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How many of you are truly living in your truth??

Do you use social media as a way to escape your truth?

I believe that we are living in a time where we are afraid to be ourselves, in case we offend someone or in fear of judgement. Many of us are not able to speak about how we may be feeling or thinking as we believe our opinion may not be welcomed.

Whether it be a friendship, a relationship with your significant other or a family member, many of us at some point have suppressed how we really feel or want to please others.

I always saw myself as a strong, outgoing, take no nonsense people person. But what I realised is that I was actually a people pleaser!! Wanting to be that good, reliable friend, be the girl my significant other wanted me to be, the best sister. Yet I found myself constantly in situations where I was unable to truly express how I felt without being judged in some way.

Over the years these situations continued to occur and I began to feel really low about myself and doubt the kind of person I believed I was.

BUT……..

I knew deep down that I did love me, I was just allowing other peoples thoughts and opinions cloud my judgement about how I felt about ME! When in reality it was just their opinions and not always the right one. I know I have my faults, show me someone who doesn’t have any,

It was at this point I realised I had to REALLY look into myself, who I truly am and what I stand for. I looked at my positives and my negative traits, looking where I could make improvements to better me to be a better version of ME.

I now and forever will continye to LIVE MY TRUTH!! be more aware of my negatives, my triggers and reactions. This allowed me to gain back power and no one can no longer use my negative traits against me as their opinions no longer affect me.

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When we think of mental health, most of us imagine someone who is maybe unkempt, acting crazy, talking to themselves or perhaps someone who they see suffering from a drug or alcohol problem.

Never, when we think of mental health and what a sufferer may look like would we think they look like ME!!

I suffered with my mental health for many years. It took me to look deep into my life journey and personal healing for me to see where/when it all began for me.

I used to get up most days and have to live a life that I was unhappy living, live a life where I felt unloved, a life where I felt like I could not truly be happy due to bad decisions I’ve made and the feeling of not being accepted for who I am.

I was in debt, lonely, a single mother with only a few people in my life, with very little support.

What made things even harder for me was that I felt like I was unable to truly express how I felt for various reasons…. The domestic abuse I suffered and the lack of support in my life had me feeling suicidal at times. There were days I would be at work and the tears would just flow down my face as I sat at my desk because I was just so unhappy in my life.

Over the years I supported all my ‘friends’ through their hard times but found it hard to find anyone who was there for me when I was in my lowest and darkest place.

I started to express myself on my Facebook, but then I found that I would get judged by people who thought I was looking for attention and question the integrity of what I was saying. At that point I was at a total loss as I felt I had nowhere to turn, harbouring all this pent-up anger and nowhere to vent about it as I felt no one could empathise or relate.

It was at this point that I decided to create a private women’s group on Facebook, knowing there were women out there who felt the same way as me. I wanted to create a space where other women and myself could feel safe to speak their truth, without fear of judgement.

By creating this safe space, I was able to truly vent when I was feeling low, at home and alone with no one to turn to. I now had a group of women who would be there to uplift me at the touch of a button. The community of women started to grow, and it showed me, that sometimes we go through things and think we are alone but there are so many women going through similar situations and it is nice to have someone who could relate.

Since 2017, LUV Ladies have been supporting each other, and every week the group continues to grow. If you would like to become part of the LUV Ladies community, please click the link below (women only)

#IAMSaraMaynard

#IAMStrong

#IAMLUV

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At the age of 36, it hit me that I was not as happy in my skin as I had always believed!! For years I have hidden behind weaves and wigs and have NEVER actually embraced my true beauty.

One day I said to myself by the time I’m 40 (2022) I no longer wanted to be wearing wigs, so in September 2018 I started my loc journey. I decided it was time to start my journey of truly being myself. 

When I was 7 months into my loc journey it hit me, I have been covering my face with hair in some way for so long now I didn’t like what I was seeing when I looked in the mirror.

I had days where I would wear my natural hair out at work, and I would get complimented on how nice my hair looked, how nice I looked BUT the thing was deep down I was not ‘feeling myself’ at all!! I was not feeling as confident as I would when I would be wearing my wig.

From a young age I was teased about having a big forehead, and it wasn’t until 2014 I started to wear hairstyles that did not include a fringe/side fringe, basically covering my face.

I then realised that when I was wearing my wigs, they would be fitted slightly over my hair line, meaning some of my forehead would be covered. Therefore, still not living in my TRUTH and not really loving myself. 

In October 2019 I went on holiday and decided I would wear my natural hair out in the daytime and my wig at night. On the first day of the holiday during a boat party rave I spoke to a few people as you do. That very same night at the next event I had a few people who I spoke to during the day try and chat me up not realising that I was the same person they spoke to earlier that day. This proved how different I looked when I was wearing my wig and confirmed that I was more attractive to the opposite sex when wearing my wigs.

After returning from holiday I felt quite self-conscious once again about my hair and the way I looked without my wig, how I looked in my natural state.

I was looking through my holiday pictures, and my pictures without my wig was VERY hard, as all I could see was my forehead. I didn’t look like how I normally look; my outfits didn’t look as good as they usually would, and this was all because I didn’t love my HAIR!!

I made a conscious decision to start wearing my hair out more often, I needed to get used to what I TRULY looked like. Every day I would look at myself in the mirror and say #IAMBEAUTIFUL #ILOVEMYHAIR #IAMLOVED I would repeat these affirmations at least 3 times.

I am honestly in such a difference place when it comes to my hair and how I look at myself. I LOVE MY HAIR!! I am now 1 year & 10 months loc’d and I am loving the journey.

Saying those positive affirmations daily truly helped me to believe what I was saying and how I felt about myself. Listen Uplift Vent CIC truly believe positive affirmations can have a real positive impact on your mindset, which in turn can have a positive impact on your life.

LUV will be releasing a #IAM Positive Affirmation book which will help and support you to embed a positive affirmation process into your life. The book will be available to purchase through Amazon on the 9th July 2020.

Please see pictures below of me with my loc’s and with my wig.

#IAMSaraMaynard

#IAMBeautiful

#IAMLoved 

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