so if you know anyone like this, stay clear of them.

2) Accept the good. Look at your life and take stock of what’s working, and don’t push away something just because it isn’t perfect. When good things happen, even the very little ones, let them in and be grateful, when we put out good vibes into the world and universe ,good things come back to us, sometimes many of us don't notice it but it comes back, but if you put out negativity , negative things happen around us.

3)Do things you love. Maybe you can’t skydive every day or take vacations especially due to this pandemic, but as long as you get to do the things you love every once in a while, you will find greater happiness.

4) Push yourself, not others. It’s easy to feel that someone else is responsible for your fulfillment, but the reality is that it is really your charge. Once you realize that, you have the power to get where you want to go. Stop blaming others or the world, and you’ll find your answers much sooner.

5)Be open to change. Even if it doesn’t feel good, change is the one thing you can count on. Change will happen, so make contingency plans and emotionally shore yourself up for the experience.

6) Bask in the simple pleasures. Those who love you, treasured memories, silly jokes, warm days, and starry nights—these are the ties that bind and the gifts that keep on giving, sometimes sit up at night and talk about funny memories and experiences, believe me this will help you forget or push aside those sad thoughts that tend to creep in every now and again.

I hope these few tips have been helpful in some way, send me an email with tips on any topic you would like me to write about. Have a blessed day.

Interior Decorating : DIY Projects Can Be Very Therapeutic.

DIY - BEFORE MEETS AFTER 🎨.

I love taking time off social media often especially to detox and spend my time doing things that make me feel good like "Creativity". As we all try to adjust to our new normal we must not forget to take time out to recuperate, we must never let the negativity of the world stop us from doing the things we love.

Creativity doesn't wait for that perfect moment, everything you can imagine is real so 'Stay Creative".✂️

So two weeks ago I found a cupboard I put aside in my storage, I remember doing so because it was too plain and you all know I am a human magpie, I decided to dazzle it up with some acrylic decors I had and here is the result below.

I had to get rid of those silver knobs first and wanted something different and bespoke.

Then I fetched my acrylic designs and added to the doors, I also changed the knobs.

And below is the final result, the main purpose for this post is to tell you not to think you can't surround yourself or your home with beautiful things, whatever you can imagine in this life can become a reality (Visualisation is Realisation), so get out those forgotten DIY projects/tools and do something with them today - trust me you will feel good about yourself.

Beauty and Lifestyle : A Few Things I Do Daily To Help Me Stay Sane During This Period.

With everything going on right now in the world, it can be very challenging to keep up with your normal daily routine, I know I do struggle from time to time especially with being a mom and having to always improve my brand/platform every day, but we have to try to invest in ourselves and never forget to put ourself and happiness first, If you are happy, the people around you will be happy.

Today's post is about the few things I do to try to maintain a normal and healthy lifestyle daily.

Start Your Day With A Healthy Breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day” – and it’s true, we have fasted overnight while sleeping, so skipping breakfast will just add to this fasting period. Missing your morning meal has been found to disrupt blood glucose balance, consequently affecting energy levels and concentration. 

If you leave home without breakfast this means your body would have to play "Catch me if you can" all day long, because it's trying to make up for not eating in the morning, so you won’t be feeling your best, leading to poor overall function. Eating a good breakfast on a regular basis leads to improved mood, better memory and good hormonal balance. The consumption of a healthy daily breakfast has also been found to boost the metabolic rate and consequently lead to efficient weight loss, as well as help to maintain a healthy weight.

An Hour A Day Work - Out:

Exercise helps people lose weight and lower the risk of some diseases. Exercising regularly decreases a person's risk of developing certain diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure. Exercise can help a person age well. This may not seem important now, but your body will thank you later. Exercise has been proven to provide a mood booster, as it releases chemicals into your brain that help you feel happier and can ease the effects of depression, ADHD, and anxiety. It can also allow you to sleep better at night, which is important to maintaining an overall good mood.

Set Up A Motivational Work Space In Your Home And Sit There Few Hours A Day:

Use a simple desk, your dressing table, your dining table or even your coffee table. You need to create a positive space that would tempt you into sitting there almost all day without feeling down or depressed. I would like to discourage you from sitting in bed or slouching about, you want to feel like a powerful Boss Queen Or King. You need to create a workspace that feels and looks beautiful but also functional. In a recent post, I mentioned my love for crystals and how certain crystals help you stay focused, I like adding crystals to my home office table that help me stay focused while studying.

Meditation Is Key:
I know a lot of people enjoy Meditation, but after doing further research I realised that some people don't enjoy it, Some feel it's too long a process, some actually find it boring.
Here is what I think- At first when I started meditating I hated it. It took so long to finish, listening to the Guided Meditation got so boring I Stopped and tried other things. I then returned to the basic things I do like, Playing with my Crystals, Burning sage to get rid of negative energy around my surrounding and myself, I enjoy using my Cards and Dices but I still felt drawn to the idea of mastering the Act of Meditation, I tried it again and slowly started liking it, or maybe I liked the voice of the speaker in the Guided Meditation, It was so soothing he put me to sleep so quickly, Since then I have not stopped Meditating. Another good thing about it is this- there’s research suggesting that the practice of meditation may reduce:
Anxiety (Y'all can see I made it bold, this is something many of us struggle with daily especially during this period of Isolation).
Depression
Blood pressure
Insomnia

In a nutshell, it has many Mental and Physical Health Benefit, these are dark times and so much is going on in the world today, what better time to start than now?

Practice Daily meditation because the practice of staying present and mindful for a limited period of time can have numerous benefits for our mental and physical health, When we meditate, we can enhance our focus and decision-making and lessen our feelings of fear and stress.

I do hope this post has been helpful in some way please share and leave a comment below, and stay tuned for more posts coming soon.

XO

Linda O Bella

Lifestyle : Self-Isolation Or Self-Re Evaluation!

Hi, Lovelies,

 I am just checking in on everyone, I hope you are all holding on and going strong, I want you to know that you are doing the best you can right now, don't forget to have fun and use this time wisely, don't just see this as "Self-Isolation" see it as "Self-Re-Evaluation".

Self-reevaluation is one of the ten processes of change in the transtheoretical model and involves cognitive reappraisal of how behaviour change is part of one’s identity. Although self-reevaluation is a critical motivator for individuals in the contemplation stage of change

We need to use this period to Re-Evaluate ourselves, this is the time to re-connect with who we truly are, It is also a time to rebrand and take time out to improve ourselves. If you have a platform, for example [Blog, Podcast, Vlog, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook] this is the time to work on what kind of platform you want your audience to see.

Firstly Raise your Consciousness:
Consciousness-raising is the process of actively becoming more aware, mindful or conscious of the current situation, Self-reevaluation flows naturally from consciousness-raising. Self-reevaluation means taking stock or appraisal of the behaviour that needs to be changed, and reveals how your values conflict with the problem behaviours.

I am a huge lover of interior decor and design, I also love photography and all things beautiful, I am using this period to study and brush up on my skills as a digital content creator, I want people to be entertained when they visit my platform, that is why I am using this period to re-brand myself and my style.

Social Media Detox:
I love to take time off social media every now and again to detox and study, to also think of ways to improve myself, Social media will always be there so why would I need to spend every minute of my life on it.
It was discovered that most people who use social media end up comparing themselves to the lives of everyone they know. The problem with this is that it can have a serious impact on your self-esteem.
Even if you aren’t aware of it, social media brings out your competitive side. This is because the main basis of social media networks such as Facebook is to attract attention to your posts. Each reaction and comment is a measure of how popular a particular post is, which can make you strive to outdo others and even yourself.

Studies have shown that the more time you spend on a social media site, the more likely you are to develop depression. Additionally, the amount of time you spend on these sites is directly related to whether or not you feel stressed out or happy.
In other words, if you’ve been feeling highly anxious, stressed out or depressed, this is a good time to take a social media detox. It may feel weird at first, but your overall mood should begin to improve as you stay away from Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites for a little while.

Focus Your Energy On Important Things Like Your Health

I know we are told to go out once a day to exercise, but there are still other workouts one can do indoors to improve ourselves, get off that couch and move, it is easy to relax and let ourselves go but one must ask ourselves the bigger question- What would life be like after this is over? How do you foresee your Mental and Physical Health?. I am not perfect myself that is why I am sharing these tips with you also, to encourage you to never give up or assume this is the end of life as we know it, in fact, this is the time to do the things that make you happy and feel good.

Please leave your comments below, let me know your thoughts.

Lifestyle: Maintaining A Healthy And Peaceful Mindset Is Golden During This Period.

How are you all doing? How are you coping? How are you feeling?

It's Okay to feel overwhelmed by it all, It is okay to feel like you are not doing enough, It is okay to feel like the world is on your shoulder, We can't give up now, we have to stay strong and fight this, We have to find a way to still maintain some extent of normality in our everyday life. One thing I know for sure is this - We have to do whatever makes us and the people around us happy.

The best way of achieving that is by keeping your mind, body and soul Peaceful, I will talk about what I have been doing and hopefully, you can share some of your own tips with me below please- "Sharing Is Caring".

🧘🏼‍♀️Start the day with a Positive Affirmation.

Affirmations are positive statements that you should say to yourself in the morning (and in front of a mirror if you can), that can help you to feel motivated and reshape your limiting beliefs. Affirmations are a key factor when using the Law of Attraction and manifesting your dream life!. I am a huge believer of the "Law Of Attraction" whatever energy you put out to the universe comes back, if you put out bad vibes and bad thoughts towards others it will surely come back no matter who you are or how long it takes, you will get your comeuppance, However, if you put out good energy, good vibes towards others, the universe will be good to you and you will be blessed and protected in all you do.

🌻Focus on the good things, however small.

Waking up with positive, infectious energy isn’t as hard as you think. If you’re struggling to make your day a great one, try practising #Gratefulness. It could be the very thought of the rising sun that warms you, the trees that shade you or even the fact that you woke up to see it all one more time.

To fully embrace the beauty of life, tell yourself how wonderful it is. Convince yourself that this day will be one worth smiling for, and watch how your mindset mirrors your positive thinking, I joined few groups,(21 Days Abundance Challenge) which is on Youtube with Deepak Chopra who I love, but these groups help me stay grounded too.

📝Write down your ideas.

“When you write down your ideas you automatically focus your full attention on them. Few if any of us can write one thought and think another at the same time. Thus a pencil and paper make excellent concentration tools.”~Michael Leboeuf.

whatever the idea may be, no matter how big or small- "Write it down Hun", with everything else going on in life it is easy to forget those ideas that fly by, I have noticed some great ideas come when you are extremely busy and distracted and if you don't make a habit of writing it down you will forget it swiftly.

Play word searches to keep the brain active.

This is a good way to keep the brain active and happy, When we finish a task, like finding words in a word search puzzle, our brains reward us with a surge of dopamine. Keeping this dopamine flowing can keep us motivated in other areas of our lives.

📈Turn failures into lessons. 

Mistakes are inevitable. Not only are they an essential part of being an adult. They are also responsible for some of the most brilliant inventions known to mankind.

When you find yourself facing the occasional slipup and experiencing some failures at work or in your personal life, instead of getting frustrated, let this lift you up taller and help make you a better person. I have made some terrible mistakes and judgment, I learnt from it and it made me a better person. No one is perfect so don't beat yourself up anytime things don't work out your way. It’s the little things in life that bring us joy, but it’s also quite often other little things that push us over the edge. It’s impossible to rule out every sliver of stress present in your life, but how you handle it can make all the difference.

📢Transform negative self-talk into positive self-talk.

Self-talk is your internal dialogue. It’s influenced by your subconscious mind, and it reveals your thoughts, beliefs, questions, and ideas. It can be both negative and positive. It can be encouraging, and it can be distressing. Much of your self-talk depends on your personality. If you’re an optimist, your self-talk may be more hopeful and positive. The opposite is generally true if you tend to be a pessimist, I know daily lifestyle can influence the way we think but if we can lean towards the optimist side of things then the future is bright, I can be hard on myself sometimes but I have been working on stay positive and not sweating the little things.

Focus on the present.

We live in the age of distraction. Yet one of life's sharpest paradoxes is that the brightest future hinges on your ability to pay attention to the present. We spend so much time telling ourselves that we’re not good enough, smart enough, talented enough, or thin enough. We worry so much about things we have no control over, I often see people compare themselves to others wanting to be like them, but if you could take a minute to appreciate the present, the Now, you will begin to see things in a different way. Your mind is not in the past nor is it in the future. It is right here, right now.

👥Find positive friends, mentors and co-workers.

Connect with people that lift you up and not pull you down, connect with people who will support your dreams, ideas and aspirations. Stay away from dream killers, from people who always have a negative opinion or advice, the most painful part is that sometimes such people are the ones we trust, love and hold close to our heart, they can also be the worst advisers. So, surround yourself with those with a similar mindset like you, people who enjoy a good positive conversation, women who love lifting other women up and not putting you down. 

I hope I have been able to mention something you can relate to, Please feel free to leave comments and share the post with others who need to hear such words.

Until next time - Please stay safe and stay home.