Birthdays are so important to me. I try to make a big deal out of them because I feel we are all special enough to be celebrated. So this year as my birthday was approaching I started thinking about what my life looked like and what I wanted it to look like in the future.
It was during this time that I realized I was still carrying a lot of unnecessary baggage with me. Baggage of labels I defined myself as, negative thoughts, bad news loops. This baggage created insecurity, controlling behaviors, striving, frustration, feelings of not enough, perfectionism.
I didn’t want any of that to be part of my future life as I thought about what I wanted. I knew that was not the life I was promised by Jesus.
We have been promised a life of abundance through Jesus. I started asking, “what does abundance look like, feel like?” The answer I got, is abundance is living with intention to see all of the abundance around you. It is a mindset. It is on purpose. It can be hard.
Every day we get to choose how we interpret our circumstances. I don’t mean that you can ignore all the terrible things you might be going through and say “I’m good. I choose to be happy when I just lost my job. And the car won’t start. And the school is calling because my kid is sick.” No. All of that is hard stuff.
But what I am saying is in that moment I would make sure I am constantly in intentional prayer. I would send a text to a trusted person asking for prayer. I would be very intentional about what I am thinking about and how I am allowing those thoughts to stay in my mind. I would make sure I am speaking truth to myself. And I would remind myself of all the things that did go right.
This is why I get up early. 4:30am my alarm goes off. I get up by 5am. This time I spend reading truth. I want truth to be interwoven in me for those hard moments. After I finish, I exercise because I want my body to strong and capable to do all that is required of me at any moment. The rest of the day I try to eat clean, well-balanced meals several times a day- which helps keep my blood sugar levels steady. And keeps me from being HANGRY! This also allows me to have a clear mind. These are things that I can reflect on when things are going wrong. I call them my wins!
The wins give me the confidence to keep going.
I have been reading truth to myself for quite some time. In May, I added exercising regularly and clean eating to my daily rhythms. I was feeling more like me than I had in years. My first #livingmybestlife was July 7, 2018, my birthday is July 9, this post is all 3 girls in the car singing “This Little Light of Mine.”
How appropriate? For years I had been hiding what God had given me. I had been carrying all the baggage of my past mistakes, failures, short-comings. That moment in the car, I decided I couldn’t be anyone else except the flawed me. And when I breathed into all of the baggage and looked forward into the possibilities it was like I had been released.
What is your baggage? What are things you can do to add wins in your daily life? Do you have someone to keep you accountable?
-Melissa
An Invitation 