This post is a little different than my normal posts, but I feel compelled to share what I was challenged with yesterday at church. I don’t often write about my beliefs and not because I’m ashamed or embarrassed by them, but more so because I want this to be a place where anyone can come and find inspiration, regardless of what we all believe. I don’t want our varying beliefs to separate us or make anyone feel unwelcome in this space. But with that said, I don’t mince words about what I do believe and how I choose to live my life.
For those of you who don’t really know me, in real life, you might be surprised to know that I’m actually a bit of a pessimistic person. I’ve always been the “glass half empty” person. I don’t really like that about myself…I wish I were more optimistic. It’s something I’m always working on. But I’m very analytical about everything and quite often, I tend to see all the problems in a certain situation. My hubby is the opposite, “glass half full”, and that’s why I think we are a great team. We bring good balance and perspective to each other.
I was really challenged yesterday at church by what my senior pastor talked about “The Power of Words.” It’s a new series we are starting and yesterday’s message started out with this powerful verse from Proverbs 18:21
“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
Now I want to say, whether you are a Bible-believing person or not, I think we can all take away something from here. Our words are POWERFUL. They can bring LIFE or DEATH. They can build someone up or tear someone down. Regardless of what we believe or don’t believe, we all know that we have a choice, in almost every situation in life, to be happy or to grumble.
My blogging bestie Jaclyn from Beauty and the Binky (and fashion contributor here at ATC) sent me this picture this morning and I absolutely love it! Her and I have a strong belief that when it comes to building our brands, in this business, we want to make sure everyone feels valued by us. While we can’t work with and help everyone, it shouldn’t change how people FEEL when they are around us.
So how do we make people feel like this? It’s with our WORDS. It’s how we speak with them and make them feel. It’s showing gratitude towards them, regardless of the circumstances.
Yesterday’s message was such a great reminder to me that regardless of circumstances, regardless of how I feel, regardless of who is around…I need to CHOOSE gratitude. I need to choose to see the glass as half full. I need to choose to SPEAK LIFE. The words that come out of my mouth are so powerful that they can build someone up or they can destroy them. We need to stop focusing on the negatives things…cause reality is, they will always be there. We need to stop complaining, we need to stop waiting for that perfect life and recognize how amazing our lives truly are, and choose an attitude of gratitude.
Sure we might go through tough times and things might not look exactly as we envisioned them, but the choice is ours, everyday, in every situation: are we going to grumble or are we going to be grateful. Are we going to let our words destroy or are we going to choose to speak life?
So I want to pass on the challenge that I received yesterday. This week, how will you live your life? What posture will you assume? What language will you speak?
Choose gratitude. Choose to stop grumbling. Choose to speak life.
Love & Blessings,
