Second Chance !

Continued from TIRUSHA DAVE ....

Bravura Magazine started to become media sponsors for major Fashion Week events in the NJ/NYC area; I was given the opportunity to work with major designers such as Lantie Foster, Helen Castillo & Dom Streater, from the TV show, Project Runway! It was then that MY publication, was the ONLY fashion-based publication which was personally invited to the NJ State Inaugural Ball for President Barack Obama's re-inauguration. I have won an award, hosted by Atlantic City Fashion Week, for the work I've done with my publication. And I find it quite fun to say, that I know Nigel Barker on a personal level, and had a 20-minute interview slot extended to nearly 3 hours! From the Grammy's to IIFA, and all things in between, I've touched on it all, and have experienced a lot of things that I once dreamed of. At the age of 23, I was a published writer in 7 different countries! #BraggingRights!! I live, breathe, and eat The Devil Wears Prada...though I would say I'm a very NICE editor to my writers! I sketch. I write. I create.

But that's not the only side to myself.

Three years ago, I faced an experience that I never thought would be thrown in my lane. But it was and the challenge was accepted. It was a road of self-discovery. I discovered a hidden talent that I thought I had once lost. And I also discovered that people are not always who they present themselves to be. It was a time of trials & tribulations, where I spent endless night crying myself to sleep or waking from a horrific dream, which was once my reality. It was a time where I found myself at my lowest, contemplating thoughts which I never thought could even enter my head.

But why? Why should I have been the one to think the way I was thinking or even feel the thoughts which I felt? It was then, during a conversation with someone who I consider to be one of the most dearest in my life, told me, "If you ever look back at something, find the positivity in it and change your life for the better." Those are words which I will never forget; and that is exactly what I did.

My life was back on track; I was doing the things which I once loved to do, and had forgotten about. I was with the people who I had stood by for so many years, that I had left in the dust. I was in my "zone" and being ME. I had my family around me, and my friends -- the most important people in my life, who stood by me, when everyone else turned their backs. I realized the value in the things I had, and made a promise to myself that I will never let what happened to me, happen to someone whom I dearly care about.

Was I mad that all of this happened to me? Yes. Me! Someone who has always been there for everyone else in my life. A person who would never wish ill upon anyone. But all in all, it taught me to stand strong, never look back, and moreover, believe in myself.

Three years ago I was given a second chance in life. And for whichever reason it may be, I was allowed to re-live this life. I count my blessings everyday and thank God for giving me the life that I have been living thus far. Sure, there have been the ups & downs, but it's because of those hurdles, that I am the woman I am today, and for that I am thankful. I'm driven by challenges. I'm pushed by passion. I strive to do what I do best, and want to show that to everyone. And the end of the day, I love what I do, and that's the most important thing!

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. -Helen Keller