One Giant Night

Photo by Nikki Notarte

Today is a GIANT day for many reasons..

1. Season 3 of My Giant Life on TLC premieres TONIGHT at 10/9c! I am blessed to have been added to the cast. I am proud to be the first African American cast member and hope that ALL women find inspiration through the lives of the women on the show.

2. I am stepping ALL THE WAY outside my comfort zone. Listen, putting your story in the hands of someone else is completely uncomfortable. It has stretched me and in turn I have grown in ways that I never would have. I now see the beauty in being uncomfortable and I know that no matter what comes out of this show, that I will be better in the end and God will ultimately use it for my good. It certainly will not look that way that I think it should, but I rest in the fact that it will be exactly what it needs to be.

3. I get to share my story on a major level. I was built to tell my story. It's part of my purpose. This opportunity was mapped out for me before I was even born. Having the faith to be so vulnerable in front of hundreds of thousands of people is a step of obedience. I am blessed to have been given this responsibility. If I inspire just one person from this show, my transparency will have been worth it.

4. This is a huge step in loving myself completely. Man...when ya girl saw the trailer I was like ummmm that's not the way I look! I freaked out. I wasn't used to seeing myself with natural hair (as I stopped wearing a weave a short time before the filming), the angles aren't the most flattering and I indeed look taller than everyone else. Well Alicia, I hate to break it to you (in my sarcastic voice) but you are. See, we tend to only show the world our best angles. We can scream we love ourselves from the mountain tops until the perspective changes. Can your confidence remain strong despite an unsavory viewpoint? Will you continue to stay resilient despite what others think and say? Without a doubt, this is a test of self-love and I'm here to pass it.

5. It's an accomplishment. It took a lot of work to get to this point and really, this is just the beginning. I'm going to work harder than ever but tomorrow is a time to celebrate this milestone in my journey.

6. I get to share this win with all of you. God has given me a community that I share every accomplishment with. I am honored to be on this journey with friends and family which includes you. We are standing Talll every day, in every way together and today is no different. Thank you for your support. It means the world to me!

Those are just some of the many reasons that today is truly a giant of a day. Check out the preview below as well as a segment that I did with Right this minute previewing tonight's premiere. I am blessed to have had many opportunities to tell my story which I will share with you soon!

See you tonight at 10/9c...it's going to be a wild ride!

Click for a preview of season 3 of My Giant Life

I had so much fun with the Right This Minute Crew. Click to check out my segment on RTM!

Tall Adventures in Dating

Yes. This happens. BUT it's not always the case. Photo courtesy of YourLoveTips.comYou come home from a long day at work.  Take a shower, do the hair, throw on a little make-up, put on an outfit that isn’t doing too much, jump in the car and drive to what could be an amazing date. 

You get to the restaurant, walk in and there he is.  You get those nervous butterflies into formation and walk towards him.  As you walk up his eyes start to bug out and he is forming his lips to say something that is sure to knock your socks off.  Here it comes…3, 2, 1...

DAMN YOU’RE TALL! And wait. It gets better.  He raises up on his tippy toes just to drive the point home.

Yes my friends.  This is the life of tall dating.

We have to put up with many kinds of ridiculous dates.  Including but not limited to:

1)  The man who wants to date us for our genes.  He doesn’t want us.  He wants some tall babies that make it to the League and take care of him.  Who pre-plans to use their child for their talent and money? This guy does. And he usually does so while having the worst breath possible.

2)  The man with a tall fetish.  He loves everything tall about us.  I won’t get into the nasty particulars but he is obsessed with our vertical gift.  He doesn’t like us as a person.  He simply likes the tall and that’s all.

3)  The undecided man.  He thinks he can handle the height but clearly it bothers him because he takes every moment he can to remind you that you are tall.  It comes up in every aspect of the conversation and even though he swears he is fine with it, he just can’t let it go. 

So after we weed through these false pretenses, we then throw our own expectations in the mix.  I for one was completely guilty of this.  My requirement list was so long that there was simply no man on earth that could fill it.  I had created an impossible image of a man in my head and of course he was taller than me.    

Now ladies, I am not saying that you have to throw all of your expectations out the window.  You must not settle. Point, blank, period.  BUT to put expectations like height on whomever you date is simply blocking a whole segment of men that could be the one (or preparing you for the one).  In my humble opinion, I have learned over time that there are WAY more important things to be concerned with then if you can rock a mean heel and still be shorter than him. At the end of the day, a confident man, no matter what his literal height, can be the tallest man in the world.

Since my revelation, I have dated men who were shorter than me (and yes, I wore heels to every date because this is what I do).  To my surprise, it was only uncomfortable if they made it uncomfortable.  Am I dating them now? Nope.  But it was because it simply didn’t work out, not because of the height difference alone.

I say all of that to say this.  Our tall adventures in dating are hard enough without our self-imposed barriers and road blocks.  Opening up to all possibilities gives you a higher percentage of meeting the one you simply can’t be without.  At the end of the day, God picks him out for you anyways so why not have faith in His choice and lift anything that would stop you from seeing who he is?

I have absolutely no idea who will find me, but I do know this; no matter what his height he will pursue me and through the man he is, not the height he is, I will know that he is the one. Side note: please notice that I said HE will pursue ME.  We are never to chase.  That is not our job and never will be.  If he wants you, he will pursue you.  If he doesn’t, he won’t.  It’s that simple.

So there you go, my view on our tall adventures in dating.  I am dying to know what you think…go!