#UnBlockYourself

The Choice Is Yours

#UnBlockYourself 425: The choice is yours
 
Over the years, at the end of our prayer time with the kids and staff at the center, Ms. B. has graced us with wisdom and gave us this charge as we would start our day: “Make it a great day or not, the choice is yours.” 
 
There is so much packed into this one statement. 
 
First off, there has to be a decision made. Not only that, but the power to make this day a great day or not has been given to us. 
 
And I’ll tell you this, every decision to act or not act affects the rest of your life. The decision to have just one more cookie can lead to high blood sugar on down the road because “just one more” lead to another and another and another. On the flip side, saving that money from not going out can cause you to like your own cooking, which leads to you cooking for yourself, and then others, and then a restaurant, and multiple locations and now you’re a retired multi millionaire because of those decisions. 
 
The choice you make also comes from how you view things. I think of your mind having its own positive and negative filtration system. So many situations are neutral, but the you see will be determined by how it’s filtered. 
 
I had one of my tropical plants really just shrivel up and die on me. I saw it as dead, it was sad and I never got around to throwing it away. But to my plant lady, (Ms Nancy) she sees that all the time, “it just needs a plant vacation” (sit it outside for some sun, water, and air). Not dead at all. 
 
We may see hopeless fixer upper, but some with an eye for it may see a gold mine. 
 
So the decision is ours.
We choose greatness or not. 
It is an ongoing thing. 
We make the choices by the filters we use in our mind. 
Lastly, we influence the filters by what we allow to influence them. 
Another choice causing greatness or not. 
 
The old cliché is that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, and get this if you fill your eyes with trash, trash will be the only thing you are able to see. 

Abiding in the Vine of Your Vision

#UnBlockYourself 424: abiding in the vine of your vision
 
““I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.”
John 15:5-8 MSG
 
Applying this to our vision, it has to be a living breathing thing we set out to embrace and have dwell within us. When it is living within us, and it also is something that we are living by, we bear fruit. We start to see results. If there is a gap in the results from all of our efforts or non-efforts we’re putting into it, we may have to check if we have strayed or completely separated from the vision given.
 
Side Note - If this is a God-given vision for our life, we have to also make sure we do not stray or separate from God AND the Vision alike. We may see results, and they may seem good, but ultimately can lead us down a path where we end up worshipping the created, rather than the creator. The problem God was having with people was that they would start to prosper, and then forget the mission, vision, where it came from, and what it was for. Be careful!
 
Along these same lines, if there are somethings that are being used to create your vision, or fulfill your mission, and they are not producing fruit for you, you may have to evaluate them to see if they have become dead wood that needs to be pruned. Pruning cuts off less than useful things and allows for the energy from it to be diverted to the more useful areas, causing growth. Consider these things as you work out your ikigai!

If Not Me, Then Who?

#UnBlockYourself 423: if not me, then who?
 
Vision is a picture given as a picture of us fulfilling our calling. 
“To put it simply, vision is what the world would be like if we succeeded. Mission, on the other hand, is what we must do for the world to reflect the vision.”
 
With this in mind, ikigai is what we say, do, and feel in our everyday lives that supplies the mission and vision. The more aware of your ikigai working itself out through you, the greater the impact you will have on your circle of influence. 
 
Take your time. Your purpose is big, and multifaceted. There are many moving parts to this life, and It can only be handled by you, and you are not small. In fact, you plus God is a majority. When those world changing ideas pop up in your head, you’re going to have to say, “if not me, then who?”

UnBlock to UnLock

#UnBlockYourself 422: Unblock to Unlock
 
Unblocking your potential, and living a full life is the focus for this season. There are few core concepts that I’m learning about, and we’ll discover some hidden truths and some misconceived theories that and I’m uncovering almost on a daily basis. 
 
I’m excited! New season, New discoveries, New ways to move forward into a new life.
 
Two Core Philosophies I’m developing myself in:
A.R.E.A - Aspirations, Roles, Expectations, Appreciation - This unblocks potential in relations. (God, Self, Others) 
 
The next is what drives me, Wabikigai (a word I made up) 
Wabi Sabi - enjoying the beauty and perfection in the imperfections
Ichigo Ichie - being in the moment, once in a lifetime happenings
Ikigai - reasons and driving forces behind your vision and purpose
 
My belief is that when start to “unblock” ourselves we start to “unlock” ourselves.
We can live life to the fullest, even if it is physically cut short. Not only that, but the things we do and the people we touch live on even when we are no longer here.
 
My brother loved music, it was one of his many passions. Truly a part of his ikigai. some of the things he loved and touch others with lives on today, even though he has been gone for almost 2 years. Often in the background you can hear tracks he made for this podcast and see a painting he painted in this room.
 
What are some of the things you are living for? What are some of the visions you have for your life? Are you stepping towards them? Your vision and purposes mixed with the fire of your passion to accomplish them, makes you unstoppable. Will the things you are doing now extend further than your life? Like Dr. King, do you have a dream? His continues this day, so should yours!

The More I Change, The More Stays The Same

Like I've been saying this week, I've been struggling with trying to be everything I'm supposed to be (the I see me in my head). But God was showing me where I decided to make a change, and where I decided to surrender and allow Him to develop me. The areas are vastly different. Like this, I decided on my own that I will not be broke any more. I said I would maintain X amount in my account, and adjust accordingly to maintain that. It worked for only so long, because life made adjustments at the same time that would keep me at the level I was in my finances. If I got and increase, car maintenance or a new program or an unexpected increase in expenses would appear. 
 
To be honest, the exact same thing would happen when I decided to surrender my financial mindset to function in a kingdom way (to be developed). Although setbacks come, I’ve been satisfied in not needing more, which means I spend less, which I can take hits when life shows up. 
 
A changed mind under pressure will fall back on what it knows, because it thinks the change is not working. A developed mind will build itself little by little, and it won’t fall back  far if trouble comes because in the development process, training is building a strong foundation for things to come.
 
Here’s the bottom line, to free yourself to become changed, you have to set yourself free to what you have been doing. The circumstances that test you will always try the actual mindset of where you are, if it really has been changed, or will it stay the same.

Stepping Across An Invisible Bridge

#UnBlockYourself Episode 420
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV
 
Struggling in the now is not as bad as it sounds. The fight is within me trying to control everything instead of trusting in the process. I think of it as me stepping onto an invisible bridge, going from where I am, to where I am supposed to be. In my mind I can see a lot of where I’m going, but the path to get there is on this invisible bridge. Like me, this frightens many people, because it requires a lot of faith to be guided. 
 
3 things on this:
You cannot just sit and do nothing. Staying stuck on the bridge is no good for you or anyone. It is never a good feeling being stuck.
 
You have to believe that the doors that close on you sets you up for a better position on this bridge. Some of the doors we choose for ourselves can leave us stuck in a place for years. Sitting at an old door that closed because that was where we wanted to go.
 
You have to go through the doors that are opened for you. The doors of opportunity that God opens for you moves you across this bridge and the interesting thing about this is, the more you trust and move, the longer and greater this bridge becomes. Greater payoffs await behind each new door you step through, bringing you closer and closer to who you have been called to be!

The Struggle with being in the Now

"We realize we have built our lives around who we were, and we must make adjustments to be who we are, on the way to who we are becoming."
I read this in a daily devotional and it really spoke to me. Ichigo Ichie (about being present in the moment) has been something I firmly believe in, but I have a hard time staying there with God. Reading this I finally have an understanding why.
 
God is always in the now. In my past, it's His now. In my future, it's still His now. My present, He is there, in the now. But as for us, we only can be in the now, and who are today is built on all of our past experiences (In The Past). All I know is my past, my future is not clear, and I can only blindly walk by faith in the now. That's Hard. 
I'm building my now off of what I've experienced in the past. But God is ever changing and evolving us for our future, so the struggle really just boils down to trusting the process. Because He functions in the now, we can't really rely on just our past to fulfill our future. We have to trust and depend on Him. I can't stress this enough, being present with Him in the now is where change comes. If we can keep focused on the now, our future is bright paved with the blessings of our lights shining in the darkness!
 
Have a great day! 
 
 

Risk Ratio 2: Don’t be afraid to do it afraid

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” - Isaiah 41:10
 
Have you ever noticed that God gives you a giant vision that is waaaaaaaay bigger than you can handle? Then in your spirit you can hear, “Don’t be scared…” For me, it helps in knowing that I’m not alone, and that I’m where I am supposed to be, but, it doesn’t help because the task in front of me is bigger than me. I feel like I’m being swallowed up by this great big monster of an undertaking and usually the bigger things win.
 
I think it is set up this way on purpose. It says “fear not”, meaning that it is going to naturally be scary. I think that the scripture is telling you that it’s okay, to go ahead and not be afraid to do what you’ve set out to do, scared. If you could do it in your own strength, well you wouldn’t need God at all right? I’ve spoken to small groups and in front of congregations, all in which when I think about it, when it was important, no matter the size, I’d be nervous as all get out. But the adrenaline gets going and I’m determined to have a good time, even though I’m afraid, God makes it okay. I’ve lived even when I’ve bombed, or forgotten lines, or watched deacons at church fall asleep right in front of me giving a sermon. The scripture is saying, “I called you, now go take the risk.” 
 
Behind the risks, there are rewards! From lesson being learned to monetary compensation, with the right mindset, the more risks you take the greater rewards and closer you come to your success!