People often say we have a winter season of life. But I don’t think it is understood just how many winters we may have to endure in a lifetime.

The four season repeat every year. Winter doesn’t happen once and just stop. The catch is that each winter is different. Some are horrible and some are gentle. And the same goes for the winters in our lives. Some and gentle and some are life changing blizzards.❄️🥶

I am processing that myself. Some years, it seems I have had so much going on that I’d loose my mind😜. Other years, I learned to understand how much worse things can get🫠🤪. For example, being told I had a brain tumor was a rough situation and that year was hard. Can you saw “artic blast” happening in my life! However, being told I needed brain surgery a few years later made that “artic blast” seem like springtime.

My point is, going through the winters of life is something that seems to just be a natural occurrence. As we all should know by now, we cannot stop the forces or nature. My winter season right now has been on-going for almost a year, and honestly, I dont see any signs of a spring. But in nature, spring always come at some point and it brings rebirth and renewal with it. I am struggling with faith about springs return in my life these days, but the natural order has existed since the beginning of time! So, I am choosing to have hope in my spring returning.

Anyone else put there, who seems stuck in a winter, or feeling as if you’re living on Antarctica like me, just keep your eyes open for signs of a thaw, signs of a flower, of hope. Let things go and let what happens happen until you are released from the frigid coldness and the pain artic winds. Maybe one day spring will show up again and that warmth of your life’s summer will be back. And one day you will stand in the sunshine of life again. ✨️

People love to say, WWJD, what would Jesus do? I used to ask that question as well. But lately, I am finding I want peace in my situations and it’s a really big challenge. I am learning that’s the wrong question if i want solutions. The question is what did Jesus do?

Where the mistake is, is not referencing the lessons Jesus walked the Earth teaching. Jesus was human. He was peopling like everyone else. He was watching and feeling like everyone else. Jesus had to make decisions and live life like the rest of us. The difference is, He was about His Father’s business, so His reasoning and reactions were nothing like ours.

Instead, Jesus developed the map of what to do to and left us with the Holy Ghost to actually feel when whatever we are doing is legitimate. When we are emotionally tired, when we are sick, when we see injustice, when we are lonely, when we broke, when we are angry, and so much more; all of it has instructions. Yet we choose to look at all these situations and in ignorance, make choices to do things our own way. And many Christians reference the phrase, hummm what would Jesus do in this situation? What a foolish question. We can’t possibly describe what He would do now. But we can always go back to the original source and look up what He did do!

Let’s start off the new year asking what did Jesus do and actually use the lessons he left for us to follow as examples instead of making inferences and guessing. We don’t need to guess and try to figure it out. It’s all there for us to read and to follow His example. Peace can be still if we remove our own thinking and let God the guide. The Bible isn’t for a fun read. It’s a guide. And if your question is , hummm but is the Bible true. Pray about it and then look into it. But don’t make the mistake of thinking we can predict Jesus’s actions. He already has given us answers. Just be smart enough to look for them and brave enough to accept and implement them in your life.

One of the hardest things to do is to live your own life. The journey of self is the journey we should be on, yet if many of us look at the relaities of daily living, it can be seen that the living we are doing is not for self. Then begs the question, who are we living life for? Well, the answer will vary. But at the end of each day, you are a day older and time waits for none of us. Therfore, whatever “you things” that could have been experienced that day are lost.

I am an all time, try to make it happen, get it all done, kind of person. But what I have discovered is that I generally try to make things happen for everyone except myself 🤔

I’ve almost entered the realm of living my life just so others can live their lives, ignoring the fact that I a actually have a life too. I am fun💃🏽. I am creative👩🏽‍🎨. I am spiritual🙏🏼. I am adventurous🤩. Yet, nothing about my daily living contain any of those experiences.

I also have all of this great advice about “walking good paths” and “getting the most of everything you dabble in while on your path” that I often spread to others through the passages I share📝, the videos I send 🖥, or even songs I share🎶. I have a mission to be inspiring to people. My problem is not regularly applying that which I share with others to myself. 😔 I don’t inspire myself! We all need to learn to be our own inspiration!

I need to take all that wonderful stuff and apply it to myself; take all the wonderful knowledge and reaources I have been blessed with and use it for my own good too. I need to live my life. Maybe I have had this epiphany a bit late as time has been marching on quickly 🙄🤪, but if anyone reading this can relate and really understand what I am saying, use it to rethink your days. You use this tid bit of information I am sharing from my world to yours in my blog and reorganize your life. Reprioritize your days to make sure it includes you! Live YOUR own life and don’t forget about you ✨️ 😉!

😔No one deserves to feel worthless.😔 No one should have to feel like there is as struggle to be relevant in the world. Yet, it happens more than people realize. It’s always interesting to see how people respond when someone is down. When a person is poor in spirit, or suffering with emotions, or even desperate for money🤑. Maybe a person is seeking attention🤪, looking for love 💔, or even just trying to find a happy moment to smile. I have been in those places myself. Desperate. And now when I see it, I recognize it.

It is so easy to kick a person when they are down . It is easy to say “you are the problem”. It is even easier is to decide “oh well, you are not going to worry me with your mess.” I wonder, what would happen if everytime we send up prayers, God had that same response. What if He just keep it moving and ignore the cries for help that is sent up to Him and instead rebuked us for bothering Him in the first place. He won’t because the Bible says He hears us and He doesn’t use our faults and situations against us.

What is so wrong about meeting a person where they are and giving the support they need instead of having the opposite mindset and pulling the rug out from under someone. Why is watching someone fall more satisfying than lending a hand to hold them up? Sometimes a person is obviously, barley standing up in the first place and one negative comment or action could be the breaking point😡🤬.

There is a thin line between being an angel😇 and being a 😈 demon. Some will say they are neither, but in the end we all are either working for God or the devil with our words and actions.

I live and love by some sayings. One of them is if you can’t help a person, don’t do or say anything to hurt them🤫. Our words can hurt or help people. And the sad thing is, we know that fact already. Yet, some choose to say things to make a point, regardless of how it makes a person feel. And yes, a person needs to hear truth sometimes, but if it is said in malice, to put a person in a place beneath yourself, or just to get the satisfaction of knowing it hurt them, then it’s not a God thing. And if it’s not a God thing, guess who you just served in the situation. Yes, the devil. Some will say this is a drastic statement, but our actions are drastically done everyday based off personal choices and can have drastically consequences!

I think how differently I must see the world. I see positive possibilities through helping others, despite their short comings. But so often I walk through the world alone with that type of hope in my heart. I simply want to give up sometimes. 😪I should not see helping others as a good thing or a positive thing because some days the hope is simply not there🥺. Yet, God shows me the beauty in every day by simply letting me look at the clouds🌤 and the raindrops🌧. He shows me the rainbows🌈 and the sunshine🌞and He reminds me there is goodness in me that is made to give to others, no matter what. He reminds me that there are those who didn’t give up on me and still raise me up today. There is so much more beauty in His love for us, with our failures and mistakes, because that’s where we see His grace and mercy active in this world💙💜💙. Grace and mercy comes from God and we should willingly and graciously pass on that goodness to everyone we can.

🌟🌟🌟It is only right to give that same attention and affection to others in their time of situations and imperfections as God gives to me with my imperfections. There is more sunshine than storms and that’s the way to approach people. Give them hope and support on the stormy days so they can hold on until their sun is shinning again. A little light can go a long way in someone’s dark times. Be that light 🌟🌟🌟. Don’t add to someone’s darkness.

Today is New Year’s Eve. It seems every year, I think i am going to be of one mind, then on New Year’s Eve, I’m in a funky mood for a few hours. I look around and I see nothing much has changed, I see the same chores, the same behaviors, the same situations and for a period of time, the joy of being close to a new beginning is non- existent.

This new year, I have decided to begin writing in a vision book. I was taught about this by a dear friend many years ago, how it is scriptural and it is actually a real thing that has real results. I have been struggling with what I want to write in it for about a week now and here I am, on New Year’s Eve, still pondering what vision I have for myself in my future. It is said we are here today and can be gone today and I have come to respect that. Whatever I write is a part of what I leave behind as a legacy. I usually share my blogs with a few friends before I post and let others read them. They always give honest feed back and we even agree to disagree on some topics. But what has stood out to me is how their perspectives matter. How the feedback and the impact of what I have to say causes a reaction from them and that is important to me. And, although i seldom change anything I write, I have had a time when I did not share a post until I understood their perspective and how it may influence and affect someone who reads it . My friend asked me to reflect on why I am writing a blog, why is it meaningful to me. When I did reflect, I saw changes in my purpose over the past year. I saw the focus of my words to be profound at times yet unremarkable at other times.

For that reason, what I write now, I want to be purposeful. I want to share some words that can make a difference and not just give a opinion on a topic. I want to share something profound. What we share with others should have a purpose and do good. And i want that to be the legacy of myself, my writing. I want to acknowledge everyone had different perspectives and that the things I share in my writing and words allows people some positive ways of thinking. This is the vision i have for my writing.

It is now, the end of the year, when we all reflect, when we all look forward as well. New Year’s Eve is an ending and New Year’s Day is a beginning. And what I have discovered what actually stopped me from writing in my vision book is the fact I look back and see the negatives, the hardships, the heartbreaks, the arguments, the dysfunction, and the chaos. I not only see it from the year that has gone by, but I see the attached years of the past, tied in and connected to all the negatives. It’s almost like watching a heavy loaded train that’s already struggling to push ahead on the track have a new train car attached to it and making the weight to pull on that track so much heavier and harder. The caboose doesn’t seem to exist.

This is where lies my mistake. I am quite sure what I have to say is not only for myself. The mistake is that the year in reflection should not be about all the chaos and failures and situations. I can’t write a new vision for myself because I can’t see one. I don’t have a new outlook on life. The old is still lingering. The year reflection should be about survival, progress, and blessings. It is so easy to recall the crazy stuff, the stuff that hurts, the stuff that caused crying and anger. Those things sit in brokenness of spirit and infects the heart and mind. But the other side of those things is the survival. The other side is the fact it didn’t kill us. The other side of the negative is the wisdom gained. They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. That alway seemed stupid to me, but it is truth. The truth is the wisdom gained is the strength gained. The hurt teaches a lesson and the uses of that lesson is all on the individual. Next time, do it smarter and wiser , learn from the situation and see it as the opportunity to grow. You can be 100 years old and still growing up in this lifetime. If I want to write a new vision, then I need to have sight to see it. If a person remains blinded by all the negative it’s, then the vision of what can be will never be in view.

So, this New Year’s Eve, I am making intentional time to reflect, to look back and see what the highs of my life this year were. My reflection will be recalling what happened to make me smile, what happened to make me sing, and where did my joy come from each day. And just like my writing, I will ask the question of what is my purpose for my future as God may see me fit to fulfill. And every time I see myself in a new light, I will allow myself to write it and believe it without interruption from the world. We all deserve that. We all deserve to refresh ourselves, not just on New Year’s Day, but any day we feel like it. New Year’s Day is just one day, but there are endless possibilities to all who dare to see themselves in their own vision of life everyday.

Untamed desires lead to unfiltered behaviors. Uncontrollable emotions have unrelenting consequences. Out of control in any direction can change the entire trajectory of life for anyone. But self control is challenging. A reaction is always a choice, but sometimes it can be spontaneously done in the heat the moment. Sometimes we all speak before we think and consider consequences. Sometimes we act before we look at the bigger picture.

I believe it is human nature to mess up. Messing up is what makes us all imperfect beings. It’s how we develop and decide who we want to and who we refuse to be. A lot of our human nature experience is responding to life situations and while some people are more logical and methodical about how they do things, others just simply do things. At the end of the day, having little control is dangerous and not smart. Although some could care less about consequences, eventually the repercussions come back to haunt you. The best thing I like to share with people is to think before you act. Life isn’t always fair but Impulse actions can lead to uncontrolled behaviors and at the end of the day, the person out of control is the one pays the price. A wise person pray and listen. And even if the outcome is not the best, being patient in actions where possible can yield the best results.