Keep Believing – Don’t Think

Did you feel you’re always in a constant battle? According to Romans 7:14 – 22, we are. The state of human beings is often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit. This power is why mastering your emotions, just one day at a time or better yet, one moment at a time, is key. Think about it. When you’re triggered to act negatively, do you consider the right way first? Or do you decide on the unsettling action simply because you have decided the negative reaction is the better approach? Maybe you’re trying to prove a point, which is pride. It’s hard because we are moved and shaped by what others think of us and by rumors circling. Pride keeps us in the downward spiral of the abyss. Although your prideful reaction is warranted, how cool is it to master it and rise above it? Now, that’s powerful. Any habit takes the time to cultivate. Try distracting yourself with something you love to do. I used to plant trees. Unfortunately, I’ve run out of space.

I’ve been reflecting on a sermon I heard last week relating to the verse below. Some teachers are very gifted in articulating a message. Different time and places also change your susceptibility to the message.

“The human spirit can endure in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?” Book of Proverbs.

I reflected on this verse over and over. Then, the words began resonating within me. “Resonated how?” you might ask. I equated the crushed the spirit to the following character traits: worrier, passive-aggressive, self-conscious, anxious, stressed out, etc.

On the other hand, I saw endurance as blind faith. No matter what happens, you will keep moving forward. Also, your belief is so strong that even during turmoil you start every day aware of the possibilities that await you.

Before last week, I would pray to God that He remove me from my problems. That’s what I thought faith was. However, that’s not always the solution or God’s intention. There are times when His intention is not to move the mountain. Still, I prayed for what I wanted expecting that God would do as I pleased. When this happens, what will you do? Most of us would fold; if you do, that’s perfectly fine. Retreat and hide away. The negative self-talk has been triggered. You think nothing good could come of this situation. This is the end. What did I do wrong? Surely, this has to be my fault. Why do I have to suffer? We usually over-dramatize our own problems.

Let’s think about it for a moment. What if, instead, His intention were to climb, go around, or move the mountain with you? God joins you and meets you exactly where you are, providing the support and power you need to overcome your problems. When that happens, the spirit can endure the situation. The situation is no longer a strife. You walk firmly through the storm until it blows over. I believe God is always interceding on our behalf regardless of our being unaware of it.

Whatever is meant for you, you will go through. The train has left the station, and all you have to do is ride it until the doors open to something for you. There’s no need to worry along the ride when you have the most powerful passenger traveling with you. There are always small opportunities among the larger perceived opportunities. Just keep walking and do your best to ignore the distractions along the way.

July 16, 2017 0

Work of Art

What are you painting? To be honest, it depends on the day. Sometimes, your pallet is full of colors and well-coordinated. Other times, all you see is black and gray. However, if you push and encourage yourself, you can see the colors. It takes a lot of strength to find the colors by looking for what’s good at that moment. It’s quite easy to find the negative, the bad mood, the unkindness. You almost feel as if unkindness is the natural trait. It comes so easy and without any effort, smooth sailing.

You have to send a search party to find kindness, the good within the unpleasant, within the hurt, within the pain, within the embarrassment and shame. I could go on and on. Why is it so hard? You can hate more quickly than you can love. Holding resentment takes less effort than forgiveness. You feel more pity for yourself than confidence in yourself. Again, why is it so hard?

You know you’re not nice at that very moment. You feel it, you hear it, and you see it, but you tell yourself, I just can’t. That person doesn’t deserve it anyway. Hmm, what do we do? How do we climb that mountain? Maybe we climb the mountain one step at a time? We don’t have to reach the top of the mountain today! When you feel you just can’t, hit the pause button and retreat into silence. Reflect. When you’re ready, start climbing again. Life is not a race, it’s a marathon, and we’re told this mantra over and over again that the journey is the destination. We must learn to refrain and rest. The fight is to defend. Instead, leave that to God.

Quiet strength comes from a place of restraint when provoked intentionally or unintentionally. When you control your emotions, you build resilience.

The story below is one that you will find on many websites. The original author is unknown.

A Tale of Two Wolves:

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he says to the boy.

“It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continues, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thinks about it for a minute and then asks his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replies, “The one you feed.”

There is tomorrow.

We all have a purpose. For example, we admire Stonehenge, and the artwork prompts questions. What put you here and why? Do you get my point?

Imagine the Northern Lights as another example. Imagine those lights are you on display in the night sky. In all its beauty and mystery. No one has to know why it’s possible but you. You just continue to shine in all your brilliance. You’ll do this by feeding the good wolf, and just allow the bad wolf to roam. Sometimes, feeding the bad wolf feels good. You feel secure. However, it’s only for a short-term reward. A reward without benefits. Eventually, you’ll feel pain and suffering.

The unpleasant character is rooted in one or many of these traits – anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The solution is simple until it’s not. Don’t react; be confident. I know better than anyone it’s so hard to remain calm. It’s hard not to feed the bad wolf. The energy of this fire burns intensely. We refuse to allow someone to get over on us. It’s unacceptable. However, the benefits of remaining calm far outweigh the reaction.

For example, I received a speeding ticket. The speed with which I was going would have saved me only five to seven minutes. I paid a hefty price to save five minutes. Let’s flip this lesson. Just five minutes of feeding the bad wolf can be costly.

Why not practice feeding the good wolf? Don’t worry if someone thinks you’re weak or that you possess a lack confidence or lack of strength. The only factor that’s important is what you think and what God thinks because, ultimately, you answer to Him. Don’t worry about the why. Just keep painting. We’re all a work of art.

July 9, 2017 0

Go Under

Reflecting on a scuba diving trip in Thailand several years ago, I remember it like it was yesterday. The vivid memories are probably due to the profound experiences and what my eyes were able to capture, which was nothing but spectacular. When you reach that moment, you immediately remember that God is here.

For many reasons, the events of this trip, from the most significant to the scariest, have lessons.

I will cover the most frightening event first. I traveled to Thailand the second week of May, and the monsoon moved in a little early. If you’re a scuba diver in Thailand, one of the most beautiful places to dive, you’re scuba diving regardless of the weather. If possible. And it was possible.

The first lesson, become aware of surroundings. You notice, wow, it’s noon, and a ton of boats are all over. Well, it’s noon. There should be a ton of boats. Maybe our boat is just late. At every stop, there were boats before us, and upon arising from the dive, we were the sole boats left.

All is fine as 4 p.m. approaches. You look at the sky and notice dark clouds moving in. You’ve observed the clouds for the past two days around this time. Then you look at the ocean water. The beautiful glass of green and blue is now dark gray. The calm water has turned to fury. You’re on your last diving trip for the vacation, and your spouse asks you, “Are we jumping in that? We’re in the middle of the ocean, and the waves are insane.” You look at him with a blank stare, confused and, you must admit, a little nervous. The dive master throws out the line, and he says, “As soon as you and your buddy enter the water, grab the line and immediately ‘Go Under.’ It’s calm the lower you descend. I’ll meet you at the bottom.” Again your spouse asks you, “Are we doing this?” You say, “Yes! Let’s Go Under. Thailand is an unbelievable place to dive; it took us 20 hours to travel.”

We jump and go under. The waves are crashing and pounding against and over us. We prepare and immediately descend together.

Once we’re underneath, close to the bottom, the water is calm, and my eyes are in awe of all the beauty that resides below the surface. The current is a little strong even at the bottom, but it’s manageable. Then, I observed a small school of twenty fish swaying along the current, left and right. They were not moving; they were just effortlessly floating. I perceived the lesson in this was that instead of fighting the current, you must use it for your benefit. The clown fish, large clams, and schools of fish all seem to understand this concept.

The lessons are:

Schedule your trip a significant amount of time before the monsoon. Yes, you have to.
Pay attention to the weather and the signs that a storm is coming.
When a storm comes, seek cover.
Of course, we all know its pointless to fight some challenges, but we exhaust ourselves doing it anyway—that’s human nature.
If God says, “Do nothing; I’ll handle it,” find yourself another hobby.

This is one of my favorite verses of all time:

“Call to me, and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”

June 25, 2017 0

The Window That Lies Within

Most of the time we live busy lives, the simple things are forgotten. For example, a gaze out of the window. A friend once shared with me an experience from his boss, who was a Colonel in the military. One day he was entrenched with work, the Colonel asked him to stop what he was doing that he needed to speak to him. He explained that he was on conference call troubleshooting an issue. The Colonel stated, “Tell them you’ll call them back.” My friend had a blank stare. The Colonel said, “Well?”

My friend hung up the phone and walked outside with The Colonel. He said, “You know I’ve seen a lot over the years. Every day, I come outside here and just stare at the trees and listen to the silence. This moment is what peace feels like.”

I enjoy hearing stories which enhance the quality of life. Therefore, I started spending time outside more and more. Gazing out the window looking for opportunities.

One day, I observed a tortoise. I was like, I lived here forever, and I’ve never seen one. I ran outside and soon as I got pretty close, the little thing retreated into its shell. I thought to myself, why is he or she going to toward the house, shouldn’t the explorer be headed toward the woods? So, I tried to direct their path back toward the woods. Later I saw the turtle finally make its way towards the road, where it was headed in the first place. The tortoise knew exactly where it wanted to go without my help.

Tortoises are very wise. They are great decision makers with a keen sense observation due to their great sight. Also, they are explorers and are loners. Tortoises make it across the road alone all the time without assistance from us. Slow, meticulous, and easy.

Sometimes human beings can be codependent. We can learn a lot from nature. Naturistic moments are when I’m able to focus and see what’s before me. Guided by mastering my emotions over ego, desire, anger, delusion, greed, envy and sloth. Some emotions are easier than others to focus on and some days are better than the others.

Utilize those quiet moments to understand the path you should travel. No one knows what’s best for you but you as the tortoise taught us. Engaging others for advice distracts you, produces doubt, which results in confusion. More importantly, you don’t know the root of emotion where the advice is coming from. Is the information coming from a trusted confidant or is it an energy that will work against you? There are those who think they know what’s best for you. However, we all have a purpose, special unique gifts that are innate. One must have a complete understanding to provide the necessary guidance. When you’re ready, God will provide the direction you desire.

“You will only know the road until you travel on it.”
― Lailah Gifty Akita, Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind

June 19, 2017 0

Do You See Me? I See You.

I write my blogs based on experiences, the way in which I see things, and what I observe and process. Why not transform those experiences into words?

Have you ever experienced being the one on the outside, or being brought into a fight you didn’t even know existed? Have you felt that there is a place, mentally, where everyone is working against you? If that’s the case, how can you win or survive? Is it your mindset or is it really happening? There are those who want you to think that your intuition needs to be calibrated. However, the emotions in your gut, the body’s second brain, are very real. We have these triggers for a reason.

Bullying can occur at any age and can be expressed as different levels of energy. The sign will manifest as a slight warning or worse. Run the other way fast—have the police on speed dial. Bullying also can manifest in groups. Such aggressive and manipulative behavior can occur with family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, just about anyone. There are countless reasons why this happens. It’s possible that some individuals see something in you that makes him uncomfortable or reminds him of something he’s been trying to avoid. Why can’t you just be you? Why must you be someone else to fit in? If you find yourself in this situation, know that a train has many stations; just keep riding. The troublesome behavior directed from the other party is draining, and if you allow yourself to become caught in the current, the fight will drain the life force right out of you. However, if you’re aware, you possess the power to repel energy traveling along your path. You possess the will to acknowledge, see, process, and let it go. If you’re not comfortable with a particular space, and you find it unacceptable in your life, pause and seek something else. Further, don’t let anyone tell you that the problem is with you. That’s manipulating you to remain where you are, and then you become the object and dumping ground for stuff that doesn’t pertain to you and is unacceptable in your life. Easier said than done, right? I agree, and I’ve been there more times than I can count. We all fall off the wagon, but the next second is critical, the one in which you have the opportunity to aspire to rise above it all. Don’t spend valuable energy dwelling on the fact that you succumbed to a moment of weakness. It’s not weakness; you have a heart. It happens.

Remember, we’re all free to make choices; however, we do not have control over their outcomes. Therefore, to address the plight you face at that particular moment, it is essential to practice pushing the pause button deliberately, and remaining silent. Step away and reflect. Ask yourself, “What part did I play in this situation? Or was it projection? Is this person, group of acquaintances or circle for me?” Use your history to assess your current situation. Those facts will determine if it’s you or the other party.

I was bullied when I was younger, and I remember being afraid. I remember vaguely, but I did not engage the uncomfortable behavior. I remained completely silent and simply stared blankly at the other person. I’m a professional when it comes to avoidance. Anyway, after some time, the fear dissipated and the situation or behavior disappeared. Even to this day, if I feel that kind of energy approaching me, I see it and I repel it. You want to avoid drifting into a space of judgment. Embrace the silence, hear the whispers while you’re alone. Face what’s before you, yet you, saying to yourself, “Do you see me? I see you.” The instant you notice the character or energy that signals doubt remain calm, and turn the other way or keep moving.

As far back as I can remember, I’ve prayed. I’ve prayed even when I didn’t understand. I read, even when I didn’t understand. I trusted God that much that He has the answers; therefore, there’s no need for me to be concerned. He asked only that I show up, and He would handle the rest. He’s my source of everything I am and need, even when I’m not aware of Him.

“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31.

I learned the following from a course I attended a couple of years ago about professional and personal relationships. Observe others from the following perspectives:

The persona observed, the way in which you see the individual.
The real persona, the way they actually are, not based upon your perception.
The potential persona, the positive character observed; for example, the relationship with his/her family. You’ve noticed the good that exists within that person.

The most important of the three is an individual’s existing potential. When you focus on potential, you’re assessing the person from a positive perspective. This perspective helps you overcome and release your negative feelings. By doing so, you may be able to change the course of events.

If you understand the why, you can overcome the challenges. Trust in yourself. You’re much smarter than you think.

“Happiness is like a butterfly. The more you chase it, the more it eludes you. But if you turn your attention to other things, it comes and sits softly on your shoulder.” Henry David Thoreau

June 12, 2017 0