Step out today...IN FAITH

Things happen for a reason...How many of us believe this statement without doubts? Honestly, not a lot.

As is expected, we find more understanding in the good things that happens to us, rather than the things that are not so good. This is natural because I mean if I get a promotion of course I'm going to say it is because of my hard work and dedication. On the other hand,  if I am demoted or let go, I will find it hard to figure out what the reason for this could possibly be.

Not all persons are like these, there are some persons who believe in God's will and grace. They believe that he does not give us more than we can bear and that all the little things tie into a bigger picture.

Do you want to know the truth? It does! We won't always understand why things happen but you trust and believe in God's will you will be able to continue to have hope. Your faith won't waver and crumble because things aren't going the way you wish it would.

Things don't just end, they give way for new beginnings and possibilities. 

Your life isn't over because you lost your job, you didn't get promoted or you are broke. As long as you are breathing there is hope and a chance for things to turn around.

But it's not that easy, you have to take the first steps and keep moving in faith. Maybe it won't come immediate...most times it doesn't. We have to work hard and continue to work because we know God's plans WILL be fulfilled. All that you need to make this work will come to you,  you just have to take those steps.

STEP OUT IN FAITH! LET IT BE YOUR FASHION.

Until next time...
Advice & Beyond
@Looking_Within

21 Days Gratitude Challenge - Day 3

Write about  something you feel grateful for in your life today...

Right now I am most grateful for opportunities to grow and the people and organizations around me that help me to grow.

This are a little on the rocks for me right now as it relates to work, but I am grateful for the fact that I have hope. I am grateful for the fact that I have persons around me who are helping me through the process in the best way they can.

Sometimes things happen and we convince ourselves that we have to do it alone, that there is no one that cares enough to help; that's not true. We do not have to go through anything alone, and for this I am grateful.

As humans we were never meant to be alone, we just have to find persons worth being around.

Advice & Beyond
@Looking_Within

Take Control of Your Own Happiness

Today I decided to flip throw the channels on the TV because I was too lazy to go and make breakfast; any who I came upon a Joel Osteen program and his topic for the program was 'Take control of your own Happiness'

Let me tell you, I have been thinking on this all day because it is so strange how happiness is simple to repeat each day but we don't or can't and just end up miserable or surface happy. So Joel spoke about four (4) types of people that may exist in our lives and how they can help to determine the quality of our lives.

1. There is the Lifter; these persons, just by being themselves, make you feel light, they allow you to feel happy and you leave their presence feeling refreshed.

2. There is also the Thruster; these persons motivate you through their words and also just by being themselves. They make you feel ready to conquer your dreams and your day.

3. There are the Weights; these persons constantly expect you to share the burden of their never ending sadness and negativity. They never uplift you; in fact they constantly weigh you down.

4. Lastly, there are the Drags; they also with negativity drag you down when you are soaring and you feel happy. With their words they drag you lower and lower into the pit of their sadness and they wish to keep you there. As they say "misery loves company".

As I listened to Joel, not in the exact words, explain these persons I was immediately able to sort the people I know into these categories and I instantly felt a need to cry. I thought to myself, who am I for the people around me; just as much as I thought about them.  He went on to say that we should try to be around Lifters and Thrusters because they will give you the allowance to meet your destiny and the greatness you are meant to. Weights and Drags, unfortunately, keep you stuck and you are so consumed in trying to make them happy and to please them that you ignore your purpose. I thought of people who not only drag or weigh me down with sadness and negativity; but I also considered those I feel so low about because of their blatant indifference.

I am grateful however for the people who have aided me thus far in my life; for those people who were there for me even when it got too rough. It is funny how the small things people do and don't do can immediately result in them falling into a category. I will never forget the moment I knew that there are some persons I just can't count on to be there during the rough stuff and those that I can. That I will save for another time when I feel stronger and can therefore handle being vulnerable.

Well, I really thought I'd share this with you guys because we all need to think about this, we have to evaluate the people we have in our space and what we are allowing them to feed our spirits. We have to also be mindful of how we treat others and what we feed them as well. But until you have figured it all out, before you go out in the morning fill yourself with motivation and positivity. Affirm each day, hour and minute the goodness you need to and constantly give thanks for who and where you are.

Peace.

Hope is right around the corner…..

When you keep your feelings inside, who does it help? Does it help the person who they are directed to? Does it help you? Suppression only causes you to feel as if you are dying slowly, as if the world no longer makes sense and no one understands you. But really, you are the one who is stopping the world from knowing you. You build up walls so high and no thick that nothing can penetrate, and you side, curled up in the furthest corner, and you weep and everyone weeps with you because that, they can feel.

You open your eyes each afternoon and you cry, wishing you didn’t have to, wishing the pain was over. It’s not. It sits on you like a sumo wrestler, never easing, never shifting, constantly pressuring. You try to find someone to help to ease the hurt, but no one is ever there at the right time, to you anyways. You just continue to bear the burden of a scar so deep, yet unseen. 

When will you realize that slowly, you are losing color, essence, and meaning? When will you realize that life is passing you by, drifting in the ocean like the picture you tried to wash away? He’ll never return. Never will you smell that passing scent; never will you hear that fading laugh. It just won’t happen. This is truth. This is fact. This is death.

Tomorrow will come, but you won’t know. For you it is still 2007, it is still that Sunday afternoon when the sky was at its darkest. For you, light is absent even when it’s fluorescent. For you the music is mute even when it’s raving. For you hope it lost, even when it’s right beside you.

Hope is here. One day you will open your eyes in the morning, and you will smile. You will look out the window and you will see the colours of love and joy. You will see life. You will see redemption. You will see that it is not lost, that it was just hidden. You will smell that passing scent, you will hear that fading laughter and you will smile. You will be able to move on. You will be able to breathe.

This is Hope. This is Salvation. This. Is. LIFE!