I’m embarrassed to share that I didn’t really know what Dr. Martin Luther King (MLK) Jr. Day was about until I was an adult. Honestly, I’m not sure why. 

Maybe it is because my head was absent from school most of the years growing up. I was more worried about the challenges going on at home and learning the English language than giving 100 percent of my attention to what teachers were saying. 

I was in survival mode. 

But when I did find out the true meaning of this day, I began implementing its meaning not just on MLK Day, but year-round. 

What I mean by that is this day is a federal holiday to honor Dr. King for his dedication to fighting for the civil rights of minorities. Since he was a man who dedicated himself to uplifting communities, people honor him by doing good deeds and by taking action to help improve societies. 

Millions of people volunteer in their communities in his honor. They also donate to charities and hold events to promote equality. 

Sure, we can’t hold even...

As the year comes to a close, a lot of people start creating their list of new year goals (download our free worksheet- Reflecting + Goals 2017). But instead of making ONLY your new year goals, consider making a list of all the things you appreciated this year no matter how many bad things happened to you in 2016.

Focusing on this will help you realize how many blessings you’ve had and that in the midst of not such good times, very good things DO happen. We must start appreciating what we’ve got before we start expecting more blessings.

This year, I got to travel back to Nicaragua, the country I was born in. It was a very expensive trip for my family because it was several of us. However, my husband insisted on going because I’d always say we’d go and the total trip expenses always seemed so high.

I’d always say we’d go next year and I have many excuses. Excuses like….next year because our savings would be larger and I’d feel better knowing we’d have more than enough if something...