Battle #2

Uncertainty

Living with uncertainty is one of the most uncomfortable feelings that we have all experienced.  Let’s face reality for a moment. Almost everything in this life is uncertain; life, careers, relationships, health and investments. The list goes on. No matter how hard we try to prepare and plan we never know what is going to happen in our future.  Undoubtedly, most of us have learned over time how to adapt to the uncertainties that life has to offer. Being uncertain about daily decisions like which shoes to wear and what you should eat for dinner happens to the best of us. Most importantly, one thing that we should never be uncertain about is Trusting in God.

Many people struggle with uncertainty as it relates to their faith. Some of us don’t know where God is taking or leading us because we confuse our faith with our personal feelings. A significant amount of us hate being uncertain about things so much that we try to figure it out. Then when nothing goes accordingly we blame God for not meeting our expectations. The more you struggle to make yourself and your situations secure, the more you are living a life that is only pleasing to you. I battled with this, I wanted to know everything down to the core and if I didn’t I was very edgy and dissatisfied. It was almost like I wanted a book of everything that was going happen in my life.  The most troubling part of uncertainty, for me, is the inability to plan and feel in control. I proclaimed that I believed in God but my faith wasn’t even activated.  I thought everything in my life was a disaster if I didn’t know what was going to happen next. God surely knows how to test you when you least expect it. God gives us the ability to exercise our faith as we take on new challenges every day. Motivating our faith starts by fully trusting in the Lord. A component of faith starts with understanding uncertainty and finding peace, joy and purpose in our life in spite of not having all the answers. Through understanding the uncertainties of life God can help mold and shape your character into his likeness and image. As your character develops, your faith increases and your ability to embrace the uncertainties in your life will expand beyond your belief.

There are some unclear circumstances in my life that I don’t fully understand.  I believe that God is using this time to test me and see if I will trust him during this unsettled period. I am thankful for the test, because it is allowing me to strengthen my faith and draw closer to him. Imagine what life would be like if we didn’t have struggles. We would never have opportunities to grow. Our life and our actions impact everyone that we encounter. Use the circumstances in your life to strengthen your faith. Let your attitude through your trials of uncertainty be an example for others to mimic. I urge you to simply relax and let God take control and lead your path the way that he sees fit. Allow God to surprise you and give you a new outlook on life. Pray for new ideas and new solutions; ask for a better understanding and clear perceptions. Activate your faith today and be eager for the surprises that uncertainty brings. After I changed my mindset I discovered that uncertainty can be turned into anticipation for what God is manifesting in my life. Please understand that your life is not chaotic, crazy or disorganized if you don’t know everything. Remember that your faith is an important ingredient to a life pleasing to God.

Best 

Battle #1

Hello Friends,

I want to begin by apologizing for my lack of consistency. I haven’t posted a in a while and I am steering away from excuses in this season of my life. Nevertheless, I made a commitment to be persistent with blogging and I will hold myself responsible and accountable to this commitment from here on out.

Battle #1

Have you ever felt lost, alone and afraid all at the same time? It is a petrifying feeling to say the least.  There was a time in my life where I had been in a very dark place. I felt alone, discouraged, confused and unaware. God has a way of throwing us curve balls in times that we least expect it. I think that it is his way of proving to us that he is and will always remain in control. Charles R. Swindoll once said “Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it.” During this unclear time in my life, I felt like my mind has been so off focused. I felt like reactions were taking control of my life and had stolen my attention away from the important things. In a way I think that God was testing me and I continued to fail week after week. I didn't understand why I couldn't pass the small test in my life. It’s so ironic that during this time my prayers got shorter, my daily devotions and reading his word was not as often and I felt empty and I started to become content with that emptiness. I said that I wanted to surrender wholeheartedly but I was only giving 50%.  Once I realized I was steering in a direction of pleasing my flesh I really started to condemn myself. I have a tendency to get caught up in pleasing other people.  I have a big heart for meeting other’s expectations that I lose focus on meeting the expectations of the one who matters most, God. I began to seek guidance and direction because I started to wonder if I am making the right decisions and following the path that God has for me. Often times I found myself comparing my life to others around me. I seen how God was blessing them in ways that he has yet to bless me. My mind started to wonder, when will it be my turn? My reaction appeared to be happy but deep down I was battling with something far greater. I realized I needed to do something different in order for me to achieve a better outcome. I didn't want to live my life lost, alone, and comparing any longer.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before I got back involved with reading and devoting my time accordingly. After while, I started to understand that everybody has a season and right now it is just not my season. It took a while to genuinely accept that reality. After months of self-discipline, prayer and determination to have a pure and content heart, I felt free.  I took control of the thing that was controlling me.  I decided not to allow my mind to compare, and react in a jealous manner. I felt like I was waiting on God to reveal something to me, but in all actuality God was really waiting on me. If I do what God expects me to do, he will give me the very desires of my heart and much more.

 This battle has been mind-altering for me because it has been one of my greatest struggles. Learning how to be content with the things I may not always understand, and gracefully reacting the way God would expect me to react. Lately, I have been trying to master the art of my reactions so that I automatically react to the series of events in my life in a positive way. I have also accepted the challenge to not compare myself and my situations to those around me but to truly have a heart of acceptance and happiness for the blessings God has given them. Even though the things that I have encountered in my life have led me to believe that God has forgotten about me, I know that in his word, Deuteronomy 31:6 he promised to never leave me or forsake me. As I continue to embark on this journey I know that things may not go how I plan, but as long as I trust in him my path will be made clear.

Someone reading this might feel like they are at a gloomy point in their life, like you might have reached the end of the road and you have no idea what to do. Maybe your situation is smaller than mine and your struggle is totally different. Whatever it is that you are going through I encourage you to lean on God through this time in your life, draw closer to him and cast you cares upon him because he cares for you.

Stay Encouraged 

Encourage Yourself

 Many people spend their lives looking for others to motivate, inspire and encourage them.  Inspiration and encouragement is a great thing to receive from trustworthy people.  Indeed, we all get discouraged, beat up and brought down from time to time. In those difficult times, we all need encouragement. We all seek and enjoy encouragement and words of wisdom from those who see things in us that we might struggle to see in our self. The worst thing anyone can do is become so dependent on other people to speak into their lives. In time of defeat and tribulations it is important to know how to encourage yourself when there is no one around.  Some people think that they have to follow the beat of someone else’s drum in order to see fulfillment in their life. Truth is you can create your own distinctive beat. It all starts with you; it starts by changing your mindset. A little encouragement from YOU can go a long way. No matter how difficult the situation is that you are going through, I promise you that self-encouragement can make it that much easier.

Somethings that I have learned:  Confidence, Positivity and Prayer!

1.       Confidence

If you have confidence and nothing else, at least you have confidence that you will find a way.  If you have failed, be confident that you will learn and grow for the next opportunity that passes you by. Try not to lose hope in your current circumstance, remember to encourage yourself through the good and the bad times. I know it is so cliché, but "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" I strongly believe that. I have learned that every difficult trial you have been through, you have overcome, because you are still here. As you start to use your strengths and improve, you will develop a great deal of confidence and fulfillment within yourself. Believe that you can and you will do whatever it is that you put your mind to. The statement “I can do this” is, in and of itself, an encouragement. Challenge yourself to NEVER GIVE UP!

2.       Positivity

Negative people discourage your energy and your drive for self-encouragement. Remove yourself from any situation that does not seek happiness and motivates you to press on towards your hearts desires. If that means cutting people off, cut them off. Delete negativity out of your life as a whole. Embrace and seek the positives that life has to offer. Surround yourself with positive influences, read inspirational books, listen to uplifting music and develop elevating friendships. Don’t allow miserable, unhappy and degrading people to steal your happiness. Those are the people you should be running away from as fast as you can. Obstacles will come your way but learning how to deal with them positively is the key. Open yourself up to learning and growing outside of the box. It is hard to find the courage in the strengths you already have. With a positive mindset it is easier to have courage about what you will be become. Do yourself a favor, encourage yourself by taking advantage of new opportunities that will enhance your development of healthy encouraging habits. 

3.       Prayer

Above all, I encourage you to pray. In fact, pray every day! Pray and seek peace. Understand that you will not change and develop overnight. Trust your process and enjoy it thoroughly. It will give you a phenomenal story to help encourage someone else. Pray for a peace of mind, a heart of joy and a spirit of encouragement. I recommend practicing encouraging yourself daily. Speak life into your situations and don’t allow yourself to indulge in self-pity.  Ask for God’s guidance with encouraging yourself.  Don’t anticipate and look for encouragement from others all the time. As you grow you will be less reliant on external praise and more fulfilled with encouraging yourself. It is never too early to start. Don’t allow anything to keep you from obtaining this goal.

These are just a few tips that have helped me throughout my self-encouragement process.  

I want you to remember “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” 1. John 4:4

Stay encouraged my friend! 

I choose LOVE!

Mastering the Art of loving people in-spite of. I choose LOVE!

Genuinely forgiving and loving people in-spite of what they may have done to you is the greatest thing you can do for yourself. I'm like each and everyone one of you. I'm human; if you cut me I'll bleed... I feel emotions and I've had countless disappointment. Over time I let that bitterness build up inside of me and it began to control me. Uncontrollably began to dictate my every emotion and I allowed anger and rage to live in my heart.  Bitterness will consume your thoughts and emotions. It will take over you, and you will start to feel like everyone is out to hurt you. Weeding out that poisonous root of un-forgiveness and bitterness was one of the best things I could have ever done for my own happiness. Not to say I am perfect, because I am miraculously flawed in many ways. However, I have chosen to make a lifestyle out of genuinely loving those who have "TRIED MY LIFE" as I would say. Or in other words, tried to dismantle me in any way they possibly could. I’m sure many people have been hurt by a friend, significant other or even a deadbeat parent but we should all be making an effort to be at peace with everyone. Yes, even those who have despite-fully used us and caused so much pain and agony along with sleepless nights. In Philippians 4:5 we are commanded, "Let your gentleness be known to all men." I want to be at peace, not with most people, or with some, but with all of them.

We have all heard the "Golden Rule" a million times. Yet, we can treat people better than we treat ourselves and they can still hurt us. Sometimes we don't know why people do things to us to tear us down and betray us. Truth is, we may never find out. It is easy to get mad when people use and abuse us. It is even easier talk down on them then warn everybody in the city that "they're no good" Let's be real, we've all done it. My question is what satisfaction do we get from that? We feel good because we got that pain off of our chest, we told somebody!!!! O.K. But at the end of the day that pain is still there. That pain that builds up to bitterness and resentment and after while it gets out of control. The control is simply within us, we control how we respond to our situations. Do you realize when we vindicate negative behaviors we are showing malicious ill will to hurt someone because they hurt us. We seek revenge and that is why so many people have lost their lives because they want to GET EVEN. It takes a mature person to understand that forgiveness is not the end of the world. It does not mean we are a punk or sensitive. It shows real maturity and proves that we can let things be and keep pressing forward. Saying that you forgive someone, just isn’t enough. Anyone can say they forgive someone but acting upon it is the key to true forgiveness. We live in a world where people are going to hurt us regardless if we do everything perfect or not. That's just the way it is. Yet, people are searching for that apology that they never got. Guess what, we probably won't ever get. I've had friends stab me in the back and yes it hurts because you never image the people closest to you would treat you so dirty but I’ve learned how to deal with it, embrace it and love them in-spite of. Continuously I keep pressing towards the mark of mastering the art of loving people in-spite of. Learning how to love people takes time but if you are genuine, it is time well spent. There are so many other things in life to be concerned with then holding bitterness in our hearts because someone hurt us. Life is too short to be wasting it being upset about something we cannot control. Do yourself a favor, choose love it is so much easier. Let’s not forget that Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. Loving difficult people is more than a good idea. It is God’s example.  Treat people the way you want to be treated. We have all needed to be forgiven at some point; so don’t try to write off your wrong doings. Set an example of loving grace for everyone to see. Challenge yourself to step up to a higher level of love and avoid the pits of bitterness, spite and maliciousness. Take action and make it a lifestyle.

Until next time J

“The art of love is largely the art of persistence.”
— Albert Ellis

"You demonstrate love by giving it unconditionally to yourself. And as you do, you attract others into your life who are able to love you without conditions" 
Paul Ferrini 

I love me, I remind myself everyday. I have taught myself how to genuinely love me in spite of all my imperfections. I love everything about myself. I was stitched perfectly and created with purpose, divine purpose that only continues to linger out and manifest everyday that I breathe. One thing about loving yourself unconditionally is that no one can ever take that self love away from you. When you truly love you first, without any limitations you begin to realize how powerful loving you really is. As devastating as it is, there are many people who don't know how to love themselves. Ha, those same people reach out to other confused souls and anticipate genuine love to help them find self love. Well, that is not exactly how it works. Which is why so many troubled relationships that were started on a lie, ultimately end with the truth exposed leaving everything out in the open. No matter how hard you try to hide the flaw of insecurity and lack of self love, with anyone you get involved with those flaws begin to reveal unexpectedly, and now someone knows who you really are. No matter who that someone is, a friend or a significant other they have been exposed.  People tend to shy away from people that they perceive to have too many issues. Truth is, we all have issues but some people know how to deal with them better than others.  Oh yea, so you think you can wash your hands from the filth and keep living a lie and bring your insecure habits into another situation, and you continue the trend until it gets old, or until you're all alone. Sorry to burst the bubble, wherever you go, those same problems go with you until you master the art of dealing with them. One thing that kills me is that people try cover up their issues more than they lay them out on the table. Why is that? Because life is so much easier when no one knows the "REAL YOU" and all your blemishes and bruises are covered up. Learning how to unmask those when the time is right will dismiss so many issues in your life.  The thing is, no one can love you if you don't love yourself enough to be willing to unmask the things that make you uniquely you. No matter how terrible you think your life is, you have to be mindful that someone else out there is going through a much worse situation than you. I remind myself of that daily. Sometimes we get so caught up in ourselves and we begin to exaggerate our flaws and failures and ascribe defects to our lives that often times don't exist. I have found throughout my young life that when you reveal the truth to the right people they linger to you. Once you develop those people in your life, putting on a face full of make up is the wrong thing to do. As hard as it may be to reveal those things, the better you feel when you do. Once you truly realize that you can't change who you are and God made no mistakes when creating you it is easier to accept . You begin to realize that self love is more important than anything else. Have you ever been around someone who was just so confident in themselves and they are so accepting of their flaws and failures. Wow! Those individuals inspire me, I am sure they inspire you as well in some way or another. Truth is, we all have flaws and we have all failed countless times. Embracing and loving the unchangeable things about yourself will only force other to love and accept you for you. If they don't, then so be it. Life still goes on honey. With acceptance we begin to strengthen our character and improve our emotional maturity.You cannot continue to struggle against loving and revealing the real you and simmer with negativity and low self-esteem it is weighing you and others around you down more than you know. Indeed, I challenge you to do something out of the ordinary and just experience what it feels like to feel peace and contentment over your life. I promise you wont regret it.

Continue to stay blessed, I'm praying for you.

"Of all the judgments we pass in life, none is more important than the judgment we pass on ourselves." - Nathaniel Branden 

The Overview

The battlefield is my blog name for so many reasons. As time goes on I will specify in greater detail. Not only do I want to be an inspiration but I also want to feel free to be myself and share my battles as a guide to help encourage someone else to never give up. For as long as I can remember, I've always had a diary or journal that I have always used religiously. I use to think that all of my thoughts were crowding my brain and if I didn't write them somewhere that eventually my brain would explode. I am a thinker, I think about things on average a million times more than the average person. Okay, yes I am a bit dramatic but seriously I think more than I should. I think about everything down to the very core. In some cases thinking about things thoroughly can be an advantage and sometimes it can truly be a big downfall if it gets out of hand. Recently, I found an old journal that I started right after I graduated high school. 176 entries, I must have been going through some THANGS not things. I can't believe it is going to be 5 years in June. Time awaits no man. After reading through my journal I was inspired to start blogging again but more on a serious level since I've grown up and matured and I now have a deeper understanding of myself and who I am as an individual. I am excited to share my thoughts, feelings, emotions and experiences. Never ignore your gift or calling because it was given to you for a reason. Until next time.

Stay Blessed.