T.H.I.N.K. BEFORE YOU ACT

It is officially day 37 of quarantine and as I sit in bed this morning to write this I just want to say Thank You. This time has shown me the power of manners and how words, like please and thank you, can truly change lives. That is why I’m going to take this time to publicly thank God for every breath of life, every word of life He spoke into my life, every person that is still healthy, every family that came together, every life spared, every meal, every laugh, every drop of rain and every ray of sunshine. I thank Him for everything but most importantly, I thank Him for being God. Over the course of this quarantine, He highlighted to me how His hand was still at work and although it seems as if the world has stopped life has not. There were still a few key areas that He wanted for me to focus on during this time of solitude where I really needed to get my act together. He told me to T.H.I.N.K., to change my perception of life and all that not only I, but it had to offer me. The way I viewed life and the world around me, although sounded hopeful and optimistic was riddled with strong displays of fear and disappointment. Two things that are not supported by God, so He broke it down to me in a way that was so plain and true to me that I had no choice but to acknowledge it and accept my faults. He showed me just how messed up and spoiled I was and I knew if I ever truly wanted to do something great there were a few things I would have to leave here in quarantine. I had to stop thinking I have Time to delay and stop seeking comfort in my habits. There was no more dancing with intimidation, no more negotiating my destiny. And the glue to hold all this together was to stay aligned with God. If I could master that the change I wanted to see in the world I could be.

Some of you right now may be wondering why share this, isn’t this obvious? Well, yes, but how many of you can sit here and say that you live like this to the highest power possible. One thing I do know for sure is that this quarantine shook the world so much so that these same points are a constant topic discussed and trending on various social media platforms. Everyone is in constant thought of what’s next and what their plans are for life after quarantine, but really it should be are you prepared for what’s next and equipped for the battle of life after quarantine. This response speaks solely to how ungrateful and that change is necessary as many people’s first stops are to tend to their appearance. For me, this event has shown me how to view time and cherish it. I now understand the importance of seizing every day and every opportunity to make a difference and be engaged in the life that goes beyond my fingertips. The habits that once brought me comfort I no longer can hide behind forcing me to grow up or get swept up into a whirlwind of self-pity and doubt. I can no longer do the tango with intimidation, putting passion into every step only to win trophies of jealousy and regret. I could no longer stomach rounds of negotiation filibustering my dreams because I was so afraid of failure. No longer was I able to sit shocked and surprised by my stagnant lifestyle when I know I didn’t put in even a quarter of the work because I was to busy negotiating my next move and what I was willing to give up to achieve greater. The time for playing the fence was over, I was either all in becoming a true kindred spirit with Christ or I could lay down and become a lame one, there was no in-between.

All this information was eye-opening and if I shared every moment of confirmation I received on how clearly God was reading me I would be typing all day. It’s easy to deny something when you know it isn’t the truth but when every single detail of your life matches up wearing the disguise gets harder. Suddenly, it doesn’t seem to fit anymore and the urge to strip it all away seems like the best course of action because now that it’s been exposed how could you possibly continue to sit in filth? It takes a true soldier to look themselves in the mirror and say this is not my best, and there is more to me than even I know but I surely want to find out. In the midst of all this, I realized I was living my entire life in a quarantine, distancing myself from anything I thought would ruin my disguise and force me to look myself in the mirror. Too afraid that if I chased after what I really wanted those things that I held dear to me, that I thought made me who I was would disappear. I now see that I needed those things to if I ever wanted to find out what I’m capable of; those old habits had to pass away, so the new could come. And so I leave you with this, “A habit is formed when you consistently meet an important need with a chosen behavior. Processes like developing good daily habits are not something we utilize in order to avoid relying on God’s help, they exist BECAUSE OF His help.”