Today's lesson is about looking at yourself, not the outer self but the inner self, your personality, your actions and feelings towards others. Try asking who you really are, how you've treated others  this year and most inportantly who have your hurt  because of your words or action?

For me, the end of one year rings in a new opportunity to start over, to make changes within yourself. A few years ago, I took a hard look at who I had become and hated the person standing before me, I honestly didn't even know her. I was being cruel and mean to people for no real reason other than that the people I thought were my friends were also doing it. Deep inside I knew it was wrong but at the time, I didn't care and to this day I am ashamed of my actions.

When I decided to make a change and think for myself, I made amends with some of those people who I judged so harshly and came to find that I was judging someone I never really knew and some of them are really great!

Take the opportunity to get to know a person for who they are in the inside not for how they look on the outside, or for what kind of car they drive, how much money they have or what name brands of clothing they wear! All that fades away with time but finding someone who may be a true friend can last forever! Think of how many wonderful people you've passed over who could have potentially been good friends because you ignorantly judged them, were cruel or mean and make a change today!

So Sorry!

Wow! It has really been a long time since my last post, I’m so sorry! I have been so busy lately doing so many things but I’m back now and ready to get some great content up and running!

The lesson of today came to me in the form of a Bible passage I was reading and I know that not all of you are religious or spiritual but don’t worry, this has more to do with you than you might think!

Take for example this; Rick Warren stated that

“Those who follow the crowd usually get lost in it”.

How simply this statement is but yet how little we all seem to pay attention to it. In all honesty, most people do follow the crowd; they seek approval from others and not from themselves, they sacrifice their own selves for the temporary approval of their neighbors, friends, co-workers ans so on. I cannot say I have never done this in my lifetime, at some point we all have; it’s merely our human nature. But let me tell you this, one day I woke up and realized that the same people that I was seeking approval from either disliked me or I disliked them yet I still cared what they thought, I still did things I thought they might like and for what? To add additional stress to my already over complicate life… It was just foolish of me so I stopped caring and moved on. Though I may not been "liked" by everyone, my life just became so much simpler because it no longer mattered to me what others thought. I liked myself and that was so much more important to me than having everyone “like” me!  

When you follow the crowd, you often get lost in it, what does this really mean; well it means you become just another face, a clone of everyone else. Your individually has been striped and replaced by the fact that you are now just like everyone else. Imagine this: you are trying to please everyone who is in turn trying to please everyone so really who are any of us trying to please? It's a never ending cycle that gets you nowhere! Get off that boat and take the path least walked! You'll find me there and I'll accept you as you are!

I don’t want to be lost; I want to be me so to end this topic I leave you with this:

 

“When you are set free of the bondage of pleasing others, when you are free from currying others favor and their approval - then no one will be able to make you miserable or dissatisfied. And then if we know we have pleased God, contentment will be our consolation.” 

-Kay Arthur 

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

-Matthew 7:13-14

Today's lesson is really about letting go, letting things happen and letting what will be, be... We all go through life analyzing every little thing, wondering about this and about that and constantly trying to change our situation, to change people around us and to change the outcome before it happens. We focus our time and attention no regretting things of the past and letting it interfere with our future or our current situation and really life is so simple, so very simple. But we as humans make things harder, more complicated and intricate. It's just our nature and our reality. Everything is amped up by 1000% these days, nothing is as it should be, nothing is natural. But I want to let you in on a secret that I have found on life's journey, things really can be as simple as they seem. No one wants to believe this so they twist and pull things in all different directions until what it has become is no longer what it was meant to be.

Why not just let it be; live a simple life, let go of the hurt, the regret of your past, knock on the doors and let opportunity lead the way! For we are not promised tomorrow so let today be your wonderland, enjoy the moments, the smells, the smiles and the laughs, the tears and the fears and see how much lighter your load becomes! Love life, simplified!