Scattered Thoughts....

Good morning,

So, I was speaking with a friend this morning about encouragement. I have this theory that if someone is encouraged to be more positive then it will radiate out of that person into other aspects of their lives. Of course, this all depends on the person’s willingness to accept positivity into their lives. Their perspective on relationships, career, and self will change once they understand that your circumstances do not make you who you are. They will no longer be able to look at things through negative eyes. I was in a situation where I was encouraging someone that needed the encouragement. I did not agree with the way they were handling life decisions. The way that they were treating people was horrible. I figured that since they had so much hurt and sadness inside that they would not be able to see the good in anything. They hope for the best but always focus on the negative. I believe that if I consistently encourage then they will be able to see the good in their life and appreciate it. Then decisions can be made with a positive expectation. It’s easy to choose when your expectation is to win. With negativity comes doubt followed by the expectation of failure because that is what you know. If you want better then you have to think better. I wanted this person to know that I was holding them responsible for their happiness. I needed them to understand that I have their back and I expect greatness. Even though I got some backlash for being supportive to someone they felt didn’t deserve it I didn’t stop. First of all no one can stop me from being positive. Secondly, if I can help them make a change then I will. Finally, they don’t understand that if that person changes then they will be good to everyone. Everyone wins. I know that people can change if they want to change. If they do not want to change then it really doesn’t affect my life that much because I just gave support and encouragement…..both which I have an abundance of. I was also telling this friend that at a certain point you have the ability to make the decisions. You will not be able to blame anyone else but yourself. What happened to you as a child no longer holds true because you are an adult. YOU DECIDE. So, if you are negative and go into every situation with a negative perspective you will fail and you only have you to blame. My childhood was not perfect by any means but I make the decisions now so if I mess it up it’s on me. I have made the decision to take all of the positives in my life and grow on that. I no longer have a desire to hold on to anything negative. Why? Well mainly because those things are no longer relevant in my life. I want JOY. Now when I think something negative I have to think of two positive things in my life or about the situation. In order to keep negativity from falling out of my mouth I place GOD’s words there instead. I may not say them aloud but if I am not able to say something nice then think about a scripture or positive saying. I know that I will never be perfect but I want to be better. I want to be better to me because I deserve it. If I want to have a wonderful life then I have to make that happen right now, with what I have. For me encouragement is like adding gas to your car….. If you want to keep moving in a positive direction, you have to keep adding the positive.

AND remember correction does much, but encouragement does more.

MAKE IT GREAT

E

Who's got your back?

Good morning,

Someone asked me why am I so happy.

I told them it’s because GOD has given me the gift of life and PROMISED that it would be great. Since I trust him, I can relax knowing that someone has my best interest at heart. Then they said, “But life hasn’t always been good has it?” I answered, “Not always but most of that is due to my interference and the other is lessons that I needed to learn”. There will always be things in life that we will have to experience or endure in order to become the person that we are supposed to be. It’s like college….you have to get through it in order to reap the benefits. Trust you will be able to handle it because GOD never gives you more than you can handle. It’s you that has lack of trust in yourself. That’s why there is fear. Change your perception. When you are in a storm or in the fire just keep thinking, “There is a reason for this”. Something needs to be washed away or burned off so that you can be new again. Fight through it and count it all JOY. When I let go of the negative that is when GOD stepped in….and oh boy did HE show out. It’s as if when I opened up HE gave me everything I ever wanted. I wanted to be happy. I wanted to know my purpose. I wanted to not worry about every single thing. I wanted to understand what GOD wanted from me and to have a better relationship with him. I know that you may be tired of hearing about my divorce but I really don’t care because it was that situation that changed my life. It triggered me to let go because to me I had lost all that I thought I needed and I was still standing. Therefore, I had to let go of my old way of thinking and start anew. I am not able to even able to describe the peace that I now feel. Even in the rough moments, they are not as bad as they use to be. I now know where to put my focus in order to get back to my happy. It all started with the cross in Athena’s house (the one she won’t give me…..lol). On that cross was the scripture, 2 Corinthians 5:7. To me that cross was telling me that I cannot be influenced by what I perceived was going on at the time and I needed to focus on the expectation of something better.  I focused on GOD’s word sifting out the negative and pouring in the love. Through that one little Bible verse, I was able to open myself up to all positive things. I was able to appreciate that even though things looked bad I was super blessed. I have people that love me and will always make sure that I am safe. That alone is a major blessing. I have people that will always encourage me and for that, I can never hit rock bottom. I used that one Bible verse as a weapon against all negative. Not just my negative thoughts but I would go to battle for anyone because according to the world I should have been crushed. I should have been bitter. I should have been sad. I DECIDED that is not what I wanted. I wanted better. I was not well versed in the complete story of GOD (a.k.a The Bible) but I figured since I already believed in him it would come if my heart keep yearning for it. GUESS WHAT? Slowly but surely GOD poured in his word. I began to see how HIS word spoke to my life. It made life easier through the difficult times. GOD’s word didn’t make my life all roses it just made me understand that situations are for a moment…..we make them last for a lifetime. So, GOD then sent a wonderful woman that I do not know well to tell me that I needed to start a blog. I did and I have been able to share my positivity with you. It feels so good. That’s when I figured out the purpose of life. The purpose of life is to SERVE. Now we will all serve in different ways but we will serve. Think about it….. Police protect and SERVE, Doctors SERVE their patients, Pastors SERVE GOD….. I can go on and on. I am here to serve as a messenger for positive living. I am here to encourage because I know that in order to live the life that GOD has given us we all need cheerleaders. I do not know GOD’s complete plan for my life but I will remain open because I know his plan is better than anything that I can ever imagine…. I have the proof with the JOY in my heart. I never imagined that I could be this happy just because. Keep praying for what you want and it will be provided in the way that you can receive it. With all of this being said, LET’S live in GOD’s purpose for our lives….Be Joyful, Serve in every way you can, and keep the Faith.

If you need ever need a cheerleader I’m HERE!!!!! I have a blog, e-mail, IM, Text, or you can just call me. I AM HERE TO SERVE.

AND remember you are only as alone as you desire to be!

MAKE IT GREAT!!!!!!!

E

YOU CAN'T HAVE IT! (remix)

Good morning,

This morning I noticed that I’ve had a trying week. I say trying because with each situation that took place my initial reaction may have been negative but like I said before my JOY belongs to me. They can’t have it! Well last night was the kicker. I mean I was woke up out of my sleep for what I thought would be a pleasant situation but it was not. By the time it was all over, I was hurt and exhausted. This morning although I was no longer in extreme pain I was still bothered. On the drive to work, I was thinking, “What is going on here?” All week my emotions have been under attacked. Just when I let something go here comes something else. Letting of things is not an easy task. I would very hard keeping myself on the happy/joyful side of life. Since I have been putting in the work, I can say that there are times when I’m Joyful for no reason at all…..but please believe me it was a tough to get to this point. I had to let go of things that didn’t matter anymore. Heck I still have to do it now. I’m no longer in those situations so why do I need to hold on to it? I create my own future now so none of that other stuff matters. Things happen to us but we create who we are. We make the decisions now. So why would I add those negative things to create me? About half way to work, I said aloud “YOU CAN'T HAVE IT! MY JOY BELONGS TO ME.” If someone doesn’t like the fact that I have changed then that’s their problem not mine. I didn’t decide to be happy and see the silver lining to upset anyone. I did it for me. Plain and simple. I was tired of being sad. I was tired of everything always being negative. I have my own rocks to get out of my heart. I will not sow your negativity in my garden of life. IT’S MY GARDEN!!! Now I will be more than happy to help anyone. I will encourage and support anyone that wants to have a joy-filled life. What’s not going to happen is anyone coming and dumping their crap in my garden. No weeds, No rocks, no trash…… not in my garden. My garden will be a breeding ground for seeds of JOY so that they will sprout into a positive future. I will nurture my garden with happy words, faith, words of wisdom, and peace. I will continue to dig out any unnecessary things that are unproductive to my growth. I heard the other night, “whatever you feed will grow”. If you plant negativity then every negative word that comes out of your mouth will feed that garden. Look at your garden. What are you growing? Don’t get to the point where you can’t see the garden at all due to the weeds. Some people can’t see that they are in a different situation because the hurt of the past is blinding them. I can’t do anything about that. Your life is your life. I am only a cheerleader for anyone that may need one. I can’t live it for you. Things that hurt me in the past I had to work on letting go. It was keeping me in a negative place that I no longer desired to be. My father and I had this conversation not too long ago. I told him what’s in the past is in the past. We can’t change it but we can do is be better moving forward. I can’t sit and continue to think about what we didn’t have…. IT’S OVER! We have today so let’s not mess it up. We know better so let’s do better. Don’t let other people plant crap in your garden. Seeds of doubt, fear, pain, and anger will never be productive in your life journey. Lashing out with all of your built up hurt is not going to get you to your Joy either. Word vomit happens because you are full not because you are purging to let go. You are not changed from it. You have to make a conscious decision to make a difference in your life. No one else can do it for you. I was told that I would not be able to take everyone on the happy train with me and it hurt. I want everyone to have Joy but I am not in control of anyone but me. This week was a great example of that. I will not stop encouraging. I will not stop being a cheerleader for happy. I will not stop attempting to change every negative into a positive. I will have some not great days but please believe they will no longer outweigh my good days. This is who I am. If for some reason you are not able to handle it then step away……. I’ll be here when you return.

Your garden of life is a gift and when you clutter it with trash and weeds, it’s disrespectful to who gave it to you. LET IT GO!

AND remember do not stress over the things you cannot change because we create our tomorrow by what we do today.

MAKE IT GREAT!

E