It's time to lighten up a bit.

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We are fast approaching the end of the year.  Many have gone through 2020 wondering just what happened to the year that was supposed to be spectacular, phenomenal, out of sight, and instead have been praying that it would just end.  Others have pretty much gone through each day doing what they always did, and then you have people like me and others who realize that all that has happened has happened for a reason, and our job is to figure out that reason.  

We can sit here and bemoan all that has happened over the last ten or eleven months, but in reality is that really going to change what has happened?  Probably not, and if you decide to waste all your energy on trying to figure things out, then that energy is going to be misplaced, in my opinion.  We have a golden opportunity to change things up, and when I say change things up I mean change the way we act, change the way we think, and change the way we operate.  Through this entire pandemic, the cosmic flux, the topsy turfy way of life, we have been given a choice.  The choice was act on what you know, or act on what you see.  Let me ask you this, what is the better option?  We know that there will be people around us who will be going nuts, does that mean you have too?  There will be people around us who will bury their head in the sand, do you follow suit?  Just because the rest of the world may be running around acting nuts, doesn't mean you have to.  

We simply need to lighten up a bit, take a chill pill, and just rest in the knowledge that this is something that has to happen.  However, how you handle it is entirely up to you.  I found myself failing into a slight funk from time to time, so what did I do?  I simply reminded myself who I was, what I was, and focused on the "I am" presence in my life.  I am that I am! God created us to create.  God created us to live in victory, and not be swayed by what we see happening around us.  Now I realize that this is not always an easy path to take, but it is the path that needs to be chosen if you are ever going to navigate these very trying times.  Staying true to what you hold in your heart can be a challenge, but it's a challenge worth fighting for.  When we set out to buy our new home here in Fort Worth there were all kinds of challenges that we faced.  Through it all I simply held fast to what I knew in my heart was going to be the end result.  I lived with the end result.  I would watch my words, my feelings, and even my thoughts.  Certainly there were times when I had to dig my heels in and hold fast to that end feeling, but that's what I did, and now we are in our brand new home.  Did I want to quit from time to time?  You bet, but I stood strong in what I knew was meant to be, and what was meant to be happened.  

Sadly we have forgotten that we are unstoppable.  We have allowed others to sway us in what should be our core beliefs.  I'm not saying this to beat anyone up, I'm saying this as a reminder of what we need to do so we can stand up and show others how good things can be.  There's and old saying that a rising tide lifts all boats.  Well,  a strong person who knows of their own significance will also raise the vibration level of those around them.  Think of it this way, and let's be honest, we all know people who we like to be around, and others who we stay as far away from as is humanly possible.  Why?  We like the energy of some, and run from the rest.  Surround yourself with like minded people.  Embrace those around you that raise your energy level.  Try to laugh a bit, smile a little more, throw off doubt and fear.  We can choose to be proactive, or we can do what most others do and that is be reactionary.  Always waiting for the other shoe to drop is no way of living.  It's time that you create your reality. Believe it or not, there are others who are dependent on you being your authentic self.  There are people all around you that need you to be what you were destined to be.  There are multitudes who need what you have.  I've made reference to this quote a few hundred times since I  began my writing career, but I feel as though it needs another go round.  John Wooden, the famed UCLA Mens Basketball Coach said this, "You cannot live a perfect day, until you have done something for someone, who can never repay you."  What does this mean?  It means that you have gone thought what you have gone through, you have learned what you have learned to be able to help someone else, and that someone else you may not even know who they are.  The smile you extend to someone today is going to affect someone half a world away, twenty years from now.  You have a choice:  do you rise above it, or do you simply go with the flow, experiencing what others say you need to experience?  

I for one want to be what I was destined to be.  I want to step out of the norm, and really show others what is possible.  Let's be real for just a moment.  It would be so easy just to throw up our hands and quit.  Hell who could blame you for wanting to surrender to what is happening all around us?  Surrender in so many situations might be the right choice for some, but it is never the right choice for you.  When you know and accept your significance, you then accept that your only choice is to move forward and stand your ground. No one ever said that life would be simple, but no one ever said that life was not an adventure either.  We will all go through different things, because each of us are different.  What we go through is what will teach us what we need to know.  What we need to know is what will push us to our next level.  Getting to that next level is what you need in order to accomplish the things you were sent here to accomplish.  

Let me leave you with this last thought.  When we allow the burden of life to be a burden, we have stepped out of our rightful place.  When we look at certain situations and believe there are no options, we have stepped out of our rightful place. When we forget that "I am that I am.", we are giving up on all that was meant to be.  It is time to lighten up a bit, and not take certain things so seriously.  We can laugh, we can smile more, and we can lighten the load by simply holding true to who you are.  Who you are, what you are is far more important than what you might be going through at the moment.  If you will hold on to what you know about you I promise you that things will change.  It's easy to take the easy way out of things, but standing strong in what you believe in, standing strong in what you know to be truth, and standing strong in who you are, isn't always going to be easy.  Trust me when I tell you that standing firm in who you are, what you are, and why you are here, will be worth it in the end.  Take some time over the next few days just to relax.  Take some time to smile, to laugh, to simply release all expectations placed on you by others who surround you.  When you are freed up to be the real you, then and only then will you begin to live the life you were intended to live.  Trust me it is so worth not giving up, not loosing heart.  When the dust settles, and it will, but when the dust settles you will know that you have made the right choices, and those around you will appreciate that you made the right choices.