Embracing Change: A Journey of Reflection and Growth

Unlock the power of self-reflection and transformation in this thought-provoking episode! Dive into a journey of introspection as our host revisits old journals, grappling with life's demons and the profound question: What is my mission? Through an inspiring narrative about a young man named "Steven," who battled feelings of worthlessness due to past mistakes, we explore themes of redemption, faith, and resilience. 

Key Takeaways:
- Embrace the present moment as your most powerful tool for change.
- Understand that life is dynamic; nothing is set in stone.
- Trust in a benevolent force guiding you through challenges.

Join us on this enlightening exploration of personal growth and discover how to harness your inner strength. Tune in now for insights that could transform your perspective!

Just had a couple thoughts this morning as I got up early and and reflecting and going over a number of old journals that I've I've written. And, once in a while, I'll pick them up and just review some of the things that I've been through. And it's very enlightening. You know, as time goes on, you need to get a different perspective. And as I look at my own life and as I struggle and wrestle with the demons that I wrestle with with just entering what I call the Q4 of my life.

What am I doing with my life? What is my mission and so forth? And and and, anyway, the reason that comes to my mind is I'm reviewing something I wrote way back in anyway, a number of years ago. And in my journal, it says I had an interview with a young man by the name of let me change his name. Steven.

Just in case, you know, he someday reads this and think I'm talking about him. I can't even remember who this individual is, honestly, as I'm reflecting on this. And he says this, and I wrote this down. He says quote, I'm wrestling with demons. Now I do remember the interview I had with him.

He says, I'm wrestling with demons, Feelings of utter worthlessness. I have a felony on my record. He got involved in some legal stuff. It was blown out of proportion. But the bottom line is, he has a felony on his record.

And he says, I just beat myself up over and over again. And I talked to him about you know what? You're still young. You can still pull yourself together and make something of yourself. Talked about school, and he says, I just can't do it.

I just can't do it. And then I spoke to him about incorporating the mantra into his life, the best is yet to come. Yes. You can do it. You do have the capacity to do it.

And then I'm thinking of, another pages I've I've written, kind of wrestling with God in our lives. And so if God is real, that means the adversary is real. Positivity, negativity, light, dark, opposition, and all things. But I think the enemy which we wrestle with from day to day is a shapeshifter. Meaning that there's always gonna be opposition.

And once you think you've got something under control, the opposition just shifts shapes. But at the same time, if we think of God being a living God okay. I'm I'm thinking of a scripture in, the Old Testament when God spoke to Moses, and God says, well, go tell the people that you that I'm telling you to come to them. And he says, well, who should I say sent me? Tell them I am.

I am that I am. Meaning, I am a God of the present moment. Then I'm thinking of a quote from the book, the power of now. Fascinating quote. I love this quote, by Eckhart Tolle.

And I'm paraphrasing because I'm doing this off off of the top of my mind as I'm as I'm doing this podcast. Said something to the effect of why is now the most important thing because it's the only thing. There never was a time when it's not now. So think about that. There never was a time when it's not now.

It's only in the now that we can think of the future or the past, but it's always happening now. And if we go back into the past, when that thing was happening, whatever was happening, it was in the now. And yet we can predict things in the future and plan things for the future, but when that happens, it'll only happen in the now. And so as we look at our lives, and this is what I choose to believe, that we have a kind, wise, loving, benevolent father in heaven who is reaching out to us and relentlessly pursuing his children to encourage them to choose with their own agency and right to choose a path that would be the most beneficial and productive for them. And so when certain things occur in our lives that might seem like roadblocks or challenges, try to trust that God's hand still might be involved in that.

If he is trying he is trying to direct our paths. And so if the adversary is a shape shifter, then he also is constantly adjusting the dial in our lives, constantly adjusting what he needs to do to try to help us and to reach out to us. But he is ever patient, ever kind, ever forgiving. And so when I'm thinking back to this individual, Steven, that I had an interview with, he says I'm wrestling with demons and these feelings of utter worthlessness. And as I was trying to encourage him, I do I do remember that interview with him.

And and I'm saying, come on, man. You know, all is not lost. The future the future can be bright. And he's going, yeah. Your words your words are just hollow.

And I so really trying to empathize with him and see the depth of these things he's wrestling with and I'm saying, well, you're the only one that can deal with that. You've gotta go deep down inside yourself. You have a choice where that you can give up, and you can give the end to this horrific sense of worthlessness as if you're surrounded by demons, or you can use your agency and what spark of power you have with faith say, I'm gonna put myself out of this and I'm gonna do something. And interesting to note, at that time, you know, he was very, very depressed and discouraged. I think he was, like, in his mid twenties and doubting that he'd ever get married, that that ship had had passed by without him, you know, being able to enjoy that part of life.

Well, it's been a few years now. He's married. He's moved. And as far as I understand, he's doing quite well. That he's moving forward, has a had now has a partner.

He's not all alone. See? So things change. Things are what I call dynamic. Meaning that life is always moving.

It's always changing. Nothing is ever written in cement. There's always a way out of any negative situation that you're in with a belief in God and in his benevolent loving kindness towards you. Even if you have given up on yourself, he doesn't. That's what I believe.

Even if you have given up on yourself, he doesn't. So if by chance someone is listening to this podcast and you have given up on yourself, look to the kind, wise, benevolent God of the universe and realize that he sees something in you and knows, absolutely knows with 100% certainty, that you can pull out of whatever funk you are in, whatever depression you are in, whatever anxiety you're dealing with, whatever relationship issue, whatever addiction, you can overcome it. Do not ever give in to the the black hole of worthlessness. Remember, life is dynamic. We're constantly moving forward.

It's never over. I and this is another perspective I have. I I believe we're eternal beings. I just think there's something more to life than just as mortal life. When we die, I really believe some we go on.

It's just like we're gonna walk into another room and go, wow. That was an experience, wasn't it? This wrestle that we had here in this mortal body and that there there's a plan, there's something more beyond this, but our work here today is to do the very best we can with what we have, turn towards the positive, turn away from the negative, and we all know what those things are. If we will slow down, we have an internal guidance system. Each one of us, we know the difference between right and wrong.

Sometimes it can be a little foggy, but all you have to do is sit, ponder, and whatever decision you are faced with, ask yourself the question, is this a good decision or not a good decision? Is this right, wrong? Where does it fall on the scale? And some and maybe there is a scale from 0 to 10, let's say. And this one decision is like, yeah.

It's 60% right or this is 40 percent wrong, and then there's some that are 90 or a 100% right and, and a 100% wrong. Just each of us have to work those things out for our for ourselves individually. And at the end of the day, we will be accountable for ourselves and our life. And as we look to the beginning of a new year. So, we really, you know, take a look at our lives.

If you by chance have written some stuff down or have some journals, I mean reflect on your life. Where are you right now? Where are you right now? Where are you heading? What direction are you heading in?

And if you if you wanna make some changes, start jotting those things down, and then dive into the methods that will help you make those changes. There's just so many so many different options out there, but you've gotta find them. You gotta learn to trust yourself. It reminds me of a statement by Shakespeare. Right?

He said, this above all, to thine own self be true and as night follows day, then thou canst be false to no man. Find out what you believe. Be true to yourself. Believe in yourself. Keep moving forward and do not ever give up on yourself.