Facing Life.

Warning: This post is a bit lengthy, but it’s worth the read.

#BlackGirlJoy

My two words for the year, as mentioned in a previous post are STRENGTH & COURAGE. Are those words being put into action in your life? We are almost into our third month of the year, more specifically almost 1/4 into the year…are you doing enough? Are you facing life head on?

I try to think about life and what it feels like sometimes and this is what I came up with. Imagine being thrown into a boxing ring with a professional boxer, who has a bunch of wins under his belt. You, on the other hand, is not a professional boxer, a matter of fact you’re an amateur and have no wins under your belt. So obviously you’re going to get punched left, right and center. A beat down. Head faced down, tears running down your face, unconscious, and embarrassed. Life is that pro-boxer and we are the person faced down on the floor. Life feels like an ongoing beatdown sometimes and it’s not fair, however in those times is where we have to get back up and at least TRY to fight. Whether you win or lose, you must fight back. Period. Well, at least that’s what I think.

We must have a face-off with life itself.

[Categories- Circumstance]

• Relationships- disagreements, pain, love-lost, fights, anger, lack of communication, unbalance, neglect
• Work- joblessness, career search, lack of employment because of w/e reason, stress, disappointment
• Family- feuds, hate, arguments, pain, disrespect, broken families, sadness
• School- failure, all your time, feelings of overwhelmingness, feeling not enough
• Finances- lack of money, bills, mortgage, debt

These are all things that knock us down, constantly. What are we to do? How are we to deal with them? Throwing in the towel is never an option. That would be like adding fuel to fire. I can relate to one (or more) from each of those categories mentioned and to be honest it really sucks. It hurts, it’s annoying, and it is discouraging, especially when you want things to flow smoothly. This weekend at church I took two things for the week: 1. Genuine happiness and 2. Awaiting your blessings + patience. I’ll elaborate this for you guys.

Genuine Happiness 

—you can never say you are happy for me, but side-eyeing me when something good happens. Genuineness and realness go hand in hand for me. Just as I made clear in my previous post (Beware Of The Snakes), you have to be very careful of who you let in your space. You have to be able to differentiate the real from the fakes. In order to prosper, one must be genuine, real, and true. Period. Humans are NOT PERFECT beings. We mess up, however, we get second chances. Think about it, God gives us so many chances after we mess up over and over again. When you are genuine, it not only shows how much of a good character you possess, but it is a direct reflection of Christ in you! HOW AMAZING IS THAT?

Awaiting Your Blessings + Patience.

—On top of your genuineness, God rewards you with blessings on blessings. Nothing you go through and receive is unintentional. Your circumstances lead you directly to what God has in store for you. I am re-learning this every day I have an inch of doubt in my mind about what/where I am supposed to be presently. Have patience. Practice patience. This is something I am struggling with individually and in my current relationship, but I have realized that another approach to patience is a necessity. Patience with myself and my growth, and patience with issues with my other half. 

I always try to give you guys some tips on how to deal with real-life issues. These tips are also written to myself.

Tips for Patience:

—write down your thoughts/feelings. what upsets you, what you need to change + ways you can.

—don’t play the blame game, recognize what you contributed.

—don’t go “off the rails”, try to be calm always.

—pray because you can’t do it alone.

I like to be real and discuss topics that are relatable with you guys. Life is not easy and the things that are associated with life (my categories mentioned earlier) can cause serious changes in who we are. I know I may have gone on a bit about life + it’s struggles, but bringing it back to strength + courage, here’s what you need to know:

Strength—says I can.

Courage—says I will.

They both go running together. Strength falls down and says I can’t get up, go on without me. Courage says to strength, yes you can and I will help you. Courage helps strength up and they continue on their journey. They stumble upon a dark valley. Courage says, go on without me, I’m afraid. Strength turns to courage and says, you will cross that dark valley and I can help you. Hand in hand they walk through the valley and come out braver than ever. Moral of the story is this; With lots of strength and courage, you can accomplish anything. 

Have a great + prosperous week! Thoughts? Leave me a comment!

[Outfit Deets: Dress + Jacket + Bag- ZARA, Booties- ASOS.]

Thanks for stopping by! xoxo MJ.