Re-Fresh

As a kid I would always say I was going to grow up and become a lawyer. Becoming a lawyer was the end all, be all for me. It was my dream. My mawmaw even called me lawyer as a nickname. I was passionate about becoming a lawyer because it seemed like every man around me was always going to jail. My dad included. I guess I was too young to understand that their actions led them to where they were, I just wanted to be their savior. I was pretty naïve and I believed they all were innocent and I would be the one to make the difference. As I grew the passion stuck with me until about high school. I wasn’t passionate about it anymore. Maybe I realized I didn't really like school as much as I thought and wasn’t sure if I wanted to commit all those years in college to save people who maybe needed to be where they were. In my mind my future changed about a million times. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to be when I grew up. Then I was sold on becoming a nurse. That was it, I would become a nurse. Then... I witnessed my sister give birth in 2005 and it was a no for me dawg. Lol. I almost passed out at the sight of all that blood. So of course I changed my mind yet again. Psychology was my next go to. I would be a psychologist, I'm already a great listener and I give great advice to everyone but myself. I had finally figured it out. I always knew I wanted to be in the service field, I just was unsure what actual career I would do. I loved psychology , but then college happened. After failing trigonometry 3 times I became extremely exasperated and took a semester off. I never went back. I felt defeated by trig and gave up. At that point in my life I needed to refresh, restart and rethink my whole future. What's crazy is I stand here in 2018 feeling like that same college kid who doesn’t have it together feeling defeated by life.

One Sunday my husband and I were enjoying television together. We were trying to change the channel, but the remote wouldn't work. We tried changing the batteries, still nothing. We slapped at it, hit it on the floor, and kept pressing irrelevant buttons, but nothing worked. A light bulb went off in my head and eventually I used the power that had been in my hand the entire time. Ta Da da, GOOGLE. Google showed me how to refresh the remote. I followed the steps and just like that the remote was working again. The remote needed to be refreshed. As I sit and reflect on my life I feel like my remote, I need to be refreshed. Life is demanding and at times I feel defeated but I must continue on. I feel like I should have conquered life by now. I should not only know what I want to do but should be doing just that. And the fact that I am not makes me feel lost. Can you relate? We do just like I did with the remote, we slap at life, hit irrelevant buttons and even find ourselves hitting the floor. And guess what nothing happens. Feeling defeated by life is embarrassing. So most times when we need to be refreshed, we stall because of what others may think. Like Drake admitted in his song "opinions from total strangers get me outta my ways." Social media gives a false sense of people having life all put together and when yours is not fully there you feel left behind. We battle with failure, stress, trauma, depression and anxiety. Well I do for sure, maybe not all at one time but definitely. We neglect the power right in our hands. God's word and His willingness to pull us up if only we'd reach out to Him. The refresh we need is right here within us. We just have to submit ourselves to God and ask Him to refresh us. Isaiah 40:31

“But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength”

I feel so insecure at times because I'm not where I feel I should be at this point in life. Maybe I feel this way because I'm not where I see most people my age are. I'm 31, with 2 kids, a husband, I’m not too sure if I’m on the right career path, I have no degree, I do not own my home and my finances are a joke. Shouldn't I have all of this figured out by now? How dare I not have it figured out. Am I behind? I ask myself this all the time, but then I realize that I'm comparing myself based on other people’s standards. Who says at a certain age you must have this or be that. I thank God for where my life is now and I'm grateful for the experiences I have faced and the things I have learned that have gotten me to this point. I'm learning that life is not about what others think or how they feel about me. I have to do what makes me happy in life and so do you. You have to set your own goals and set your own plan of action to get things done. You can still buy your house at 40. You can still get that degree at 50. You can still do all the things you want, but you have to go for it. Most importantly we have to submit to God’s will for our lives and be refreshed in Him. If you need to hit the refresh button on your life that is perfectly fine and nothing to be ashamed of. We cannot go back and undo or redo the things of the past but we can start to change our lives now for the better. Thank God for extra chances. Life can be extremely overwhelming and at times seemingly impossible. Sometimes all we need is a refresher to feel "alive" again. Everyday is another chance to try again. If the things you are perusing have become stagnant and not going in the direction you wish, hit refresh. And shoot for the stars. We wait until the new year to make new goals and plans, but everyday is a new day to do so. There are no set days or times where life must be put all together. It’s a process. What we see on social media is the perfected version. All filtered and cropped to perfection. We don't see the failures, they don’t show how many times they’ve had to restart, all we see is the success. A friend of mine recently mentioned this on Instagram. She was saying how important it is for people to see our failures, so when they see our big wins they also see all the hard work that led to the win. There is a struggle everyday, but the good thing is everyday you wake up is a new day to try again. With less than 3 months left in 2018, we may feel that we have neglected the plans we have set out for ourselves and need to hit refresh. We want to wait until the new year to start to plan to do better. But Why wait? Make a plan now to refresh your life.

Are you feeling defeated by life? Like everyone else has life all figured out and you are blowing in the wind. Don’t be ashamed. You are definitely not alone. I for one am right here with you. But the good thing is we can start now to do better. Let's refresh. Refresh the thoughts we have hidden in the back of our minds. Revisit that list of goals we were set to complete. Restart school and pursue that degree. Retry at getting our finances under control to have a healthy financial future. Regrow that business to be successful. Renew your strength. We get tired, we get weary but with God all things are possible. Isaiah 40:29 tells us “ He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength.” God refreshes us every morning with the spirit of life and everyday is a new day for new opportunities. Live life to the fullest and don’t be ashamed of not yet getting to your destination. Keep going and don’t give up and You will get there right on time. Despite the things that are trying to hold you back you can be refreshed and succeed at what ever you want out of life. Keep going!

Did this article touch you? Can you relate to the things discussed? Let’s talk about it. Leave me a comment telling me how you’ve had to be refreshed in your experiences. What are some areas you need to be refreshed in?