Often times we get so caught up in trying to impress others that we lose sight on who we really are, of our genuine self. We spend way too much time and energy trying to impress those people whose opinion doesn't matter to us anyway. My philosophy is that if you are not paying my bills, supplying my food or one of my parental units, my sibling or family member your opinion has no weight in my world.
How far do we go to impress someone? What are we really doing? It is true that actions speak louder than words..it is not what people hear you say it is what they see you do. As parents, we should be cautious of our behavior because children will mock the behavior that they see. That same mentality can be applied for anyone in any situation. Many of us are role models, examples, heros, and mentors and don't even realize it. There is always somebody watching, taking note of our actions. Most of the time we don't even think about it. What kind of impression is really being made? Are our actions reflective of the words we speak? When we think nobody is looking does our behavior change?
We should strive to always do our best and do the right thing. Our actions are influential to the circumstances and people that surround us. Just think if we put as much time, energy and effort into ourselves as we do trying to impress others. I like to say if you are going to invest, why not invest in yourself.
Our lives are nothing but a stage play, and we are the main characters. Each performance should be better than the last. The world is our audience and in it there will be critics. We just have to work hard at always do the right thing. After all, we never know who is watching.
~Angelic-1
My family has not had a garden in years. My Dad and uncle however have decided to plant one this year. There is a list of crops they are hoping to grow. They will till the ground, sow the appropriate seeds, then water and perform the necessary maintenance in hopes that they get crops that look just like the pictures on the seed packets. Aren't we all like that? Isn't that what we are supposed to do? We have a garden of life. We sow seeds everyday. You know Galatians 6:7 - Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
It is true that what you put out in the universe will come back to you in multitude. The same concept as planting seeds in the ground. The crop that we receive looks nothing like the seeds we plant. However, we have an ideal of what we will get. I say that to mean, you can't keep sowing bitterness, gossip, hatred, jealousy, negativity and such into the world and expect good things to happen in your life. That is not how it works.
I encourage you to live and work from a place of love within you. Strive to be a good person. Strive to be positive, kind, and generous on purpose. Watch what starts to happen to you as you grow in love. Those seeds you are sowing will begin to come back to you as blessings, opportunities and acts of kindness from those around you.
So as you go about your day, sow seeds based in love.
Remember God loves you and so do I.
Angelic-1
I luv me some U
There are certain events that take place in our lives that change us forever. Mine happened three years ago in the span of eight days in May.
The morning began as a happy one, celebrating my Father's birthday. That joy quickly turned to sadness with a phone call that my Aunt had been found dead in her home. She was not just your ordinary Aunt, she was so much more to so many. To me, she was my mother away from home, my decorator, my stylist. We playfully fussed every chance we had because we were so much alike. As much as my heart hurt for my loss, it bled even more because I couldn't take the pain away from her sons. I could not fix their shattered world, and that hurt me more.
So I numbed myself to be able to do the things necessary for the family. Just going through the motions, things can become a blur. A week passes and it is the night of the Repass. A hard night was escalated to difficult with a phone call from the hospital that Grandma had been rushed to the Emergency Room and they needed the whole family there. I tearfully made it through the night only to have to face the funeral of my Aunt in a few hours. Concerned about my Grandma, but prayed up for her comfort and recovery, I struggled through the Celebration of Life.
The call came again that the family was needed at Grandma's bedside, this time they gave us the news that she would not make it through the night. It was an out of body experience for me. As I sat there, my mind was flooded with memories of our talks, our laughs, our love. My Grandma had been my everything, my number one fan. In her eyes, I could do no wrong. She found pride in everything I did. Even in her last days, she would smile at the mention of my name. But now God needed her. He wanted to take her out of her misery here on Earth.
If you have never sat and waited for a loved one to take their last breathe, I tell you that has to be the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I was frozen in time, mesmerized by the clock ticking away seconds. Each tick seemed louder than the last, and in between I could hear Grandma breathing. As I tried to focus, I began to hear her whispering to me. But nobody in the room seemed to hear it but me. I could hear her saying the numbers 2 2 4, over and over, as if she was sitting right next to me. I tried to shake it off, but those numbers stuck in my head.
The minutes turned into hours, but we remained at her bedside speaking words of comfort and love. The doctor had instructed us to encourage her, it was okay to let go. We kept telling her that we would see her again. We told her that her job her on Earth was done. We told her she was free. As we talked to her, her breathes became shorter. Then at exactly 2:24am she took her last breathe. That is a sound that I will never forget. At that moment, I saw her Spirit rise up and take the hand of the Death Angel that awaited her. Together they walked off into the light.
Just like that, my world that was already shaken up was shattered. My Grandma was gone. Life as I knew it would never be the same again. My heart would forever be missing a huge chunk. Everyday my heart yearns for her.
Today on her anniversary, I can reflect back and I can smile through my tears. I know my Grandma is smiling down on me, still my number one fan, still proud of anything I do. It is true that the pain subsides. It does get easier with time. I don't love or miss her any less, memories we shared have grown that love. But these eight days in May three years ago have surely changed my life and my outlook on it. Life is too short to do anything but love. I love my life and everybody in it. I am grateful for all my loved ones that God has called home because they helped make me the person I am today.
I end my thoughts today by telling you God loves you and so do I.
Toodles
Angelic-1
