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:.

2013 Reflections: Let Go and Let God

2013 was without a doubt the worst year of my life. It was full of so much hurt, pain and disappointments. So many heartaches and headaches that I cannot even number them all. I learned in this year at age 18 and 19 what most people don’t learn until their 30s. My relationships with other people seemed to get worse as my relationship with God got stronger. God begin revealing things to me that I wasn’t ready to accept. I wasn’t ready to let go of a lot of things and people that I knew were bringing me down. It took me all the way until this month, December, for me to truly understand everything and accept it. All the sleepless nights, all the nights I spent crying, all the people who showed me their true colors. It was all for a reason. I thought I was grown at the beginning of the year but now here, the last day of the year, I realize most of my growth came this month. I understand it all now. I truly do. I realize that I don’t look like what I been through. I realize that my greater is coming. I realize that I’m more than a conqueror. I realize I had to let go and let God.

To everyone that hurt me in 2013, no hard feelings. You were a lesson. I know I hurt some people as well, whether intentional or unintentional. I know I was probably a lesson to some people. It's life. People hurt people. But I made a choice. You should too. Choose to get BETTER not BITTER !

So while 2013 was the worst year of my life, it was also the best. You see, I grew from all the bad. Like Alicia Keys said, “Yes, I was burned but I call it a lesson learned.” Although, I experienced so much pain, I’m thankful that I was able to learn from all the pain. I don’t have to go through that stuff again, because I passed the test. All the bad is in the past. So while this year was the best year of my life, it was also the worst year. And I’m confident that this will stay the worst year of my life, as each year will get better and better as God continues to bless me. It took me to lose everything to realize that I had to let go and let God.

.:JRSN:.