Nobody is going to blindside you and hit you as hard as life will. Sometimes life will beat you to the ground, and keep you there if you let it. It's not about how hard life can hit you; it's about how hard you can be hit while continuing to move forward.
We all think "everyone else is doing better than me"....that couldn't be farther from the truth. We all have a heavy burden to carry at times and then we have those times of great peace. Don't compare your behind-the-scenes circumstances with everyone else's public highlight reel. Stop the comparisons!
Each person regenerated through receiving Jesus Christ as their Savior receives a new spirit and a new heart from God, but does not receive a new mind-that mind must be renewed. The intent of one's heart may be pure and yet the mind is still confused.
I won't ever become so spiritual that the enemy will decide to stop harassing me, but I can become stronger and stronger against him as I grow in my relationship with God and with understanding His Word.
My life has changed quite a bit since I've received Jesus back into my life. Being the strong person that I was/am, it took letting me really get into a tight stranglehold of depression before I let him take my burdons off my shoulders. God does not control us. He guides us in what is right. He gives us the spirit and fruit of self-control and the freedom to do our own thinking. Satan, who is the enemy of your soul, will try to control your life by controlling your thoughts. Unfortunately, a great deal of the way we think is instigated by the way we have been raised, the world around us, and evil forces at work in the world today, but the truth makes us free.
The sense of freedom I felt that very minute I surrendered to the Lord was incredible. I will never look back.
This post is not meant to push my beliefs or my decision to receive Jesus into my everyday life, but it is meant to make you think about your very own foundation. Do you have one? Without a strong foundation, there will not be strength in what you try to build in your life.
I am, by NO means perfect. My life didn't just turn all roses and wine since "that" moment. I'm dealing with some pretty deep stuff. I'm not LIVING in the past, but I am visiting parts of it-the parts that need to be dealt with in order to be stronger-and in some cases-let myself be weak. Sometimes, admitting we can NOT (and should not) do everything is a huge strength. People know me better through this blog than in life. In fact, those of you who follow this blog who have never met me in person, know me better than people who are in my life daily. I'm kind of a female version of the singer/songwriter Jim Croce, I have to say I love you in song, or in this case a blog post. It's not just saying I Love You, it's saying whatever you need/want to people. It's all about opening up, allowing your heart to feel peace AND in a lot of cases-hurt.
I've recently read that someone calculated how the average person spends a typical life span of 70 years. Here's what the estimate was-if you lived to be 70:
23 years sleeping
16 years working
8 years watching TV
6 years eating
6 years traveling
4.5 years on leisurely activities
4 years being sick
2 years getting dressed
The average person spends 6 months of his/her life on spiritual activities. If you add all these numbers up, you will get that total of 70 years-and then life is over. I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend 4 times more of my life getting dressed than talking to God, reading His Word, or worshiping Him.
I have come to believe anyone's success in business, in ministry, or in our everyday life is directly related to the place of importance we give to God in our daily lives.
I know in my heart that things will only get better from this point on. Definitely rocky at times, but in the end, it's all worth the time and effort. I'm confident that I will create better eating habits. Ones that will stick for life. I am confident that all I have done with my kettlebells will be back in full force. I may be doing some stuff with a 12kg now that I was doing with a 24kg, but it won't take long to get it back. With a strong foundation-the rest will fall in place.
Yesterday I had a follow-up MD appointment for an issue I'm dealing with-that's a whole other blog post-and I'm thrilled to say that the scale went down! I wasn't really thrilled about having to step on it for just a follow-up visit, but in the end it was all good.......down 5lbs. Let the games begin......
Until next time........Blessings!
it's interesting you mention not to compare ourselves with others. I was just thinking of this same thing the other day. I noticed how a couple friends I have who society would call externally "beautiful", who are slender, long pretty blonge hair, pretty face...have dealt with some things in their personal lives I would never want. For example, one had cancer, beat it, but is now in an emotionally abusive relationship. Another had cancer as well, and is divorced. People look at these ladies and think their world is "perfect" or "easy". I know much differently, and wouldn't trade my thick thighs for theirs in a second! Appreciate what we have, for sure!
ReplyDeleteAnd people, myself included at times, will want the goodness and peace that others seem to have but we don't want to take that journey they persevered through to get there!
DeleteLove this post! You always post things that I need to read in the moment. Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way about all the blogs I read! Thanks! Hope your bronchitis heals up! It's a crazy year for breathing problems!
Deletewoo hoo to the 5lbs! hope the doctor appt went well.
ReplyDeletei think a huge part of our societal problems today are people comparing themselves to others. it's too easy to think woe is me, look at how great so-and-so is doing - all facebook/twitter/whatever are is "look at how amazing my life is". it's very important to try and not do this! you never know what someone is going through or what their life situation is really like.
the breakdown of time spent over life - yeesh i don't even want to know how much of mine is spent sitting here on the internet reading things, blogging, whatever. good reminder to get up and do what matters more often! (although, i am very thankful for the many good blog friends i've made like you).
MD appt. was okay-there will be surgery this year. I'll find out later this month at another appt.
DeleteFB and internet world is a crazy place-it keeps us close, yet keeps us from other things. We just have to find a balance!