Are You Prepared?
“When it comes to spiritual truth, how can we know that we are on the right path? One way is by asking the right questions - the kind that helps us ponder our progress and evaluate how things are working for us.” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf) As I advance through the school of life, I continue to learn the importance of knowing what questions to ask. Asking the right questions can lead to clarity, which helps in making informed decisions. I have too many accounts, both personal and professional, where my not asking the right questions led to mishaps and missteps. Getting older should compel us to work smarter and not harder, and this requires a level of engagement that gives us access to insight. Insight is the capacity to gain an accurate and deep intuitive understanding of a person or thing. If we are going to experience greater possibilities this year, we will need to prepare for them. Preparation is key!
Necessary Evaluation
“The habits you created to survive will no longer serve you when it’s time to thrive. Get out of survival mode. New habits, new life.” (spiritualguidebook) Evaluation is to determine the significance, worth, or condition of something, usually by careful appraisal and study. It is always a shock when you assign importance to someone or something, only to find out your assessment was misplaced. Most times, when you think back, you can see the signs that were always there to show you what was real, but you chose to either ignore or make excuses for the signs. Our engagement of people and situations requires accurate evaluation. Incidentally, evaluating people, is not meant to be an exercise in judgment. We all have our issues. This process is more about compatibility and how your engagements complement the work of your purpose. I have learned as we get more aligned with our goals, it is difficult to compartmentalize the different areas of our lives. So then, the groups of people you interact with matter. Your activities matter. It all amounts to what you give your energy to, and your energy is the life force that fuels your purpose.
Nostalgia is a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past that can keep us tied and tethered to situations that should have never been or have run their course. Hence, this is why evaluation is necessary. Determining the significance and condition of people, places, and things in your life helps you to keep a more accurate inventory of healthy and beneficial connections. Ask yourself, “How do your present engagements make you feel? Why are you still in your current relationships? Are they heavy?” Preparing for the next level will require you living your truth, which means telling the truth. You have pondered these questions, now what?
Necessary Elimination
“The biggest lesson I learned this year is to not force anything; conversations, friendships, relationships, attention, love. Anything forced is just not worth fighting for, whatever flows flows, what crashes crashes. It is what it is.” (Unknown) I am the type of person that genuinely tries to make the best of a situation and see the good in people. I like learning people’s stories because it gives me insight as to why people are the way they are; good, bad, or indifferent. The work I do can’t be effective or yield results when done on a surface level. Also, only looking at the surface will always lead to judgment. We are all flawed beings, living a complicated existence. I can't repeat this enough! In life, losses will teach you some valuable lessons. After eulogizing a loved one, my contemplating their life gave me clarity on what is necessary for a purpose-filled existence. We must know our truth, speak our truth, and live our truth. “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32) If you feel like you are living an imprisoned life, probably, you are not living your truth. What do you need to let go of to be free?
There was a time in my life when I would get worked up about either the actions of other people or situations I found myself in, and I would immediately begin to complain about the people or situations. It is now apparent to me that my issues are not external but internal. No one is making me do anything. It is my need to accommodate or acquiescence, that is causing my feelings of resentment and misery. These feelings are a result of not speaking my truth. The ability to practice guilt-free elimination will start with your assigning value to your existence and purpose. Here is a helpful mantra, “Who I am and what I am called to do matters!” Yes, we are all called to a God-given assignment, and if you are not sure of what your assignment is, I am more than happy to help with your discovery. The process of elimination is what will allow you to zero in on your purpose.
Cutting Ties
What do I need to eliminate from my life? Well for starters, toxic-heavy relationships. You cannot save people, you can only influence them for good. Their rescue is their responsibility. You wonder why you have had a hard time rising to the next level. For one, you are trying to make room to transport people on a journey only meant for you. Secondly, you have been weighed down by other people’s expectations. All requests need to be filtered through your purpose. Also, activities you joined for whatever reason that no longer serve you, need to be eliminated. When I say all, I mean all. That job, that church, etc. You need to eat spiritually on the level you are trying to live, and this year will require next-level living. You only have room for who and what compliments your “why.” Association brings on assimilation. So make sure your activities and interactions align with your purpose.
Who you decide to be this year, starts right now. Today is the first day of the rest of your life! Now is the time to prepare for the possibilities that lie ahead. Let’s get after it!
Until next time...
Be empowered!
DML
