Happy Eid-El-Fitr to all my Muslim brothers and sisters.
I felicitate today with millions of Nigerian Muslims on the occasion of Eid-el-Fitri, which marks the end of the Islamic holy month of fasting and self-denial, the Ramadan.
May the auspicious occasion of Eid, bless you with peace and bring joy to your heart and home.
Blessing, Congratulations and Good wishes.
I wish you the best of everything for not only in EID-EL-Fitr but also all the years ahead.
I love quotes. It’s hard for me to ignore the ones with deep meaning, the ones that inspire me to be a better person.
Many times, I memorize the ones that mean a lot to me, or store them in places where I’d get to read them often. However, I couldn’t help but have mixed feelings about this one.
“You never win the silver, you only lose the gold.”
A few days ago, a friend of mine called me. She was very excited and wanted me to congratulate her daughter who had just graduated from Secondary School. She took the second position in her graduating class and her family showered her with lots of praises and gifts.
Of course, the young girl’s achievement is every bit worth celebrating and I told her so.
It’s important that you put your best into everything you do, so that when the result comes, whatever it is, you’d be proud of your achievements. This quote however, takes the focus away from that, and makes second place seem like a loss of the first place.
It could be a sporting competition, an examination, a prize, a job… whatever it is. Sometimes, you might not get first position, but please don’t think any less of yourself for not getting that.
A month back, I wrote this piece on Why It’s Necessary To Fail Sometimes and I still believe in this point mentioned: Some of your largest failures in life will become your greatest assets. Some day you will realize that if you had never failed, then you would have never succeeded.
I just want us to have this mindset that we are not ‘losers’. It’s very important that we do not see ourselves that way but take every experience as a learning curve. It’s graduation season and lots of students are graduating from schools with different grades. If your child did not get the kind of grade you wished for, please encourage him or her and don’t make them feel like they ‘lost’ the first place to someone else.
Put your very best into everything you do and if the results don’t come out like you expected, try harder next time. Life always gives us many opportunities to improve on ourselves, to learn from our mistakes, to become a better people.
Is there anyone who agrees or disagrees with me? What is really wrong with second place? I’d love to read your comments.
Good morning SL Fabz!
It’s gonna be a great day, I’m sure of it. However, I know that once in a while, things might not just start off on such a bright note for everyone.
Maybe you had a stressful time getting to work, or you’re in a bad mood and feel the rest of the day is not going to turn out fine.
I know that feeling. Not to worry, there are some things you can do to avoid having a bad day. I found some of these tips on Inspower and these ones stood out to me more:
1. Wake Up On Time
While you need to wake up on time every day, make sure that you have ample time to eat breakfast and to plan your day. The worst thing you can do is to start off your day is being in hurry and running late to an appointment. When you do your body will be under stress, and if you repeat this every day over a period of time you risk ruining your health because of too much stress every morning.
2. Take Short Breaks Whenever You Can
Sometimes every moment of our day feels like a struggle and in other to stay positive it is helps to take breathers or short breaks at intervals between missions. Use these times to rest your mind, breathe deeply and clear your head.
3. Take A Nap
When all you want to do is avoid the world for a while, try taking a nap as it’ll fulfil your antisocial tendencies and let you recharge for a little there by refreshing your mood. Just make sure you do it in a way that won’t ruin your sleep that night.
4. Focus On Tomorrow
Sometimes the simple thought that we are heading into a new day and the knowledge that I’ll get another chance at it in less than 24 hours is enough to brighten us up. Make a game plan not to repeat whatever mistakes marred the day, and then just put all your focus in making tomorrow better.
5. Be Nice To People
Though it is as old as time, but has never gone out of style, when in trouble be nice to people around you, try to step outside yourself and treat them the way you’d like to be treated. This will not only help you keep a healthy perspective, but you’ll be more likely to maintain those healthy relationships.
6. Be Calm And Only Speak In A Pleasant Tone
Yelling never solves any problem and will only worsen a bad day, try been calm for a change and talk to people in a pleasant tone even when you are seething inside this helps to rid us of our anger and calm our nerves.
7. Have Something To Look Forward To At The End Of The Day
Sometimes we do need a prize or focus to keep our drive alive. When you feeling the day might be heading in the wrong direction, keep a focus. Just like the kid that uses the thought of chocolates to get through his homework, look forward to something you like to help you get through the day.
I wish you an awesome day!
xoxo
SL
She is a young newly-wed who never had the opportunity to have a honeymoon with her husband.
She desired one and ‘Make Me Fabulous’ was the chance to have that.
On my blog, Adewunmi applied for the fabulous treat in the comment section and her story stood out to me.
I recently got married and we never had the chance to have our honeymoon. My husband is the very busy type and we hardly have time to spend with each other. This is really affecting my marriage. Please Stephanie, make me fabulous.
We don’t like refusing heartfelt comments like this on our show, so we did just that! See some exciting photos from Adewunmi & Adeolu’s fabulous treat.
Many thanks to our sponsors: Intercontinental Hotel Lagos, Mango Store, Joseph Mesrob Hair & Nails, Kunbi of Sitpretty Makeovers, LG Electronics.
“Luck has nothing to do with it, because I have spent many, many hours, countless hours, on the court working for my one moment in time, not knowing when it would come.” – Serena Williams
I love strong women; I love determined women; I love go-getters; I love people who do not limit their thoughts; I love people who dream big, work hard and stay focused; I love Serena Williams…. her story inspires me so much.
Yesterday, she won Wimbledon (a tennis championship) for the sixth time!
The win means Williams holds all four Grand Slam titles at once — completing the second “Serena Slam” of her career. What’s more, she secured the third leg of a calendar-year Grand Slam and, if she wins the U.S. Open, will become the first player to sweep all four majors in the same season since Steffi Graf in 1988.
At 33, Williams is also the oldest woman to win a Grand Slam title in the Open era. She has now won eight major championships in her 30s, including her first Wimbledon title since 2012.
She has worked very hard to achieve this feat, and her success is definitely worth celebrating. Well done!
“Everyone’s dream can come true if you just stick to it and work hard“. – Serena Williams
She had been married for less than two years, but already, the demands of catering for a five month old baby and her husband was taking its toll on Doris.
Doris reached out to me on this blog Stephaniedaily when we called for entries for the show, saying she would love to have a fabulous time with her husband away from home. This was her comment:
I got married in April last year. My husband is such an amazing person with a heart of gold. I love him very much and would love to have a fabulous time with him even though we have financial constraints.
My team and I read her story and decided she deserved this treat.
Here are some photos from her wonderful time with her husband on the Make Me Fabulous show:
Many thanks to our wonderful sponsors: Intercontinental Hotel Lagos, Mango Store, Beauty Concerns Spa, Joseph Mesrob, Kunbi of Sit Pretty Makeovers and LG Electronics.
Lagos is a city where the hustle and bustle can be so over whelming, you have little time to treat yourself and your loved one to an intimate time. You wake up very early in the morning to meet up with work time and appointments, spend hours in traffic, and get home exhausted most of the time!
Just like many couples in Lagos, that was the story of Becky and Ben Elu. Becky, who was obviously very overwhelmed with her hectic daily routine and the demands of taking care of her little son reached out to me on my website for a chance to be a part of the Make Me Fabulous show. And she got more than a chance, she got picked because… well… I could totally relate with her story.
Here’s what she wrote:
The reason why I should win this make over fabulous treat is that every day I have to wake up by 4:30AM and get ready for work, as a nursing mother because I & my husband would go and drop our baby in my Mum’s house and there’s no enough time.
Now tell me, who wouldn’t understand that! Sometimes it seems like 24 hours aren’t enough for one day right? What Becky and Ben needed was sometime away from their regular routine and a fabulous treatment.
Here are some exciting photos from their treat:
Many thanks to our sponsors: Best Western Hotel, Grey Velvet Store, Talise Salon & Hamam, House of Tara, Bubu Ogisi, Swatch, LG Electronics, Nichole by Haguanna.
When someone says, “I can’t do it” . . . I say to myself, “What do you mean you can’t do it?” Maybe you don’t want to do it, but saying you “can’t” do it is a completely different story.
With the right mindset, positive attitude, and a clear vision of what you want to accomplish, the only thing that is holding you back is yourself.
It can often be hard to believe in yourself, especially if you feel like you have nothing to offer or are unworthy of things. But you are worthy and you are capable.
Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.
There’s a lot of stress out there, and to handle it, you just need to believe in yourself; always go back to the person that you know you are, and don’t let anybody tell you any different, because everyone’s special and everyone’s awesome.
It’s Monday! Welcome to another fabulous week!!!
Believe that you can and that you are awesome.
xoxo
SL
When the weather outside is wonderful, who wants to spend any time in a stuffy gym? Instead, gather the family and invite your friends to join you out-of-doors for a calorie-blasting good time. These activities make it easy to enjoy the season—and still lose weight, stay motivated, and stay fit!
Some of them are pretty basic, you’ll see.
Walking
Walking is actually one of the best lifetime sports. It’s easy on the joints, you don’t need a lot of fancy equipment, and you can burn calories, even though it’s a more modest amount compared to some other activities. Brisk walking for 30 minutes, most days in a week is recommended.
Also, did you know that your risk of heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure go down as a response to just increasing your level of physical activity? Beyond that, if you’re trying to lose weight, you should shoot for 60 minutes of walking most days of the week. To keep weight off, get 60-90 minutes of walking most days.
The trick is to incorporate walking into your daily life such as walking the kids to school or the bus stop in the morning or taking a stroll after dinner each evening. Good athletic shoes are all you need!
Explosive Pull-Up
I found this exercise on Fitness Magazine, and I’d sure love to try it… that’s when I can Lol! This exercise is great for your biceps, shoulders, and back.
Find a branch or horizontal pole that’s high above your head. Jump to reach it, exploding from the ground and thrusting up. Use your arms to lift your head above the pole or branch, then ease yourself back down. Do as many as you can in 60 seconds.
Tennis
Grab a pal and start practicing your serve. This sport helps you loose lots of calories, once you know how to play it very well. It’s also very enjoyable and can be done with the entire family… just like the Oreniyi’s did on a recent Episode of Make Me Fabulous.
Beach Volleyball
If you live in Lagos, then you’ll have no excuse about playing this sport. There are beaches in the city!
Spike your fat burn and soak up some rays at the same time while losing some calories. Every serve and spike helps tone your arms, abs, legs, and chest.
Jogging/Running
Jogging is terrific for your heart and lungs, and it improves your stamina. If you’re trying to lose weight, it can burn calories more quickly than walking. It’s important to get a good pair of running shoes, and, for women, a quality sports bra.
A note of warning, running does put more stress on the joints — the knees, ankles, and hips so the key is to start slowly and increase your time or distance gradually.
Cycling
Not only is bicycling an excellent cardiovascular exercise, but you can really explore your community by cycling to different neighborhoods. Many people cycle to work and school.
Cycling uses the quadriceps (the muscles on the front of the thighs) more thereby exercising those muscles properly.
It’s important to make sure your bike is fitted properly to your body; otherwise, you’ll put too much stress on your back or knees.
I hope this helps. What sort of outdoor exercise do you love doing?
Photo Credit: Fitnessmagazine.com, Getty Images
After a few years of marriage, the demands and responsibilities of catering for a family begins to take its toll on most couples.
This happens in a lot of homes today.
As a woman, add this to the often hectic demand of catering for young kids and you have someone eagerly yearning for an intimate adventure with her husband away from home.
Folashade Thomas felt this way when she reached out to me for a chance to be on the on the show.
Her comment stood out to me. She said:
We’ve been married four years now. And after two babies, I guess the spark is all gone. All we talk about is the kids. He goes to work everyday, comes back late, and even when on leave, there is either one family engagement to attend to. Maybe this can save our marriage.
I hate to hear a couple say they are losing their spark and couldn’t resist giving her a treat cos I felt she truly deserved it. Today, I’m glad to share with you photos from the Thomas’ treat on the 6th episode of Make Me Fabulous!!!
A big thanks to our wonderful sponsors: Federal Palace Hotel & Casino, Enthyst Events & Bridals, Oasis Med Spa, Celebrity Stylist – Yummie, Celebrity Makeup Artist – Bimpe Onakoya, Joseph Mesrob of Joseph Mesrob Hair & Nails, LG Electronics.