God's Favor

Hello and TGIM! Now you may be asking yourself, "What's 'TGIM' ?" TGIM stands for 'Thank God It's Monday". I know for most of us, Mondays can seem like the worst day of the week; the weekend is over and a new work week is starting all over again. But the reality is, seeing a new Monday is a blessing. We're reached another Monday; another day and that's definitely something to be happy and grateful for. So while I will always be happy to say TGIF at the end of the week, I think Mondays deserve a shout-out, too! 

Now on to the other part of this post, God's favor. I had to speak on this today because I have seen through very recent events that have happened in my life that I definitely have God's favor and I want to publicly acknowledge and thank Him for that. God's favor... that's a pretty touchy subject. Well, let's start out with the question that some may be asking, "What is God's 'favor'?" Now this is just my opinion, and I am no theological expert, this is just my interpretation, but God's favor is when it seems that God is ordering the steps of your life, you are being protected from harm and danger, even when you try to do wrong, God pulls you back in the right direction, He knows the future is always looking ahead for your good, even when you don't realize it, so He orders the steps you make accordingly. Now all of us have God's favor to a certain extent; we're living, we're breathing, we're here! But I think the big difference is most of us don't listen when we know it's God who is talking to us. That right there could be the difference! Listening to that little, soft voice that tells us right from wrong. I try to listen to it more times than I ignore it, but I'm not perfect. I don't claim to be any more special than you or anyone else walking on this earth, but recently, and as I look back at my life, I know that God has been looking out for me from the beginning and is definitely protecting me from harm. Maybe because I asked Him along time ago to order my steps and just as He promised in His word, ask and you shall receive because He has been ordering my steps for a long time. So if you're reading this and going through some hard times in your life at the moment, I urge you to pray and allow Him to order your steps as well. (And when I say "order your steps" that doesn't mean He's going to make you a robot that will only move on his command, but He will give you the wisdom to know right from wrong and most importantly, the wisdom to hear His voice when He speaks to you and obey.) God can't and won't fail so if you keep your trust in Him you can never go wrong! And remember, sometimes God has you go through some trials in your life to be a learning lesson for you that will make you a stronger, better person. (This is always the hardest pill for me to swallow but it never fails, whenever I come through a bad situation, I learn from it and I'm stronger & wiser from it.)

So to sum it all up, I think we ALL can have God's favor, if we just listen and trust in Him. 

TGIM eveyone! And have a wonderful week!
Jonelle

Sunday Inspiration: A Spirit of Gratitude

"Don't confuse your path with your destination. Just because its stormy now doesn't mean you aren't headed for sunshine." ~Unknown

How would you feel if you woke up today with only what you thanked God for yesterday? So many times, we’re so focused on everything that’s going wrong in our lives and what we don’t have that we fail to give thanks for the many blessings we DO have. Acknowledging the good things that are happening in our lives ensures that we attract more of the same, and helps us develop a spirit of gratitude.
 
By focusing on our blessings, we attract more joyous experiences to come into our lives, opening up channels of positive energy that allow our hopes and dreams to flow. Acknowledge that God shows up in our lives daily in the form of dreams manifested, goals accomplished, hopes fulfilled and prayers answered. By giving thanks every day, we are telling God that we appreciate the blessings we receive, and that we believe we are worthy of receiving all the good things in life we so desire. So give Him thanks, everyday, no matter what's going on in your life, good or bad.

Have an amazing week!

GOLDEN

Hey, positive people! How's it going? Hope you've been having a fantastic week! Only one more day until the weekend begins so no matter how rough your week may have been up until this point, I know you gotta' be happy about that! My week has been pretty good but I'm always happier the closer it gets to when I can officially say "TGIF!" :)

This post is going to be short & sweet. It was inspired by one of my favorite songs: "Golden" by Jill Scott.  Everytime I hear it, I get motivated and inspired to live life to the fullest!  It reminds me that no matter what anyone says or thinks about me or my life, I'm going to live my life like it's golden because IT REALLY IS! You've only got one life to live, one mind, one body, and one time to get it right. Everybody makes mistakes - that's normal and expected, but my advice is to live each day like it's your last, making the best decisions you can in order to live a positive, happy, healthy life!

LIVE YOUR LIFE LIKE IT'S GOLDEN!

  

Be encouraged!
Jonelle

What God Has For Me, It Is For Me!

Hey, positive ones. I gotta' admit, as I write this I'm a little sad. No need to go into my personal drama and don't worry, I'll be fine, but have you ever been in a situation where you the plans you had in mind for your life were suddenly flipped and now you don't know where you stand? That's kinda' how I'm feeling now. Now as a positive person who believes and trusts in God, I know that no matter what happens, at the end of the day, I'm going to be alright, but I'd be lying if I said it doesn't get hard sometimes. Those are the times that I try to remember that saying, "What God has for me, it is for me." Even though I'm usually the encourager, sometimes I need encouragement, too, and that saying helps me out a lot. So that's what I'm saying to you today, too: "What God has for you, it is for you!"

There's never a need to worry, just have faith and trust in the Lord knowing that if you allow Him, He will direct your path. Sometimes we need a reminder that it truly is all in God's plan - everything that we're going through, all the trials and tribulations, the pain & heartache, and even the good times - they're all necessary in making us into the people that we were born to be. You see, I may be grown, but I haven't stopped growing. I once heard someone say that if you're the exact same person today as you were a year ago, that's a problem, and I believe that to be true. Each year we should be coming away with a new perspective on life and where we stand in it. Not trying to get too deep here but the blog is called "Mind & Soul", right? :) I'll end on this note, know that whatever you're going through, God is right there, ready & willing to guide you through it. He knows what's on the other the side. He has a plan for your life that no man can interfere with. WHAT GOD HAS FOR YOU, IT IS FOR YOU!

Be encouraged!
Jonelle

Food For Thought...

Proverbs 3:5-6  
⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight
Psalm 55:22  
²² Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.

DO YOU!

"You can't let other people tell you who you are. You have to decide that for yourself." ~unknown

Hey positive people! This post is going to be a short but sweet one. I think the majority of us have spent a fair amount of our lives trying to be this image of ourselves that we think others want to see. We've often felt that we need to look, talk and even walk a certain way to please other people. Well, after 29 years of living on this earth, I've come to the conclusion that I refuse to change anything about myself in order to try and please other people. I'll give you several reasons why. 

The first reason being, YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO BE ABLE TO PLEASE EVERYONE! If this is truly your goal, give it up now because it's an impossible task to accomplish. Why? Because of my second reason, which is no matter what you do, not everyone is going to like you, and vise-versa. But you know what? That's okay! Really! It is! I know we would all like to live in this "perfect" world of everyone loving each other but that's just not reality. I'm not trying to breed any negativity by saying this, but it's the truth. And you don't necessarily have to like a person's personality to get along with them. All "getting along" takes is common courtesy and consideration for others feelings and that should be possible for everyone to do if they try. And the third and final reason why I refuse to change anything about myself in order to try and please other people is I have to be free to be me! I refuse to let anyone make me feel like not being me is okay.

As the quote above says, "You can't let other people tell you who you are. You have to decide that for yourself." So I say, DO YOU! You can pretend and be an okay someone else, but you can let the true you shine and be an awesome you! So embrace yourself for who you are! DO YOU! Why not? No one can do you better!

Staying Sane In An Insane World

"Staying Sane In An Insane World." What a title, huh? You know how I mentioned in my last post that when you're in a bad mood it may seem like everyone around you has an attitude but the reality is that it's really only you who is in the bad mood? Well, switch that up, turn it around, because we're doing a complete 180 in this post. When trying to live a happy, positive, moral, and in my case, Christian life, there are many times where you may feel like the "odd man out" but in reality, it's not really you, but them. And when I say "them" I don't want you to think that I mean anyone who isn't a Christian (I'm not that close-minded and I have no prejudices), I'm talking about the negative, amoral people out there who are more interested in spreading & promoting negativity rather than keeping it positive. They out number us and sometimes it can truly feel like you are the only sane ones in an insane world. But know that YOU ARE NOT ALONE. While positive people like myself may be "unpopular", there are plenty of us around.

I've found that people who have a passion for fitness and being healthy are some of the most positive, inspiring people to be around! You just can't be a "negative nelly" when you've got all those endorphins going! A couple of years ago, I went to Orange County, California for Chalene Johnson's "Camp Do More - 2010" event. It's a 3 day fitness camp held at The Hilton Anaheim Hotel. I went by myself, not knowing anyone. I just knew that I loved Turbo Kick and I wanted to be around some like-minded people who felt the same way I did. I came out of the whole experience meeting a lot of new people, making a lot of new friends, and feeling like it was easy to do so.

I say all that to say that not only is exercise a positive habit, good for not only your body but your mind & soul as well, but being around like minded people helps you realize that you're not alone in this world. There are other positive people out there, living their day to day lives, trying to make a difference, just like you. While I have to admit that I am sort of bias on the whole exercise thing, I can accept that may not be your "thing". Everything's not for everybody. But finding an interest and surrounding yourself with other people who share that same passion is essential!

So, yes, this world can be crazy sometimes, most times in fact. But it is possible to make it through! Have a wonderful Friday everyone and TGIF!


Your friend,
Jonelle

Taking Control of Your Bad Mood

So you're in a bad a mood, maybe someone said something to you out of line or in the wrong way, maybe you're still thinking about an argument between you and a friend the other night, or it could be that you just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, but whatever it is, you are NOT a in good mood today. So what do you do? Me? I try to either stay to myself or have as little contact with people as possible until I'm out of my funk. What do others do? I've found there to be 2 other paths that most people take. Some want to talk about. They may complain out loud or make some obvious verbal hints that they are in a bad mood, hoping you take the bait and ask them "what's wrong?" Or some may just walk right up to you and start venting. The second path I've seen people take are the ones who take their bad mood out on any and everyone that crosses their path. If they're having a bad day, EVERYONE is having a bad day. These are just 3 different paths to take, I'm sure there are many more, but which one is the right path? Not everyone is the kind of person who can work it out on their own and talking it out may be their best therapy. The third path mentioned, making your bad day everyone's bad day, is definitely not the right path to take. It may work in making you feel better at the moment, but in the long run you're going to lose a lot of friends.

I've come up with 3 steps to take when you find yourself in a bad mood. I think the first and most important thing is to recognize that it's not everyone else but it's YOU. When you find yourself in the position where it seems like everyone around you has an attitude and is saying things to tick you off, realize that if it's EVERYONE, then most likely, it's really ONLY YOU. YOUR THE ONE WITH THE ATTITUDE. Recognizing you're the one with the problem is step 1.

Step 2 is to find a way to relieve that stress, because all any bad mood or attitude is is pent up stress, no matter what the reason behind what caused it. So find out how to release it, whether that be spending some alone time with yourself, venting to someone (preferably someone who is already a friend because venting to potential friends is often is a good way to not make any new ones - no one really wants their good mood ruined by your bad one).

And Step 3 is moving past it. Our moods, up or down, no matter what the cause, are really up to us! I'm not saying that it's easy, you can't expect to say "I will be in a good mood" and instantly your mood is brighter, but willing yourself in a better mood is possible. Allow yourself to get past whatever was bothering you and move on.

Taking control of your bad mood isn't as hard as it may seem, it just takes some honest self evaluation, and that's the hard part. But hey, if you can't be honest with yourself, who can you be honest with? So keep these steps in mind whenever you find yourself a little cranky. 

It's All In The Plan

So I guess you've been wondering, "Where has she been?" My goal had always been to write a new post in Mind & Soul at least once a month, but life has had me busy... very busy! But busy in a good way, though, so I'm not complaining. :) God has really been blessing me lately and I am so grateful.

My prayer since I was 12 years old has been for God to order my steps and it is truly awesome when you can sit back and look over your life and see God doing just that. Even when I want to turn left, it's as if my feet are set in stone because God won't let me make a move that is not going to be in my favor.
I'll admit, this can be a little annoying at times because all of us, myself included, are impatient when it comes to God. We see the hear and now and we want what we want when we want it, without realizing that God sees the future and is always getting us prepared for what's to come next.

I say all that to say that no matter what you're going through, know that it's all in God's plan. Even the mistakes that we make, while some are things that God wouldn't have had us go through if we had chose to listen to Him, God will turn that into an experience that we can learn from. With God, NOTHING IS EVER IN VAIN.

I know sometimes it can seem that we pray and pray, waiting for God to answer, but my mother once told me and I believe it's true, God ALWAYS answers our prayers. Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes we're told to wait, and sometimes the answer is no.

Don't ever think that God has forgotten about you because He cares and would never leave you.

I don't know about you, but whenever I'm going through some rough times in my life, it feels good knowing that God is still there and this bad time won't last forever. You might have heard that saying, "for everything there's a reason and season"? Well, that's really true! It's all in the plan.

Giving It 100%

Hello lovely people! :) It's June 23, 2011, which means almost in the month of July. Seven months have passed and it feels like the year just started! Time has a way of just flying by! So how has the positive life been treating you? No one ever promised you (I know I certainly didn't) that life would be easier or problems would disappear when you have a positive attitude (in fact, it can often feel just the opposite), but I do believe that having a positive attitude, mind, and soul will help you deal with the problems much easier. You now, hopefully, have a new outlook on things, so you don't react to problems as dramatically as you may have before. It's just life! Problems are going to come and go, that's just the way it is, but the attitude you take while handling them is the real issue. As I've said before, and I'm sure I'll say again, I'M NOT PERFECT. I write this blog in an effort to hopefully encourage and motivate all who read it, but serves as a source of encouragement for myself as well.
Somewhat like therapy for my mind and soul; an online journal or diary to keep me on a positive path. But like I said, I'm not perfect, so while I'm a naturally positive person, life has a way of testing that, and until a couple of weeks ago, I was letting the small negative situations and people in my life really effect me in a bad way. That's until I decided–with God's help of course–"NO MORE! I'm remaining positive, GIVING IT MY 100% OR NOTHING AT ALL!" No more complaining, discussing, thinking or agonizing over people and/or situations that I can't change.  I finally realized that God is in charge, He's the director of the show which I call my life and He's never going to give me more than I can handle, and with Him, I CAN DO AND CONQUER ALL THINGS! So why am I stressing? The key is, I've got to do my part by giving it my 100%!


So what about you? Do you pledge from this day on to give it your 100%? I'm not saying there will never be times where you or I will not feel stressed out or sad, that's unrealistic, I'm just saying that from this day on we will make a concentrated effort to remain positive and rise above the negativity around us. Key word being "concentrated". I've learn that being positive, even if you're a "naturally positive person", doesn't come natural. You may be blessed that 9 times out of 10 you have always had a more hopeful, optimistic way of seeing things (that would be the kind of person I am) but remaining that way takes effort! (Trust me, I know.) So take the pledge! GIVE IT 100%!

Guess What? YOU'RE BLESSED!

Hello my positive ones! I'm keeping it short but sweet today. Now I'm assuming since you're reading this, you woke up this morning, and with the full seeing capabilities, too (hey, you may have to have some assistance on hand, in other words, glasses, but no matter, you're still able to see). You're living, you're breathing, so matter what hardships you may be currently facing, Guess what? YOU'RE BLESSED!

Be encouraged!
Jonelle

P.S - A book I read from time to time says that for everything there is a season. A season only lasts for a certain amount of time before a new one begins, so matter what you're going through, remember that in time, this too shall pass. And count it all joy because guess what? YOU'RE STILL BLESSED!