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Welcome to The Jaded Word where anything and everything is up for discussion. Respectful commentary and dialogue is always encouraged here. Remember, everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Sky: My Ultimate Blessing

As I watched my daughter sleep, I realized how special she was and how blessed I am. This child can bring about so many emotions in me. She is a blessing because I was once told she would never be here because of trauma I had experienced in my past. I'm blessed because God said "only I have the final word, the doctors must not know what I can do".

I knew from day one that she was going to be something special. We had to work so hard to bring her into this world, (anything that difficult had to be worth it). Now she's here and I'm still amazed at how she came to be. I've only told a few people about our journey to parenthood, so I think I may have a different outlook on the entire experience than most. I can't share right now, but maybe one day soon. Just know that my baby girl is the best thing that has ever happened to me. She has taught me so much about myself. She's also taught me a lot about life. If you're a parent, you understand what I mean (if not, just wait and see). Every day I watch her blossom and every day I see myself in her eyes. She forces me to be patient and understanding, even on those days when she "tries it", I have to dig deep. When she says "I love you mama", for no reason at all, I know it's pure and coming straight from her heart. That kind of love will humble you quickly and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I am so glad I chose to put my faith in God and not man. When man said NO, God said YES and here she is today. I am so amazed at her and I'm in awe of God. Through her creation, I now know what TRUE love is. A love that allowed my Heavenly Father to say I was worthy enough to look after His creation. A love like that is so overwhelming, yet so calming at the same time.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...

We've all heard the Recycling catchphrase "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" which originally refers to decreasing plastic, aluminum or paper waste. That's fine if you're trying to save the planet, but what if we actually took those words and applied it to life?

Reduce - This isn't as easy as using a water filtration system instead of buying water bottles. I mean reducing the negative energy in your space. We need to stop making excuses for keeping negative influences in our lives. We all have that person who sucks the life out of us just by walking in the room. What about the job you go to everyday, not because you WANT to but because you HAVE to? The cheating mates, the drama filled relationships, the junk food; it all HAS TO GO! Purge your life of bad people and bad habits and watch the atmosphere begin to shift in your favor.

Reuse - Now typically this would mean refilling a water bottle, or saving that Ziploc bag for another use. In this instance, I say take what works for you and keep doing it. I'm not saying don't think outside the box or don't rock the boat, more like "use what you got to get what you want". I think this is easy once we know what we "got". If you need to make some extra money, think about the skills you may have learned at previous jobs and put them to use in a new way. Have you worked in the customer service industry for a long time? Use that experience to teach a class on customer service skills. Do you love to shop and have an eye for fashion? Why not try to become a Personal Shopper or start your own Concierge business. The possibilities are endless. Once you know who you are, and what you have to offer, everything else will fall into place. Remember, there's a market for everything.

Recycle - This one can be tricky but it's all about taking something "old" and making it "new" again. I like to think of this as turning negative energy into positive energy (you know, when life hands you lemons, make lemonade). Did you get laid off or worse, get fired? Maybe this is God's way of telling you it's time to start that business you've been thinking about. If you can't get promoted because you don't have a degree, don't give up, use this time to go back to school. Lots of schools offer online classes now so NO MORE EXCUSES! Whatever it is that has you down, understand it's not over, it's just time to re-evaluate your situation and press forward.

A new outlook, a new focus, a new strategy could literally save your life. The time is now. We need to get busy and live instead of watching everyone else live. I don't want to be like the Joneses, I want to be the Joneses.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Building Bridges

There comes a point in your life when you have to learn to forgive certain things. I think I speak from experience since I was once a person who could "take a grudge to the grave" if I had to; I have since changed my perspective. Holding grudges sucked the life out of me.  I had to learn there are some people who will never see things like you, they will never love like you, and they may never understand how their actions shaped who you are today.

Though time had passed and life had moved on, I still held on to all of the bad stuff instead of realizing how much I benefitted from the bad treatment. See, thanks to the bad boyfriends and the best friend from hell, I figured out a lot about myself. I realized I am worthy of love (that's what led me to the man I am now married to); I am worthy of a friend who gives like I give (I've had the same BFF since the 10th grade) and I am most certainly free from the crap that caused my severe bouts of depression during the last two years of high school.

I've learned to simply build bridges and get over the things I can't control while changing the things I can. It really is that simple.
Be Blessed!

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

People With No Vision Will Stunt Your Growth(If you let them)

I want to know why people allow others to "stunt their growth". I don't mean physically, but emotionally and spiritually. Why would you surround yourself with people who have nothing better to do than criticize you or question your vision? I personally have no time for it. I refuse to share my vision with people who I know have no vision of their own.

When people lack vision, they have no problems telling you how bad yours is. When you share your plans with someone but they find every reason why you shouldn't move forward, they have no vision. When they feel the need to tell you how you need to make a change, but they can't take what they dish out, they have no vision. When you share good news and they look at you with a blank stare, they have no vision. Some people don't know how to be happy with themselves, so they definitely can't be happy for you. Misery loves company and I would rather not have miserable people in my presence. Miserable people are judgmental, conniving, petty, and worst of all they lack vision.

The best way to rid yourself of these type of people is to stop sharing information. I don't feel the need to share my business with everyone, regardless of our relationship. I know who I can and can't share my life with, all others are on a need to know basis. For me, I found this is the best way to combat misery. When miserable people see that you aren't falling for their shenanigans, they either change their tune or move on to the next person.  I'm fine either way. If you move on, I know you were never really meant to be in my life, and if you change your tune, I may share more with you but I will still be cautious. Success is about self preservation first, so if you have no vision, you have no place in my life.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

God's Love is No Ordinary Love

Have you ever been through so much that you find yourself asking "Lord, why me?" everyday. I used to be there. I used to wonder why someone who tried so hard to be good to people always seemed to end up on the wrong side of things. I'm not saying I'm perfect (I'm far from it), but I don't intentionally set out to do people harm, yet I felt someone was always after me. The Devil was busy.

 This past year has really been a test of faith for me. Personally I've experienced some things that I never thought I would, but I'm still here. My friend explained to me, that God chooses his most faithful, so they can pass the test and tell the story. Isn't that what being a Christian is all about? We can't truly have a testimony without a "test" can we? Of course not! It's easy to praise God when things are going good, but it takes TRUE FAITH, to praise Him in your circumstance.

I had to learn that dealing with God (or Him dealing with me) is truly different than dealing with man. Man will have you believe bad things happen to good people, but God's word tells you that He takes His relationship with us personally. When we lose our way and begin to focus on the world instead of staying close to Him, He becomes jealous and rightly so. I guess this is what the old folks meant when I used to hear them say God is vain. I admit, I used to think that was so disrespectful to speak of God that way but as I grew closer to Him, I started to understand what that truly meant. He does so much for us, He blesses us with life, love, happiness, good jobs, beautiful families, yet we don't have time to say hi or hello until something goes wrong. Even still, He loves us, no matter what the hour, now matter what we've done.  If we ask for forgiveness, He's there. I'm in awe of Him daily.  He wants us to understand how much He loves us, after all He sent His Son to die for us so that we may be free; Isn't that the ultimate love? Who else loves you like that?