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Life has a way putting you in your place and just making you sit down and be quiet sometimes. I am guilty of complaining about certain things in my life. I am guilty of not having a forgiving heart. I am guilty of not being there for friends or family. I have been guilty of not being the bigger person. We all have our moments where we are just so caught up in our everyday life, struggles, and obstacles that we lose sight of what is in front of us. Ever since I moved to Birmingham, I have been having a series of reality checks. I think I have grown and matured more in the last few months that I have in my entire life. I am starting to think that this move was absolutely necessary to get me to wake up. My level of thinking has been so much higher that it has been actually scaring me a little, which is good. Sometimes you need a little scare to get you right.
I have noticed how differently I act when it comes to certain situations now. What the “Old Jas” use to do whenever I was having a long day or just was frustrated was make myself even more upset. I would gripe, complain, and moan, up until I made myself sick. I’m sure I am not alone on this. My Mom would always tell me growing up that stress kills people. Of course I didn’t know any better or even cared to listen to the meaning of this statement, but now that I have gotten older I can definitely see what she meant. Stressing sucks. Stressing will make you lose your mind if you let it. Stressing can also lead you to make irrational decisions. Now it took a few tries before the “New Jas” finally got it almost right. I have been trying to get closer to God and really relying on faith to carry me through each day. The more I started reading and meditating on His word the more things started to make sense. In my last blog post I talked about my plans and how really my plans were irrelevant because at the end of the day God will lead me wherever He sees fit me for me to go. So now that we got that squared away there shouldn’t be any room for worry right? Correct. Is it easier said than done? Yes. But that is what makes this thing called life worth it. You should want something that can challenge your way of thinking and make you grow. Whether spiritually, financially, or physically, what is the point of going through something if it is not going to teach you lesson to learn from it.
Something that I have also been working on is being a better friend and family member. I admit that sometimes I do get caught up on myself that I forget to reach out to the people that I love the most. I have been noticing all of the great things happening in my friends and families lives with getting new jobs, promotions, finishing school, developing new and blooming relationships, and etc. God has truly been in the blessing business. One things that I can’t get caught up in and that can lead to some serious problems spiritually is comparing myself to others. What God has for others is just that. What He has for me is for me. I may not being willing and able to go through what some people go through to get to what they have. Instead I should be giving praise to God and congratulating the people I love on all of their endeavors. The time spent on comparing yourself needs to be the time to celebrate and give thanks. The old saying my Bigma use to say is fitting for this. “If God blesses my neighbor then surely He can and He will bless me too!” At the end of day, it still isn’t about you so why do you want to compare and tear yourself down? Don’t get so tied up in your own mess that you forget to be happy for those around you. I actually love seeing my friends and family happy. Going after all of their dreams, being in happy and healthy relationships or just them taking it one day at a time motivates me to get my act together and follow suit. I can find happiness and peace in knowing that even though things can and will get hard, I know that God is working it all out for not only me but for those around me as well.