How to Find Peace During the Storm

Our life plan and God’s plan for us are usually very different. We want a life without struggles, heartaches, or pain of any kind. However, we want the wisdom, knowledge and understanding that only comes from the suffering. If our life actually happened as we often wish, we would be shallow, ungrateful, and self-centered. 

It is overcoming the challenges that help us to grow. When we learn to embrace the challenge, instead of fighting it, then we are able to glean every morsel from the situation. Always believing that bad things happen to us is a victim mentality. During the trial, we need to take a moment to evaluate our feelings and center our thoughts. 

I like to ask myself questions. It always good to ponder our thoughts and feelings and try to understand. 

1. What can I learn from this trial?
2. What does God want to teach me?
3. How can I use it to grow?

The eighth chapter of Romans in the Bible is one of my absolute favorite books. Romans 8:28 speaks to me and reassures me that all things happen for me and not to me. And it is all for my benefit. 

Romans 8:28 (KJV)

28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

When I fell and hurt my arm, I couldn’t see one ounce of good. What would it accomplish anyway for me lie awake at night in pain? How could anything good come from my challenges?

Now I am able to see how it all worked to my benefit. The pain humbled me and helped me to open my eyes to new possibilities. Not being able to use both of my hands forced me to modify everything about my day, but it also reminded me that there are many different ways to do a task. Moving slowly throughout my day, taught me another degree of patience, and helped me to see that slow progress is still progress. And finally, it made me so hungry for my dreams. This injury forced me out of my comfort zone, and gave me the courage I needed to fight for my dreams. 

This is my life, and I refuse to allow the enemy to take it from me. I will not give up. Nor allow the devil to take away my dreams. 

So often when we feel our hopes and dreams slipping away from us is when they take on a greater importance. And with absolute certainty, I can now thank God for this trial. I may not always like the situation, but I love my God and I trust Him to do what is best for me. God is my peace during the storm. 

Happy Monday!

Candida

How to Be Stronger Than Your Excuses

It happened so fast. One minute I was exercising, and the next I was on the floor. My left foot is affected my Amniotic Band Syndrome (ABS) and my balance is definitely challenged on my left side. Therefore, my left arm is now sprained from my fall. 

At first, I thought it would be painful for a few days, and then it would be healed. I did not expect for it to be this painful, swollen, or the healing time to be so long. When I heard it could take 4-6 weeks to heal, I cried. 

Everything about my days has been so challenging. From opening doors, to carrying things, and just trying to figure it all out. My hands are affected by ABS as well. So doing every day tasks was already challenging for me, but to be limited in one hand makes it even harder. 

It would be so easy for me to make excuses right now, to skip my workouts, and wallow in self-pity. But instead I choose to focus on what my body can do. While I can’t work my arm, there is nothing wrong with my legs and core. 

Exercise helps me in so many ways. Below are a few examples. 

1. It helps me to deal with the pain from ABS and the imbalances it causes in my body. 
2. Cardio helps me to clear my mind and find new perspectives about situations bothering me. Sometimes just a good sweat makes all the difference in my mood. 
3. Working out, even when I don't feel like it, helps me to hone my self-discipline skills.
4. Exercising makes me feel strong and helps me to gain mental strength. In the face of adversity, I want to keep going. I never want to master the skill of giving up, especially when life gets hard. 

Sometimes we just need to train our mind to look for the possibilities instead of the excuses. 

You might also like a video on my Facebook page: How to Find Hope in the Struggle. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Candida

How to Do What is Right Not What is Easy

Anything worth doing is hard. The fact that we have the devil to contend with every day, in every way, makes it even harder. Last Sunday, I decided that I was going to do better the next week. I had planned to get up earlier, and get more accomplished. But on Monday, I fell and sprained my arm. It swelled and was so painful. And all of my plans and goals were pushed aside. 

While I needed extra rest, and the pain made it harder to concentrate, still I could have done more than what I did. But I listened to the enemy. He persuaded me to sleep in, and only do enough to get by. 

Barely getting by, however, does not feed my soul. Drifting through my days without doing anything of value is the equivalent to wasting my life. And I don’t want to waste my life. So last night I planned my day. I picked out my workout clothes as well as my work clothes. And I set my intentions for today. 

Something may come up to derail me, but I hope if the unforeseeable happens that I talk to God about it instead of the enemy. In all things, we need guidance from the Lord. He will lead us along the path of righteousness and help us defeat the enemy. 

If we are looking for an excuse then we will be able to find one. Without even realizing it, I was looking for an excuse. I didn’t want to get up at 5 a.m. nor do my chores. So the moment that something happened to give me an excuse to alter my schedule, I jumped on it. The enemy is so sneaky. He puts stumbling blocks in our way, and more often than not, I stumble over them. 

I am tired of being defeated. My conditions are not ideal this morning either. My head hurts, my arm hurts, and I’m so sleepy. But every time the devil tries to initiate a conversation with me, I ignore him. I will not allow him to steal my time or hinder my dreams. 

Photo from Unsplash.com

God doesn’t need everything to be perfect for me to be able to do His work. My God works great through imperfect situations and people. I just have to put aside my excuses, show up, and allow Him to guide me. 

Once we get our mind made up, and our feet planted just right, our enemy loses his power over us. So the next time troubles strikes and tries to derail me, I’m going to ask myself these three questions:

1. Is it true? 
2. Am I doing what is right or what is easy?
3. Is my guidance coming from God or the enemy?

Happy Monday!

Candida

Are You Living or Existing?

It is so easy to get stuck in the trap of mediocre, and go through the motions of life. How many times do we wake up uninspired and unmotivated? How many days a week, month, or year do we just hope to make it through the day? So often we choose to barely get by, when we could be living, loving, and dreaming. 

The Bible tells us that our life is like a vapor—here today, and then gone tomorrow. And yet, we often, grumble and complain and waste our precious time. 

I have caught myself many times asking the Lord to help me make it through the day. One day I caught the words as they left my mouth and wondered if that was really all I wanted for my life—to just make it through another day. But when I shifted my focus and changed my prayer, my life changed. I don’t want to just make it through my day. Every day I want to live, and live well. I want my day and my life to matter. Not only to me, but to others as well. 

When God blesses us with the gift of another day, we should offer it back to Him. We should ask Him how we can serve Him and others. And then set our intentions on making the most of each day. We don’t have to have a perfect life to enjoy it.

Every day we should do something that matters. And help as many people as we can. When we focus on others and how we can serve them that’s when we truly start living. Prayer, kindness, sharing our testimonies, and showing our love to someone else is the recipe for a wonderful day. 

Today is a gift. Enjoy it. 

Happy Monday!

Candida 

How to Improve Your Life is 60 Seconds a Day

Gratitude is the opposite of fear and anxiety. When we tap into our feelings of thankfulness it changes our perspective. Right now if we decided to focus completely on our blessings, and be in the state of gratitude, then our mood would change. 

How do we get to this wonderful place of thankfulness? By focusing on what is good in our life right now. While we may be in the midst of a storm, there are still many things in our life that we can appreciate. So often we focus on the big moments, and neglect to see all of the beautiful moments that happen daily. 

Hugs, smiles, kind words, sunrises, sunsets, being in nature, and praying to God are just a few things that we can find joy in every day. When we stop finding joy in a hug or a smile, and are too busy to stop and enjoy nature, then we deprive ourselves. We need these moments through out our day to balance out the stress and worry we often feel. 

Right now, I encourage you to take out a notebook or grab a gratitude journal, and write down three things that you are thankful for. Do this every day. It only takes a minute, but the effects of it will last all day. When we train our minds to do this every morning, then we are setting ourselves up for a great day. 

Below is an example from my gratitude journal.

1. Quiet moments with God.
2. Morning coffee
3. Forgiveness

Psalm 26:7 (KJV)

7 That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.

You might also like my blog post How to Live in a State of Gratitude. 

Have a wonderful day!

Love and blessings,

Candida

How to Develop Mental Strength

I always want to quit running at the 1/4 of a mile point. That’s when my left side (hip, pelvis, knee, and foot) starts to hurt, and my mind starts to doubt. And that’s when I have to decide if I am going to run or give up. 

I am not going to lie, sometimes I give up. I don’t always have the right mind-set. Nor do I always have the focus and determination that I need to succeed. So I stop. Feel bad that I quit. And walk away discouraged.

Some days, however, I crush it. Not with my body, but with my heart and my mind. By overcoming challenges, I have discovered the beauty and strength of the heart. When we go beyond our excuses, beyond our heartaches, and even beyond our preconceived limits and just do it, we create a memory of overcoming. So when a similar struggle arises, we are able to go back to previous times of overcoming and gain strength. 

Sometimes I have to talk myself through the whole thing. Below is an example of my negative verses positive self-talk.

Negative voice: My legs are hurting. I can’t run today. I can’t.

Positive voice: Yes, you can! You've done this before. Remember your first race? Relax. Breathe. Your legs are still moving. You can do this. Run another tenth of a mile and then you can decide if you really want to quit. 

Negative voice: Okay. (After the tenth of a mile.) I want to quit. I’m just not feeling it today. This is hard.

Positive voice: Do you really want to quit? Your legs are still moving. Surely you can run another tenth of a mile. You are so close to your goal. You are strong. Don’t give up now. Pray for someone else struggling. You can stop and end your pain, but so many are suffering. Focus on them. Overcoming your challenges is how you develop strength. You can do this. Running is hard, but so is giving up. Choose your hard. 

And so it continues. This is how I train myself for success. When life seems overwhelming and I just want to give up, I search for the right mind-set and coach myself though it. And sometimes I have to stop. Catch my breath. Pray. And then continue on.

It’s okay to modify our workouts. Sometimes I have to stop and walk. But it’s not okay to just give up. Accomplishing our goals is a wonderful feeling. Would you like for me to be your coach? I would love to help you. Leave me a comment or send me an email to candidasullivan@yahoo.com. 

Have a wonderful day!

Candida

How to Stop Judging and Start Loving

Matthew 7 (KJV)

7 Judge not, that ye be not judged.

Lately I have thought about this scripture and what it really means. And to take it a step further, I have wondered how I can apply it to my life every day. It is so easy to look at the shell of other people’s lives and make an assumption about them. We view their circumstances with our knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. What we don’t realize is that they are not in the same place in their lives as we are. And if we judge them based on our experiences, then we are being unfair. 

And I don’t want to be the type of person who judges other people wrongfully. I want to leave the judging up to my Lord because He knows their every thought, action, and intention. It is my heart’s desire to love and pray for other people. 

Below is few ways that I am learning to love instead of judging:

1. Treat other people the way you want to be treated. 
2. Lift those struggling up to the Lord in prayer. People need our love, prayers, and compassion more than anything else. 
3. Ask God for the right perspective about situations and the actions to reflect Him. 
4. Realize that no one is perfect and we all need grace and forgiveness from our Lord.

When we promote what we love, instead of bashing what we hate, our lives will transform. 

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Candida