Staying positive (with podcast episode #6)

This blog post is a "transcript" of podcast #6. Listen to podcast or/and read blog post.

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips" (Proverbs 4:23/24).

No matter what you're going through and no matter where you are in life, don't let anyone steal your joy, your peace, or your positiveness. In fact, do you know it's actually impossible for anyone to do that? It's impossible for anyone to steal any emotion from you. People don't control what any of us thinks or feels, we control ourselves. God gives us free-will to do so. So when I hear people say she made me do it or I listened to his advice and I now I'm in a bad place, I tend to think they're not taking responsibility for their lives. I know, because I used to be that person. Years back I was convinced to move to a town that I was told was awesome and amazing. I listened to all the accolades my friend showed on the place, but when I got there it was nothing like she talked about. In fact it was just the opposite. She had ulterior motives for getting me there. She used me, because she wanted me to help her with some of things she had going on in her life and she knew I had the resources. I resented her for a long time. Then one day I looked up (from being so down) and I realized that I made the choice to move there. I had to suck it up and ensure I didn't make that mistake again and I never did. I learned from it. At any rate, I had to forgive her, forgive myself, and move on. And that's what I did. So today I want to relay that story to you to tell you that if you're feeling that way, just let it go. It's just going to take some diligence and soul-searching, but it's what's necessary to move on. We have to let God deal with the people who did us dirty and focus on more important things -- ourselves.

The bottom line is that we can't blame anyone for any decision we made or didn't make. It's our mind, our tongue, and our body. We're grown adults and we can't go through life blaming others for our circumstance, ok? We have to stop giving our power away by blaming other people for our failures. We have to look ourselves in the mirror and accept responsibility, because we're in control of our lives. We have to put in the work if we want things to work. We have to walk in the power God has given us and as 2 Timothy 1:7 says, He gives us power, love and self-control. So we can walk boldly in those things. What I'm trying to convey here is to stay positive, don't look back, and don't go to any dark place, because God doesn't dwell there. Plus it's much harder to get out of those places. Follow the path of the light and of righteousness. Proverbs 4:18 says "the path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day". Stay positive and you will walk in positiveness. It will just happen.