Lets all just slow down a little

Hey hey it's me again.
Got some more food for thought for everyone, as it's around dinner time.

I've been thinking a lot about how fast life flies by. And a lot of people talk about 'enjoying every moment' and all that.
But after coming back from Mexico I really got inspired to try a little harder, and really, truly, be in the moment.

My one week vacation flew by, and as much as I did love it, it ended with a few regrets. (No, nothing crazy happened) But I did regret not waking up a little earlier to watch the sunrise, not listening to the waves crash more often, not slowing down and soaking it all in. We were there for such a limited time that I wished I could stretch out every moment, relive it, and truly experience it.

So I thought a lot about what enjoying every moment truly means and I'm chellenging myself to get there.

What I need to learn to do is slow down. Notice the little things: the breeze running through my hair, the sound of birds in the morning, people's emotions. I need to take deeper breaths more often. Think deeper about simple things. Like being thankful that I woke up that morning, or enjoying every bite of good food.

I need to notice things: a smile or frown on someone's face, what brings someone joy. I need to truly listen when people have something to say.

I need to keep my phone in my purse more often, only take it out when I'm at home.

Quiet my mind, think before I speak, and most of all always listen in case God might be speaking.

Slowing down and enjoying the moment is so hard to do in a world that pressures you to go, and do all the time. In a world that makes you scroll, and like things that aren't even physically in front of us. In a world where instead of saying hi to someone we would rather hide behind a screen and pretend we aren't there.

So I challenge myself, and those who like a challenge...
Let's try to take pictures but post them later, maybe even not post them at all. Do things, and not even share them. Enjoy things, without having the need to tell someone we enjoy them.

Living in the moment, it's a challenge, a thing you need to constantly remind yourself to do now adays. How sad.
But as long as I keep trying, keep reminding myself to slow down. I think I'll get there. To the day, where I'll see a pretty tree or order an amazing meal and not even be tempted to post it on my story.

And I know my husband's gonna laugh at this, cause Its gonna take a lot of time to get there.

It's not worth drowning for

Imagine you're a fisherman. You're sitting in a wooden boat with a few other men doing your job. Now the job comes with lots of risk. For example, there could be little or no fish supply, the equipment could break, the boat could have damage, you could eat too much for lunch and be too heavy for the boat, or a storm could come up out of nowhere, slimming your chances of safely getting back to shore. 

And so far, today started just like any other normal day. You go out on your boat, to the middle of the sea, to catch some fish. But life is full of surprises, and changes in weather, and your day turned out to be not so typical after all. Now storms happen, and if you've been a fisherman for a while you probably faced a few. But today, the storm was like no other. Out of nowhere the sky got darker, the wind got stronger, the waves got bigger, and the rain got faster. And you usually don't get scared easily, but today, you were, and so were your buddies. For this was a storm that you might not get out of. Now while you're panicking and trying to figure out how to live through this, things escalate even more. As if you're not scared already, you see a figure in the distance, walking towards you on the water. Your heart drops.. is it a monster? a ghost? Are you hallucinating? Everyone knows walking on water is impossible, so you prepare for the worst. And as you're ready to meet your end, you're praying your last prayers, you stop, and suddenly feel a rush of relief run over you. Because it isn't a monster, or ghost walking on the water, its your most trusted, beloved, leader, and friend walking toward you. A man who was capable of miracles. And in that moment, you forget about the rain, you forget about the engulfing waves, you forget that its impossible to walk on water. Your focus is on HIM. And with nothing stopping you, you step out of the boat and walk towards Him. "Wow, i'm walking on water, doing the impossible," you think. But with the thought you start to question yourself.. "how am I not drowning? How am I actually doing this?" And it only takes a moment, one negative thought to turn everything around, and you lose sight of your friend. You look to the sides, and its chaos. Waves are crashing, rain is falling, and you're drowning. Once again your grip on life slips away from you, and you prepare to lose it. But as you take one last breath of air, ready to go under.. your loving, perfect, friend reaches His hand your way and pulls you out of the storm. And as He pulls you out, everything around you turns still, and calm, and youre alive, and breathing.The sun comes out, and the day goes on. 

Sound familiar? Not only have we heard of the story of Peter and Jesus walking on the water many times as children, and maybe even read it ourselves a few times, we've also all experienced it too. Sometimes in this chaotic and crazy life, that often makes us feel like we're drowning, we get a ray of bravery. And we start to walk on water. But most of the time that little spark of bravery and faith gets engulfed by doubts, fears, and lies and we lose sight of what's in front of us. Some of us may still be drowning. But our story doesn't have to end there. We HAVE that friend reaching out His hand to us, all we have to do is grab it. So please, take that hand, and i'll take it too, and when we do...the storm will pass, and everything will be still, the sun will come out, and life will go on. And if you ever lose sight, and start to drown again, you'll know that you don't have to end your story being submerged by the waves of this chaotic life, we always have His hand to grab onto, and that fact alone should get us all walking on water. 

New year, same old me, but better.

2016 was amazing. We did so much, accomplished a lot, saw a lot of beautiful places, tried new things, and were very blessed. But 2016 was a year of a mini rut for me. I was a bit lazy, a bit unmotivated, I lacked inspiration. But through all that there was a lot a growth, and a lot of desire to get out the the mindset I was in.

Im someone who loves fresh starts: the beginning of a year, the beginning of a week, month, day... I love the idea of clean slates,  that feeling where the past doesn't matter because you can rewrite the future, try again. That's what 2017 has become for me, the rewriting of myself, trying again. I don't know how, or why but as soon as the new year rolled in I finally found the inspiration I needed to give myself the push I needed in the right direction. 2017 for me will be the year of exceeding, perseverance, fighting my lazy, trying new things, pushing myself and finding strength. Last year I lived with the concept of doing things when I felt like it, this year I will do things I usually wouldnt, when I least feel like it.

alongside that though, I don't want to make any plans, and i have no expectations. I want 2017 to surprise me. I commit to going with the flow, accepting every opportunity I get to make more opportunities. I commit to not stressing out about having a perfect year. I accept what will come my way with excitement, anticipation, and trust. For a while I lived with the stress of the future being so unknown. I have no Idea what i want to do with my life, I have no clue what career path to take, or if I even want to take any. I have no clue what my purpose is, and what Im meant to do in this life.
Feeling lost is a scary feeling, it makes you insecure, it makes you doubt, and compare, and it makes you feel irrelevant. But God is amazing, and whenever I fall into this fear of the future, He always reminds me to trust. I trusted Him with my past, and I have no reason to stop now. People always ask me why Im not in college getting a degree. I honestly have no idea what I want, what I would be good at, and what path I need to take. All i know is that if i trust, everything will fall into place and come together just how it should, just like every other event in my life did.

This year all I plan to accomplish really is to make myself into the best person I could be, the person who God created me to be. Not the lazy girl sitting on the sidelines watching life pass her by. I don't want to be mediocre, we aren't meant to be that. I want to exceed my own expectations, and push myself every day to do more. Learn more, love more, live more, try more. Of course there will be many many days where I will fail, where I will want to give up, but the only way to succeed is to keep trying and practicing. Failure will be my drive.

So that's pretty much the plan for the year, to have no plan. A blank page, a fresh start, no expectations. Just me getting to know myself, seeing how far I could push myself, and where that will get me. No pressure to impress anyone but me and the one who created me. No pressure to be like anyone but me. A stronger, cooler, better me.