by Sachie Angelu Apple
” Headline: Year 2020 Won the “Plan-Wrecker” Nominee Award. “ It’s a sappy beautiful Wednesday morning on your most comfortable pj, the smell of coffee saturating the room and a thousand possibilities at your fingertip as you start your day with your devotional. You pondered over the headline, six months have passed and a lot has happened not only in your vicinity but to the entire world.
A pandemic has changed everyone’s routinary life and if to recount all the marking events that has transpired, you’d be drowned to all these realities. You have diligently planned your year and excitedly entered the first half carrying the thrill to check all the lists as you foresee to fulfill it one at a time only to find out that this year is about to wreck all those plans.
Everyone’ve been both discouraged and encouraged. A lot of things hinders one from becoming. Yet as you proceed, may you ponder at this notion: “When all of this is over . . . (shall I stay the same, become the worst or what if . . . shall I become even better?)
o n e : h e a r w h a t y o u f e e l “I’m okay.” This layered – answer is what you often get from others or even from your own self. This is the most untrusted answer of all generations and if to disregard, you’d be lost. You thought you’re okay but you actually kept running in circles. Because you cant hear what you feel, you kept running in a path of no direction. You have to take a pause in this fast-paced world and listen to what is actually happening inside of you.
“I’m tired.” (you need to hear this) tired to be lonely, tired to be insufficient. tired for all the responsibilities. tired to do nothing and feel nothing. “I’m fired up” with this interest and that too. “I’m afraid” afraid to be labeled and be judged. afraid of the unknown, afraid to try afraid to fail, afraid of the thousand reasons i cant tell. “I’m enraged” i’m enraged with the situation, with things i can’t control and all the frustrations. “I’m disgusted” i’m disgusted with everyone. worst, i’m disgusted with myself.
It is from that moment when you listen closely to what you truly feel that you’ll come back to your senses. You need to be sober enough to know what is. Countless of factors have made your senses gone away. One thing is for sure. You have been distracted just like the prodigal son. You will stay in denial of what is the real condition and until you acknowledge them, you’ll know how to treat them well. You’ll discover where it all begun, the root cause and all things piling up, then you’ll know to pick up the right cure for them.
“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father. Luke 15:17-20
t w o : k n o w w h a t i s r e a l Your feelings are valid but is it isn’t the dead end . It is okay not to be okay. But it is not okay to believe that you are not meant to be okay. Feelings need to be acknowledged but need not to be pampered. It needs to be assessed but not to be dwelt upon. Feelings want to be fed up by compliments and approval. Sweets for the soul. Some feelings want to be wasted in desolation. An addiction to the soul. But one thing is for sure, that all souls are meant to be healed and only truth can be the nourishment //even if it tastes sour or bitter or spicy// for the soul.
So when you reach the edge and feel the hopelessness, it is best to remind yourself of the reasons behind the ‘why’s’. When there’s no one to hold onto and no one to applause for you, you have to remember that you do things for an audience of One (and that is God alone).
“Why am I doing this thing? Why did I even started this?” Remind yourself of the commitment you once had. When there’s no one else yet but you and God. From that moment when passion makes you unstoppable. When everything promised appears to be real. But it is indeed real. Words you received and believed that will soon be realized. But along the way, when the process makes it harder to believe once again, it is the best time to be reminded of these countless reasons why you started and why you decided to live for it more than the reasons whispering “just quit”.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. Philippians 4:8
t h r e e : s e a l t h e d e a l Seal the real deal with determination and courage. It’s a matter of time until you witness your desires. Not too early so as to hasten and outrun the process. Not too late that only regrets will be left. One key problem that makes us stagnant is we tend to go along with the current. It is only by going against the current that we can move forward and see progress in our lives. This year has totally shifted us to the new normal. You tend to look around and people are doing a lot of things and find yourself doing the same thing. But this shouldn’t be. You don’t easily get your standards from somewhere but is to be found on the solid rock and the word of God. When you do things for the world, make sure to leave something that adds value to people. Never long for the trends but pursue for a life of legacy. A transformed life that leads people to Christ. Begin where you are and with what you have. There is no time for complaining for the things you don’t have and let it be an excuse for not starting. Passionate ones dismantle excuses. As God used what was in the hand of Moses (his staff) to lead his people and Jesus used what was available in that moment (the seven loaves and five fish) to feed thousands of people, so He can use what was in you right now to amplify your potential. God takes delight in working not with the qualified ones but with the willing ones. Glory magnifies from a life of nothing becoming into something.
So as you brace for the latter half of the year, begin with the redeemed mindset and the right attitude, even if you have to do it from a scratch. It is never too late to be dumped by the headline. If a lot of tragic things can happen in six months, then how much more you can make a difference and be the game changer for the remaining half. Remember that you are on the winning side, its time to pick up your weapon and slay the year with that fresh fire in your heart. Finally “when all of this is over”, then perhaps you can choose the right words for that notion.
”When all of this is over, I’ll come out with a transformed life with the pursuit of a life of legacy”
-🍎
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