Positivity Wall

Hey there! Today's blog post is an idea that's been in the back of my mind for awhile. I figured it was finally time to execute it.

So if you truly know me, you would know that for the longest time I wasn't happy. I struggled to be a positive person, I struggled to be happy with my life, I struggled to love myself, and I pretty much suffered through depression. True happiness was like a foreign concept to me. It was something that I had heard about but felt like I never experienced it. I gained temporary happiness from people and circumstances, but it always seemed like those glimpses of happiness were over in a blink of an eye.

The end of 2015 as far as 2016 has been a building year for me. I was determined to find true happiness and to let it not slip from my grasp. I feel so blessed to say I have found it in my life. The people that are around now tell me that they can see that I'm a positive person. If you're struggling with positivity and finding true happiness, don't be worried because I'm about to share my tips/ things that helped me with you!

1. Pray child pray.
When you're struggling with ANYTHING in your life, pray. I promise you that if you sincerely want to find a solution God will send it to you.

Matthew 7:7-8- "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."


2. Make a music change.
I've found that worship music makes me happy. To me, thinking about how much God has done for and blessed me with truly helps. Some of my favorites are: Shackles by Mary Mary, Ready or Not by Britt Nicole ft. Lecrae, Overcomer by Mandisa, and Stronger by Mandisa.

Psalm 71:23- "My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise for you- I whom you have delivered."

3. Spend time studying the Bible.
Reading about the miracles that God has done in the past gives me a hope for what he can do for my future.

Joshua 1:8- "Keep this Book of Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."

4. Talk a walk and enjoy the scenary.
Enjoy the sight of beautiful lakes and freshly bloomed flowers. Enjoy the sunrise/sunset. Finding beauty in the tiny things have allowed me to find beauty in a bigger spectrum.

Psalm 104: 24-25 - "How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number- living things both large and small."

5. Don't worry.
I know that this one is easier said than done. I PROMISE that God has nothing but the best intentions for you in His will. However, that doesn't mean that you won't get a few bruises and scrapes along the way.

Philippians 4:6-7 - "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

6. Be thankful for each day.
Life is a beautiful thing. Each day someone takes their last breath. Make the most out of every day you walk and every breath you take.

Psalm 118:24 "The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad."

7. Do things that you love. 
Singing and dancing are some of my hobbies. I can't even convey to you how much joy I get from these things in the morning (even when I have to get up at 5:30 am).

This verse doesn't have a direct parallel, but it still is amazing.

Psalm 126:2-3 - "Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, 'The Lord has done great things for them.' The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy."

8. LOVE.
Love has to be my absolute favorite thing in the world. I love love and the idea of it. Show the people that you love that you love and appreciate them. Do something nice for someone because you love seeing them happy. Overuse I love you. The Christian faith is built off of the concept of love. God displays His love for us everyday. Therefore, display your love for others everyday.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 - "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres."

I hope that you find this helpful! Keep your head up, keep yourself in prayer, and love your life. <3

Take Care & God Bless.

My Journey to Happiness and a New Mindset

     Finding true happiness is something that I have honestly struggled in the past. I remember, at one point, I was not happy with my life.

My Old Mindset:

-I feel alone in the world.
-I feel like I have no purpose in life.
-Trials and tribulations in my life just seem to never end.
-I feel so much pressure in my life.
-I never feel good enough.
-I have no self-confidence whatsoever.
-Being a victim of bullying, I have a constant negative mindset.
-I have no hope in my life.
-If God cared about me, He wouldn't make me endure so many bad things.

     
      I was just at a low point in my life to be completely honest. I've been really hesitant about sharing my past with anyone because I just don't ever think someoone will be able to fully grasp and understand what I mean. When I endured trials and tribulations in my life, they actually would push me away from God. This was because I felt like He never answered my prayers.Therefore, I pushed Him away and ran from Him. I still wasn't happy and I had a constant RBF*. This became my natural face just because I didn't enjoy my life. (I have scared so many people away with this face... I swear I have the best RBF in history haha.) I finally realized that you can't practice the same procedures without expecting to yield the same results. Therefore, I knew I had to come back to God and develop a new mindset.

My New Mindset:

-I'm not alone in this world. Even if I don't have a human rock in my life, I have a rock in Christ. (Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.") <3
-I finally feel like I have a purpose in my life. [If you are struggling to find a purpose in life, always know that one of  your purposes in life (as a Christian) is to spread the Word to others.]
-I know I won't ever be through going through trials and tribulations in my life, but the hard times have taught me to enjoy the good times even more. <3
-I still feel pressure sometimes. However, I know that God knows my heart. Even if I don't do everything perfectly or things don't exactly turn out how I expect them to, He knows my purpose and intentions.
-I finally feel like I'm good enough in life. (I mean, Christ thought I was worthy enough to die for.)
-Now, I have enough self-confidence to believe in myself, my abilities, and to think I'm actually pretty.


     I can honestly say now I have a more positive mindset. I'm a much happier person in life and I seem to enjoy things more. Honestly, I have no other explanation for it but it's all God. I've been praying more. I've been in His word more. I no longer worry about things in life working out as much anymore. If you're struggling to find happiness, try God. He can and will work wonders. <3

*RBF= Resting B**** Face // I honestly really didn't want to use this term. For a lack of a better way to phrase it, I had to use it....

Take Care & God Bless.

Current Christian Playlist #1

Hey there! Today I thought I would share some Christian songs that I've been listening to lately. I know that I've personally some people that I know that would love to listen to more Christian music if they knew more songs or artists. Without further ado, here is my current playlist.


1. Ready or Not by Britt Nicole ft. Lecrae

2. All This Time by Britt Nicole

3. Hanging On by Britt Nicole 

4. Who You Say You Are by Britt Nicole

5. Look Like Love by Britt Nicole

6. Take Me As I Am by Lecrae

7. Tell the World by Lecrae

8. Back to You by Mandisa

9. Stronger by Mandisa

That is it for now! I hope to do more of these in the future once I discover new songs that I love. :)

Take Care & God Bless. <3

Learning Life Lessons

Reflecting back on my life, there are some people that I have hated to lose and there are some circumstances that I have hated to endure. However, I've learned lessons that I might not have learned any other way. Down below, I'm going to be sharing some of these lessons that I've learned.


The Former Best Friend: My former best friend and I honestly just grew apart. We went to the same school at one point. When college came, we ended up not even being in the same city. Like I previously said, we ended up just growing apart. She was always the one I told everything to. I vented to her. She knew about the guys I liked. Everything. Haha. I put so much hope into having a "rock" here on earth. From this experience, I learned to not to put more hope in humans than God and to enjoy the moments that you have with people because they might not be around forever.

Now onto some of the lessons that I have learned from circumstances that I've endured:

The School That Was Shut Down: My senior year of high school I had my hopes set on going to one college. I happened to get a full-ride scholarship to this university. Two months before I graduated from high school, I learned that the college was shutting down and that I would have to find a different college to attend. From this experience, I learned that it's definitely important to have backup plans. I also learned that God will place you exactly where you are supposed to be and nowhere that you aren't supposed to be.

The Car Accident: It was my senior year of high school. I was driving my mom's car. I was driving somewhere that I needed to use a GPS for. However, I didn't mount the GPS. I had it in the cup holder... I was driving down this driveway leaving the place I had just driven to. The sides edges of the driveway were lined with cement curbs. I was looking down at the GPS and (to this day, I still don't even know how this happened...) I ended up driving up on the curb and scraping the side of a light pole with the side of the car. When I came off the curb, the tire ended up being blown out and the rim was scraped from where it hit the cement curb... From this experience, I learned to DEFINITELY not look down when driving and I was also refreshed on the fact of how good God is. Even though I scraped the pole, it didn't fall. It also only scratched the car instead of denting it. Even though I scraped the rim, it was easily fixed and the whole rim didn't even have to be replaced. Also, the blown out tire was on warranty.

Overall, I've learned that life is not easy. There are going to be people you lose and circumstances that you endure even though you most definitely don't want to. However, there is a bright side though it all and a lesson to be learned. In 2016, I found a newfound appreciation for the bright sides to things. I'm so thankful for the memories I've gained from my ex and former best friend. I'm also thankful for the lessons that I've learned in this lifetime. I hope you can enjoy the memories and lessons that you learn in life.

Take Care & God Bless. <3

Finding Rest

Today's post is going to be about finding rest. This is something that even I struggle with. It always seems like there is something to do or something that needs to be done. At this current moment, I can think of so many things that need to be done (laundry, vacuuming, ordering, organizing, bagging clothes for donation, etc). I'm one of those type of people that typically likes to have a plan. Most of the time, that plan is simple: get as much of it done today as you can. I'm the type of person that doesn't like to let things drag out, but I'm also a person that doesn't get a lot of rest. Rest is something that I tend to neglect. I know most of us have probably heard of the saying, "I'll sleep when I'm dead." However, that's not a great mindset to have. Even God didn't have that mindset...

"By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing, so on the seventh day he rested from all his work." -Genesis 2:2

God made the heavens, earth, light, dark, sky, land, vegetation, and so many more things throughout the week. He took the time to rest. If God made time for rest, why can't we seem to make time for rest? That's a question I need to ask myself (especially during college semesters)... Furthermore, when God created everything, He didn't do it all in one day either. It's perfectly fine if you don't get everything accomplished in one day. If God didn't, what makes you think you can?

Side Note: I actually started off 2016 by being sick. As of this moment, I'm still not feeling very well. Maybe this is a sign from God to make sure that I find rest this year? God does this amazing thing (and many others)! If you neglect something, He'll bring it to your face. Don't neglect the power of rest. If you don't know what to do with this newfound rest, you can always read the Bible, pray, or learn a new hymn. Start off slowly by adding rest into your day. One week you can give yourself 10 minutes a day. The next week can be 15 minutes. Just make sure to rest and keep God first.

Take Care & God Bless. <3