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Health, Wellness & Spiritual Growth

Providence

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“And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4:19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Let’s be honest. Isn’t one of our greatest fears about giving to God’s work that if we give generously, we won’t have enough money left over to meet our own needs? Paul confronted this fear when he told the Philippians, “You have given generously to God, and God will give generously to you. My God shall supply all your needs.” Notice Paul didn’t say that God would fill all their greeds, but He would supply all their needs.

Notice how God supplies our needs. When we are faithful to give to Him, He will give to us “according to His riches in glory” (v. 19). Paul didn’t say God gives to us out of His riches; He gives to us according to His riches. That’s a big difference. Think of the  mall bell ringer during the holidays collecting money in red kettles. Imagine a wealthy socialite walks by and drops in a check for one hundred thousand dollars. Can you imagine the expression on the volunteer’s face when she pulls out that check? But as large as that gift is, the socialite has a big pile of money left. In that case, the socialite gave out of his riches. Now, if instead the socialite had written a check for two billion dollars and placed it in that kettle, that would’ve been a gift according to her riches. When God chooses to supply your needs, He doesn’t just give a piddling amount and keep most of it for Himself. Instead, God blesses you proportionate to His riches in glory.

As said written in Philippians, “Just as God has been faithful to take care of my needs in whatever situation I’m in, you can depend on Him to be faithful to take care of your needs in whatever circumstances you face. And that’s how we can be content. Together, we trust in God’s providence.” Providence is God’s ability to see beforehand what happens to us. Nothing happens to you that takes God by surprise. God is in complete control of His whole creation, which means He is in control of your life and my life. Scripture says, “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9). We will never learn contentment until we trust in God’s sovereignty.

We will never be satisfied in life until we believe that every situation in life is part of the perfect plan of our loving God. The secret to living in spite of your circumstances is finding joy in every situation by choosing to trust God’s providence and purpose for your life.

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Stay Calm & Carry On

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Keeping calm during stressful times is sometimes easier said than done. The constant thought of whatever it is that is stressing us out continues to linger in the back of our minds, and we just can’t seem to shake it.

Keeping calm during these stressful situations can be a task within itself, but it’s not impossible! So how do you manage to keep your cool and not blow your top during your most stressful times? Here are 4 ways to remain calm during stressful situations. Keep reading to find out how!

How to Remain Calm During Stressful Times

Be Grateful

Gratitude is key. Whenever you begin to feel stressed and down and out, remember what you’re grateful for. When you feel and express a sense of gratitude, you’re allowing your mood to shift from negativity to positivity. Overall, this increases your well-being and may even help you to forget whatever it is you were stressed about in the first place. By beginning each day with a grateful and calm spirit, it will make it even easier to remain calm and reduce your stress level.

Keep a Positive Perspective

Along with being grateful is practicing positivity. When stress occurs, it may allow your mind to shift your perspective to an extremely negative outlook. If you begin to feel your mind shifting from positive to negative, stop yourself the moment it happens, and let go of your negative thoughts as you refocus your mind on all things positive. Positive thoughts tend to distract your mind from the stressful situations that may be occurring around you and will keep your mind in check.

Slow Down

Slow down before deciding to act on whatever it is that’s stressing you. Allow patience to take over and collect your thoughts and emotions before responding or acting on the situation. Even if you have to have a small pep talk with yourself before deciding on how to handle the situation, then do whatever it takes to make sure you don’t act on impulse, but that you allow yourself to collect your thoughts before saying or doing anything you may regret later. This will allow you to remove all emotions and enhance your ability to make decisions.

Disconnect

When all else fails and you want to remain calm in stressful situations, pull away from the situation. The time that you’re away will give you time to process what took place, and how you want to approach it with a clear and fresh perspective. The less emotionally attached you are, the clearer your mind will be as your first goal is to always remain calm.

These four tips presented on remaining calm during stressful times is so important right now, especially with the current climate of our world.

If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed and stressed out, make sure you follow these 4 ways to remain calm and let us know in the comments below, other tactics you enact to make sure you keep calm and carry on!

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Self-Care is Not Selfish!

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Last year, I realized that I lived 44 years around the sun without truly prioritizing my full wellness. Out of self-preservation, I would commonly respond to the question, “How are you doing?” with, “I can’t complain”, “I’m good”, or “I’m blessed and highly favored” but truly on the inside I was broken, sad, stressed and full of anxiety. I was like a luxury boutique on the outside but the inside was a thrift shop. No, negative vibes to thrift shopping because I occasionally shop there, but hopefully you can get the picture. I was known to have a stack of resiliency cards in my hand and I would often play them to avoid looking like I didn’t have it all together and quite honestly I began to believe the hype. This strategy worked for almost a year until I was diagnosed with stress induced shingles. For my 45th birthday, I started a 31 day self-care journey while making the proclamation that I was going to prioritize my wellness point forward and finally slow down and put on my own oxygen mask first before helping anyone else

Self-care is not selfish. It’s about doing things you initially don’t want to do and making the choice to do what’s uncomfortable. Self-care, as the word itself suggests, is what we do to take care of ourselves. We often associate self-care with indulgences, like a pedicure or a glass of wine after a long day. But self-care is about more than treating yourself. Self-care is the set of deliberate steps you take to maintain your physical, emotional, and mental health. It includes things like nutrition, personal hygiene, exercise, relationships, and how we spend our leisure time. It’s intentional, and it’s important.

It does not require an elaborate plan; it can be as simple as taking a deep breath when you notice you are becoming stressed. By maintaining your physical and mental health, you will likely be better equipped to handle the stressors that come along with supporting someone you care about. Developing a self-care routine is a simple but powerful way to invest in your mental and emotional health so you can continue to do the things that matter most. When we get stressed out, we tend to ignore the very things that might make us feel better, so it is important to find time to take care of yourself. It begins with accepting your personal failures then deciding to re-strategize them. It’s not about giving in to your immediate urges when that means giving up on a long-term goal. It’s about forgiving, letting go, and accepting what you can’t change. It’s also about being willing to let people down and even saying goodbye to some of them. 

So what’s the bottom line? So what’s the takeaway here? Genuine self-care involves recognizing and accepting your imperfections, while also finding ways to improve yourself—compassionately. It also often means making compromises and recognizing that no compromise is perfect

For me, my self-care journey started with a prayer then moved into taking some a few intentional steps.

Like any other skill, self-care requires finding a routine that works.

 

Here are a few kick-starters to start your own personal self-care journey, today! 

  1. Acknowledge things are hard but you don’t have to master it all in one day. 
  2. Scale back, it is ok to say NO to some things and people!
  3. Make time for the things you love that makes you smile.
  4. Control the “controllables”
  5. Daily prioritize your mind, body and soul.

Lord, lift me up for your blessings today. 

I pray that you will anoint me with strength and self- care today, tomorrow and always. I pray that you will grace me with patience and wisdom. I pray that you will encourage me throughout the day to take the correct steps to walk proudly, and behave well. I pray for all of these things in your name! 

Amen

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Create Space For New Beginnings

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Every breath you take is a new beginning. Living intentionally in the present takes discipline. How often do you make the decision to start from scratch? From time to time all people need to change something not to be stuck in the daily routine with all its problems. It doesn’t matter if you look for new beginnings in a relationship or want to start a new journey or even a new life – you’ll not be able to do this without the necessary impetus and fundamental support! Abandoning old things in order to create new ones is a common feature for all human beings. However, you should know that it’s not as easy as it may seem at first sight! As a rule, all new beginnings require a great deal of effort both physical and emotional. Are you going to start a new career? Do you feel the beginning of new love? In all cases, you’ll experience hesitations and misgivings. It’s very important not to give up as soon as you face different challenges. Even one quote on starting over can dispel any doubts! I believe God wants the best for us but if you never made room or cleared out some things, you will never experience the full magnitude of something new and exciting.

I recall when I was setting up my office space at work I left one of my four walls intentionally blank. For many who would come by my office they would notice the awkward open space on my wall that seemed very unbalanced. That was my act of faith. I was working on this insurance designation and wanted a physical and visual reminder to continue to press through but to also served as a placeholder for my designation. See there is liberation and freedom when you remove things that weigh you down or don’t belong. 

It’s up to you to decide when you want to change your life. Nothing and nobody has the right to influence your choice! Don’t wait for the new year, spring, an appropriate moment, a sign from the universe or whatever other word that signals or means a new beginning, start today. Keep on beginning and failing. Each time you fail, start all over again, and you will grow stronger until you have accomplished a purpose – not the one you began with perhaps, but one you’ll be glad to remember. Every single day is an opportunity for you to start anew; I call this my ‘24–hour Reset Button.’ Each new day stands alone and brings you another chance to move closer towards your goals, so make each day a Great Day!

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This is Our Year!

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This is Our Year

The way you get over a crazy ending is with an amazing beginning. At the turn of a new year, many people often make resolutions to start new habits, create new experiences or even sharpen an existing skill. If you’re anything like me, you have a love-hate relationship with New Year’s resolutions. No matter how strong I start, it’s inevitable that I will fail if I don’t have some method of accountability. But like a lot of people making grand New Year’s resolutions, after a few weeks in spite of their good intentions they start to lose steam and quite frankly fizzle out. However, as the scripture, Isaiah 58:11 states, The Lord will guide you continually giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. 

According to U.S. News & World Report, the failure rate for New Year’s resolutions is said to be about 80 percent, and most lose their resolve by mid-February. Bottom Line: At least 8 times out of 10, you are more likely to fall back into your old habits and patterns than you are to stick with a new behavior. Behavior change is hard and it requires more than just grit and gumption. Just think on this for a moment, how many great ideas, wonderful concepts, potential experiences were in the incubator but were never birthed because of your own internal critic said you would fail, they would laugh, they would reject you and you would be judged. But, this is our year! So, let’s start with some intentionality and become part of the 20% of people who have figured out that their purpose, drive and motivation has to be louder and more boisterous than the critic from within or cynics within one’s environment.

Everything won’t change in 2021, but you can. Nearly every habit you have today, good or bad, is the result of many small choices made over time. It is the repeated pattern of small behaviors that leads to significant results. Each day we make the choice to become one percent better or one percent worse, but so often the choices are small enough that we miss them. The underlying assumption is that your resolutions need to be big to make a difference, but that is completely bogus. The best way to capitalize on this new year and create the best resolutions are when you make small incremental changes similar to the SMART goal-setting strategy, i.e. specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based. So, friends, at the end the day, let’s commit to making small and consistent resolutions day by day. It’s quite simple, live one day at a time, not one year at a time and create a new rhythm this year that is filled with daily positive affirmations and celebrate your wins. 

Although Rome wasn’t built in a day they were laying bricks every hour. This is our year, to become unstoppable. We owe it to ourselves to not settle for another year of average. This is the year, to take chances, bet on yourself, get out of your comfort zone, color outside of the lines, create a new narrative, start something new, dream bigger, learn to say NO when it matters, grow where your planted, strengthen your faith, practice wellness and maximize the many moments this year will offer. 

This is Our Year!

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Barker, K. (2020) Hallelujahs and Hiccups, 100 Day Devotional Journal, Dallas, TX: Takman Publishing Company.