Happy Monday!

This last week has been a challenging one. Many of my colleagues are out with COVID, and the office has been a ghost town. We weren’t able to celebrate my daughter’s 25th birthday because she’s been sick. Friends have had staggering losses of one kind or another. And many are struggling to find some financial balance in this unstable time in our history.

However, through it all, I’ve seen strength, courage, fortitude, and compassion in ways and from people I never expected to witness. I’ve watched people make tough decisions, rally around friends and loved ones, and ultimately change myopic views to more global perspectives. I remain convinced that people can be whatever they choose to be and overcome any obstacle that presents itself. It all boils down to how adept we are at making decisions. There is also the pivotal truth element that fuels our process.

We often hear people grumbling about unfair destinies and how they’ve been wronged by this or that. The reality is we tend to be our own worst enemies when it comes to the truth about our lives and making decisions for our betterment. Not that we’re incapable, but it’s hard to look at a change in direction without feeling some degree of fear and trepidation. It’s also virtually impossible to decide changes are in order without acknowledging the truth. Sometimes the feelings are overwhelming and we become frozen in the process.

I like Ralph Waldo Emerson’s observation:

The Only Person You are Destined to Become is the Person You Decide to Be: Inspirational Journal - Notebook - Lined Paper with motivational quotes (Inspirational Notebooks and Journals): Factory, Creative Journals:

Emphasis on the decide.

In his sermon yesterday, Pastor Steven Furtick taught us that we can’t hang onto the trash of our past. Specifically, the lies we’ve convinced ourselves to believe, lies others have told us, and lies that don’t make sense to our lives’ specific purposes and destinies and expect to have the bandwidth to receive. If our hands are full of the trash we’ve accumulated and believed, we won’t be able to catch or understand the absolute truths and make informed decisions with strength and conviction.

John 8:32 teaches, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Here are a couple of others’ thoughts to encourage us:

“The most important thing to remember is this: To be ready at any moment to give up what you are for what you might become.”  WEB Du Bois

“You wanna fly, you got to give up the [stuff] that weighs you down.” Toni Morrison

“Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it.” Brene Brown

By now, I think you see the theme here. When we face the beliefs we’ve created or have been led to accept, purpose to expose them and know the truth, and commit to the process of decision making and change, we can move forward in strength. Will transformation be easy? Probably not. Are we capable of completing the task? Absolutely!

Let’s grab a clean pallet and a new canvas and take full advantage, spending time in prayer and meditation to examine the trash we’ve accumulated, uncover the truths, and make decisions to become the people we are destined to be. It’s an excellent way to put our skills to the test. I’m looking forward to learning about your journey!

Be Well & Be Blessed!
Lucinda