I am SO GRATEFUL to have been able to enjoy another year of life and celebrate my birthday!! Although this past year included some BIG disappointments, I’ve learned more about myself (my strengths and weaknesses) and I’ve grown SO much through leadership pain and pressure. I am convinced the things that occurred in my life this past year did not happen to me–they happened for me. For my growth AND my good!!
After almost 43 years, I have finally cracked the code for living an abundant life—a life FULL of happiness/joy, health, success, and prosperity. But it may not be what you may think.
While doing a bit of research on the mind and negative thought patterns, I came across an inner critic quiz that helps you discover your inner critic patterns so you can create a plan for how to change them. Now I won’t list the 7 types of critics revealed in the quiz (you can discover them by taking the quiz via the link below), but I do want to start this post by defining ‘inner critic’.
11 years ago on May 1st, I lost my mother to ovarian cancer. She had battled the disease for 3 years and died a few weeks after her 49th birthday. I remember my mother saying during her last few weeks of life that she had to get better because she still had a purpose to fulfill on this earth. When I heard these words, I remember saying in my heart:
“I don’t want to arrive at the end of my life believing I have yet to fulfill my God-given purpose. I want to be able to say with confidence that I have fulfilled it.”
Does the little voice in your head tell you:
“You’ll never succeed. You’re worthless. Your life is a mess. You can’t get yourself together. You’re a failure. You can’t do anything right. You’ll never do anything great or meaningful.
Fish living in a goldfish bowl are not living their best life. Because most fish bowls lack a filtration system to keep their environment clean and free of toxins, very few goldfish survive for more than a few weeks. A bowl simply can’t provide a suitable living environment for any fish to live a healthy and long life. Likewise, an unfiltered or poorly filtered mind does not lead to living life more abundantly. When our thoughts go unchecked and unfiltered, we develop toxic mindsets that cause us to lead unhealthy, unproductive, and unhappy lives. But a new way of thinking will always precede a new way of living.
All of us have (or will) will experience seasons in life when we feel tired and broken down from the storms and trials of just living. But the key is making the decision to persevere and rise up. For some storms and struggles in life, we may find ourselves weak and unable to rise up. There are some things we simply can’t handle on our own. And it’s in those moments and situations of weakness when we are to call upon God to step in.
What if I told you that you had the power to change your story and therefore your life. Would you agree? Outside of God, I believe I hold the most influence concerning whether I stay stuck–or get unstuck in life. The level to which I am willing and able to activate my faith in God will be the level to which I will stay stuck or move forward in life.
The truth is a majority of people don’t like change because it is something beyond their control. Who doesn’t want to control their lives eh? Change is extremely uncomfortable and unpredictable. Yet change is the only constant in life. I love this quote that says: