I have been feeling some type of way lately about life. If I am being honest, I do not deal with death well. It doesn’t matter if the person is close to me or not. Young black women have been dying and it has really made me appreciate the life I have. 
There was a young lady who I went to HS with, that recently took her own life. I was not close to her by any means, I found out on Facebook, we have mutual friends. But she was the same age as me, with two boys, and suffered from depression. It really affected me because obviously, we are the same age. While life can get me down a lot of the time, I have never thought of suicide as an option. Mental health is a real issue in our community that we do not address as much as we should. Please take the time to check in on your people as much as you can, we do not know the extent of pain people are harboring inside. I feel for her family and of course her young children. 
Another young lady I knew passed away while sleeping from a freak accident. This one hit me hard because it was out of nowhere and I was scheduled to see her the next day after the accident occurred. She works at the hair salon I love on Staten Island. Truly, honestly, when you are able to wake up in the morning, thank and praise the higher power that you believe in. Life is not guaranteed and we need to appreciate the little things we take for granted, like waking up. I will not complain about the things I do not have. Recently, I was complaining about having to pay a $1500 dental bill, when I could buy Christian Louboutin shoes. Like I thought having red bottoms would mean more to me than my teeth.
I am good for equating material things with happiness. When in actuality, they mean nothing. Who am I trying to impress, who am I trying to fit in and keep up with? I am working on knowing that those things will not make me happy. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with wanting higher-end designer goods. But if you don’t have it, and you have life, shelter, food, family, friends, and a couple dollars in your account, you are doing alright! 
I hope you all had a wonderful time with your tribe yesterday, and let’s all practice the act of GRATITUDE every day that we can, and not just that one particular day of the year. I experimented with a trend that I have been watching for a while but was intimidated by, and I think I found a way to make it work for me. I am talking about that socks with sandals trend. How do you guys think I did? Thanks so much for reading, I am grateful to have built my little 3TheChicWay community here, and will be forever happy you all take the time out to come and read my blog. Stay chic!
