The best blog entry I've ever written.

The word best implies opinion and not fact. However, the only way for me to attempt to write the best blog of my life, would be to base it entirely on the best book in the world. A book with all the secrets on how to live a successful and fulfilling life. A book that gives you guidance and comfort. A book that equips you for daily life, a long life, and your eternal life. Of course, the Bible.
Inspired to try to write the best advice possible, I realized that I am not certified or qualified to give relationship advice, career advice, how to raise a child advice, or any kind of advice. But lucky for me, I know someone who is. That would be God ladies and gentlemen. 
Whenever I feel the urge to seek the Bible for some inspiration or advice, I usually open the book to any random page and read the first thing that I see. No matter what it is that I read, I have faith that it will touch and inspire me and bless my life. I went about it today in a slightly different manner. I flipped to the back in the dictionary-concordance and searched for words that deal with my current internal struggle. Guess what? Most of the words weren't listed there. Possibly because they didn't use terms like "cohabitation" when the book was written. However, I found some words on the same page that touched me and I'd like to share them with you.
Companion- one who is a friend or associate or helper.
Compassion- sympathy; pity.
Condemn- to give out punishment to; to pronounce guilty.
A few scriptures that contain these words supply you with direction as to how to, or not to, use these words. Colossians 3:12 says, "clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness." Romans 8:1 says, "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
Then I proceded to look up marriage and this is what it says, "Marriage- the joining together before God and other people of a man and a woman to form a new family." I read a few different passages on marriage and the one that seemed to stick out the most was in Hebrews. Here is a big chunk and it gives you guidance on money, faith, commitment, love, and more. 


Hebrews 12:28-13:6 (New International Version, ©2011)

 ²⁸ Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for our “God is a consuming fire.”

 ¹ Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. ² Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. ³ Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

⁴ Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. ⁵ Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

   “Never will I leave you;
   never will I forsake you.”
 ⁶ So we say with confidence,
   “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
   What can mere mortals do to me?”


This passage is the most important and gives you the most instruction on how to live your life. Here are the secrets. Here are the rules to living a happy life. Happiness is not found in money; it is not found in condemnation. 
1. Be thankful and worship God, the giver of life.
2. Love everyone. There is no room for hate in a happy heart. Show kindness to all. Try not to judge, because we have no right to judge and no say in who makes it to heaven.
3. Hold your vows and your commitments. Be true and honest with one another. Do not stray from your marriage or your friends.
4. Money is no object because all things are possible in Christ. Do not worry about money and do not love money. Love people.
5. Have confidence. This will help you to succeed in all aspects of your life from your career to your relationships. Confidence is the key. Have faith in Him because he has plans to prosper you, not to harm you.


I hope that these 5 points can help inspire and help us all to lead more successful, more fulfilling, more happy lives. Try to incorporate them into your live every day. Instill these goals and morals into your children and friends and most importantly instill them into your own heart. Take ownership of these guidelines that God has given us. He gave them to us so that we would not have to face challenges and pain. I would usually say Good Luck to you, but luck is no factor when it comes to God. May he bless you indeed.


xoxo

Snooki, Christina Aguilera Look-A-Like?

So I was watching the first episode of The Voice, and I realized something, Christina Aguilera looks a lot like a bleach blonde Snooki right now. Check out the show, and her bad wig.
xoxo

beautiful song

I don't even like country music, I suppose this is more gospel however, it is beautiful.



xoxo

Smartphones

After years of putting off the upgrade to a smartphoene, I finally gave in. I am very frugal and didn't see the point. I was content with my $10 per month unlimited "Internet" which included checking my email and the occasional attempt to view facebook. I debated the upgrade for a few months, being very indecisive all along. One day I walked into an AT&T store with every intention of getting another quick messaging phone. I was due for an upgrade about 6 months ago but never decided on a phone. I left with an iPhone and upgraded to the $25 a month 2GB data plan. Not at all what I anticipated leaving with but I decided it was finally time for me to join the rest of my peers in this digital age. Now I am hooked. It is literally like having a computer at the palm of your hands, and stored in your pocket. Here are my main benefits of using a smartphone; interactive games with friends, ability to quickly surf the web to any website including email, ability to connect to wifi, and applications for everything! In fact, I am writing this post currently from my iPhone while sitting in bed. The convenience and speed is awesome and it's something that can really benefit anyone. I wanted to write about smartphones in general and not specifically the iPhone because I am aware that there are even more advanced phones out there already and also I am not partial to the iPhone brand specifically, I just got it for a good eal that's why I decided to go with it. Any smartphone is really fine. Good luck if you decide to go upgrade! Add the app "Words with friends" and play me! My username is Michelleberman (creative, I know).

Xoxo

Is it possible to follow your heart?

So they say follow your heart. How is that possible, since your heart is inside of you? You can't possibly take it out, put it in on a cart, push it, and then follow after where it goes. It obviously doesn't work this way.
Also, since elementary school they teach you that in fact, your heart doesn't do any decision making whatsoever, your brain does all that. Why do we insist on celebrating Valentine's day with heart shaped cards and poems about how my heart belongs to you. Really we should be saying my brain is only thinking of you, or at the very least, my brain thinks about you a couple times a day. Slightly less romantic, but far closer to the truth.
So if we can't follow our hearts, what do we follow? What is everyone expecting us to follow? Intuition? What about when you are really just stuck? What do you do when you don't know what to follow, when the path is not clear, when you've come to a fork in the road and either path has a few bumps and a few potholes, but they both are also lined with beautiful flower beds and scenery? How do you choose which path to go on when your intuition fails you?
When someone told you to follow your heart, your decision could have been really easy, meaning you really already knew what you wanted or needed to do, so you weren't really following anything, you were leading. You made a conscious decision to go on one path or the other.
Maybe another time, your decision was very difficult, you had no idea what to do and pondered on it for weeks, months, maybe longer. What did you do to finally decide? What made you decide? Was it an inner voice or gut feeling, or something external that pushed you to one path as the other path was closed for construction? I believe the latter is much more common.
When faced with a tough decision, these are the only two options I see happening. The first is very simple, you have a decision to make, and you know exactly what you want to do and you do it. Just because it is easy for you to decide what you want to do, doesn't mean it is an easy decision. For instance, when I decided to stop going to college and move to New York City, it was easy for me because I knew what I wanted to do and was happy I was doing it. That was still a very tough decision.
The only other option, when a tough decision arrises, is that you are stuck decision-less until some external force pushes you towards one path. This is how I feel right now; like I am waiting for some force to move me.
I hope I didn't lose any of you in all that rambling. Heres the gist of it, How do you follow your heart, when your heart isn't telling you which way to go?

xoxo

were you born that way?

marriage

Do people marry their soul mate, or just the first person they date who is ready to get married when they are ready to get married?
xoxo

Funny relationship quotes

"911, I need your help, I have 3 minutes to get a Valentine's Day card, or I'm a dead man!"

"My wife says I don't listen to her, or at least I think that's what she said."

"Me and my boyfriend broke up over religious differences; He thought he was God, I didn't."

"I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury."

"Marriage is give and take. You’d better give it to her or she’ll take it anyway."

"We always hold hands. If I let go, she shops."

"My husband said he needed more space. So I locked him outside."

"Marriage is the only war in which you sleep with the enemy."

"I got rid of my boyfriend. My cat was allergic."

"Relationships are when one person is always right and the other is the guy."

Hope these give you a laugh or two!
xoxo

Timing is Everything

So, if you checked out my last post, I submitted to a contest to be a fashion reporter during NY Fashion Week. However, even though the contest isn't over yet, I have conceded. A few of the girls in the contest have a huge youtube channel following and have thousands of votes. Good for them, this is obviously not meant for me. However, the good news is, the magazine that was sponsoring the contest reached out to me and asked me if I'd be willing to do a shoot for their magazine in the future. So, it all works out in the end. I get published, and the girl who won the contest can interview me. :)
I have trouble with patience, as most of us do today. We are the generation of now. We want everything instantly. The problem is, it takes hard work and determination to get what you want. I know that I will be passed up on several jobs but I'm okay with that because I am faithful that jobs will come my way. People will be impressed by me. They will want to work with me again. Success is where I am headed. It may be a long journey, maybe a short one, maybe full of bumps or forks in the road and a few flat tires, but I will make it in the end. The same goes for everyone. We all have to jump hurdles and fix our own flat tires. AAA can't come and tow you to the finish line, you've got to figure it out on your own.
Oh, and by the way, pray that God keeps your road free of deep potholes, and that he continuously fills your gas tank so you are never left on empty.
xoxo