A Purposeful Promise

Over the weekend my BFF and I bought promise rings ― no funny business ― we just made a commitment to God and ourselves that next time we'd have it all. After checking into heartbreak hotel a few months back, I now know the woes of a  L.O.V.E.

gone bad. Yet somehow, someway I find myself restoring my confidence in it.

So, we're stretching our faith in hopes that we get it right this time. We picked out identical brass rings, placed them on our fingers and believed in the unknown. We don't plan on wearing the rings forever, just until we can replace it with (cough) a canary diamond?! They say the impostor always comes before the real thing. I sure hope so.

I'm sure you can recall the song, This time I want it all by John Legend that played during the tear-jerking season finale of The Game. If you can't remember, take a  peak into the chorus. 

This time I want it all/ Showing you all the cards

Giving you all my heart/This time Ill take the chance

This time Ill be your man/I can be all you need

This time its all of me

The addendum: And then she wrote more...

The ring. She got it, already

While walking to the design department at work, my co-worker anxiously flashed her Tiffany princess cut engagement ring. Yes, he popped the question! Last night, while dining at their favorite restaurant in downtown D.C., the couple celebrated their fifth year anniversary and exchanged gifts. She got him a tie, trail mix and cologne. He then pulls out a gaudy $15 "promise ring" as his gift to her, [it was really a ploy] but nonetheless she was happy that her man made a commitment to her.

He then presents her with another gift, but she could care less at this point because she already has "The Promise". She reaches into the box and pulls out... her engagement ring!

I'm so happy for her and the many blessings God has in store.

Tips to Take

1. Stay ready, don't get ready

It was a Tuesday night and my co-worker had no idea what was awaiting her at dinner, yet she was appropriately dressed for the best day ever. She wore a sexy strapless black dress, a dazzling bejeweled necklace and looked picture-perfect in every photo...I'm taking notes.

2. Please, paint your nails

The first thing I noticed [besides the ring] was her freshly painted french manicured nails and that made the ring POP even more. Speaking of such, I'm off to paint my own nails. Who knows, I might have a date with destiny.

Cheers!     

If I Do, Then I Can

It was in the fifth grade that I first stumbled across If by Rudyard Kipling. Well, it was actually an oral assignment that I was required to memorize. At one point, I'd memorized Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll, Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, all of the American presidents and the list goes on.

Yet they each left my memory as soon as I belted them to the teacher. But when I recited Kipling's empowering poem, those words stuck to my bones. Overcoming adversity was the mandate and I was introduced to the concept at a young age. Of course, I wouldn't  face my own bouts until years later, but the tone had been set. I too, could beat the odds.

If...

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!