Cleaning up the wreckage of the past. Mop bucket after mop bucket of old muck. It is enough to wear anyone out.
“I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter.”–Walt Disney
This holds true for me as I clean up old messes. What is more, it brings you right back to the place you left so long ago. Past garbage must be picked up even though you may have long since moved on.
Today was one of those days for me. The rug gets jerked right out, and bam, you hit the floor, saying, “what the hell was that?” At this stage, you can either get up, or you can wallow in the mire of despair.
It is hard but chooses to get up. Swift kicks to the gut hurt for a moment, but you can breathe again. Overnight, I was able to find my hope still. Messes can be cleaned up and moved past. Not allowing myself to fall into a pit of self-induced hell was an achievement!
Today these are steps I took to bring myself out of what could have been debilitating fear:
Give it to God. I simply told God I did not understand why, but I was not going to lose faith in him.
Took time to just breathe for a minute. Fear will stifle any hope. Sighing and taking a minute to say, “the world is not coming to an end, how do we fix this?”
Keep telling myself repeatedly, “all is well, God has this!”
Reminding myself that when all this began, I am a hell of a lot further today than I was when this all started. All for the better!
Hope always exists, and for me, when I can feel hope in my heart. I know everything will be okay.
We all get life kicking us in the gut when we least expect or need it to happen. Rolling with it and having the expectation all will be well. Easier said than done, however, over time as we practice our faith. Moving with life becomes more natural.
Feeling stronger as faith grows is something that happens. It took a long time for me to believe that my inner strength could be called upon to pull me through the toughest of times. Why, because I am not alone. God will stay with me through my tough times.
With all things, we must practice, practice, practice. Over and over, I say, “God has me.” As I write this, it occurs to me that I have been reading the bible and other Christian books more so than average. Perhaps I have stirred the enemy to throw his life stone at me to see if I will falter. Fall apart and lose what I have. Not this time!!!
Two years ago, I made a commitment that I would no longer lose in life. For once in my life, I intend unequivocally to not miss!
We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass grows in silence; see the stars, the moon, and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.”–Mother Thresa
For the longest time at the beginning of my faith. The silence was not comfortable to achieve. What we mean by silence is the wheels that are spinning in our heads. Relaxing on any level is a challenge.
Finding silence will have peaceful results in your life. Learning to not freak out over daily challenges, not letting the traffic jam ruin your day. What is your joy worth?
Think about that question for a moment. What is your joy worth?
Is losing your joy worth:
Traffic Jam?
A line at the Grocery?
Poor Service?
Someone else having a bad day, spills over on you?
Financial Issues? (always remember temporary)
You see the point here. We all become susceptible to losing our joy for reasons that are either out of our control, brief, or only not worth the aggravation we bring upon ourselves.
It’s too easy getting caught up in silliness that steals our joy. Seriously, getting pissed because someone cuts us off at the exit. It could be that God moved you from harm’s way. Life happens for a reason. Instead of flipping the poor soul off that cut you off, maybe the purpose was to save you. Unbeknownst to any of the folks involved!
You never know what turn life throws at you that is actually saving your fanny. It may not look like it at the time.
How does standing in line at the grocery because they’re short-staffed. How about listening to an uplifting Podcast while waiting? Or you can be grumpy and ruin your day. What you choose is a choice.
Make the most out of time. Caught in traffic, let us say. Crank up some music that gets your heart pumping. Again listen to a good podcast. Choose to do something fun instead of being grumpy. Life is a choice of happy or sad.
Learning to allow life to just roll of our shoulders. Don’t hold on to the lousy luggage. Let that luggage get lost at the airport. Hanging onto negativity begets negativity. Letting someone steal your joy over something stupid, well, you do the math.
My joy is no longer for sale to jerks, grumpy bosses, lousy service, or the like. Don’t let someone else miserable day ruin yours!
So how do we find silence?
Meditation, learn to sit in quiet reflection. I use rain and ocean sounds using headphones. Close your eyes and breathe through your nose, out of the mouth. Silence phone!!!
Prayer. Find times to pray. Let God know what you need. Just have a good conversation.
These two simple acts can change your life. We find answers in the silence. Allow God to flow through you when you’re quiet. This is where you hear God speak to you!
One of the hardest traits in my life to learn, from my New Book: Mastering Life God’s Way:
Patience!
“I believe that a trusting attitude and a patient attitude go hand in hand. You see, when you let go and learn to trust God, it releases joy in your life. And when you trust God, you’re able to be more patient. Patience is not just about waiting for something… it’s about how you wait, or your attitude while waiting.”—Joyce Meyer
Without which, you will stifle growth by imposing your own will that goes against what your destiny shall become.
Keep in mind that life, you must allow destiny to adjust itself, change trajectory, for your destiny to unfold. Changing your life means a whole new direction, so you must allow God to move things around to fulfill your destiny.
Let’s say you want a fantastic job that is currently filled by an amazing person. Someone that has left a real mark in this life. Someone, that if you knew them personally would be a friend! Let’s say this person is going to retire in six months. God’s plan is for you to fall right into this job that currently you are totally unaware of. Without patience, you may give up just a few yards from the finish line. Don’t be that person!
Nothing worth having happens overnight. Shortcuts get rich quick; you have to work seven days a week; it is all garbage. Beautiful flowers don’t bloom overnight. The sun does not rise all at once. Everything in our lives happens in the time our destiny is supposed to unfold before our eyes. Any faster, and you lose the real blessing.
God’s will, not our will. Let that naturally happen, and wow! When you impose your own will, we tend to want everything right now. Do this, and you will receive, tension, stress, overwhelmed mind, and misery. Then you’ll quit, instead of receiving the beautiful blessings headed your way.
My new book, God is Your Coach out in Paperback and available on Kindle.
Take a look at chapter one:
Chapter 1
The Title Fight
In this corner, wearing depression, despair, and no hope Me!
In the black corner wearing out my life, the enemy!
The enemy will work to keep you sufficiently depressed so that you won’t take steps towards a new life. The attack can come in many forms, depression, self-doubt, or just merely giving in that this won’t work. Hogwash!
Change comes at a price. We’ve all heard the adage; nothing in this life is free. Nothing worth having is free. A beautiful life is worth the price we will pay to enjoy. There is hope, and it will come. However, we do have to navigate some attacks on our life.
As change begins to take hold in our life, smiles on our face, a pep in our step and peace in our mind. Everything appears to be moving nicely. All the sudden the rug gets pulled out from under our feet and smash we go.
The first thing that comes to us is excellent “this doesn’t work.” I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! Precisely what the enemy wants you to believe. Loser, failure, and nothing you will try will work. All lies! Here is the rub, stay in faith. What??? I can hear you screaming. Will get to this further in the book, keep going.
Spiritual warfare for those of you new to a Christian life can disenchant most from staying with God. As humans, we tend to allow pain to numb our senses in a way that we accept a sort of mediocrity for our lives. Sad! How the enemy keeps us leashed — never allowing us to wander off too far.
You’re not too old, too weak, too young, or any other moniker you can place to defeat yourself. Are you not tired of kicking your ass? I know I was and that has prompted this book.
Beginning this process, you will come out swinging. Strong bold, and you feel that you can conquer the world. Then you take a shot to the gut that puts you right to the ground. Everything starts falling apart; all your work seems to be running down the drain.
Depression and self-doubt overtake your mind. Spiritual warfare has arrived. Keep in mind that trials and tribulations can take on any negative form. We’re using these analogies to set an expectation that whatever form attacks take they’re relentless.
Here are a couple of things you can do to help you with immediate changes in your state-of-mind:
Take 60 seconds and breathe. Cleansing breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth. Breathing will relax tension.
Get outside and walk to the end of the block. Walking will relieve tension. Focus on the beauty around you.
If you can get to a quiet place to meditate, relax your mind. Good, contemplate music.
You can almost immediately change your state of mind listening to music that moves you. Music is incredibly healing at the moment. Get your feet to move.
Changing your state-of-mind can bring peace. Everything is going to be okay; you have to get your head there. The preceding was temp solutions to get your head out of a dark place.
No matter the obstacles in your life, they’re all temporary. Think about some hard-times in your life. If you’re past them, something terrible that happened ten years ago, that at the time seemed devastating. You must see, you’re still here, everything is most likely calmer, settled and most importantly over. The monster is defeated.
This next part of the chapter is one of two articles I have written and included in this eBook that I think help bolster the message I want to get across in this eBook. Bits and pieces may be redundant, but I trust you will overlook that to receive the news.
When your feet hit the floor in the morning, let the Devil say, “Oh Shit He’s up!”
Our minds can exhaust us to the point we feel like we’ve been in a heavyweight title fight. Pardon the cliché, but you are sick and tired of being sick and tired. What I want to prepare you for is the title fight that is coming. The enemy will see a change in you for good. All the sudden, you went from being depressed to having hope.
Jesus paid for your sins on the cross. I am not going to pretend to be a theologian and quote scripture. What I did do is start attending a great Bible-based church. Began to study the word of God. You have protection from the enemy; you can yourself cast him out of your head (No you’re not Reagan McNeil from the Exorcist). God supplies all the tools you need. You must show up for work.
Part of your job will be to follow the path I am laying down. Find an excellent Bible-based Church. Not hard to find and you may need to attend a couple before you see one that you feel is home. You will need the tools, and foundation for Christ to win the fight to come.
The enemy will come at you hard. WHY, because he is afraid to lose you to the right side. He wants your soul; he wants you to fail! You have free will so that it will become a choice. I would cry so hard thinking God seems pissed at me for all the things I have done in my life and losing hope that God wanted nothing to do with me. NOT TRUE! Learning from the study, Church and the Bible God loves me. It is the enemy that has the hold on us, not God. Rest easy dear friends. It is good and evil in this world it took me a while to understand. Sharing this first thing will sound a bit scary. You will have a better understanding that the difficulties to come are manageable with the right tools. God says, “No weapon formed against me will prosper.” Remember you have all the promises the Bible says we have. You must start believing with unwavering faith. God wants you to think about it before you receive it. Try it; this is where I stumbled hard.
Friends would tell me that God will never give you more than you can handle. I hated hearing that. The problem is it’s true. You can’t fight for the heavyweight championship of the world without getting knocked on your backside a few times. You will find the strength just as I did. Even from the darkest depths of your mind, a path to peace is available for anyone who seeks order.
Women readers who are moms can relate to this. Labor pains are excruciating, but the result is the greatest joy of your life. Once you go through labor and deliver yourself from hell, you’ve created in your head. The sooner the greatest joy in your life will be at hand.
Remembering always that the enemy will fill your mind with doubt, fear, this will never work. What happens is when you believe you’ll quit. Then the enemy wins. The only loser in this fight is you. It may seem as though God is not listening to you. He is, I thought this so many times. I would scream at God in my vehicle “get in the game” why are you forsaking me. He is not; the devil is treacherous in your mind.
You will learn to live with your soul, not your head. The mind will never win over your destiny. What you can control is how quickly you see your future reveal itself. Frustration, hate, anger, despair will only cause you to delay your life moving forward. You must begin to see yourself happy, joyous, and free of pain. Don’t scream, “I can’t do it.” If you do, you’re right. None of this is easy to hear; I get that!
What I am telling you is if you get knocked down get up. Tell yourself NOT THIS TIME; I get to win this time. Get that loser mentality out of your head. It won’t come all at once. You must recondition your mind for good. If you have suffered for a long-time change won’t happen overnight.
The mind will fight you to the point of utter exhaustion during a marathon where you will hit the wall many times. Just like marathon runners, you convince yourself that it’s a mind trick; it’s not your reality. Reality is you already have, peace, love, and happiness. We as Christians must learn to accept it. You think acceptance would be easy, for most it’s not. Stay in faith even when you don’t seem to have confidence in anything. Tell God you don’t see a way, but you trust he will make a move!
One of the most important things I can tell you. Don’t help God, don’t impose your will on a situation that needs Gods hand not yours — for example, separated from your spouse. It’s a situation that you did not want, hit you out of the blue and you’re heartbroken. You call your spouse saying I promise I will change; I love you, please let’s work it out. That’s imposing your will. It’s not you are helping even though you think you’re fighting for your marriage. STOP!
If you want to trust God for a change in your life follow along in this book, I share what mistakes I made so you can have greater insight. You need to believe that God is handling the heart of both you and your spouse. You are jumping in does not help. Trust that if you give your marriage to God, asking him for his will be done. Someone asked me two questions:
Do you want a perfect, loving, happy marriage?
Do you want your spouse back with no change?
Relationships meant to be will be. Maybe, God is moving this person out of your life to make room for your deep down in your soul exact right person to appear when we let our destiny unfold naturally what a blessed life we will have.
It’s not always easy to see clearly during times of adversity. Remember we’re in a title fight for our life. The enemy will put horrible, terrible things in our head or before us. We can get betrayed; our life shattered into pieces.
How you get up and tell the enemy “that’s all you got” I have the power of God almighty who controls my life. A quote I love, “when your feet hit the floor in the morning, the Devil says oh shit he’s up. “Anything beats living a life of misery. It’s where I am at, and I pray you are too. Now is our time and “I ain’t going down no more”—Rocky Balboa
The fight will come hard, but if you keep reading, you will find the help you need to get up and fight even harder. The tools you will learn will make those fights fewer. Your spiritual armor will see you through.
Stay strong because God is getting ready to show out in your life in ways you could never have imagined. Your blessings are on the other side of this battle; what was meant for your harm God will bless your life in ways that only he can.
The stronger the attack, the bigger the blessing. Crazy, but when you get kicked right in the gut hard. When you walk trusting God, you know, he is getting you ready to show out in your life! The pain you may encounter along the way in strengthening your resolve. Helping you be able to face anything the enemy throws in your approach to disrupt your life.
Everything I am writing about what I have experienced. So, if you’re saying what does this guy know about my pain, he won’t understand what I’m going through in my life. It’s because I’ve lived it same as you. I choose not to lose any more! Hope you come along!
Are you ready for some good news?
What if you could look at all this doom & gloom as coaching experience. That with a different perspective to life’s challenges you could get through with expectations of winning. You’re excited to face these challenges with a new open mind. You believe now that you will win no matter the obstacles.
Well, friends get ready for chapter two because you are about to learn how to WIN!
To purchase this book click the cover to visit Amazon:
Faith gets me more questions than any other word, phrase, the subject you can name. Everyone struggles with faith, and I am certainly no exception.
Just coming in from outdoors, it’s scorching here. I grabbed a bottle of water, and sure enough, the good lord put in my head an article to write. When you open your mind up to possibility, an opportunity opens up from just about anywhere. It was a bottle of water today!
So what came to me as I drank the water. I opened the water and simply started drinking. Not giving a thought to if the water was pure, diseased, tampered with, old, disgusting, I simply opened it and swallowed.
What if the water was tainted in some way? Do you ever think about that? No, we don’t we assume with blind faith the water is Spring Water, refreshing and crisp. Keep in mind there is a lot of nasty diseases carried in water. You can get sick or die from bad water.
Every day, you open the water and drink with no thought of the consequences if it’s terrible. Why because in your heart you know that it’s an unlikely event that you will get sick.
Ask yourself I can open a bottle of water that you have no clue where it came from if the plant is clean if someone peed in the water at the factory pissed because they got fired. You’re willing to risk your life at the potentially contaminated water every day, but you can’t have faith that God has you?
You’re willing to get on the Elevator at work knowing full well it could drop twenty stories if all systems fail, blindly walk on with no thought of danger. Yet you can’t believe that everything will be okay!
We do things daily with blind faith. Put our lives in harm’s way “potentially” every day, but you can’t show trust in God.
What does Water have to do With Faith? Your faith needs to be as pure as the water. Trusting that when you drink from God’s water bottle its as pure as the water you safely drink all the time. You just drink because you don’t give a thought to anything else but how refreshing it will be once you drink. That’s faith!
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