When Life Hands You Lemons - Try A New Recipe!

The start of 2018 has not been uneventful for me.  We are just into the third week of January and I am doubting some of my decisions, mostly made in 2017, yet carrying over into the new year. Just when I was about to throw one of my infamous, solo pity parties, I had a revelation:  "Obviously I am on track and where I am supposed to be in life, because that's when fear usually takes hold."

Trust me, coming to this conclusion was not as simple as it seems.  The very end of 2016 and all of 2017 was a long year of trials, tribulations, growth and peace, believe it or not.  The journey is not over yet either.  It's just the beginning.

So what do you do when life hands you lemons?  I say try a new recipe!  That's right!  I don't mean whip out the old cookbook or google lemon recipes (unless you really want).  Try something new with your life.  Stir things up a bit, add some flavor - simply try something, anything different.  

One of the ways I decompress is reading.  I read an entire book in one day last week.  My 14-hour trip to California from Alabama (Pony Express was faster), allowed me to crack open my latest pick in my quest to understand the purpose on my life.  It is called 'Four Cups,' written by my Pastor, Chris Hodges.  The book uses the celebration of Passover to illustrate His promises for our lives.  LOVED IT!  Last year, I read 3 other books, all which gave me clarity, a vision and helped me discover a sense of calm in my storms.  If you want the titles, they were 'A Purpose Driven Life' by Rick Warren, 'Frequency' by Robert Morris and 'Fresh Air' another book written by Chris Hodges.  Reading takes me away from issues at hand and helps me look at them from another perspective.  Basically, I put away my natural understanding and look at things from a spiritual perspective.  Now that's refreshing!

Another way I get refocus my life and attitude is by writing.  Take this blog for instance; as long as I don't stress about what to write, the ideas flow.  The infamous "writer's block" we all hear about vanishes and the ideas flow.  Stress is the very reason I got off track writing in the first place.  Even though I have a lot on my plate right now, I refuse to neglect one of the passions which helps broaden my feeling of FREEDOM!  Yes, freedom!  Writing is my spiritual gift and I want to embrace it more - not view it as a burden as I have often in the past.

Lastly, the other way I am getting better of not allowing lemons to sour my life is by taking less focus off me!  Easier said than done, but I can tell you it works wonders.  I have a top 5 list "to do list" I hit every day.  When I divert from this list, my day is not right.  Therefore, I make an effort to complete this list without fail.  My top 5 consists of prayer, praise/worship, working intently on my purpose, make a positive deposit in someone's life and to do something for myself.  You see, I still get to address my needs, but overall, it's because of all the other nuggets, I feel complete.  Prayer is important to me because it acknowledges the creator who gave me life.  Praise/worship displays my gratitude, not in just what I say, but what I do.  Working intently towards my purpose glorifies God's plan for me and highlights its importance.  My favorite part of the day is doing something positive to uplift someone.  It gives me great joy to see people smile, to let them know how much they are appreciated and I'm rooting for them. Doing something for myself is a challenge.  What I have learned, I don't have to spend money to make myself happy.  Today, it's writing this blog and actually taking care of some financial obligations I haven't been able to in a while.  Sound corny?  That's OK!  This is my recipe and it works for me.

I ask the question one last time: What do you do when life hands you lemons?  Reply in the comments and share your recipe for the soul.

Passionate About Purpose

Hello my health and wellness friends!!!  It has been a long time since I last put my fingertips to the keyboard to pen a blog post.  Please forgive me.  I am so sorry.  I should have never stopped doing one of the things which gave me an extreme amount of energy, excitement and motivation.  Sharing my thoughts, advice, tips and laughs with you, was a daily treat!  This fueled my love for living a healthy and wealthy life and my desire to help you do the same.  I have to admit, I allowed life to get the best of me, I lost my passion and I stopped writing my blog.

Well baby I'm back!  Yes!  Back in full effect.  I have made a ton of mistakes, experienced life like I never imagined - and I don't mean in a good way, but it's OK, really.  These last three years, 8 months and nearly two weeks (if that's accurate) are the lessons I needed to learn to become passionate about my purpose again.  I have experienced divorce, moving to a new state, removing/gaining relationships, losing jobs - yes jobs, not finding a new job yet, growing closer to Christ, starting ministry school, considering grad school, gaining weight, losing weight, teaching Zumba, not teaching Zumba and consistently changing my hair!  The list goes on an on!  While it seems the deck is stacked against me, I know God is for me and I am fighting from a place of victory!  None of these "challenges" can defeat me; they can only make me stronger! This revelation helped me regain my passion for my purpose.  

My purpose was not always clear to me, but it has always been in front of me: 'Love God, love people, be like Jesus and and serve others.'  God gave me several gifts and talents and I was made to use those to be a Blessing to others.  Once this clicked in my head, life didn't seem so horrible.  I could have peace through chaos on earth.  When you begin to understand your purpose and submit to the fact your life is not your own, you too can have peace through your storms.

I won't go deeper today into the topic of purpose - but I would like for you to give yours some serious thought. There's a saying the two most important days in a person's life is the day they are born and the day they discover why they were born.  This does not discount any milestones along the way.  It actually helps you connect and disconnect to life's episodes and stay passionate about your purpose!