How often when you were growing up and even in your adult life have you heard that life is a learning experience? Every waking moment in our lives we are always being tested and there are new lessons to learn daily. I believe some of the most valuable lessons are the ones learned about ourselves, it is important that we know who we are and who we are being.  The truth is our relationships and experience are connected to who we are being and the thoughts that we are having. How often are you doing a self-check on your thoughts? self-check is very important and beneficial to one’s well-being. It becomes very easy to be so distracted by adversities, our worries, and all priorities outside of our selves.  The real question we should ask ourselves is how many times has neglecting our needs and losing sight of what is important to our health added any benefit to our lives. The desire to help others rooted within and tied to the desire of taking care of ourselves, if we are disconnected from self, If we are neglecting our needs, it becomes impossible to serve others effectively.

Consistency is key, we must always practice being consistent in every area of our lives. Nothing in life is free everything worth having is worth working for, fighting for, and waiting for but we must also learn when to recognize what is draining our energy and distracting us. I would consider stress to be a silent present killer, and for some people it becomes their death sentence. These last few weeks I was battling with hormonal changes and unbalance, and in addition I was allowing myself to be so stressed about a very important project that I have been working on. I was present that I was not feeling my best self but instead of attending to my needs I ignored all signs. I was so busy telling myself how much time I didn’t have and how much work I needed to do, until my body and my mind shut down completely last Thursday morning. I woke up hours later than usual time I felt paralyzed and stuck in the bed, I had little to no appetite which led to me not eating all day. The reason why I was so stressed in the first place was from the frustration of seeking a solution to a challenge that I was faced which had me clueless and feeling powerless. Thursday evening as I continue to go through my very weary day, I heard a voice instruct me to get up take some action up until that point I had no idea on how to fix the problem I was faced with. The lesson I learned in that is that God is always protecting us and when we refuse to listen, He will take severe actions to sit us down restore us and provide us with the answers we need and the strength to push through. That day turned around and even ended with a powerful prayer of comfort from my sister-friend in that moment I was grateful and also reminded that God will always surround us with prayer warriors when we are just too defeated to pray for ourselves.

In closing I would like to urge everyone to always remember to listen to your bodies and call on God in the midst of the storms of life. it is important that we begin to practice praying more and stress less, life is constantly changing, we are always evolving and with every new level and progress made comes with new struggles. They key is in knowing that everything that we experience we already have what it takes to overcome them, but we first have to surrender and allow God to be in complete control. I am committed to not only being present to my needs but to take preventative measure to remain in the best space mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritual. We will declare that starting where I am right now, I am committed to be my number one priority, I am willing to invest the time that I need to restore, recharge, and reset. I am aware that I am no good to the world or my visions and the plans God has for my life if I am not taking care of me. I will seek clarity through Christ through all of my circumstances, I will not lean unto my own understanding. I am allowing God to continue to prepare me for my destiny and fil me with peace and joy as I go through life with confidence even in the midst of my storms.