Poetry, music, creative writing and a desire to inspire….Isaiah 45:2-7 I will go before you and will level the mountains[a]; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. 3 I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord
Although the bigger picture might not be as clear, but when all the pieces come together, it will turn out more beautiful than imagined.
Point A to point B
Sometimes it sounds so easy
With each step comes a puzzle piece
Designed to fit perfectly nice and neat
And when the puzzle is complete
We’ll look back at out great feat
*stay inspired and keep rising
*stay inspired and keep rising
You were created in Love for impact to leave your
imprint on the world!
– Catherine Toon
If you think you are different, good, you should be. If you think that you don’t fit in, good, you shouldn’t. You were born with a unique imprint that only you can leave each day. Is it your smile? Is it your out going personality? Is it your reserve and calm nature?
We don’t realize what impact we have on every day life. Our actions and interactions can leave a lasting impression or shift the course of someone’s day as well as our own. You have the ability to make someone’s day without your even knowing and you can do that by just being you. It is your personal imprint.
When you are awakened each morning
Embrace the day ahead
Your uniqueness is a blessing
A blessing meant to be shared
*stay inspired and keep rising
Vi•sion•ar•y
/ˈviZHəˌnerē/
adjective
1.
(especially of a person) thinking about or planning the future with imagination or wisdom.
Our dreams and goals require a lot of gusto, that vigorous energy to constantly propell us forward. Also, we need to see beyond the physical realm and believe in spite of what we see or perceive. Our disappointments shouldn’t break us but rather increase our believing in the possibility of our dreams and goals coming to fruition.
We must develop visionary thinking. You can believe something so strongly in a negative or positive way, that it has an effect on how you go about living life and pursuing your dreams. We should let nothing deterr us but be a stepping stone to greater things. It can be easy to throw our hands in the air and convince ourselves we cannot make it or do it. It can be just as easy to get a grip on ourselves and say “Hey, I know I can do this. I know I can make it.”
We have to look further than that linear line that we believe will lead us to achievement, because the way is not always straight from point A to success. However, if we maintain our hope, faith and vision, we will undoubtedly achieve what we set out to do and hope for. Picture yourself in the scenario of where you want to be. Believe it to be reality in waiting an accept that you will be there. If you think “there’s no way,” then you are shutting the door.
Let your doubts fall like dominos, then sweep them aside.
VISION – BELIEVE – FAITH – ACTION
*stay inspired and keep rising
You live and learn. At any rate, you live.
– Douglas Adams
Towards the end of 2019, I was put in a very demanding and stressful situation. As the new year came an actually on New Year’s day, I began to feel sick and this sickness lasted quite awhile. All the while I was sick, I was still trying to cope with the situation I was in. It took an extreme amount of patience, understanding and looking at it from a different perspective.
Now, raise your hands if you heard of the coronavirus before this year. It hit the world like pleg from the old testament and no one was prepared for the toll it would take on humanity in body and spirit. This potent virus took the entire world out of its comfort zone and forced us to adapt, change and look at our way of living. Most importantly, it taught us to slow down from the rat race and get back to simplifying life. Enjoying the little things more, turning down the boombastic noise level to a soft gentle tone. We learned new ways of doing things, picked up ideas and projects that had been on the shelf for some time and we even started new projects as we gained a new perspective about life and about ourselves individually.
We live, we learn , we grow. As we close out this year, where we see uncertainty, there is still hope. Although we cannot put the coronavirus/covid-19 completely behind us, we can move forward into the coming new year with new hope, stronger faith, good courage and of course the continued steadfastness towards our goals and dreams. This year has been a learning lesson for us all. We can complain, be sad and walk with our heads down (this is our choice and right) but we can also move forward with great strides and highly inspired.
Life is not easy and it will have its difficulties at times. We all have our different ways to respond, react and handle whatever difficulties rise up. You do the best you can, you make the decision and choices you make and then you continue to live.
Don’t stop living.
Stay inspired and keep rising
“Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28
We rub shoulders every day with people who are hurting, lonely, or desperate. Sometimes we notice, but many times we don’t. Maybe we’re often too busy, preoccupied, or overwhelmed ourselves.
And to be honest, many days, “we” are those people: the hurting, the lonely, the desperate. Just needing someone to notice. To slow down. To take time.
Sometimes in the rush of the holiday season, it seems that more people appear stressed, on edge, weary and worn, tempers are short. What’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year can often feel more like madness – in the traffic – in the crowds – in the shopping frenzy.
We’re busy. We’re pressed for time. Running full sprint, straight through the holidays.
For many of us, being busy comes naturally – active, moving, going – it’s what we’re all about. We’re rewarded for how much we accomplish, especially in short amounts of time. We live in a culture that places value on the busy. We tend to get impatient with those who are too slow about anything.
And nothing wrong with being “on the go.” Or being active. Except this one thing.
We often never stop.
We’re too busy to stop. We even forget what it feels like. So much so, that when we finally do, we feel like we’re wasting time. We feel guilty for being “lazy.” Slowing down takes work. Stopping and just breathing deep…takes practice.
But God is not so interested in whether we “get it all done” with a few days to spare before Christmas. He’s interested in “us,” in our hearts, in our lives.
Jesus came many years ago, right into the midst of chaos and weariness. And to a dark world, He brought peace and great hope.
He still brings it today. He lifts our burdens and heavy spirits and promises rest for our souls.
May God help us to reflect that same heart of peace and grace to our world today. Giving a simple gift, a smile, a kind word, a meal, or just taking the time to listen to a friend who’s hurting, or letting someone in through a long line of holiday traffic. Just the little things can be more meaningful than we could ever know, to another who feels weary or burdened.
Breathing in His grace today. And taking time to notice those around me.
Hope you are too.
Dear God,
Thank you that your yoke is easy and your burden is light. Thank you that you promise to give to us, those who feel worried, hurried, pressured, and stressed; deep rest and peace for our souls – if we’ll just come before you. Thank you for your reminder that we don’t have to carry it all. Forgive us for the times we try to be self-sufficient, for not taking time to rest. Thank you for the refreshing that comes from your Spirit, filling us with joy, covering us with your shield of favor and blessing, leading us forward with hope. Equip us to be those who notice the lonely, the hurting. Help us to slow down, to take time, to point others to you.
Took a deep breath and released
Letting go of the bad vibes and feelings
Breathing in new hope and good energy
Increasing the strength of my faith and importance of my dreams
Took another deep breath and released
Sending good thoughts and vibes out to those in need
Reflecting on life’s lessons and their true meaning
I am aware that God is working behind the scenes
And that where I am going, He has already been and will be
One more deep breath and let it go
Love is the river of my direction’s flow
You know someone is truly special when the most beautiful thing they have on is a kind soul.
– Matshona Dhliwayo
We know that during the holiday season there is more of an imphasis on giving. Goodness and giving should not be relegated to just Christmas, birthdays and special occasions. Goodness should be an ever flowing action each day.
The reward of goodness is found within the action of doing good. It is not what is given but the thought of doing. Imagine being on the receiving end of a good act. You are taken by the fact that someone thought of you. The blessing is twofold, the giver and the receiver. A moment of joy shared.
*stay inspired and keep rising
Knock, And He’ll open the door
Vanish, And He’ll make you shine like the sun
Fall, And He’ll raise you to the heavens
Become nothing, And He’ll turn you into everything.
– Jalal Ad-Din Rumi
In the spirit of Love
Let it fill the hearts of mankind and shower the world
In the spirit of Joy
May it flow constantly through each and every spirit
In the spirit of Peace
May it be a permanent fixture within the soul and throughout the world
In the spirit of Patience
Let our thoughts precede our actions and reactions
In the spirit of Kindness
Let it be demonstrated with selflessness and without fanfare
In the spirit of Goodness
May it prevail over hate, evilness and injustice
In the spirit of Faithfulness
May it be strong within your heart, mind and soul
In the spirit of Gentleness
Let it stave off the harshness of others and bring soft embrace of comfort
In the spirit of Self-control
Let us not give in to overindulgence for unnecessary things or the excesses of life
In the spirit of the wholeness of life, live as the best You that there is and that is in by being yourself. The world will be that much better.
*Stay inspired and keep rising
Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.
– J.R.R. Tolkien
It is tough to see when you cannot see. This is not just physically but mentally too. When you cannot see what is ahead or picture what is ahead, it gives you that feeling of uncertainty because you do not know what is going to happen next.
Life is filled with surprises (good and bad). It also has a certain routiness to it (good and bad). We mention tomorrow but we don’t know if tomorrow exist, it is a preconditioned assumption that we will exist tomorrow, a naturally human thought. When life presents us with something outside the routine, we begin to question ourselves as to what we will do. We confront the situation and we make the best choice possible within our reasoning, either out of confidence or fear, hoping for the best end result pertaining to our life’s journey.
When we decide to place certain goals in our lives or a dream which we would like to live out, life doesn’t always cooperate to make those goals and dreams attainable or realized, so it begins to stack the odds against us by way of obstacles, challenges, negative opinions and believe it or not, life will give you fact based evidence as to why you cannot achieve your goal or realize your dream. So, what do you do?
We often talk about hope and having hope and keeping hope alive. Hope is like a match that is constantly burning and making sure you do not give up completely. We all have given up at one point or another ( the “oh well, I guess it wasn’t meant to be). You know that is the most bullshit filled statement that was thought of. Hope is a catalyst for faith.
When I talk about faith I am not referring to religious practices or denomination. I am talking about the supernatural tool that defies human logic, reasoning and nature. Faith moves mountains and those mountains are in the form of what stands between us and our hopes, goals and dreams. Faith takes what we see and perceive naturally and gives us access to a power that creates out of what we cannot see. Faith pulls a rabbit out of a hat with there being no hat visible. Faith tells you that water is as solid as the ground and that you can walk on it.
When life changes the odds, it is basically telling us either you really want it or you don’t. The odds make us question ourselves in our confidence, abilities, capabilities and motive. How many times have we heard “the odds are against you.” “The odds aren’t in your favor.” When we hear this, we either agree or disagree, purge ahead or give up (sometimes before we even get started). Sometimes the odds are easy to overcome and we are homefree in the direction of our goals. Then there are the times when the odds seem to not just be against us but weigh heavily on us so as to not allow us to even take a step in the direction we want to go. Odds be damned,we can do it, we can achieve it, we can make it, we can realize it.
He knows that as long as a man keeps his faith in God and in himself nothing can permanently defeat him.
– Wilferd Peterson
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
– Hebrews 11:1
Faith is one of the most powerful spiritual weapons we have access to with Love being the most powerful. We can live a nondefeated life, sure we will experience ups and downs but with the powerful combination of Faith and Love, we can accomplish anything.
*stay inspired and keep rising
And I want to heal the world by my words.
– Avijeet Das
When you have the time, take a moment and pause. Say a prayer, send out positive vibrations and energy, exhibit kindness and love.
Our world today collectively an individually is in need of healing. There is a thin layer of darkness covering the world at the moment and we need to continue to spread goodness, light and love.
We all get down at some point
Just don’t stay down
Lift yourself up and lift someone with you
If you are living and breathing
Then hope can be alive and well within
*stay inspired and keep rising
