A Key to Happiness

While there are many keys to happiness, I strongly believe there is ONE particular key that is the foundation of happiness; and that is ORGANIZATION.

No matter how much money you have, how many cars, shoes or handbags a woman has, she is lost if her personal and career life is disorganized.

Since I have become more organized, I am much happier and fulfilled. I have always been somewhat organized but not in comparison to how I am now. To do this, it's just a matter of putting some time aside and getting it done one step at a time. The best part is you don't need a university diploma or a high IQ to do this. In the long run, this saves you time and effort and unneccesary stress.

Start with the obvious:

Clutter: Are you a mini horder? Is there junk in your house that you are struggling to part with? Like those 50 birthday cards from friends you don't even see anymore. Or piles of papers laying around in some drawer or box? Set some time aside to go through the hidden junk you have put away in the attic or your basement. Clutter could also be dishes in the sink, the tons of plastic containers you have barely touched in months, clothing hanging everywhere, magazines you have been collecting for a couple years but only read once, your toiletries and even all the decorations saved in boxes. Get rid of it once and for all and vow to never collect clutter again.

Once you have checked this off your list FIRST, move onto dust.

Pick a day this week or within the next week where you will set aside 3 hours to dust (and stick with it) the entire house; bed frames, hanging wall art, behind the bed heads, bedroom borders, celing lamps and shoe closets..literally every part of your home that collects dust.

Next, organize your closet! Seriously ladies, there is nothing like an organized closet. My pet peeve (literally) is assorted hangers. Like some metal ones, wooden ones, dry cleaning hangers with the ugly paper stuck to it etc. In my closet i use ONLY wooden hangers that ALL match and my clothes are color coordinated.

Closets can hold so much more than what most of us have in them. But they are designed improperly. You don't have to hire a closet company to come and redesign your closet. You can actually 'do-it-yourself' by watching a few youtube videos on how. It's actually empowering to "do-it-yourself." You can also hire someone who specializes in closet organization. I use to run an Image Consulting Comapany and this was one of my services. That's how much I love it. I still do odd jobs here and there.

Organize your closet by groups:

Jeans
Skirts
Dresses
Shoes....etc


Color match them as well.

If your closet isn't big enough, then consider the closets at IKEA. They have a great selection. I actually have my eye on one :-) You can but your shoe racks there as well.

Purchase jewelry trays, hanging jewelry bags, drawer dividers for underwears and bra's, belts, ties, to keep all your pieces tidy. I am going to buy a couple night stands with thin drawers to keep inside my walk-in closet. You can do so much with so little space. Be creative.

I have friends who seem to always be depressed and I have told them once or twice (I try not to nag about it), to get their homes organized. I know that is a huge part of it because I know the feeling or coming home to an unorganized place. Another pet peeve of mine is when I run out of the house without making my bed in the morning. It literally drives me crazy all day until I get home to make it.

Clutter may not be the direct cause of your depression, but it is making the "issues at hand" worse. Please take Lizzy's advice; declutter and organize your life. It is the healthiest form of medicine in coping with emotional pain.



So go ahead and get started! Do yourself a favor. Afterall you deserve it! There is nothing like an organized home & life.

Love, Lizzy

Forgiving = FREEDOM!

Many of us, if not most of us, need to do forgiveness work. I know I do. We have got to love ourselves enough to let go. Forgiveness completely opens the heart to self-love.

We carry grudges for years and years. We harden our hearts because of what "they" did to us. I call it being stuck in the prison of pride. We get to be right but we never get to be FREE.

You may be saying (like I have said many times), "you have no idea what he / she did to me, it's unforgiveable." Being unwilling to forgive will keep us trapped. It's not about letting them go necessarily. It's about letting YOURSELF GO! Living in bitterness is like swallowing a spoon of poison everyday. It harms us and eventually takes over the body affecting the well being of our health. I got caught up in an unforgiveness attack just days ago and the following day, I was so exhausted I could barely function on my work. It was a complete waist of my time and energy. It is impossible to be healthy when we keep ourselves bond to hurt. We tend to think and feel that if we forgive them then we are saying what they did was okay. Yes, that's right, we do this.

It really hit me yesterday after conversing with someone, that "they" did the best they knew how to do. They gave you the best they had at that moment. People can only do so much with the knowledge they have. Please believe that most people who mistreat us were also mistreated as a child at some point in their lives. Hurting people-hurt people. The greater the abuse, the greater their own pain. I have also hurt people and it goes back to my OWN childhood. This is not to say we are condoning their / our behaviour. However, for our own healing, we must be aware of their pain.

When we stay in unforgiveness, we are not giving ourselves the freedom to live.

Tell yourself today, "I will not waist another moment trying to get EVEN." It will only keep you back.

So let's drop the baggage here and work on loving ourselves and even those who hurt us. Some of them, NOT all, actually think of the pain they caused you everyday of their lives. Especially if it is someone you will have to have in your life for the rest of your life. I doubted this for awhile, but I NOW KNOW it is true. Please believe it. If there is a particular person in your life that hurt you (that you love or once loved) and this person will remain apart of your life forever) you have to forgive him / her. You have the power to build a healthy relationship with that individual. But you have to CHOOSE to Just Do It! Love that person back to their position of love. You may be the only person in his / her life that has the tools to do this. I am not saying it's going to be easy. But most GREAT things aren't. And love is great!


The people we are having a hard time forgiving have taught us the greatest lessons. Let's be thankful and forgive. Sometimes the thought of freedom frightens us and being stuck in our old bitterness feels safer. Don't let it trick you another moment.

Forgive them and forgive YOURSELF! You did the very best you could. Love yourself through this process. Live for right now and move forward.

Love, Lizzy

"One Kit" for Our Homesless Friends

It's that time of year again everyone:

Street projects would like to FIRST thank all of you who contributed to our Winter Socks Drive either by donating funds or Socks. We would not have had 3 successful drives if it was not for you! Please keep in mind that we will continue to collect Socks throughout the year. Our homeless friends, just like us, always need Socks.

Last year we had a few successful Hygiene Product Bag Drives "One Kit" which consists of large bags filled with hygiene products; toothbrushes, wash cloths, tooth pastes, soap, floss, deodorant, mini shampoo, mini conditioner, brushes / combs, tissue etc. Well this year we are at it again.

We all know what it feels like to feel yucky after a workout or a long day out at work. Well, like our special friends, they too have that same feeling. Only their not as fortunate to have a clean bathroom or a shower of their "own" to wash off in, so they do so in public bathrooms (gas stations, subway stations, coffee shops etc) Let's come together and lift the burdens ya'll. One step at a time.

PLEASE find it in your hearts to take a trip over to Dollerama and purchase $10 worth of hygiene products, all of which cost $1 each. I can arrange a pick up location to collect the products from you. We would like to hit the Streets with "ONE Kit" within the next few weeks.

A BIG Thank you to Kevin D for ALL the Fly Sneakers. Our "friends" are going to feel so fly in those Kicks.

Are you with me in being a #WORLDCHANGER ?

I don't spend time trying to figure out why these "friends" of mine are not out working and choose to live on the streets instead. NO! Look, that could have been me or YOU! The only difference is, I / you never lost hope. We were strong enough to rise. But let's face it, they may be homeless but some of us are living in darkness in other ways! So let's NOT judge!

We are ALL sons and daughters of the Most High God!

Love Lizzy

Understanding All of Me!

For the past month or so I have been working on a few new projects which I will be announcing and launching in the near future. I am very excited about this journey and can barely wait to share it with YOU! This is something God placed in my heart a couple years ago but I was just waiting for the right time. Well, the time has come. I am building a legacy.

One of the projects however, I will share with you.

I have developed a new workbook which consists of 7 of my workshops & activities; as an add-on to my book 'If You Played In My Playground'
We can call this a self-help workbook. I am in the middle of the designing stages and this book will be available for purchase at $8 each. However if you purchase the whole Book Package titled "Understanding All of Me" (and includes the book) the cost is $25.00/ each package.


The D.e.v.a In You Group is a Self Development and Counseling Organization for Women and Youth


If you or your organization is interested in any of the following workshops (below), please contact me at elizabeth@devainyou.com

'The D.e.v.a In You' empowerment workshops offers women and youth an extraordinary opportunity to connect deeply to their own sense of self-worth. Enabling them to connect to their “true self” without the masks and helping them to overcome mental, physical and emotional issues. We are committed to inspiring individuals to live each day re-creating who they were born to be, therefore enhancing their quality of living and becoming leaders of their future.
“I am a REAL woman with a REAL story that strives to help REAL people”
-Elizabeth Correia, Founder of The D.e.v.a In You Group


Workshops

Understanding All of Me- This 6 week workshop- (can be once or twice a week) is for a group of women or young girls that consists of small discussion based groups (8-10 people) The focus is to dig deep within as to who we are, who we would like to re-create ourselves to be and what are our goals? What makes us happy? What are our hobbies or passions and how to find them. What are some of the things or people that are challenging or negatively impacting who we 'really' are? What can you / we do to help us stay true to who we are or how can we re-create who we are with a focus on who we were meant to be. This workshop is for women from all walks of life who have been in abusive relationships (be it family or with a partner) and have lost sense of themselves or women who are going through a transitional period in their lives.

Organiz-her - This workshop focuses on the overall well being; mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually with a strong focus on how to organize our space, finances and take care of our health. It's a GREAT and interactive workshop. We also going over personal hygiene and the importance of our physical appearance, our mental and emotional state as well as healthy lifestyle tips.

I Am Worth It! - This title speaks for itself. Let's face it too many women do not feel this way about themselves ( i have been there). The focus of this workshop is too look within FIRST for confidence and respect. We fail in our search when we look for it everywhere else but within! We focus on "what makes a person worthy of respect, love and appreciation" How do we remind ourselves of our self worth daily! What kind of people are in our lives and what do they bring to our self worth? We also focus on identifying unhealthy relationships, boundaries, anger, assertiveness, forgiveness, conflict resolution and self-esteem.

I Am Taking My Life Back - As a survivor of sexual abuse in the hands of my father, I believe we all share certain characteristics in common. The most disturbing and many times crippling is a sense of shame accompanied with guilt. We do not believe something bad happened to us; we tend to think and believe that we are bad personally and that is what caused the abuse to begin with. The debilitating shame perpetuates the secret and keeps victims silent and we continue to feel and think this way into our adulthood in relationships with peers, the opposite sex and family members. This workshop program brings healing and hope to the abused. There will always be scars and memories if you tap back into it, but it is history and now just a story. A story that you have survived and can now use to help and heal the world around you. We are not victims, therefore we must not live as tho we are. We do not have to be products of our environment's but we are the ones that chose to be. We have been given the power of choice and this workshop focuses strongly on how to stop living as victims and start living as survivors. Individuals will gain the necessary tools to over-come and move on!


It's My Body - This workshop program is designed to bring awareness to females aged 12 and up - that there are individuals out there that are luring females into drug addictions with the plan to force them to work the streets as prostitutes and exotic dancers. Many young women involved in prostitution have been murdered in Canada, some as young as 15. Young people get caught up in the sex trade because they're either running from something or to something. They may be running from physical, sexual or emotional abuse in the home or they may be running to what they see as excitement. Drawing experiences from my own personal story, i can relate to all of the above. I have found the best way to protect our youth from becoming the victims of these ruthless individuals is by educating them about the realities that await them if they get caught up with the wrong people- people that are more than willing to use and abuse them.

Breaking The Cycle - (a workshop for young men) This workshop teaches males the importance of starting to deal with their personal issues, beginning to heal the pain they carry from childhood and into manhood, getting in touch with their emotions, reaching out to each other for help and ultimately eliminating the need to escape through disrespecting young women or through the need to drink and smoke weed. Many of these young men are hurting people who believe the only way out of their hurt is by covering it up with alcohol or drugs. This is a method they use in order to prevent themselves from "feeling" It is also an empowerment workshop focuses on empowering them to take the necessary steps toward re-building their self esteem, regaining their personal pride, learning how important it is to respect females and bringing honor and leadership back to their lives. Today, so many young men have become cold and disrespectful towards females. It is time for them to break that cycle and rise UP!

Healthy Me - Living a healthy life all around. I focus strongly on the deadly affects of stress, what we eat, drink, smoke, what we are doing with our bodies and how we live including the importance of exercise. What are we reading and how often are we reading? We discuss the importance of water and walking...and also the way we carry ourselves (appearance wise). Wellness is generally used to mean a healthy balance of the mind, body and spirit that results in an overall feeling of well-being. I recently survived a major brain surgery and use this experience as the foundation to this workshop. I have facilitated this workshop twice this year and the empowerin g results in the lives of the young adults were amazing. It is apart of my "new life / self" commitment -to invest in the development of healthy, active youth.

For more information about The D.e.v.a In You Group, please visit www.devainyou.com and to for on my book 'If You Played In My Playground' visit my author site at www.elizabethcorreia.com

Love, Lizzy