Soaring With The Eagles

Mark 5:40 -

⁴⁰And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.
(www.bibleresources.bible.com)

Joel Osteen's message that I tuned into today was about those that you keep in your inner circle and how they have to be able to inspire you, encourage you, and see where your destiny is leading you. They can't just be with you they have to be for you. He reminded us that you can't soar with the eagles if you are hanging around with turkeys. He also reminded us that God will never ask that you give up something with out replacing it with something better. It doesn't make the decisions or the need any easier but it is encouraging to hope that something/someone better is around the corner.

It's so hard sometimes to pull away from toxic relationships. I know for me personally I keep my circle small in the first place so when I have to consider pulling away from others for my own ability to continue to grow and reach God's purpose for me, that is really hard. I've come to the conclusion though that everything that happens in our lives truly does fulfill a purpose and a reason. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be there for people or with helping people get through a tough time or a tough place but when you recognize that some people are always going through drama, always a victim, always in need of support, it makes sense to stop and think how you are enabling rather than helping if you continue to stay in that same role in that persons life.

I had one purge a few years ago where I let go of some friends that I had for YEARS!!! I realized that the only time they contacted me though was when they wanted something or needed something or when they needed a distraction or were bored and wanted to do something. It got to the point where I started to really take inventory with how much of myself, my day, my struggles I was able to share with these people and how much of the conversations were solely based on them. When it came down to it I realized that the friendship was very one sided and that I didn't deserve those kinds of friends in my life.

My current situation is rather different. I have come to a point in my life where I truly desire to work on making myself a better person and a better contributor to this world. I see the main vehicle for that desire being to continue to surrender to God and his plan for my life but also to continue to spend my time and my efforts with people who encourage and inspire me and who want to see me continue to prosper. Part of that means that these people themselves have to be of a positive mindset, willing to look beyond themselves and their wants to see how they can use their life to serve and help others and really be committed to seeing extraordinary things occur in their lives. I wish that I could say those who are currently in my inner circle definitely represent those areas/goals/beliefs but I know that is not the case. It becomes really difficult then to determine who I need to pull away from if for nothing else just to get some real perspective not effected by emotional attachment on whether this person is someone who is with me or really for me, and not just for me, but for God, and for themselves.

This particular topic has been one that I have been really thinking about a lot lately. I just feel that I have been too blessed and that I have too much opportunity to stop now, to not believe now, to not continue to grow! I love people, I love to serve others by helping them however I can. Sometimes, I get caught up or lost in my own manipulation though of my feelings to not see or not wanting to see when a relationship has become toxic and when there is nothing left for me to do but to pull back. So my prayer this Sunday is that God gives me the wisdom to review those that I have in my inner circle and allows me to recognize those who are going to help me become closer to him and where he is leading me in my life. I pray that God helps me to love those that I love but that are not able to assist in this goal from a far and I pray that instead of their negative energy, lax, discouragement, selfishness, or other complaining, disregarding, or lack of intelligence pulling me in a backward direction, that they will find their purpose and way, and that no matter the outcome of our friendship they will find their way to a closer or to a relationship in general with God. Amen.

The Real World

The Real World... Last time I checked it is where I live. Eventually, we all have to live here it's just that some people like to pussy-foot around and bs as though if they do all of this back peddling, rebelling, and refusing to grow up it makes a difference. Well I'm here to tell you that it doesn't!!! Unless you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth or in a developing country where oddly enough at both ends of the spectrum your real world is completely different than most of us regular people.

When it comes down to it we all eventually have to make difficult decisions. We have to make mistakes good choices and bad ones. We have to pay bills and find some sort of direction to walk in, even if that changes every 3 months. We have to find away to find a place in this real world or we'll die wrapped up in a fantasy.

I don't say all of this to say that we shouldn't dream, on the contrary, dreaming is absolutely useless if you never make any choices to try to work towards those dreams. Mostly everyone has a story about how they envisioned a specific venture, idea, job opportunity, relationship, etc. and usually where they are when they are telling you that story is varied in differences from that original dream. We can't plan everything because (if you are a spiritual/religious person) we know that God's plan doesn't always have anything to do with our plan. God, however, knows exactly what gifts he has given us and how we can use those gifts to fulfill a purpose but if we spend so much time waiting on this grandiose sign or shuffling our feet we won't accomplish anything. At the end of the day it's on you to get up and make moves. God isn't going to force you to do jack. We all have free will and if you aren't trying then you are just wasting space. When you look at your five year plan if it's year 15 and it's still the same, shoot if it's year 3 and it's still the same you need to re-evaluate your real priorities in life.

I can't stand to see someone with so many blessings, opportunities, and second chances wasting it all because they have their head too far up their own ass to recognize how blessed they are. I absolutely can not stand it when someone is dealing with situations and problems as a 30 year old the same way that they were dealing with problems as a 13 year old. If that sounds like you ***WAKE UP CALL*** Shits not working for you buddy!!!

Life is too short to sit around in the same holding patterns being angry, resentful, a hater, depressed, etc. especially when the world is handed to you or with in your reach with a little work. I wish that I could just take someone who is so involved in their own emotions to a 3rd world country or even to poor areas of this country and let them see what it is like to not have food, shelter, clothing, parents, anyone to love or care for them, no knowledge of God, no hope, no opportunities, but literally just existing! Maybe then they could get their ass off their back long enough to grow up!

That is all!

Direction...

Mind:
God guided me through turmoil, pressure, and change to take me to my rock bottom so that he could build me up and show me how to build myself up when there is no one else (in the physical sense) to depend on to do so. I now know how being afraid or prideful of asking for help is not the way to handle any situation, ignoring it doesn't make it go away, and the longer you keep your walls up pretending like you are not at war with your mind the more and more distressed and upset and down you will feel. I continue to work on the mind by feeding it education, moments to reflect & unwind, & most of all by reminding myself that there is nothing that God can not handle in my life worth resorting to worry and fear over. There is nothing I've done in my life that God has not already forgiven me for and there for there is no need to worry about the past. I have learned from my mistakes, and the mistakes of others and I continue to grow in mind everyday.


Body:
I have the opportunity to make the body a priority and to make sure that I am being aware of what I am putting into it. Of the exercise that I do or don't do and of the way that I treat it. I want to be healthy for as long as I live and that requires a renewed dedication to taking care of the physical part of me.


Soul:
I have finally come to a place where, although my faith never wavered and my prayers remained constant and my daily discussions with God remained in tact, I am over myself and my stuff that was keeping me in a place of being upset with God. I continued to push no matter how I felt but also was very honest with God that I was upset and that I needed time to get through it. Not only did God help me to reach a place of understanding and acceptance but he also never left my side continuing to support and push me through this time and continuing to bless me in more ways than I could ever imagine. I continue to feed my soul by continue to praise and worship God, continuing to study his word and continuing to be faithful by following his plan for my life.

Good Stuff!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1403988/



This movie was great! Especially if you have experienced a volatile (not in the sense of violent) but passionate relationship where everything seems to be too perfect so you convince yourself that there is no way it can work and there for no reason to try.

I found it extremely humorous, while watching the special features, that no one on the cast except for the director spoke about Romance or Romanticism in the sense that the movie was really trying to get to except the director & maybe Elijah Wood somewhat. The rest of the cast talked about the literal sense of it or what we normally think of when we are talking about romance. The favor, the flare, the granduer, in a love relationship context. The director explained on the other hand the period of time when poets were writing and yes in a very flashy, grand kind of way about freedom, about breaking away from the restriction of organized religion, and expressing ones self fully, and embracing life and what it had to offer. Something else I can really relate to. In the sense that I think we all have that feeling of throwing caution to the wind throwing away everything that is established and starting anew by building our own revolution. Then we get snapped back into reality and the fact that the revolution isn't free! ;)

Kickin' It Old School Playlist

A few of my favorites...

~* True Friendship *~

True Friendship is a dying construct, similar to the monogamous w/ labels relationship. I am not saying that it does not exist anymore; just that it is becoming more and more rare. I feel so blessed when I look at those that I have chosen to be in my life and see wonderful people of honor and substance.

It saddens me when I think of all the lessons I have learned the hard way in my friendships. While getting to know people is full of ups & downs of course as long as I can say that someone has not hurt me intentionally then I can move on. However, to think of those who regard friendship as a means to use people and to get what they want when they want/need it is disgusting to me. So many individuals walk around with so many "friends" and "people in their life" but they regard them more so as resources than a friend. A friend is most definitely a resource at times but when you only speak to someone when you want something from them you need to begin to re-evaluate your priorities. The sad thing is that those people who use their friends rarely recognize the assault that they are committing, and even more discouraging is that a great deal of them do not care.

A real friend will confront you even when they are afraid to, they may get angry when you confront them but they will always pause and think on what you have expressed and come back to communicate with you. A real friend will ask of you when they are in need, but will offer when you are in need (if they can help), and recognize how difficult it may be to ask for help when you do ask. A real friend will respect your privacy, keep your secrets, except when in need of an outside consult to determine how to move forward. A real friend will listen to your same story a million times. A real friend will accept your flaws, and emphasize your positive attributes.

Lastly, a true friend will set a high standard for your friendship and expect nothing less than what you are fully capable of while encouraging you to continue to grow with them!