Where is the Love?

Hello Readers,

Today, and basically everyday, I am saddened when I look at the news and see so much hate being spread around the world. In the past week I have had to reach out to a couple of my friends just to see if they are okay, due to terrorist attacks and riots. This may seem like nothing, but to me, I feel as though I should not be contacting my friends to see if they are dead. Yes, I said it. Dead.

This is the true fact, why do I live in a world like this? I understand we have issues, I’m not blind to these problems but the fact of the matter is that hate will not end hate. Fighting hate with more hate will not solve these issues. We get angry and upset that nothing is being done, we see no change and then we act on these angry feelings.

As most of you know, I was involved in the terrorist attack that took place in Nice, France this past summer. Since then, my perspectives on these issues have changed. The guy that drove the truck through the crowd had a motive rooted from hate. He killed 86 people and left over 200 injured, some very severely. 86 innocent people…for what? What came of this attack? More hate? More fear? but, no change. 

These attacks only create fear, which is part of their motives, but people continue to live and we accept that this is the world we live in. We can’t stop these bad people from doing bad things, there are motives that we cannot control. One of these motives being hate.

You are not born with hate, hate is something that you learn or create yourself. Once someone finds this hate, it’s hard to break it. We need to spread love, and love may not beat the hate but it will at least make the other side truly look like the bad guy. Once the love is greater than the hate in the world, we will be able to defeat the bad. Fighting fire with fire does not work, the fire will only grow until the world is no longer civil.

Being involved with one of these tragic situations I have developed a certain empathy for others involved with similar events. It’s not something I would really like to have experienced, but now I know what it feels like to be running for your life, completely clueless of what is happening and not knowing your next move. I’m honestly thankful that I experienced this now because I have learned the fear others experience. This is a fear that millions of people live with daily, especially in countries like Syria or Iraq. We do not know how lucky we are in some parts of the world that we do not live with this type of fear on a daily basis.

We can sit back in our chairs and watch these horrible events unfold, or we can make the decision to spread love and not generalize and not be too quick to judge. I think in America we are very blinded to other cultural issues. We hate on Muslims because we think all Muslims are terrorists, which if you believe that you’re just dumb because that makes no sense. That’s like saying all cats like water; a majority of cats do not like water but you will find a few that may like water. All Muslims do not like war and hate, actually most of them do not. So, why do we say all of them are terrorists? That’s just not logical.

As far as racism goes, whether it’s alive or dead, we need to stop categorizing people into groups. That only creates inequality. Whether you are black or white, stop pointing fingers at each other. It will not solve the issues. Please understand I am not saying there are not racism issues but the problem will not be solved with hate. Rioting and destroying cities will not end racism, it will only fuel it.

I could probably go on about these topics all day, but I think I will stop here.

I’m just saying, when are we going to stop hating on people and start hating on the problems and making them change. The only way to make a change is by standing together, which by the looks of it will not occur in the near future. The world will not change if we continue to act on hate. From a person that has been close to one of these hateful events, it does not change the problem. People continue to live, life goes on and we just accept it.

 

I hope this little rant will open a few of my readers eyes. I am just so sad when I see yet another terrorist attack or a riot break out. Please spread love! The world is such a beautiful place, let’s not destroy it with hate and violence. Thank you all for reading today, please share and subscribe if you share similar views.

Spread love.

xo, Lyss

 

Bridal Shower Oufit

Hello Beautiful Readers,

Yesterday I attended and helped plan a bridal shower for my dear friend Emily, the beautiful bride to be. It turned out great and I had such a fun day celebrating with her. I cannot wait to stand up there with her on the big day in August. 

For her bridal shower, we went shopping and picked out a cute dress and sandals for the day. I am going to share her outfit below:

She wore a simple white dress with lace accents on the bottom and along the waist line. This was such a perfect dress for the occasion and day, it was a warm summer day! She is also a simple girl and her style is so cute. This dress is from Marshals. We paired the dress with some cute nude shoes with accented gold squares on them. She added that they were super comfortable all day. Her beauty is shined bright in this outfit. She is radiant!

For the party planning, I helped decorate and put on the whole event. We decorated in purple and grey, with rustic touches all around. The cupcakes were adorable and tasted great, the food was Mexican inspired and the venue was spacious and perfect for the event. I was thrilled to be able to help and I am so happy how it came together. We received multiple compliments on the party.

I now am looking forward to the wedding festivities and I cannot wait to share them with all of my readers. It’s wedding season ladies and gents! 

I hope you enjoyed this small outfit post for your Monday. I apologize for the format and also for no post on Friday, I am still working from my phone and it’s a lot more difficult to put together a nice post on here. But, next week we should be back in action. For now, let me share a Monday quote:

Life can drag you down sometimes but just remember you are the only you and the most important you, take care of others but take care of yourself too. Celebrate your achievements, celebrate with friends, celebrate good health; just celebrate your own existence and your greatness. When you become more accepting of yourself, you become more confident and sure of who you are and where you want to be; and that speaks volumes. So, today & everyday, love yourself, accept yourself and celebrate yourself because you are important. 

Thanks for reading today and I’ll see you all again on Wednesday. Don’t forget to subscribe below! 

Much love & Happy Monday.

xo, Lyss

Real Talk: Loving in the Eyes of Divorce

Hello Everyone,

Today I am going to address a more touchy subject for some, a subject that is also kind of personal to me. I have briefly mentioned it in previous posts that my parents are divorced, and I do not do this for sympathy or attention, it’s just the facts. Anyway, my parents have been divorced since I was two, so I am really not sensitive to the matter anymore.

The reason I bring up this topic is because of the way it has impacted how I love in life, in both negative and positive ways. Now, let me start by saying I love both of my parents very much and this post is not directed to hurt them or be a “shame-on-them” deal, it’s for other young adults out there who have gone through similar situations.

As I said before, these Real Talk posts are meant to be a common ground, to make an outsider not feel so alone in this crazy world. I do not want these to seem like a pity party or an all about me, but they will be my personal stories and views that you can take how you will. These are just real facts of life that we don’t always want to talk about, but they are there. This helps us connect on topics we may think we are alone on.

So, on to the topic of loving after watching your parents get divorced or even be divorced multiple times. Starting with some negatives…

It’s a lot harder to fully trust someone after witnessing you mom/dad crying on the floor, broken from a person who walked away. Nothing is set in stone in this world. Someone can wake up at anytime and be like “I don’t love you anymore” and just leave without any regrets or remorse. This is a very pessimistic view to have, but it is true and real. It happens. I’ve tried to explain this concept to my own boyfriend because I constantly ask him if he “really” loves me or if he “really” wants me for forever; and it’s hard to express this feeling. It’s not that I don’t trust him because I do, but like there is that small piece of me that will never fully allow someone to get all the way in.

I don’t mean to have it but it’s there.

Another disadvantage is you love differently, now this one is not necessarily bad, it’s just you love different. This can depend on the person, you could be a person that loves more passionately and holds on to your relationships a lot tighter, in fear that they may be lost or you could be a person who is very closed off and has a hard time opening up. I think I fall somewhere in the middle, as I mentioned before I question the relationship often. Will it last? Does he really love me? Why does he want me? Etc..

A positive to the situation though is that you learn from your parents mistakes. You seek a relationship where the other person treats you better than your father treated your mother or vice versa. You are more caring and emphatic to your partner, after all you wiped you moms tears and hugged your dad after every argument. You appreciate the small things because you know those are what really matter in a relationship. You are more passionate, you know that relationships are not always easy and they require work.

So, in the end, divorce truly does suck and it affects everyone involved. But, I think kids that come from a divorced family love stronger and care more deeply for their partners. They know when to forgive and forget and when to hold on. It can cause some issues in the beginning when you are scared to love and not ready to trust. But, overall just remember everyone is different and just because your parents may have got a divorce, that does not mean you are destined to have the same fate. I am sharing a quote at the bottom of this post that sums up the perspective you should have. Yes, you can focus on what your parents have done or gone through or you can look at it and say I’m going to change this. Focus on what could go right in your relationships rather than what’s going to go wrong. 

 Love is a beautiful thing and I may be young, but I know if you hold on to something and work on it everyday, you’ll never lose it. It’s like the grass outside, if you stop watering it, it dies. But, when you water it and fertilize it, the grass grows happy and tall. Relationships work the same way. If you don’t take care of them you can’t be upset when they die. That’s the moral of the story. 

Thank you for reading my second Real Talk in the series. This one was a little more open and I am/was nervous to post it, so I hope you liked it. Let me know if you have gone through similar things, I would love to connect with you. Also, let me know what Real Talks you would like to see in the future. Thank you again for reading and I wish you the best Wednesday.

If you missed the last one you can read it here. 

xo, Lyss

Wednesday’s Quote: