Category: life

Surround Yourself with People Who Lift You Higher

 

When I first saw this little jewel, it struck me like a thunder bolt. I spent my entire life surrounding myself with people who tried to not only keep me down but kept their foot on my back like a weight. It wasn’t something that I did consciously, it was just the path of least resistance. The reason was I felt lack of worth.

How many of us go through life feeling that same way and wonder why we never feel good enough for God, who lifts us higher than any human? No matter what circumstances we find our self, God is always there with his hand out wanting to lift us higher and higher. When the entire world walks away, God is there.

We see others who appear to be more successful, more productive, more this or that and we compare our self to them. They are not our yardstick. They are not the barometer by which we pin our success. We do not see into their hearts, we cannot know the path they are walking.

Our yardstick and barometer is God. He has shown us his path. He has shown us his successes, his loss, his hurt and his triumphs. Yet, he is never failing. He always has his hand out to lift us higher than we can ever lift ourselves.

As humans we feel that we need validation from other humans. We seek out their approval, their standard for our success with a thirst that is never quenched. We then wonder why we are not raised higher. The answer to that is simple. Others are just as flawed as we are. They fight their own demons and feelings of lack of self-worth.  When we depend on them to lift us up, we cheat ourselves and them of being lifted up by a power so high that we can never get enough of his lifting.

We forget to follow God’s example of lifting others up. We get so wrapped up in our own feelings we bring others down. How do we stop the cycle? The answer is simple. Take our Godly yardstick, use it for ourselves, and then use it to lift others which in turn lifts us even higher.

But we must remember this – we must not become so full of our self that we believe we are above those who have not reached the level that we believe they should be. God knows their heart. God knows their struggle. The height we reach is determined by how far down we reach out to others to help pull them higher.

surround yourself

 

Someone Once Asked…..

 

 

 

The other day as I was scrolling through my social media, I came across a saying that really resonated with me. My mother used to ask me this question but in a different form. The question was “Why do you always insist on taking the hard road?” I was not wise enough to answer her well. However, I think now I can even though she is not with me any longer here on earth. The answer to the question is simply this, “Why do you assume I see two roads.”

As we are on our road of life, sometimes we must take a path that maybe we did not see coming to teach us a lesson that will not only help us, but it might be of benefit to someone else. Sure, that road may be filled with potholes, and danger or even a collision or two. But they are there for a reason.

I know as a child I was not the easiest child to raise. I had my own mind from the time I was a toddler. I always went my own path. I guess I felt like I needed to know things to experience first hand things in order to learn. Did I make bad decisions, did I fall on my face. You bet. Did I disappoint my parents, on more than one occasion. Did I fail myself, you bet I did. Did I disappoint my creator, I have forgotten the times I did. And yet, I learned, sometimes I had to fall in that pothole more than once. I credit my Scot/Irish ancestors with that mindset. But I learned, eventually. For those of you who know the person you see today, I was not always that person. I was shy, timid, felt unworthy, unloved and unaccepted. I would not speak up, nor would I voice an opinion. I felt I had nothing to offer.  I strived to be all things to all people and in the end, I lost me. I felt that my words did not matter, that my worth did not matter and that no matter how much I strived, I would never matter. It took the hard road to show me that I mattered, if to no one else but God. I have been called harsh by some, even my own children in the past. Maybe   am. I know that if I am asked, I will speak up. If I see someone running out into the road and a truck is on a Collison course with them, I will try to pull them back. That is my road.

The “hard road” has taught me how to make my past experiences a guidepost not a hitching post and that is okay.

The point is this. As humans maybe we only see one road, and maybe that is okay. Maybe our journey will help someone else on their journey down their hard road. What we must remember is that our Creator is always by our side. He always walks with us and we always have a way to get out of those potholes.

 

Life is an Occasion, Rise to It

The other day I was mindlessly watching a movie and there was a line from that movie that stuck in my head. The line goes like this, “Life is an occasion, rise to it.”

That line hit me like a thunderbolt. The more I thought about it the more it made sense to me.

Life is an occasion. Webster defines the word occasion as “A particular time or instance of an event.” That is exactly what our life is. A Particular time or instance of an event.

Once that event ends it never comes around again. It can be recalled to a certain extent in memories from others, however, that either fades with time or becomes embellished as facts dim with the re-telling.

As I thought about this statement, it hit me why don’t I rise to that event, why don’t I make my event count?  Sure, I am grieving for my husband and my other family members, sure I am sad; however, my life is an occasion, it is an event, time to rise to it.

Then I went one step further and thought about those around me and how I could share that statement and challenge each of them to rise to the occasion. To challenge them to do things they have thought about doing but were afraid to do for whatever reason. Because FEAR is only False Evidence that Appears Real.

There was a time I was afraid to put myself out there. There was a time I would have never walked into a new congregation by myself. When I was told I was too stupid to write, I almost didn’t. But you see, Life is an occasion, rise to it means exactly that. We have no idea what we will find when we do. The things we can accomplish, the joy we bring others or to ourselves. The love we can radiate around us and the encouragement we give others just by rising to the occasion.

I am sure many of us have asked ourselves, “I wonder if….” I asked myself that question far too many times to count, and the epiphany I learned is this, if we don’t ask the question, we never know the answer.

Life is an occasion, rise to it. Ask those questions, then go and out and do those things that you always wondered if you could do. Dare to attend that event. Dare to make it happen. Rise to the occasion. Make a statement. Use those talents that you have been blessed with and have never tapped into. I think you will not only surprise yourself, you will find that you encourage others to rise to the occasion as well. All it takes it that first step.

Life is an occasion – Rise to it!!!!

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