You will flourish!
Hello, It has been a while since I have written to you! I hope you are doing well during these unprecedented times we are living in and I hope you are taking good care of yourself.
As you know it is my passion to serve others by taking them from their pain points to their power thoughts so that ultimately, they will live in purpose and on purpose. What do I mean by that, I mean there is a difference in waking up everyday living intentionally, commanding your day versus letting the day take just happen to you. I do my best to live this way everyday!
Do you have areas in your life that need fine-tuning? Explore Options:
What part of this situation IS in your power to change?
What options to you see for yourself?
What have you done in the past when faced with a similar challenge?
What worked?
I used to live in this "bob and weave" blueprint for life before I learned how to manage my thoughts. As it stands now, I am very particular about what I think. I am selective about whether I need to pursue a thought or quickly get rid of a thought because it will only contribute to my feelings of powerlessness. For example, I used to ruminate on negative thoughts and create scenarios in my mind that most likely would never take place. Why did I do that for such a long period of time? Here are some of the main reasons:
I did not know the truth about a situation
I never learned to challenge my thoughts and ask myself. "Is that true?"
Challenge your negative thoughts by asking, "Is this the truth?"
I was fearful of the outcome
I was not willing to take responsibility yet
I did not know how to successfully confront and navigate the situation for a beneficial outcome
I was afraid of success(yes, you read that right)
I was afraid of what other people might think
I was hiding within my comfort zone
I was defensive because I was hurting
So, guess what happened a lot of the time, you guessed it, emotion took over and left little room for strategy and intelligent execution. It took a long time and a lot of lessons for me to finally realize that harnessing the power of my thoughts would ultimately change me, my belief systems, core values, habits, and outcomes.
I am finally at a place where I can confront situations with the power of thought and problem solving instead of fear. Thank God, because without His help none of my new way living would be at all possible. You see changing my approach to life did not just come with the power of positive thinking, that was part of it however the most effective tool for me was the Bible and a prayer life. The Bible coupled with the power of prayer and practical solutions changed my life for the good and forever! I have a Bona fide strategy to think my way above any situation (check out Romans 12:2), now that doesn’t mean I don’t have problems or that I don't feel bad sometimes because I do however the more I yield to God’s Word and my coaching tools the more I rise above the emotions that can keep one stuck in a cycle of victimization. I believe life is happening for us not to us! I have learned that in life I should be constantly becoming, that is the joy of the journey we call life (check out Romans 8:29)! I also understand that a stagnant mind and negative emotions can keep us stuck, going in circles making decisions and creating scenarios that bring consequence instead of celebration. It’s only when we take a clear look at the blueprint and current conditions of our lives and decide to take responsibility for a better existence then God can step in and work with us to help us to grow, mature and experience an abundant existence and lifestyle. The power to change comes by choice not osmosis meaning that God will not force you to take His blessings but He will be right there when you choose the path and process to work on you. He will be right ready to walk with you in unforced rhythms of grace when you decided that you want to move from pain into purpose. You see, our lifestyle is not just about acquiring things but about the quality of life we live, the quality of our relationships and the quality of service we provide to others.
I have found that maintaining spiritual truths and applying wisdom (check out James 1:5) can bring about an abundance of knowledge and understanding that will consistently improve your way of being. I have some big obstacles in front of me right now however I know the tools God has given me will work to my advantage as long as I have a heart and mind that is humble enough to receive God’s powerful transforming Word and the practical strategies that are bound to coach me in to positions of purpose and promotion. I was reading this verse the other day and it said, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).” Why would God say that to his children? Did his children get in trouble and think God was dropping them off at the nearest fire station? He said it for a good reason but not because He was dodging them or His responsibility. You see the children of God were being carried away from their homeland into captivity because they had previously refused to listen to God’s instruction. Jeremiah 25:7 says something very interesting me, “Yet you have not listened to me, says the Lord, that you might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.” It is interesting to me because I've done dumb things that felt right in the moment only to hurt myself in the long run! I used to be like this all the time, thinking things to my own hurt, by God's grace I am getting better and thinking better. I did not have a huge idol that I smelted and brought out of a fire and sat in front of my house however I did have some big grandiose thoughts that led me away from God’s instructions and his blessings. What thoughts are you idolizing? What amazes me about God in this passage is that even though His children were suffering consequences at the hand of their own decisions He reminded them that even in this situation He was still thinking good about them. This says to me that the power of God’s love for His people outweighs the burden of their current situations. Even in exile God leaned into them to remind them through Jeremiah’s letter that the Lord was not only thinking of them but that He was thinking toward them. The direction of His thoughts toward them were of peace, safety, completeness, and wholeness and not evil. Just because the children of God were in a place of consequence it did not mean that God’s mind had become evil or malignant toward them. God reminded them that He had a purpose and a picture of their future and it was good. He reminded them that they had a reason to hope for a good future because what He had in mind about them was good. The word hope in this passage translates “tiqvah” meaning cord. This makes me think of the many uses of cord but think of two, an electrical cord and an umbilical cord. Both cords provide a path to a source that delivers an “essential” amount energy and supply that produce power for living well.
Recently when my grandson was born, he had to be delivered sooner than expected in an emergency surgery called a C-section. He could no longer wait on the natural process of things because the way his mother’s placenta was situated it prevented him from receiving nourishment through the umbilical cord. Because the conduit for connection to his nourishment was blocked, he was not fully getting what he needed to survive the atmosphere of the womb. This created an environment for him that made it hard to keep a strong heart rate and it was at this point the doctor said, “His heart rate can not handle this, its too low, we’ve tried to wait this out but it is no longer safe to keep him in this environment. He will need to be delivered now!” My grandson could not flourish in that environment so it was time to leave. What are you willing to disconnect from now to see major progress in your life? Establish Focus: What is the most important outcome for you in this area? What has stopped you from achieving this goal in the past? What would be the benefit of reaching your desired outcome? What will happen or how will you feel if you do not achieve this goal? What is the first thing you will do when you have achieved your goal? Back to the story… We didn’t have time to think about “what if’s” or argue with the doctors- we had to make the best decision for my grandson in that moment and the best decision was for him to enter this world safely so that he could live in a well nourished way. The good thinking on the doctor’s part and his parents’ part were the result of prior knowledge and good timing. Both strategies gave my grandson what he needed-to get out of an environment that was preventing his capacity to live in a well-nourished way. He needed to breathe, he needed food, he needed a good environment to grow and being delivered quickly provided that solution! My grandson and his parents are doing well! Because we all shifted at the "word" of the doctor and moved expeditiously we are now experiencing my grandson flourishing in his new environment. What environment in your life is preventing you from living well? What can you do about it? Same as my grandson, the children of God were not in an ideal situation, but God gave them instructions that would promote a healthy way of living despite their surroundings. In a nutshell God instructed them to: 1. Acknowledge that they were leaving a comfort zone 2. Make plans to build homes, plant, eat, grow your families -increase, do not decrease 3. Pray for the peace of the city where they were going and then they would have peace 4. Believe truth not lies; and know the difference between the two 5. Realize that it was not the end and this too shall pass 6. Understand that He had good in mind toward them and He would perform it 7. Expect that He would be with them and perform His promise for them 8. Grasp that He was thinking peacefully of them and that He had a destiny for them so there was reason for them to anticipate beneficial times ahead So, I will close with this, do what causes you to flourish! Establish Focus: Flourish: grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly favorable environment. To flourish; grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly favorable environment. So do what makes you flourish!
Pray for the courage to get rid of mindsets and environments that attack your ability to be whole and live wealthy. Prayer is the transportation you will need to go from pain to purpose. Now, our circumstances(in the pandemic and otherwise) are not ideal nonetheless there are things we can do to promote our progress and only you know what those things are for you. The choice is ours to remain plateaued or to create a plan to make progress and mentally elevate in face of our issues. It is easier said than done but in my experience I know the processing present pain will be well worth the destiny alignment, peace and promotion in the future.
I'd choose again and again to live a courageous, faith-filled, Spirit-led, full, well thought out life designed and navigated by God(even when He doesn't give me all the details) than to settle for a meager, fearful, unintentional existence steered by pitfalls of the past, compromise and co-dependency. Been there did that and no thanks! Don’t’ let life happen to you, happen to life! Kim “Beautifully Flawed & Finally Flourishing.”