In the Heat of the Night

“In the heat of the night when you know it ain’t right,  but you do what you want to do” – lyrics to a song by Pat Benatar “In the Heat of the Night”

There are many singers who have a song with the title “In the Heat of the Night”.  There’s Ray Charles, Bryan Adams and Pat Benatar just to name a few.  Each song while the title is the same, the lyrics are a little different.  However what they DO have in common is that they all talk about what happens in the Heat of the Night….TROUBLE!!!   Well, the key to living in peace is to figure out how to have peace right in the middle of your own trouble or storm.   To tell you the truth, one of the hardest parts for me in my plight for peace, was learning how to keep cool, be calm, ya know not loose my mind in the midst of my own storms.  Now on this one I have to say that I have a pretty bad temper, or at least I used to.  For me to find tranquility in middle of  MY temper,  I had to learn how to find that peace in the midst of that NO HE DIDN’T moment.   Many of you that did not know old funky Nicole back in the day will not believe that I used to be one of those roll your neck kind of sista’s, ya know rolling my neck and always having a attitude about something.  Well one day it hit me.  It takes so much more energy to be negative than it does to be positive.  Being negative is draining and kept what I call a black cloud over my head.  Instead, I discovered that being positive feels so dog on good.  It makes me feel sunshine inside 24/7.

So how did I find the peace within myself?  Well first I had to make a choice.  A choice for peace.  A choice that NO ONE was going to steal my joy or as I like to say, when I need to talk myself back into my calm corner, “I am not going to allow that person to steal my ticket to heaven!”  So when I feel that rage that comes within, I shut my mouth.  I shut my mouth until the rage passes and I can calm down before I speak or act. You see what I learned is that when you speak out of a negative emotion, you say things you wish you had not said.  You do things you wish you would not have done, you become something or someone you often regret.  Unfortunately once you say things, you cannot go back with a pencil and erase them.  So I set out on a mission some years ago to get control of my anger. To be a woman that finds that peace in the midst of the storm, the storm for me would be my anger rage.  So if you ever see me off in some corner quiet, leave that Nicole alone because I am trying to sleep in the midst of the storm that is raging inside of me.   

What I have learned in the process is that negative emotions keep you stuck, not able to move and get past the place you are currently in.  That is what they intend to do, keep you stuck!  They get a hold of you and take over your thoughts and keep you stuck so that you cannot see past were you are to get where you are going.    Once I made the decision, the choice to get control of my rage, I realized that I cannot control what other people do or say but I CAN control how I allow them to affect me.  I can control if I allow them to steal my peace, my joy!  It is in this place that I actually began to lean more on God, knowing that I probably won’t understand everything that happens to me, nor do I have to.  Instead I began to trust God and began to find a rainbow in every storm just in the simple act of letting go of the negative and seeking only that which is good.   I was then that I realized that as I sought out good, good is what was being produced in my life.    So when I think of the heat of the night I think of this  – I remember hearing the saying somewhere that “being angry might win the argument but it does not win the war.”  Hmmm interesting so really think about it, where do you get when you feel any negative emotion?  Where does anger, anxiety, depression or anything of the like get you?   What is anger but the desire for vengeance which means you must continuously focus your thoughts on how YOU are going to pay someone else back!  Instead move on from it and let go, realizing that “for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.” – Romans 12:19b  and trust me, when I have let go of my anger I have seen how God gets vengeance fand it is REMARKABLE!!  I have to tell you that once I tapped into this and I was able to move my emotions into a positive space and move on from the situation, I actually have seen God handle some folks in ways that I could have never imagined.

What about anxiety or worry?   “Be anxious for nothing” – Philippians 4:6a.  Webster’s dictionary defines anxiety as a painful or apprehensive uneasiness of mind; a fearful concern or interest; an abnormal and overwhelming sense of apprehension and fear often marked by doubt concerning the reality and nature of the threat, and by self-doubt about one’s capacity to cope with it.  Does that not all sound negative!!  Thinking of that, take a look at the second part of that same bible verse as it says – but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God – Philippians 4:6b.  So again it is leading us to TRUST.  To not lean on our own understanding but to give your anxiety to God!  The same section goes on to say – “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:7  Would we not rather feel good and move on from a situation, knowing that God’s got our back and He has it covered!!!

Well what about depression? Hmm this one is a hard one.  The first thing that comes to my mind is the bible verse that says that God will not put more on you than you can bear (I Corinthians 10:13) and so I must tell you in my moments of depression, whether it was over a lost job, a back stab from a broken friendship or bad breakup, I have stopped in my depressed roll in the floor crying state and thought to myself “ WOW God must think I am the BOMB! Because HE thought I could handle this!!” Sometimes I have to say that over and over and over again until I feel what I am saying but when I think of God thinking I am capable, than why the heck do I think I am not capable of handling it?  Do you see where I am going?   

Why do I tell you all of this?  Well some of life’s most difficult experiences are the result of our or other people’s actions or choices and these are the things that leave us angry, bitter, anxious, or depressed to say the least. Whether they intended to hurt us or not, one of the surest ways to remain hurt and acting out of anger, anxiety, depression etc…is to keep a negative emotion looming well after the act has passed.  The overarching thing I have learned over time is something my mother used to always say to me, “ don’t let your emotions get the best of you”.  When I was little I thought my mother was talking crazy but now I get it as I strive to move past negative to find my way through the darkest night back into the morning light as I sleep until I get there on my own boat in the midst of a storm.   So this weeks question to ponder is, what emotion do you need to get control of so that you can sleep in the midst of your storm?

“Don’t hold on to anger, hurt or pain.  They steal your energy and keep you from love.” – Unknown

 “Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; YOU are the one who gets burned – Budda

 A man (or woman) who is a master of himself can end sorrow as easily as he can invest in pleasure.  I don’t want to be at the mercy of my emotions.  I want to use them, to enjoy them and to dominate them.” – Oscar Wilde

Peace Be Still

“Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still!’ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.” – Mark 4:39

Spring is the time of year when rain must fall.  With it we may also receive that occasional thunder storm, so it is important to stay on top of the weather forecast, after all what sista wants to get caught in the rain without her umbrella!!!!  Additionally, we all know that this time of year, the weather can change very quickly and if your not ready yo will get caught in a little rain storm. So imagine if the weather changed drastically while you were out on a boat!! Now I am not talking about it just starting to drizzle but thunderstorms!!!  Well this is exactly what happened in the above bible verse as Jesus and some of His disciples were out in a boat and a storm came out of nowhere.  You know the kind where the wind is blowing hard and the waves are going high and more than likely, water was coming into the boat which would ultimately mean that the boat they were in was going down!!  I don’t know about you but that would be pretty scary to me!!!  On top of all of that, imagine this; while all of that was going on, Jesus was sleeping peacefully on that boat. Imagine your reaction. I am sure I would have been just like the disciples; shocked.  Thinking to myself, how could anyone sleep through all of this!!!  So what did the disciples do?  They went and woke Jesus up and said, “Master, don’t you even care that we are about to drown?” –Mark 4:38

What did Jesus do?  He got up and stopped the wind by saying, Peace, be still,” and the winds stopped and the sea was calm again.  Why do I tell you all of this?  Well at the end of the day, this whole talk of peace and winds blowing and water coming in boats is all about trust!  For if we know who God is, we know that He is in control of every storm that comes into our lives. It is during the storms of life, when the wind and rain are the strongest that we MUST learn to be still and be able to sleep on that boat just as Jesus did.  How do we do that?  It is by not allowing yourself to worry, not becoming anxious, or depressed or angry but to trust that although God may not take away the problem, the ordeal, the issue; everything is happening for a reason and if we can just remain calm or sleep through it, God will keep you right in the middle of it all.  That is how we find the peace in our hearts that will help us stay calm until we get to the other side.  It calls us to

 “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean, not on your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” – Proverbs 3:5 & 6

Those that can find peace are those that can move from situation to situation and it never even touches them. Ya know the sista that never seems phased!  You know those that move from bitter to better!!  Well those are the folks that I used to sit back and wonder how does she do that!!!  Or how about the one that has a bad breakup today and moves on to start dating a better man tomorrow?  How does she do that?  Or how about the person that looses her job and can’t find one for like 6 months but she still seems cool?  That is that inner peace, that trust that Proverbs 3:5 speaks to when it says “trust in the Lord and to not lean on your own understanding.” Why?  Because if I look at things from my perspective I would not be able to trust the process!  If I look at the fact that I broke up with the man of my dreams yesterday, and then lean on my own understanding I  would stay depressed and think that was it for me!  However if choose to trust then I know that God can dream a bigger dream than I can even dream for myself.  Not just dream it, but also make it happen….Hence I have to give my own personal testimony here and say I could have never dreamed for my husband…THANK YOU LORD!!!!  OK I digress…..  OK how about when you get fired from a job, ya know your dream job, if you lean on your own understanding then you may think you will be homeless soon, but if you lean on trust instead, you know that somehow God will direct your path to a better opportunity.  I could go on but all of this simply means that all things (as you hhave heard me say in other blogs before) work together for the good but they only work if you choose to trust!!!  You choose to look for the good and find that peace that will help you remain calm right in the middle of that storm.  It is that trust that will allow you to sleep on that boat.   You see in our human understanding we will get all caught up in what is in front of us or we will look at things based on our own experiences, but when God is at work, His work is not based on our knowledge or experience.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.” – Isaiah 55:8

 Yes the first step toward living with inner peace is to choose to trust!   So let’s each stop limiting our possibilities by our own impossibilities.  Let’s take the roof of this mug and allow or selves to think that only the sky is the limit.  Let’s each choose to trust!   Shoot even on our dollar bills reads – In God we trust!

 “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” – Corrie Ten Boom

 “If faith can overcome this, there is no mountain which it cannot remove.” – Dean Inge

 “We walk by faith and not by sight.” – 2 Corinthians 5:7

 “Faith is not belief without proof, it is trust without reservation,” – Unknown

The Fight for Peace

When I think of peace, it takes me back to thoughts of the Civil Rights movement and Martin Luther King Jr. who led this fight for equal rights and was committed to do so in a nonviolent and peaceful way.    When I think of the civil rights movement I think of sit-ins and bus boycotts, I even think of all the folks that despite taking the nonviolent approach to their fight by sit-ins and boycotts, many went to jail for it.  So they may have rallied together to fight but did so in a peaceful way.  Peaceful as you didn’t hear of folks shooting or bombing well at least the black folks who were fighting weren’t resorting to violence.  However today when you hear of folks fighting what do you think of?  Shooting and bombing. 

Thinking of those times also makes me think of the all so popular peace sign and symbol and the flower child wearing tie dye and being free of spirit.  I think of folks wearing dashikis and afros and how so many people were really coming together.  Coming together to stop war, stop unfair and unequal treatment and fighting for this thing called peace.  But what is peace? 

According to Webster’s dictionary, peace is a state of tranquility or quiet; it is freedom from civil disturbance;  it is a state of security or order within a community provided for by law or custom; it is freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts; it is  emotions or harmony in personal relations.  After reading all of those definitions, I realize that peace on Earth or just peace in general seems even harder to grasp today in 2010.  Sure we as African American people may have much more freedom and rights than we used to bacj in the 1960’s, but are we ALL really living in peace?  We all strive for peace at home, peace at work, peace in relationships and peace on the streets.   Yet the rates of domestic violence are higher than they have ever been or at least those that are reported.  Shootings are still killing people of color in our neighborhoods.  Kids are carrying guns to school. Terrorists continue to make threats around the world.  We are currently at war in Iraq and despite the fact that President Obama is indeed keeping the promises he made and working on all those things he said he would when he ran for President; folks are busy trying to find error instead of letting him go through the process.  They are still fighting against change. Whew, just thinking of all of that makes me just want to say “can’t we all just get along!!”

If we think back to those days of the flower child and the civil rights movement, it wasn’t supposed to turn out like this!  However about fifty years ago we thought we were fighting to replace a culture of war and civil unrest with a culture of peace, so what does a culture of peace look like?  Or should I ask, what does peace look like to you?  Well here’s what I would call peace.  Peace to me is a state of mind, a state of being.  Peace is remaining calm in the midst of a stressful situation.  Peace is allowing folks to be just who they are and is found in appreciating difference and celebrating likeness.  Peace is freedom of expression and freedom of thought.  Peace is what happens when a community works together and alleviates division. It is going back to that village that works together, lives together, creates neighborhood together.  Peace is not what happens after the fight, peace can be found right in the middle of the crazy if you can just realize that the fight is happening because you care about the person. After all if you didn’t care, you would not fight.  Then and only then can you find that peace that allows you to agree to disagree and move into harmony in the middle of the fight.  Peace does not hurt, does not hit, does not get enraged and yell, instead peace stops takes a deep breath and finds tranquility.   Peace is that small calgone moment that just takes you away.  Take you away from worry, stress, fear or despair. 

So how do we live in this thing called peace?  We shall explore this over the coming weeks but for now, think about what does having peace and living with peace in your heart mean to you?

Instead of my ending as I usually do with a quote, this week I leave you with an excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s acceptance speech when he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964…

 I accept the Nobel Prize for Peace at a moment when 22 million Negroes of the United States of America are engaged in a creative battle to end the long night of racial injustice. I accept this award on behalf of a civil rights movement which is moving with determination and a majestic scorn for risk and danger to establish a reign of freedom and a rule of justice.

I am mindful that only yesterday in Birmingham, Alabama, our children, crying out for brotherhood, were answered with fire hoses, snarling dogs and even death. I am mindful that only yesterday in Philadelphia, Mississippi, young people seeking to secure the right to vote were brutalized and murdered. And only yesterday more than 40 houses of worship in the State of Mississippi alone were bombed or burned because they offered a sanctuary to those who would not accept segregation. I am mindful that debilitating and grinding poverty afflicts my people and chains them to the lowest rung of the economic ladder.

 Therefore, I must ask why this prize is awarded to a movement which is beleaguered and committed to unrelenting struggle; to a movement which has not won the very peace and brotherhood which is the essence of the Nobel Prize. After contemplation, I conclude that this award which I receive on behalf of that movement is a profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral question of our time – the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression. Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts. Negroes of the United States, following the people of India, have demonstrated that nonviolence is not sterile passivity, but a powerful moral force which makes for social transformation. Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love….

Living in Rainbow Days

But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles” – Isaiah 40:31a

Do you know why I spoke about eagles in our blog discussion last week? Well it is because an eagle looks at the face of a storm as an opportunity instead of a challenge.  You see a storm is a opportunity for a eagle to rise to higher heights as they spread their wings and allow the storm to take them up higher and higher.  This attitude is also how we can choose to look at our storms or negative things that come; sure it is easy to have joy when things are good but what about through the hard stuff too?  It is in moments of challenge that opportunity is born, but only if we can stay in a happy place and allow it to take us to higher heights.  How you may ask?  If we go through moments of challenge knowing that

“All things work together for the good”  – Romans 8:28a

It is knowing that whatever is to come of this challenge, will be gain, it can become the wind beneath our wings if we have a positive outlook in the midst of it.  This is what I call Living in Rainbow days.  You see when a storm is raging, if we can focus on looking for the rainbow that will come after the storm, instead of focusing on the storm itself, then we can find the good, we can ride the wind that will take us higher. 

This is actually what the book “The Secret” calls the law of attraction.   You see the law of attraction says that you basically create what happens in your life by what you focus on, as whatever it is you focus on is what you draw into your life.  In essence, what you believe you will receive.  So if we can look at everything with a positive outlook, with joy in our heart then joy is what we will receive, that is what the law of attractions says, we attract what we put out there.  So basically this law of attraction works by using positive thoughts and feelings that then become energy and it is that energy that produces results in our lives. Now I must say that the law of attraction focuses on just believing something is possible, I would take it one step further to say, it is belief plus action that produces results.  We can’t just believe that we will get a better job; we must put that positive thought into action by actually looking for a job!   However, the major take away from this month’s conversation about joy is that even when you are as positive as you can possibly be; you are talking positive and being positive, the storms WILL come. In every life a little rain must fall!   So we must learn to be like an eagle, put up our wings and allow that storm to take us higher and higher, so high that we find a comfortable place to sit and admire the rainbow that WILL come.  The rainbow we shall see only if we hang in there long enough to see it. You see the eye of the storm will have you think you can’t make it, the negative things that happen in our lives will have you think that you are not headed in the right direction or you do not deserve your heart’s desire. However if you can stand still and be at peace and learn what ya need to, then the storm becomes a testimony instead of a test ya didn’t pass.

So how do you live in rainbow days? How do you live always looking for the positive instead of the negative that might be right before you?  How do you live 24/7 with joy in your heart?   First you must choose to believe the rainbow is possible and then take that belief and align it with action. You know that saying “fake it till you make it?”  Well that applies here as you sometimes have to push yourself to focus on where you are going instead of where you are presently so that you must believe it but you also must act like it will come to pass.   So you really aren’t faking it, it’s more like having a dress rehearsal 24/7 toward becoming the woman you desire to be!  So if you think of it that way, your belief and actions will always be ready when that curtain goes up on opening night!!!!  Opening night only happens when your belief and action meet opportunity and ya never know when the 3 roads will intersect.  So stop waiting to be happy when you get there and be happy on the way!!!!  Act like every day is a dress rehearsal toward you becoming, being or doing whatever it is you dream of.  That in and of itself puts some happiness in my heart! 

So if I believe I will be a CEO of a national nonprofit, I say I am a CEO of a national nonprofit and sooner or later as your belief lines up with your actions and you work to make it happen, it becomes reality.   The next step here is that you MUST keep your eyes on the prize! There will be times when you can’t see how you will get to whatever it is you want in life….a new job, a relationship, a house, etc…. but you MUST stay focused!!  Don’t doubt!!!  You can get there, but YOU have to believe you can.  It does not work if your momma believes for you or your best friend YOU have to believe it!! Just don’t lose heart and throw in the towel before you get there.  Last you remember to ALWAYS live in rainbow days.  Stay in a positive space. Remember it takes less energy to smile than it does to frown.  Plus it just feels to dog on good to smile, even at the face of adversity.   So only plant positive seeds toward whatever your dream is, so that the positive seeds get watered and they begin to produce the results you want in your life.

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”  -John 16:33

You see Jesus went through so much while on earth and serves as our example of staying focused on the journey instead of each stop along the way.   So our goal really should be to always look for a reason to feel joy and find that rainbow in the midst of the storm.  It is that  joy that will give you peace, easy assurance, trust to know that… “ All things work together for the good.”  It is this feeling that allows you to live like the old church mothers used to say “this joy that I have, the world did not give it; the world can’t take it away.” They really can’t take it away when you alone have your remote and YOU CHOOSE to be happy.  It is this happiness choice where you also find peace (peace is our next pearl we will begin to focus on next week) and it is in that place that you also know that you can trust that God is in control of every situation and that if you are going through something that just does not feel good, it ultimately is working together for your good.  That indeed is how you live in rainbow days.  That is how you live with unspeakable joy!!  

 “Life is like a rainbow.  You need both the sun and the rain to make its colors appear” – Unknown

“When you have a rainbow deep down in your heart, your smile will shine bright.  You know you’re part of that colorful, magical, feeling, you’ll find when you have a rainbow inside.” – Unknown

 “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow you gotta out up with the rain” – Dolly Parton

Rise Above It

This Sunday as we celebrate Easter and celebrate the life of Jesus; what a perfect time to talk about the ability to rise above.   You see if we want to live in unspeakable joy, then we too must rise from the dead.  Yes I said dead!!!  Because all that drama we talked about last week is what brings death to our life.  Therefore the key for us to truly live in unspeakable joy is to Rise Above it.   

So what does us rising above DRAMA or negative have to do with Jesus and the celebration of Easter?  You see Jesus was able to rise above it all!  The naysayers that mocked Him for saying He was not the son of God.  The haters that spit at Him and called Him names. Jesus stayed focused on who and what GOD said He was and He rose above it all!  Yes He too rose above drama!  So just as Good Friday is the day that we commemorate Christ’s death on the cross, lets each take a minute to celebrate this moment as we too die to our own drama!  And as we celebrate Jesus being raised from the dead, we also are reminded that Jesus IS our example.  Our example of RISING ABOVE, to let go of the past, the drama, the negativity and reach out to become the women we were meant to be.  This is how we TRULY live with joy in our hearts as we relish in living in our MAXIMUM potential. As we lead our drama die,  I must tell ya it will keep on trying to come back up in various situations and circumstances in our lives, so ladies we must be determined  NOT to allow it to touch us again!  Not touch us as we move to live in a place where we continuously rise above it.  How?  By taking back our remote!

Let me ask you, do you believe that you alone hold the remote control to your happiness?  You see we each have a gift from God called choice and it is the choices we make that dictate the life that we live.  So if we choose to be happy, we will be.  It is not about trying because let’s face it; trying is a choice as well.   Even further, if we allow ourselves to feel powerless about our own situations and circumstances, we will be just that, POWERLESS!!   However if you can muster up enough strength inside of yourself to believe in the control that you DO have, then take back your remote and watch how that feeling in and of its self impacts your ability to make positive choices for your life.  Taking back your remote gives you a feeling of empowerment which ultimately leads to your happiness.  Why?  Because you FINALLY realize that you alone hold the key to your happiness and now that you are in the driver’s seat, YOU can choose your destination.   As a matter of fact, in my internet search to write this blog, I came across research that shows that “those that feel like they control their own destiny, rather than their fate being largely determined by external forces–tend to be happier, less depressed, and less stressed.”   So let’s each live our lives in control of how we feel and not allow other people or situations to define how we feel.  To do this, we must live like an eagle.

When you think of an eagle what do you think of?  When I think of an eagle I think of strength, speed and how high they soar.  As a matter of fact, eagles can soar to heights that other birds cannot reach. Eagles even uses the winds from a storm by setting its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. That’s right, a eagle takes something that could destroy it to actually make it rise to higher heights.   So if you consider yourself an eagle, than you are rising above the backstabbers and haters, the men that do not deserve you and the bosses that do not know what to do with your talent!!  You are soaring to levels they cannot reach!!  You are soaring above their drama, knowing who you are and not allowing the negative to pull you to their level.  After all, do you ever see eagles hanging out with pigeons?   Instead we must learn to….

 “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials “ James 1: 2

That is exactly how an eagle lives, in the face of challenge and adversity knowing that everything is an opportunity instead of a setback as they rise above it all.  So to live as an eagle, we must take back our remote and in so doing take back control of our own lives. If ya don’t now how to do this here are few things to try;

1.  Realize that you DO have choice!  Choice to change your situation. Even if you don’t like the choices available at the moment, you always have some choices!
2. Do you need an attitude adjustment? Are you stuck in being negative?  Do you find yourself saying things like, ‘I can’t…,” , “I am not able to…” Living in the land of negative means that you are still stuck in drama which really will not help you make choices which are best for you. Think about it, even having a negative attitude is a choice.  Your attitude affects your choices and it’s time to stop allowing yourself to plant negative seeds in your own life by the words you speaks and the way you view your situation.  ON THIS DAY, make a choice to only allow yourself to think in a positive manner. (This is what we call living in rainbow days which we will focus more in-depth on next week)
3. When you don’t know what choice to make, take out a sheet of paper and begin to explore the various options available.  Now this won’t work with negative thinking!   If you are having a hard time making this list, call a friend or family member to help you. But make sure this person is someone who will empower you toward positive choices and not someone that will pull you into some drama.
4. Once you make your list, decide which choice is best for you right now.  I say right now because you may not have all the resources at your exposure to do everything you want in your given situation, but you CAN start somewhere right?

If you put the above into practice, than sooner or later it will be second nature to you to not allow where you current are to stop you from reaching the heights that only someone who lives in unspeakable joy can go.   Look at Jesus, many believed they stopped God’s work by killing Him but instead Jesus rose from the dead!  So you too must RISE ABOVE IT!

 “That’s when we do our best.  When we are the underdog and people doubt us.  We can just rise above that.” – Angela Morales

 “Great minds have purposes; little minds have wishes.  Little minds are subdued by misfortunes; great minds rise above them.” – Washington Irving

 Everything negative – pressure, challenges – is all an opportunity for me to rise.  – Kobe Bryant