"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken" Oscar Wilde
With every new year comes resolutions and goals. Most of the time it is to lose weight, get in shape and if a smoker...quit smoking. But has anyone ever said "this year my resolution is to get mentally and spiritually healthy"? Maybe not out loud like we do the other noticeable things, rather inside so no one will hold us accountable for our words. I know I have. Well this year I am saying that this is my resolution, to get more fit mentally and spiritually. Please don't confuse spirituality with church to going, bible thumping, preaching to you on a regular basis type of spirituality. Being spiritual to me, is just finding an inner peace no matter what that may be. Webster describes it as having similar values and ideas, related or joined in spirit.
Now I know getting mentally and spiritually fit is not going to happen in one year. Hell it will probably take me the rest of my life. HaHa An old timer once told me, "honey it took you this long to get this way and it will take you that long if not longer to get better." What that comment did for me; was offer hope. Hope in the aspect of not wanting to give up on the broken person I had become. Hope that there was light at the end of the tunnel and to not give up. It offered a sense of comfort and peace, that as long as there was a willingness within my being to get better mentally and spiritually, that it was possible. Anything is possible and attainable if you want it bad enough. And willing to put in the hard work to make it happen. We only fail when we stop trying.
"Success does not happen without some failures" Steve Harvey
Don't compare yourself to others progress or story. Just like snowflakes, no 2 are the same. Nor are there any 2 people the same. Maybe similar, but not exact. We were all created different for a reason. To make the world what it is today...Unique.
My opinion is, that God allows us to experience things similar to others so we can offer a genuine, heartfelt, compassionate understanding of what they are going through. Offering support, encouragement and most importantly HOPE. The same kind of hope someone once offered me. Reassuring me that all will be okay again.
One of my favorite poems is Just a Weaver by Benjamine Malachi Franklin and the author got it so right when they said:
The dark threads are as needed
In the Weaver's skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern he has planned.
Just as snowflakes are necessary for a particular purpose in life. So are each one of us. Hold on to the HOPE that all will be well again and learn to enjoy the journey your on. Both mental and spiritually.
As always please keep the men and woman of all branches of our military in your prayers. So they may one day have a safe return home, as they are out there protecting our HEALTHY FREEDOMS here at home. God Bless.
