Basic Instinct

Good afternoon!

You know……. Sometimes you know something is wrong and you do it anyway. Then when it turns out bad, you get upset. People are always going to be who they are. I’m not saying they can’t change but if you are involved with a deceptive person then they will be deceptive. If you come across a passive person then do not expect them to be anything but who they are. I have met some super joyful people and through time, they have always been that way. This is who they are…..it really has nothing to do with you. They will do this time and time again because it’s in their nature. I have said many times that you should not give people potential when they are not moving. You may know that they can be great but if they do not see it then they will be the person that they have always been. Focus on who they are in that moment and then decide if this is something that you want in your life. Do not think that you can change them or if they were in different circumstances, they would be different. You will not be able to change someone else but you can always change yourself. You have to look past how you feel about the person and see who they really are at that moment. Follow your gut and then make the decision.

The Scorpion and the Frog

One day, a scorpion looked around at the mountain where he lived and decided that he wanted a change. So, he set out on a journey through the forests and hills. He climbed over rocks and under vines and kept going until he reached a river.

The river was wide and swift, and the scorpion stopped to reconsider the situation. He couldn't see any way across. So, he ran upriver and then checked downriver, all the while thinking that he might have to turn back.

Suddenly, he saw a frog sitting in the rushes by the bank of the stream on the other side of the river. He decided to ask the frog for help getting across the stream.

"Hello Mr. Frog!" called the scorpion across the water, "Would you be so kind as to give me a ride on your back across the river?"

"Well now, Mr. Scorpion! How do I know that if I try to help you, you won’t try to kill me?" asked the frog hesitantly.

"Because," the scorpion replied, "If I try to kill you, then I would die too, for you see I cannot swim!"

Now this seemed to make sense to the frog. But he asked. "What about when I get close to the bank? You could still try to kill me and get back to the shore!"

"This is true," agreed the scorpion, "But then I wouldn't be able to get to the other side of the river!"

"Alright then...how do I know you won’t just wait till we get to the other side and THEN kill me?" said the frog.

"Ahh...," crooned the scorpion, "Because you see, once you've taken me to the other side of this river, I will be so grateful for your help, that it would hardly be fair to reward you with death, now would it?!"

So, the frog agreed to take the scorpion across the river. He swam over to the bank and settled himself near the mud to pick up his passenger. The scorpion crawled onto the frog's back, his sharp claws prickling into the frog's soft hide, and the frog slid into the river. The muddy water swirled around them, but the frog stayed near the surface so the scorpion would not drown. He kicked strongly through the first half of the stream, his flippers paddling wildly against the current.

Halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his stinger from the frog's back. A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs.

"You fool!" croaked the frog, "Now we shall both die! Why on earth did you do that?"

The scorpion shrugged, and did a little jig on the drowning frog's back.

"I could not help myself. It is my nature."

Then they both sank into the muddy waters of the swiftly flowing river.

Thoughts?

MAKE IT GREAT!

E

Decide.

Good morning,

Last night I watched Oprah’s Next Chapter with Joel Osteen. I have to say I do not know that much about Pastor Joel. What I do know is that people seem to love him. I know that he is very positive and he just seems to have good JuJu. Well last night I was inspired. It always makes me feel super happy when my thoughts about Joy, Happiness, and Peace are validated from people whom we view as important. Last night there was a clip from one of his sermons where he said, “Trouble is inevitable but misery is optional”. I LOVE IT! That’s why I am always stating that we should “Focus” on the positive because trouble will always be there. When we focus on the negative, it begins as a pebble and then snowballs into this monstrous ball of negativity. It’s really hard to feel sympathy for someone that is choosing to be miserable. I mean seriously, you are not happy until something happens to you. It never lasts because you are not full of Joy to begin with so you become a black hole that destroys anything that is given to you. Fill yourself up! Speak your greatness into existence. YOU ARE IN CONTROL so you have to be the one that changes the direction of your thoughts. Look at the things you do have going for you. Look at all of the blessings that have been given to you. Enjoy the people that are encouraging you in your life. Encourage yourself! Life is what you make it so put in the work not only in your professional life but also in your personal life. I want to give you my happiness but I can only do so much….you have to live your life. I have chosen to focus on my Joy, My Happy, and my Blessings. My good days far outweigh my not so great days and that’s what I desire for you.

AND remember it’s not about how much water is in the glass…..the fact is that you should be happy that you have water to drink.

MAKE IT GREAT

E

A Change is going to come.......

Good morning,

This morning I was thinking about Forgiveness. Someone asked, “How do you know that you have forgiven someone?” I thought about this because I guess I never really thought about it in depth. My two cents was I feel like I have forgiven someone when their name can be thrown in a conversation and my first thoughts are not negative. I mean we hold on to grudges and do not even realize that most of the time the person(s) is not even worried about you. You are holding on to something that doesn’t even matter. These last four years have been so enlightening. I am the type of person that when you break something down to me and I have understanding I can make better decisions. I am not perfect but I do see things differently. That’s why I get so excited to share things with you. When I wrote about the rocks in our hearts it made me feel good because I know that if I keep tending to my heart I will be able to forgive and get those unnecessary rocks out. Holding on to those rocks will eventually weigh you down and you will find yourself buried underneath them. I have one life to live and I plan to fill it with love, joy, and happiness. I have a few rocks but I am working on them every day. I refuse to let any rocks to get in the way of the things that need to get in to nourish and add to my growth. With that being said, to all of the people that have hurt me….. I forgive you. I wish you nothing but the best in life because that is what I want for everyone. I apologize to anyone that I may have offended or hurt. I also forgive myself for the not great things I have done or said because I am working on being better and I don’t need to hold on to that either. If GOD forgives, we should do the same. Be better and make the road ahead beautiful. I hope that we continue to grow, be positive, and support one another on this journey we call life. 

AND remember life and death lies in the power of your tongue….give life!

MAKE IT GREAT!

E

Get a shovel.......

Good afternoon,

I have so much on my mind today. Life Studies always has me thinking, thinking, thinking and today is no different. We discussed the parable of the sower. I found this scripture so power and sooooo deep. I mean we couldn’t move on because the discussion just kept going and going. We ended the conversation with the part of the parable about seeds being sowed in ground that has rocks in it. The seeds sprout but since they are not deeply rooted, the sun can come and scorch them. They were not able to get the nutrients they needed because the rocks were in the way. I thought that this was so beautiful. So a quick translation….. The seeds are the word of GOD. The ground is your heart. The rocks are things we hold on to (i.e. anger, shame, sadness, being a victim, unworthiness). The sun is any type of trial, storm, or experience. Now we are constantly getting the word of GOD. Just because it doesn’t have the word “GOD” in it doesn’t mean that it’s not a part of his word. Things like “Let it go”, “Piece be still”, and the truth shall set you free are all in the bible. I believe most people are intimidated by the bible (I know I was) and that’s why we tend to pull away from it. I have found with understanding it’s not any different from the life we are living right now. Yes,…we are not farmers but we still live by the saying, “What you put in is what you get out”.  Now…..we ALL have rocks in our heart. Some are pebbles and some are boulders. The whole point of this scripture is that we have to continue to work those stones out. Some will be easier to work out than others will but we should never give up. The more stones we work out the more open will be to the word and all positive things that come with it. That way when the “Sun” comes it will not scorch but continue to mold you into the person you are supposed to be. I have said that the storms of life are not there to destroy you. They are lessons that have to be learned and if GOD could just say, “Do this and this” and we did it then I think we wouldn’t have to go through that. Anywhoo, I put on my Facebook that when life gets funky it’s like having a rock in the groove of your shoe. We never just walk around uncomfortable talking about how you know there is a rock but you will not get it out. We immediately stop and work that rock out and then move on. I actually had a rock stuck in my tire tread (the treads are so deep J thanks Ike) and I could hear it. I pulled over and looked at every tire until I found it. Then I had to find some tools to work it out. When I got it out my truck ran so much smoother. That’s life. Continue to work on getting those negative things out of your life. It’s easier to accept the positive when there is nothing blocking it. I realized through the conversation that people tend to hold on to certain stones to remind them of how unworthy or that they should still be ashamed. The thing is that those things are gone. You are not in that same position. There is a 99% chance that you are the only person that even thinks about that situation. Stop punishing yourself for something that happened in the past. IT’S OVER AND YOU ARE STILL STANDING! It only lives because you allow it to live. Dig that stone out and place it on a shelf….. Use it as an example of how you dug it out and became better from it. You will get no trophies or awards from leaving it in your heart. Don’t be embarrassed. Let GOD use you to heal yourself and others. There is nothing like the feeling of using your victory from a past hurt to help someone else claim their victory. You are already an example of how something GREAT can come out of something not so great! LIVE IT!

We will always have to maintain our garden of life. Take care of you.

AND remember don’t let pass situations dictate future blessings

MAKE IT GREAT!

Mind-boggling

Good morning,

I have a couple of things I want to say today……I hope that it’s not too random.

I am always speaking about how to get to “Happy”. Last night I was watching “Oprah’s Next Chapter” and she (and the interviewee) said that they don’t want to be happy they want Joy. They felt that happy was not a real thing. I sat and thought about it and on some level, I have to disagree. I believe that Joy is an internal thing and because of that, you are happy. The thing is that when you do not have JOY I think happy is easier to obtain. I live on the “Fake it until you make it” plan. In the beginning, I wasn’t happy. I didn’t have JOY. Well actually, I couldn’t recognize and enjoy the JOY I did have. So, I focused on the things that made me happy. I constantly reminded myself what I did have and why I should be happy.  I worked on me and through all of that, I was able to discover my internal joy. I believe that when you are able to appreciate who you are and where you are that is JOY. Things will not always be the same because life is forever changing but if you are happy with the core of you then you will forever have JOY. It seems so easy for me to understand now. I believe that most people have a hard time because they are attempting to fit themselves into something that doesn’t really fit. You have to be able to find what works for you and work from that.  It can be difficult at times when it comes to the action but I’ll never stop because the outcome is so sweet. I spoke with someone recently that told me that although I am constantly encouraging there would be some people that I will not be able to help. That hurts me. I am very happy, joy filled, and I want everyone to feel and enjoy the same. Sometimes I wonder what GOD goes through. I mean he promises us that he has something greater than anything we could ever imagine but yet we refuse it and continue to live unhappy lives. Are we afraid? Do we really not want it? Then I think what do I do when someone doesn’t want to let go of the negativity? Do I just give up and not bother with the person? I mean I can’t force anyone to do something that they have no desire to do. Do I hang around and keep trying? The thing with that is after a while it becomes too much negativity and I get snappish. It’s one thing if the person is working through it and needs a confidant. If the person just wants to complain I am not able to deal and can come off a little too blunt. I have issues with people playing the victim and not doing anything about the situation. Things happen. Do something about it. I mean sit and think about what you want and then go after it! Sitting in a pool of pity is not attractive. People that go through hellish things and fight through it are not victims….. They are soldiers. These people still have a flicker of JOY inside of them and they want to make it a fire. We should never be defined by one thing that we have been through.   We are more than a situation. Our experiences should mold us into better people. Why would you not want to be better? Is it because you do not know ahead of time what that is? I just am not able to figure it out….I think I’m just thinking too much…..

I hope we are all able to find internal JOY. Never stop working towards it. I pray that will all be able to be “Happy” in the midst of it all.  Life is a gift so let’s take the time to enjoy every minute.

AND remember you are the author of your life story….. Will you create a best seller?

MAKE IT GREAT

E