Still In The Game

Good morning, Sis... 

Hope you had a restful night. 

I'm up a little earlier than usual this morning because I seem to have a lot on my mind from yesterday. 

Don't you HATE that? 

When the negative things of yesterday, somehow drag themselves into Today. 

So irritating, right?! 

I mean to the point where I haven't even enjoyed the NEW sun shining on me yet, and I'm up thinking about what somebody else said, YESTERDAY. 

Spinning my wheels even. 

What's up with that? 

Why do we care so much about what others think, anyway? 

Especially when I begin to wallow in it, allowing myself to be troubled by their opinions or insights. 

As a woman, this has been a SERIOUS battle for me. 

One I fought daily, and lost regularly. 

It was almost as if my entire IDENTITY had been formed by how others saw me, or by what they said about me.  To my face or otherwise. 

It got so bad, I became a master TRANSFORMER, just to fit into someone else's idea about who I should be, or what I should be doing. 

GIRL, I know, its a mess, but I'm human! 

And I was longing for same thing everyone else is: Love and Acceptance

But after years of lying to myself

Hating myself 

Disrespecting myself (or allowing others to) 

I realized I was actually abusing myself in a way that was far more damaging than carrying around these 'opinions' I was giving so much power to. 

Can we dive into this a little?  

Think about life, like a basketball game. 

You have the players, the Coach, the cheerleaders, the fans, and the Referee. 

During the game, everyone has a role in ensuring their team wins the game. 

The players are playing their best. 

The cheerleaders are encouraging from the sidelines. 

The Coach is yelling out the plays. 

The fans are going wild. 

And the Referee, is there to call out any violations in the course of the game. 

Still with me?  

So think about it... in this one game, there are ALL these different people demanding something of the players. 

Isn't that how YOUR life is? 

All-these-people-demanding-something-of YOU? 

And just like this basketball game, you trying to keep up by running up and down the court, as fast as you can....

Motivated by those cheering from the sidelines..... 

Using the plays your coaches gave you..... 

Trying to avoid getting too many violations..... 

And attempting to please ALL these people, and still manage to win the game, right? 

GIRL, I won't tell nobody else! Lol 

But here's where it gets clever. 

Despite all the outside influences, the only people really in the game are the players on the floor. 

And the truth is, with a coach or without, they would still be in the game. 

With the cheerleaders and fans cheering or not, they would still be in the game. 

A whether they get multiple violations or make no mistakes at all, where would they be? 

STILL IN THE GAME!  

So here's my final thought. 

If the only opinion that matters in your life, is YOURS, what are you saying to yourself? 

Are you being a Cheer Hater? 

Are you still stewing on the negative opinions of yesterday, when it is a BRAND NEW day, today? 

Are you still wallowing in the pain of that bad relationship with that joker you KNEW was not even close to being worthy of the beautiful woman you are.  

Are you STILL insecure, unsure, unfocused, and hiding behind the veil of fear? 

Because I am here to tell YOU if you are, there is a woman within you, 

Who is waiting....

For you to SEE  

Who SHE can become, 

If you would stop telling her 

Who....she...IS.... NOT! 

Proverbs 23:7,  begins by saying, " As a man thinketh in his heart, so is He." 

You know that's what the point is, right? 

Your thoughts are becoming your actions.   

Both good and bad. 

So, it's not them, Sis, it's flowing from an inner place, called your heart.

Because regardless of what anyone is saying, guess what? 

YOU ARE STILL IN THE GAME!!  

And in order to WIN, you must become your own Coach, your own cheerleading, your own referee, and your own #1 FAN! 

So please raise your right hand and repeat after me: 

'TODAY, I commit, to NO MORE CHEER HATING of my self or of others!" 

Did you say it? I hope so. 

Did you mean it? You better had! 

Because Jesus came so we could ALL 'have life and life more abundantly'.  

Don't be a Cheer Hater, Sis. 

Your ABUNDANT life is waiting for you. 

It was never anything outside of you that stopped from flowing in the blessings that God has already promised to You.  

Speak Life to the woman within, 

Respect her fully 

Honor her journey, the good and the bad parts of it

Cherish her with all her flaws - because low key... these are what makes you so  unique. 

Allow God's word to shower her with His amazing grace, His faith and His love. 

And now that you know better, then let's get on LIVING better, Sis! 

Because I don't know about you, but I'm still very much in this game, and the clock is ticking.