Get Over Yourself

Sometimes we miss out on our blessings because we are too picky. We give God a list of how we want our blessings to come. We have a "type" and "preference" but we fail to remember that our "type" was what BROKE our hearts and our "preference" led us astray.

We keep telling the Potter what His masterpiece WANTS, when He's trying to give us what we NEED. We keep giving specifics to what we think we want, and we're ignoring the blessings right in our face. We let our pride and prejudices keep us from great things. We try to make our lives look glamorous to other people but have we forgotten that God sees it all?

Maybe if we stop fronting, we will connect with those who God sent into our lives. Maybe if we stop trying to build up our image, we will realize there are so many people like us. If we reject others because of their failure to measure up, we give God (and others), a reason to reject us because of our shortcomings. If God accepts it, what makes us think we are too good to accept it?

We claim that we don't judge, but then we handpick the people who get "the pleasure" of talking to us. Do we not remember that ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God? (Romans 3:23) Are we not aware that everyone has a purpose in the kingdom of God?

Don't be the person who keeps you from your OWN blessing. Get OVER Yourself.

.:JRSN:.

Forget People, Do YOU !!

Don’t let people put you in a box. People will try to say you’re only meant for one thing. People will try to say that one thing DEFINES you. People are WRONG.

Don’t let people limit you. People will try to reason with you and tell you that you’re being unrealistic. People will tell you that you’re “too young, too poor, too little.” People will tell you that you “aren't smart enough, aren't rich enough, aren't qualified enough." DON'T listen to them.

Don’t limit yourself by setting your goals too small to encompass your potential. You have to set goals big enough to cover all the things that you are capable of. Write down your goals and look at them often. Everything you need to be successful. YOUR definition of successful is within YOU.

You future depends on the goals you set today. If you want to get anywhere in life, you have to set goals and stick with them. Don’t let anyone talk you out of your goals. To be talked out of your goals is to be talked into a life full of MISERY. To be talked out of your goals is to be talked out of your DESTINY.

Remember, what’s for you is for you and it WILL be for you. So claim it. 

.:JRSN:. 

Write the Vision

It is so important to have a vision for our future. We must set goals and checkpoints of what we want to be doing and where we want to be 1 year, 5 years and 10 years from now.  Once we get a vision in our head, we should write it down. “And the Lord answered me, and said, write the vision, and make it plain...” Habakkuk 2:2. Once we write a detailed description of what we hope to accomplish we should put it somewhere where we can see it every day.

 When we have a vision, we become future orientated. We don’t make decisions based on where we are now. However, we make decisions that will help us get where we want to be. People who do not have a vision are present orientated. The decisions that they make are for their short term pleasure. They lack the foresight of the things they should be doing.

Everything we say and do should be to help us bring our vision to pass. We take advantage of every situation so that we can advance and get better. A lot of people say they have visions for their future but they do not act on those goals. “Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.” –Old Proverb.

One of the things that separate the successful from the unsuccessful is sacrifice. So many people have all sorts of dreams and vision but they lack the discipline to sacrifice things that stand in their way. When you have a vision, you cannot do what everyone else does, when everyone else does it, how everyone else does it. When you have a vision, you must take a step back from everything and everybody and see what you need to eliminate from your life to get to where you want to be.

Don’t be one of those people who have big dreams but little discipline. Don’t look around wondering why everyone is advancing but you. Take control of your future. Write the Vision. 

.:JRSN:.

Year Twenty

Year twenty, God has brought me thus far,

Even though things were a little bizarre,

A change has come upon my life,

Receiving liberation from hurt and strife,

Take a look around, I’m not where I used to be,

When did I change into a better me?

Everything that happened, good and bad,

Nurtured me to appreciate the life I had,

Take a look around, I like the view, 

Year twenty, I don’t look like what I’ve been through 

.:JRSN:.

Looking

Looking around,

I see everyone is in pain,

Yet they smile,

But what is to gain?

Looking around,

I see everyone is in distress,

Hearts so heavy,

Who made this mess?

Looking within,

I’ve felt so much sorrow,

Cried so many tears,

Waiting for a better tomorrow,

Looking within,

This life can be rough,

I put walls up,

In my attempt to be tough,

Looking up,

I feel so much relief,

I know there’s hope,

It has replaced my grief

Looking up,

I see the light,

God made a way,

Out of this terrible plight

.:JRSN:.

Stop the Violence.

Our cities have been overtaken with violence, crime, and evil. We have to stand up for our cities. We have to overcome evil with good. Let go of grudges. Grudges lead to hate which is the root of violence. Love cancels out hate. And perfect love which comes from God cancels out fear ( 1 John 4:18 ).

We need to get back to loving and appreciating each other. We need to get back to praying for the protection of our loved ones. Tomorrow is NOT promised. So pray and love today. It’s time to turn [back] to God.  We have gotten so far away from Him and it shows through the violence and crime. 

These are OUR cities. We should not have to live in fear. We have a responsibility to ourselves, our families and our cities. Start praying for your city, family and friends. Look out for your neighbors. If you see it, it’s your responsibility. We can’t keep doing the same things with the same mindsets expecting different results.

These are OUR cities. If not us, then WHO? If not now, then WHEN? The violence and crime directly affects us! What else has to happen to get your attention? How much MORE can you take? If we do nothing, we LET violence, crime,and evil win. If we do nothing, we have NO right to complain. 

Know God, Know Peace. NO God, NO Peace.

.:JRSN:.

Responsibility

We need to start taking more responsibility for our own happiness. We cannot expect or depend on others to make us happy or keep us happy. We have to make it up in our mind every day to be happy. Happiness is a conscious decision. Bad things will happen. People will disappoint us. However, we have to choose to be happy and let nothing or no one take that away. Don’t look to others to make you happy because you will be disappointed.

One thing that I’ve learned over the years is that people change. Change is not always bad though, sometimes change is good. Sometimes change means growth. Sometimes we outgrow people and we have to leave them behind. Sometimes other people grow and they have to leave us behind. However, if we keep in mind that some people are only in our lives for a season and a lesson, then it will be easier to let them go. We will be less likely to let them dictate our happiness.

I saw a quote that said, “Make your anger so expensive that no one can afford it and make your happiness so cheap that people can almost get it free.” Take responsibility for your own happiness and share it with others. One smile can go a long way. A few kind words can make someone else’s day. Life is too short and too precious to go through it being unhappy. 

.:JRSN:.

5 Things We Do To Mess Up Our Lives

1.       We misinterpret people’s roles in our lives and vice versa.

      Sometimes God places people in our lives just to be our friend and encourage us or vice versa. However, we think that person is somebody who we’re supposed to be in a relationship with and we sabotage things by trying to make it romantic. The connection that we feel isn’t physical attraction, but it’s spiritual. Our spirit senses that their spirit can give us something beneficial and we don’t even know it. That’s how we miss out on good friendships and the blessings people can provide us, by trying to force it to something more and wondering why it doesn’t work.

2.       We don’t recognize our influence and the power of the tongue.

            It’s important to realize that everywhere we go, somebody is looking at us. (Not just God.) People are looking to us for approval and positive reinforcements, but our negative words bring people down. We may do this and not even realize it. We MUST realize that death and life are in the power of the tongue. (Proverbs 18:21) We MUST use our words to create and build people up, not destroy and tear people down.

3.       We let our flaws make us fearful.

      Everybody has that flaw (or two) that makes them hesitate sometimes. And if you say don’t, maybe your flaw is pride. We may not do something because we don’t think we are qualified enough. We think people won’t listen to us because of our flaws. However, we fail to realize that our flaws give us our character. Don’t let your flaws keep you from fulfilling your purpose. Sometimes we forget that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14) If we didn’t have flaws, we would have no need for a perfect God. So use your “flaw” to bring you closer to God who is flawless.

4.       We let judgments of others keep us separate from them.

       Many of us are guilty of looking at someone and judging them. We may feel like we are better than them because of our accomplishments or their failures. We put ourselves on pedestals. We are so busy trying to teach people, that we don’t learn from them. How can you reach people unless you are amongst them? Remember even Jesus walked and talked with “sinners”. We need to bridge the gap between “those people” and realize that we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

5.       We let our expectations, keep us expecting more.

      Oftentimes, we are so concerned with what others can do for us that we don’t think about what we can do for others. We expect someone to think about us and text us first, when we are already thinking about them. We expect someone to make our day better and we haven’t made any effort to brighten anyone else’s day. Don't wait on 'someone', YOU are someone! “Be the change that you want to see in the world.” –Gandhi 

.:JRSN:.

Releasing Negativity

It’s hard to get better and make progress when we allow negativity to corrupt our minds. There are so many little things that we do to prevent ourselves from moving forward that we do not even notice or think about. We need to be careful what we allow entrance to our minds and hearts. Negativity yields negative results and positivity yields positive results. It does not get any simpler than that. About two weeks ago I felt led to deactivate my twitter account. I was just scrolling down my Timeline viewing people’s tweets when I thought about how much time I spend on twitter. An hour, a day, a week. There’s so much negativity on twitter; people complaining, cursing, and chasing material things. I realized that while I could not control what other people put out there, I could control what I allowed into my mind. Although, I miss looking on twitter and the humor that is on there, I don’t miss all the negativity and distractions it brought into my mind.

Since I have deactivated my account, I have had more time to do more productive, positive things. I can control what I allow into my mind and spend more time reading material that will foster growth and excellence within me. I spend more time studying and that has yielded great academic results. I’m off to the best start of any semester I have ever had. While I would not go as far to say I’m happier, I can say that I’m more at peace and not stressed out. I don’t have to consume all the drama from other people and I can focus on what I NEED to do to better myself. 

Everybody is different. Perhaps the negativity in your life isn't coming from twitter. You know yourself and you know the things that distract you from living life to the fullest and being who you were meant to be. Each day you should strive to make progress. Nothing stays the same. Either things get better or they get worse. I made the choice to let go of negativity and make strides towards getting. I challenge you to cut the negativity out of your lives, and see how stress-free you feel.

.:JRSN:.

Strength

Time flies. It's been exactly ten days since my last post. The last post I was in sort of a "I don't care about anything mood." I'm doing a little better now. I changed it, from not caring about anything to, just caring about positive things that are going to make me better. Remember, it is 2014 !!!  The year of being better. I have been trying to be a little better each day than I was the previous day. I have done that by being, "Slow to anger, Slow to speak." 

I don't have anything super inspirational or motivational or even funny to say. However, I will say that the time is now. If not now, then when? If not you, then who ? Who deserves it more than you? Who has been through all you've been through and obtained the strength you have? Only YOU. If you or I want anything this year (or any other year) then we have to stop making excuses and get serious. I was scrolling on twitter last week (like I often do, lol), I saw a tweet that someone had retweeted, it really spoke to me. It said, "Don't complain about it, If you allow it." This goes for anything in your life. If you can change something, anything in your life, change it. If you won't change it, then don't complain. Our problem, myself included, is that we have become too complacent. We let so much stuff slide. We say we want respect, then we allow people to take advantage of us. If we want something, we have the power, ability, and means to go after it and succeed. The only thing stopping you is you. You are your biggest enemy and your greatest friend.

.:JRSN:.

The Present

What to write, what to write? I'm trying to gather up the strength to write something inspirational or motivational. The truth is, I don't have any. I don't even have any sad love poems or thoughts. (I know you all loved those.) So maybe I should write just real stuff, how I feel. Right now I feel tired. Physically, from being back in class and going through the hustle and bustle of being a student at a major university (UGA , Go Dawgs! ) Also, from being a student-athlete, track practice has been rough for me getting back into shape after being injured for almost two months. I'm also mentally tired, from thinking about all the things I want to accomplish this semester and devising a plan to achieve those goals. Next, I'm emotionally tired from investing so many emotions into one or two particular things and getting worked up over them. So really tired is an understatement

I'm good at writing inspirational posts and even better at writing sad posts, but this post is an 'in-between' post. I'm not quite sure how I feel about any particular thing right now. I have so many goals and hopes, but then again I don't want to get too focused on expectations. I recently came across a quote while scrolling on Instagram (where I tend to scroll a lot) and I'd like to share the quote with you. "Those who are depressed, spend too much time thinking about the past. Those who are anxious, spend too much time thinking about the future..." I can't remember the rest, but that in itself is very profound. So I'm not going to think too much about the past or the future and just live in the present. I'll see how that goes...

.:JRSN:.

Things Not Seen

Where is the compassion? Does anyone care about anything other than themselves anymore? We’re so caught up in our own problems that we fail to realize there are people in worse situations than we are in. We speak about feeding the hungry in Africa, when there are hungry people in the US, right in our own city. We place so much importance on the little things in our lives, that we don’t see the homeless woman going down to her “home” by the railroad tracks. We are Americans. Our country has been blessed by God and yet we don’t want to give to the needy. We pride ourselves on being self-sufficient when in actuality we aren’t. We can’t control what we were born into. We were born with many privileges that others were not born with. 

Where is the love? Does anyone show love other than to themselves anymore? It seems like we have been so caught up in ourselves and making ourselves happy that we neglect the feelings of others. We speak about a self-love but what good is that if you don’t show any love to other people? We see people hurting every day but we don’t take it to heart, because it’s not us. Well, what if it was you? Would you want someone to show you love and compassion? If you were born into a situation where you were the “less fortunate” wouldn’t you want help?

Where is the help? We pay so many taxes to the government. They claim they don’t have any money, but yet there are always new roads, and buildings being built. There are homeless people walking around. We don’t know if they were born in their situation or if they just lost everything they had and became homeless. We don’t know because we don’t ask. We don’t ask because we don’t care. We think we are so much better than them, but we’re not. That man that you see living under the bridge, he was once young and ambitious like you. He once had a family support system and he had goals and education also. However, he ended up losing his job when his company had to lay people off. His wife got sick and he didn’t have the insurance to pay anymore so he took out loans because he loved her. He lost everything because he loved her. Now, she’s dead and he’s homeless and we turn our noses up at him. Why? Where is the compassion? Where is the love? Where is the help?

New Year, Better Me

It’s New Years Day! January 1, 2014. I’m so blessed to see a new year. It’s such an amazing concept to think about how this year is like a clean slate. I haven’t made any mistakes this year, and I haven’t been mean to anyone this year. Each New Year,  is God giving us yet another chance to get it right.

A lot of people adopt the slogan, “New Year, New Me.” But I’m not going to do that. You see, I started my change last year.  I was already changing and making better choices. So this year, I don’t want a “new me” I just want a “better me.” I want to think better thoughts, so I can make better decisions. I want better friendships, relationships, finances and better grades, too. I want better for everyone around me and I want a better role in helping others. I want better for my family and friends who struggled a lot last year. I want better for the teams and athletes that I support and am a part of. I want better for Kobe and the Lakers. I want better for Michael Vick. I want better for the Braves. I want better for Allyson Felix. I want better for ALL UGA sports. I want this year to be better all around. Despite the injuries, coaching changes, transfers and trades that went forth last year and might happen this year, I want better. Point blank.

Once I make up in my mind to be better, I will be better. If everyone in the world, decided one little thing it’d be amazing. Not asking anyone to change completely or be a new them, but just decide to be better than last year. Imagine, how much less tragedy, pain and crime there would be if we all decide to be better. I left my pain, grudges and bitterness in 2013. I challenge YOU to do the same and be better in 2014.

.:JRSN:.