Face to Face with Courage

John 14:27 New International Version (NIV)

²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

This morning when I woke up I was full of joy and gratefulness. I sat down at my work computer, as I always do, said my prayers and prepared my heart and mind to be used by God for His Glory. Today was an exceptional day. I learned more of who I am by speaking with my customers. Every time there was some indifference in the conversation I knew that it was something in me that I needed to process with love. I knew that the indifference did not match what God gave me and I knew that how I felt wasn’t contingent upon God’s commands. I used to have small blockages when I wrote my blogs. I would have to research what these blockages could be but, I knew that I had received the same blockages while speaking with my customers. First I asked myself this question, “Miya, what does it feel like when you have these blocks?” And to help me move on instantly I provided a solution, “When you have mental blocks correct your flow point by applying a positive mantra to help correct your thinking.” Most of the mental blocks I’ve had come from fear. When my heart went ablaze in the past I would tell myself that I wasn’t good enough. My correction for fearlessness allows me to accept that courage was part of my birthright.

I work as a Technical Support Representative for a well-known company. One of the greatest benefits of working at my job is that I get to communicate with some really amazing people every day. However, I admit that I didn’t always see everyone I encountered as amazing. How I felt in the mist of confrontation used to limit me spiritually. I used to pray that I would not have to speak with anyone difficult so that I could manage my temper throughout the day. I broke free from that fear by assessing my identity while speaking with my customers. This assessment allowed me to draw in the courage to express love not only for my customers but, also for me. I courageously love, respect, honor, forgive, and offer compassion to me constantly. These offerings of gratitude allow me to fulfill God’s Law and Purpose. I no longer have a problem loving my neighbor for, the sacrifice of mercy is facilitated through my actions.

Day 2 is complete and I have been shown the light of the true definition of courage. Courage manifests when I can authentically speak with love to anyone on the outside of myself. Someone once considered an inconvenience now helps me to be a courageous defender of love. I fulfill the Law because I treat others as I would want myself to be treated.  One customer I spoke with today was extremely apologetic. Initially, I wanted to be short with her but, then I started to really listen so that I could tune into her frequency. I knew that encounters like these were something that I needed to confront. I heard myself in her voice. In my past my nickname could have been Apologetica because I would constantly apologize to people as if I were an inconvenience. Hearing her voice helped me to tap into my voice and by the end of the conversation I was only left with words of encouragement; the advice I would need to hear type of encouragement.  Not only for me but, also for my customer. My customer was not a bother; I am not a bother. I am loved more than I can comprehend and this is why I give insurmountable amounts of love to all I am blessed to encounter, more than I can illustrate in words.

Thank you for reading my blog today. I am happy to say that love requires exercise. The only way we can exercise love is by discovering where we are in the process. First, we must love God and then we must love others as much as we love ourselves. We are all equations of the completion God created. Love seals what has already been completed. If you would like to read more of my content sign up to receive alerts by following my journey of how I find joy through all of life’s conditions. Comment below, like this entry and share with the attached links.

We are all courageously gifted,

Miya

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Why I am Thankful for Judgment

Why must we take baby steps when walking towards our destiny? Obtaining my heart’s content has always felt like placing my feet in crystal clear water, I can feel the healing and nearly see the correct path but, then I give up because there is an enormous rock that separates me from what I want. As if in a dream I take a chisel and try to sculpt whats below me instead of creating a way to remove the barrier indefinitely. In my life I have always looked outwardly so, like most of us I’ve been very quick to judge. I worked tirelessly to make a masterpiece of the rock below me just to discover my own judgement. I’ve crafted Pompeii and like the infamous event in history my spiritual work crumbled. I settled with ancient civilizations within myself due to fear of making life anew for the sake of saving my soul and actually achieving the deepest parts of who I am.
Like most American’s I was born of Christian faith. Being part of the African-American experience has really deepened my relationship with God. Adding personal trails into the mix solidified my union with Christ. One day I looked down below me and could see that it was only God that could remove my struggle. I accepted Christ at an early age. The first thing I felt when I truly heard His name was fear. I knew that God had the power to take me away when He was ready. My fear of God called me into wanting to know who God was. When I began the book of Genesis I saw the things God created. His word formed the heavens and the earth and it was good. God then created life and with it a special kind of man in his likeness. After I read this I was fascinated by God. I thought, “How amazing that I have a Father that gives and takes but, with forgiveness provides a solution for human sin and that solution is Jesus Christ.”
Loving God has taught me to examine myself. When I began to examine who I was I got lost in the value of having a concrete relationship with God. My self-examination nearly drove me to settle with who I was vs who God wanted me to be. I used to believe that if I wasn’t mentally adept, I was worthless. When I redefined what worthless was I became less for God and now I am able to push through habitual forces of my ego. I love that I am now in a place of only trusting God above my own understanding. To stay consistent I keep the word of God with me at all times and I know that Jesus is in my heart operating for me when I am weak. I pray often and I trust in God’s plan above my own. The creator of heaven and earth can’t go wrong because I know my fate was predestined.
Being judged by man and judging ourselves should draw us closer to God. When my mind ignites judgement towards someone else I look inside and ask for God’s correction. When I judge myself I seek God’s provisions by understanding His love for me and thanks to His love I am forgiven. God’s forgiveness helps me to exonerate my temporary perceptions of lack. We are all created by a perfect God which makes us perfectly and wonderfully made. When you want to remove obstruction consider following after the love of your creator. The heart of man wars against God so, try to remember this when testing the validity of the covenant. In the Book of Romans Chapter 7 we discover the true war that we face. Our flesh is in bondage with sin and that makes us war against the laws of God.
Thank you for visiting the happiness project and for reading my post today. This journey has allowed me to yearn for God. To be honest, I introduced this blog with alternative expectations and praise be to God through Jesus Christ I was led back into God’s warm embrace. Like this post, leave a comment and share with this links below. As I continually call for God’s judgement it is my prayer that you find peace and hold onto the true definition of love.

Blessings,

Miya

The Walk of Faith

Imagine you’ve worked for a company for 10 year’s. You’ve been in the same position not because you lacked the experience to excel to the next level but, due to other criteria’s that you may or may not have met. In life I was always told that it is not what you know it is who you know. I tripped and fell on this logic the first few years of my working experience. Due to my own insecurities I wasn’t favored by management in nearly every position I’ve had. In high school I worked at Friendly’s and my co-workers treated me as if I were someone who deserved to be kicked down and forgotten about. I was ignored and it certainly did not make me feel worthy. I can now forgive them for I didn’t understand the role I played. As I grew older my walk with Christ solidified a different course for my purpose in the workforce. In the middle of my 20’s I was introduced to the idea of walking by faith and not by sight. While I am still young I am able to walk in the fullness of His grace by trusting in what is unseen.

One day in late December 2010 my cell phone rang. I was about to go into the movies to see the IMAX version of Disney’s Tron with my cousin. I answered the phone, its Wells Fargo. I was offered a position and would start after the New Year. I was so elated that night because I was unemployed and my unemployment benefits had just run out. I remember thinking how perfect God was at that moment. When January of 2011 hit I began working at Wells as a teller. After my training I was assigned to work at the Wells Fargo location in Jenkintown, Pa. I instantly connected with the Lead teller there and we are still great friends today. One day she and a few other employee’s told me that the service manager did not know how I was selected to work there because he did not hire me. I knew who did though, it was my Heavenly Father. My first year at Wells I became one of the top tellers in the Mont Co region. I was then promoted to work in back-office handling distributions internationally. In my second year I was promoted to work in International Check Collections. One piece of information that I recall hearing from fellow co-workers is that it was highly unlikely to obtain a position in back office. I was also told that you have to know someone in order to be considered for a position with corporate.  In the back office of my mind I said, “Oh, but you don’t know the God I serve.”

After obtaining my Associate of Arts in Information Technology, I felt the need to shift my career towards something I worked very hard to get. My father was diagnosed with end-stage heart failure and from there the shift of hard times motivated me to follow what I felt was deemed right by God. I left Wells and began working for Comcast after taking a short leave to care for my father and what I can only call my own descent into suffering. On my first day at Comcast I was so happy and stricken with a feeling that I hadn’t experienced in a long while which was a, “Right time, Right place,” kind of feeling. I knew that working for Comcast was part of my destiny. Not to say I won’t always work for this wonderful company but, I understand that my path is meticulously crafted by God. As God seeks my heart I can feel a different kind of calling towards greener pastures. I credit this calling to my faith.

In my walk of faith I have stumbled many times but thankfully, it is God who orchestrates my life. God knew that one day I would say, “Yes Lord, have your way.” I have tried to live life according to my understanding for over 20 years and after all the dust had settled God was all that was left and I am happy to see that light by knowing God is all that I need. As a woman of faith I know God was not dismayed by me being lost in the wilderness. What has kept me progressing towards spiritually higher places was my faith through the love of Jesus Christ. The reason I hold my head high today is because I am confident in the covenant made by God that he became man to sacrifice His life for our sins. The word sin is not a dirty word, it only means the fall of man. The fall of man is linked to the feelings that arise when love is not in the midst. God’s love offers a forgiveness that encourages me to trust the covenant over my own understanding and work far beyond my will so that HIS will is the only thing that is done. Ladies and Gentleman I encourage you to reap the benefits of walking by faith and not by sight.

Thank you for visiting my page today. I hope this message will be able to encourage anyone that may be struggling with the subject of faith. It is natural to question God but, when you submit yourself as a student under God the spiritual disciplines will help you seek first the kingdom of heaven and His righteousness (ref. Matthew 6:33 NIV).  When you do this your new walk will be the evidence of all you cannot see. Deep down you’ll have this feeling that God is just and because of this whom shall you fear? Like this post and check out other Happiness Project archived blogs, comment below, follow me on my journey and share with the links attached.

Walk By Faith,

Miya

Will You Walk Through the Fire?

You are free once you release the giants in your mind. You never realize the beasts that are roaming free controlling your every thought until you try at something you love. Personally I love to write and sing. I also love to take ownership of new challenges. I am not a novice when it comes to maximizing the rewards of my life experiences. Every moment I was able to forgive I rewarded myself with key points to understand those I interact with daily. Those key points allow me to instantly love everyone I meet and the love I carry comes directly from the seeds of Jesus Christ. Like a stolen secret, I kept the things I loved locked inside of me. I chose the path of least resistant because I feared the outside world would not accept me.

Last night I went to bible study and surprisingly enough I went on the night of Baptism. God’s ways are unpredictable for when I arrived at the church and saw the title of the sermon, “A Different Kind of Fire”, I instantly knew that there would indeed be a message that was destined to sink into my heart to help carry me through every dark encounter. I have been a woman of weak faith up until the day I was baptized. Last night’s experience ran full circle to match the current level of my faith. As I watched many members be baptized one by one I felt like I too was dipped into the holy water with them. Every time I endure the fire it is Jesus who pulls me deep into the waters of God. That said, I am no longer afraid to be consumed because the flames I have are made of everlasting love. If something or someone is not for me then it will be removed or it will not happen; I am in firm agreement with this.

One of my dear friends is in Ministry and from afar I’ve always marveled the power of God in her life. To hear her powerful voice speak over the microphone confirmed a new level of faith I have been owning recently. After my baptism in 2005 I knew, thanks to Gods warning, that my son would be carried back to God. For one week I laid up in a hospital bed at Pennsylvania Hospital knowing that I would lose him. In the early morning hours of my birthday God told me that it was time. From the moment I was baptized I had read up to Micah in the bible at that time and for that reason I named my son Micah. Interestingly enough Micah’s prophecies were directed towards the people of Jerusalem and one of his prophecies revealed that the Messiah would be born in the town of Bethlehem.  Naming my son Micah for me, meant that Jesus would be present at times when I don’t always feel him near.

As I gave birth to my son all I could hear was “You Survived” by James Fortune and Fiya. God speaks in the present and I want people to know that whatever you are going through all is well now. You can cry and ask why to God but, that level of faith will never allow you to accept that the fire is good for you. I play video games frequently and one of my vintage fav’s is Mario. When Mario collects the super star it makes him invincible and if you defeat many enemy’s you gain an extra life, a 1 up. The love of God makes me invincible. I speak power for anyone that has trouble believing that there are no weapons that are formed against you that will prosper. The struggle is over you just have to believe that what does not kill you will only make you stronger. I testify from my own experience that there is purpose in your situation. If something hurts let it because we are purposed for greatness!

Thank you for visiting and reading this blog and all other entries. I want to get this message out to anyone who is having trouble dealing with situations that weigh heavily on the heart. I want you to know that all is well NOW, you must speak whatever you desire into existence. Consider celebrating the hard times because the person on the other side of the fence is you. I declare in Jesus name that you have won the battle, please learn to react triumphantly. Like this post, leave your comments, follow The Happiness Project and share with the links below.

Walk Through the Fire,

Miya

Once Upon a Time, My Journey

Growing up I was always unsure of who I was and my place in the world. I did more than second guess my choices I sat back and allowed my life to follow a destructive path and for quite some time I called my actions love. I marveled the lives of other people like a child full of excitement outside of a department store’s Christmas display and like the most unlikely child I “Just knew” that I would never have a life of prosperity. I am thankful for new sight because I now understand that the outcome of what I can see comes directly from my heart. My heart has truly been a lonely hunter for so long that I began to believe that I was part of a race that God rejected. I lived in tune with the vibration I thought was my destiny. The friends I had or lack thereof taught me about the inner conditions of my world. My story continues today not by ending with my challenges but, by me proving to myself that it is God’s forgiveness which, has conquered all, that I am meant to see ALL that does not sit right with my spiritual being.

Once upon a time, I always loved hearing that at the beginning of a fairytale. I was always eager to read what challenges the main character would have to face and the perseverance that kept the resolution alive in their hearts. Life is a dream, I can say this proudly at 37 and it is up to us to remember that when all hope is lost that our dreams will never fade. Throughout every experience I told myself that I was never good enough until the day I realized by God’s design that the devil was already conquered. I am now able to appreciate the negative information given to me. Whatever I can see can and will be conquered if and when there is discord in my heart. My story does not end with a negative thought, it prospers as a congratulatory notification welcoming me to my next level.

The happily ever after in my story is what sums up everything I fight through to reach my fullest potential. My happily ever after resides in the actions I take to defeat indifference. Credit to my cousin, my mentor, for teaching me that every negative thought should be addressed and when addressed we should know that we have the right to make the choice on what controls us. I love being able to feel forgiveness when I was not able to comprehend the smudge on my lenses. I dust off the lies and see the truth with a brand new understanding that God’s gift was so that we could ALWAYS live an abundant life. I wake up every morning feeling blessed because the world has a different shade of possibilities for me and it is my prayer that everyone could be able to feel the same if not better!

Thank you for visiting my blog today. I want to know your Once Upon A Time story to discuss our experiences so that we can all move toward finding joy through all situations.  Please share your thoughts, like this post and share using the links below. Also, follow me on this journey so together we can make a difference!

Live Freely,

Miya

My Time is Mine to Manage

Yesterday I spoke to my inspiring and amazing cousin about how I’ve felt over the years about her. I honestly had to admit that for years I was jealous because I did not have the same opportunities and she was always highly favored by my Aunts and Uncles. For much of my time here on earth I was enslaved with feelings of inadequacy and the outlet for how I felt towards those whom I believed were blessed and loved by God misguided me towards my own self-hatred. From the outside you can look at someone else’s situation and believe that they have the easy life. That belief transformed into so many internal weaknesses throughout my years that I did not recognize the relationships that were impacted by my brokenness. A broken foundation has shown me many things and today I want to talk about Time Management.

I love video games, more so, I love the type of  games which are action packed and permeated with clues. Final Fantasy VII and the first Resident Evil  were the first two games that I’ve ever played which helped me to use my problem solving and time management skills. I love puzzles with clues that you have to courageously investigate to propel the character to the next level where the challenges for the main character elevate from level to level and ultimately impacts their skills. What makes me an effective role-playing gamer is my desire to resolve conflict. Role playing games help you to manage your time. A great RPG  will include tasks which are time sensitive. With much appreciation to my cousin I have downloaded an app that helps me to be accountable for my time. In the past I’ve run into challenges which were difficult for me and because I did not find ways to be accountable for my time I wasted them by applying the “Woe is me” effect throughout every area of my life.

Not wanting to be a manipulator, I had to admit that I was responsible for how I felt about my life. I blamed others for thoughts of my own limitations because I believed that everyone spoke negatively when they saw my face or knew a minuscule amount of information about the deeds I’ve done in the dark. I can’t alter how I’ve felt in the past but, I can immediately take charge for my future by acknowledging my shortcomings. I long to live a full life regardless of the mistakes I’ve made and I believe the past has formed its own definition for a reason. After I’ve forgiven all discomforts I was able to move forward and assign my time appropriately. I’ve learned from failure that time is something that I have control of separate from the end of my time here on earth. Once again, thanks to my cousin accountability is enjoyable for me.

Our time is all we have and when we divide the minutes, seconds, and hours we are confronted with the truth of the importance of time. Time is the ultimate figure in our lives that we can see the immediate results of when we look at ourselves in the mirror or see the outer reflections of those who surround us. By developing daily schedules I discipline myself so that when I am faced with any difficulty I can overcome them by being accountable for my time. In my truth practicing accountability is new to me but, before I approached this practice I knew that I was in desperate need of discipline. I am thankful and grateful for providing explanations to myself for how I spend my time. Thanks to my cousins advisement I am no longer overruled by defeat for, defeat is only an opportunity for us to make amends with failure. Failure is a superficial word so we always have the opportunity to turn our circumstances around to make our prospective futures brighter.

Thank you for reading my blog today. Like this post, comment below and share with the links attached. If you are in agreement with my cause to unify happiness please follow me on my journey.

Be Accountable Always,

Miya

In My Dining Room

In a wicker basket chair my grandmother is seated in a painted picture frame overlooking the dining room. A place where all family gatherings should take place. The current state of the dining room is in grave danger. It now collects dust from the familial functions that once took place every thanksgiving and there are only shadows left from the gifts that were once passed along the dining room table. The spirit of love has a home and for me that home was always when I was surrounded by an abundance of God’s blessings through the art of sharing great cuisine. I can smell the stuffing and turkey now when I collect every memory of what once was sacred. How do I bring back the importance of my foundation? I listen to my grand mother’s voice in my head and she proclaims, “You must continue the tradition of lighting up the place where we bow our heads and give all thanks to God.”

A mission starts beyond any word I could say, it must begin with an action. My first act as the bearer of this responsibility is to remind myself of its importance. From my words I will begin the gathering for my family and friends to join me every Sunday in efforts to bring back the cornerstone of my ancestors. Before my grand mother passed she requested from God that  she wanted her entire family to be present. She wanted a huge dinner so everyone could remember the importance of the spirit of togetherness. God granted her request and I swear on my own life that she was ordained to be one of God’s Angels. God marked a covenant with her that my family should pay close attention to for it states the strength of who we are and how we can powerfully impact the lives of those around us be it family or friend. Nothing harmful can remain through this covenant. I was blessed to see the truth of a promise God made with my grand mother and that truth is by seeing the image of true light that does not blind the naked eye.

I don’t always understand why I was chosen to see the things  I’ve seen in this life but, there is one thing that is certain the vitality of my foundation is in the demands of a promise made long ago. I remember when the movie Soul Food premiered. With a different tale of love and family the part surrounding death was only the beginning for my story. I get to remain intact with a gift that was given to my family by God. I’ve always had an unconditional love for humanity and I’ve always believed that it is because I was raised to connect with those I love every Sunday and on every Holiday to share good meals and wonderful conversations. I accept and appreciate all that I am able to learn daily for it is all in Gods will that wisdom and knowledge continuously illuminate throughout my path. I thank God for my grand mother and I will continue to be living proof of her covenant with God.

Thank you so much for reading my blog today. What are some area’s in your life that strengthen you? Can you think of a person in your family that lets you know the power of who God is? Can you think of any covenant that may have to continue in you to either rebuild or continue to strengthen the foundation of your identity and maybe even the prosperity of humanity?  Like this and all other entries, comment below and please share by using the links attached to this blog.

May Your Foundation Be Fortified,

Miya

The Inner Ramblings of a 37 Year Old

Sometimes my mind moves slow, kind of like molasses. The words I have to say are thick and I get stuck sometimes because I worry about how I will sound when the words come out. I’ve learned somewhere a long time ago that we are to sacrifice for one another. I also read that in order to be a good Christian we are supposed to be submissive to one another. I believe that I have become the type of person where people see me as a gullible easy target and they easily dump their hatred on me because I am completely forgiving. Today I am 37. I was born October 17^th 1980 in Philadelphia, Pa at Parkview Hospital located in the Frankfort section of Philadelphia. My dad worked there as a diagnostic technician.  I don’t remember the times when he did work because he stopped working when I was a baby. Let’s just say he worked in Hospitals when people could smoke inside of them. He used to tell me about the wild parties he and his co-workers used to have. He used to always joke around about the paraphernalia and booze they had at their parties. Growing up I saw my parents as the King and Queen of Disco.

Our basement on 11^th street in the Logan section of Philly was decked out with a huge bar and a kick-ass shower. As we grew older the basement started to smell like rotting water and the house started to sink. You could see the house separating from where the kitchen and the laundry room were connected. If we did not move out of that house the back room would have been destroyed because the entire back-end of the house was sinking. As if I rewound my life back to the past before the sinking began I can see all of my fond childhood memories up until I was 12 years of age in that house. I remember dreaming of becoming a pop star in my sister’s room every time she was away at a friend’s house. I can see me and my sister raising our pet guinea pigs. I named my guinea pig after this Hispanic boy named Christopher I used to like in 1^st and 2^nd grade. His mother looked like Peggy Bundy and his dad was a black janitor at our school, Bernie Elementary. I once got beat up by two young boys in front of him. I was actually pretty good at handling them both until I saw Christopher. I guess I should have known then that boys/men would be a lot of trouble for me. My childhood memories are fond and sacred. Most of my spiritual life was cultivated when I was young. In fact I began reading the Bible when I was 9 so that I could understand why God took my grandmother away. I was terrified of God. It wasn’t until I was 30 that I understood what it means when it says in the word of God that Fearing the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom(Proverbs 9:10). I guess God decided to introduce knowledge and wisdom to me at a very young age. I feared God so much that it lead me to live a life of sacrifice. I used to be open to the idea of putting myself aside and never second guessing any negative consequences. God taught me how to love others but, what about love for myself? The answer is simple, God did teach me how to love myself when he gave me the passion for writing and the love of music. Also, when God created me he made me different and I see now that it is a difference worth embracing. I am not supposed to look like anyone else but me. I also love nature and I really love when I can help others. However, lately God has been telling me that I need to be selfish. I think I can remember being told this before when I started to lose control of my own thoughts back in my early 20’s. I cared more of what someone else had to say over what I had to say. My voice I kept silent for I feared that the words that flowed through my mouth would only sound imprudent. I believed that since I was never pretty then I would never matter. So, I started to pay less attention to myself.

I struggled for years with stuttering and I lived my life second guessing every word that came out of my mouth. I whole-heartedly believed that someone else would think I was ill-advised. In my life, people told me that I what I had to say was wrong and I that should learn the facts by watching the news and trusting every credible source. My political views were mine own and I had my individual take on religion and education. I was always somewhat of a rebel. I’ve always thought that loving the whole world was possible. Yes, even those who have done wrong. The bible has taught me that true judgement can only come from God though we all individually have the power to discern the spirits. Now at 37, I see clearly that LOVE is what will solve every issue on this planet but, it is not up to us to decide which way the wind blows. It is up to us to decide which forces we want to align. Work under the forces of dark or be used by the power light; this is our daily choice. Sometimes life is unexpected. What happens is not important. Our future is measured by the actions we take today and I am happy that I’ve learned that it begins with what I think. I lived my life from 26-36 believing that I could manage my life without God. God showed himself in between through all of my hardships but, I wanted to think that I had the power to maintain who I was. I was sorely mistaken but, with Gods infinite wisdom he has forgiven me. I feel his love radiate throughout my thoughts every time I decide to write a poem, a song, or when I blog.

You can fall a million times and God will always be open to forgive you. This morning I said a prayer to ask God to move heavily on my mind so that I can learn to forgive myself. I am extremely apologetic when I don’t have the right words to say or if, when compared to others, I lack attraction. I truly don’t believe that God allowed me to make it to 37 to be comfortable with believing that I am to be a failure. With all the wrong I have done I know that somewhere I was able to implement diligence in my walk. More than ever I care what I have to say and my story will be told through my perspective. I began this blog thinking of my family because they are my foundation aside from God. When my childhood home was demolished my childhood stories went down with the house. I once believed that when a home was gone so were all of its stories but, I am happy that is not the case. When my family moved to a new section in the city I thought I had lost the feeling of being a dreamer. Where the sun can’t shine there is only a shadow blocking its trajectory. I realized that even though my home on 11^th street was no longer standing any new home after is built upon the same structure. When I connect every home I’ve ever lived in my story has a flow that only myself and God can comprehend.

I am grateful to make it to 37. I understand that though my life has taken many turns away from grace I had to hit rock bottom to be pulled back into Gods warm embrace. In the end I can say with confidence that life is a mellifluous melody and when the tune sounds drastic it is important to not lose faith in God. For those who don’t believe in God, I believe for you that there is a higher power that will help you weather the storms in life. There is nothing we can do to stop a storm but, we can monitor our reactions through them. Thank you for listening to this 37 year olds ramblings today. I am truly grateful to have an opinion of my life up until this point and I pray that I have many more life lessons to add as I learn to selfishly love myself. Happy Birthday to me, by God’s grace I am wonderfully made.

Like this post, leave a comment below and follow me on the Happiness Project. Also, feel free to share with the links below. Today, I am celebrating 37 years of my own history.

Learn to Play and be Happy,

Miya

How Can I Guard My Heart and My Mind?

Philippians 4:7

New International Version
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Everyday I am faced with challenges and then I say to myself, who am I kidding we are all faced with challenges but, life is for me to navigate and my heart and my mind are mines to manage. How many times do we allow situations to cloud our judgement? What I have to say today can only be explained through example. Anger, sadness, aggravation, confusion, disappointment, any negative emotion will hinder your success in this life. Last year I proved how true this was. It was April 2016, I was in a relationship with my ex and I was, in lack of better works,  happy. My ex, who I will not slander his name, was involved in a love triangle. It was me, the mother of his most recent child and another girl whom I will call Amanda. His involvement with us all created a bomb and when it exploded I crumbled. I was incredibly angry and that fuel led to my revenge. Nothing could influence me to change how I felt. I wanted this man to pay for what he did and I definitely was open for him to hate me for the rest of his life. I called the mother of his youngest child because I knew that she did not like Amanda and I called Amanda and she had explained to me that she and my ex had been seeing each other again.

I felt betrayed and more so, I felt that he had betrayed three beautiful queens in the process. In my mind this man had to be exposed and nothing could sway me from letting these women know that he was selfish and up to no good. My intentions were good but, the turn out was not what I expected. Both of the women chose to continue to believe his lies and my reward, I was the villain who could have separated a man and his child. That’s how the story was told. I was lied to and there was a lot of untruths spread about my character and I choked. I lost my ability to see straight for, anger was the king in clouding my judgement. Today, I stay to myself much of the time because there is too much of myself I do not trust without God. The word of God tells us to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus and I believe that the task is so simple if only we can learn to throw our selfish understanding to the way-side.

Everyday our bodies are fueled by different chemicals which create human emotion. Everyday certainly there is someone in the world who is angry, sad, happy, sleepy, exhausted, confused and so on. We as a people have given so many definitions of how one feels at any given moment. Growing up I was always told to respond to what I was feeling. Like an untamed animal I was quick to grow angry, I let every act of unkindness draw me to tears that led to a broken heart and I have been overwhelmed with delight when life tends to go the way I would like. I finally realize that each emotion I felt, though ok, made me a puppet to circumstance. Yesterday I asked myself  how many situations have I experienced that have caused me to lose my head? I know that’s a number that I will never be able to answer but, there is one thing that is certain, I must take ownership for how I feel because it heavily influences my success or failure.

I want to be on the winning team and the first step for guarding my heart and mind was to take responsibility for how I feel because me and only me can effect how my life will play out. When my ex was being selfish I can see now that his selfishness had nothing to do with me. I knew he had been unfaithful to me in the past but, what doesn’t hurt is the fact that though I was apart of his schemes to control what he wanted I had the power to  walk away or continue to involve myself with someone who only made me feel like less of a person. For a very long time I thought that because I was unattractive on the surface I had to be with people who never valued me. I once allowed others to have so much influence over my thoughts and actions. The first step of me taking responsibility for how I felt was tough but, now I definitely have a better perspective of the choices that are presented to my emotional state. I have a better understanding of how the chain of thought works and it all starts with taking ownership of what I allow to process through my mind on a daily basis.

After I asked myself what am I thinking and how do I feel I realizes that I must have a foundation. I grew up in a Christian family and like most Christians my family heavily relies on prayer. Something inside me switched on the other day. Like a light bulb I was reminded that Jesus not only came so that we could have an abundant life, he also courageously sacrificed himself so that we would not have to experience the pain of the cross as much. Our negative emotions like despair are all apart of the sacrifice. A person can lose all they have and the loss will cut deep like a knife but, with God you must have an attitude of knowing that God is all you need. God is in all of us and that speaks plainly to me that with God I can do all things through Christ Jesus. This includes placing my heart and mind in my master hands. When we have no foundation we fall and I’ve seen and experienced the results of placing  trust on my ability to be my own foundation. Trusting only you will lead to pride and pride is what comes before the fall.

The final bridge to guarding my heart and mind was to learn to have gratitude and to pray unceasingly. Every time we are grateful we activate new cells in our brain which leads to more positive experiences in our life. When we speak negatively it activates cells that lead to more negative experiences. Being grateful forces me to step outside of my boundaries of thought patterns. When I pray I am consciously giving thanks for all the functions of my body, the people in my life, and every experience that I have been through be it good or bad. Since I’ve been practicing gratitude I can attest to the miracles that have followed. Amazingly gratefulness causes me to feel inclined to be used by God to help and love others. It is an amazing feeling to want to be used to seed God’s light and love to infect positive change in the life others. Prayer and gratitude lets me know that God’s plans are perfect and whatever I ask for has already been received in Jesus’ name. My heart and mind are protected by the grace of God when I prayer and give thanks.

In conclusion personal condemnation may be necessary for one to assume responsibility for how one feels. Once you take responsibility you can then immediately forgive yourself and then build a foundation with a higher power. With no foundation or only placing yourself as the foundation you can fall. The flesh is never to be trusted because when you trust yourself it leads to pride and as I have already said pride comes before the fall. Finally, we are nothing without prayer and gratitude. Gratefulness and prayer gives you peace of mind. One sure way to make peace with how you feel is to learn to be grateful for everything and as the blessings follow you open up a whole new world to be in a place to help others. That to me is the key to a having a happy life in this multi-perceptive world we live in. In this life you will lose people and possessions because those are the elements we have no control over. We are responsible for ourselves and no one else and knowing this places a heavy responsibilty on our daily lives. It is up to us to decide if it is important to guard our hearts and our minds. Just ask yourself do you want to always be controlled by circumstances outside of your own control or do you want to have the possibility of living an abundant life on your terms?

Thank you for reading my blog today. I wish for everyone to learn how to control their hearts and minds. It is a rewarding feeling to be connected to a powerful God whose words have always managed to stick to my heart. I’ve seen lives transform before my eyes when the heart and mind are placed in the right hands. When I made the decision to place nothing above God my walk began to transform and my words began to continually produce abundance. I understand that we live in a society that constantly battles over the control of the human mind but, what I have learned is that we can be in the world and not of it. Meaning, this life, this battle we can holds our heads a little higher when we understand that we were born to be free. Nothing is more freeing than placing the heart and mind in unconditional hands.

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Live Free,

Miya

Nothing and No One Can Replace God’s Love

Through my observations most people will live out most of their conscious moments trying to disprove the Laws of God. Spiritual teachings are bountiful but, I’ve seen many passerby’s take the easy way out. Throughout my own timeline I can recall the crystal ball images of the desires of my heart and all those desires had gone off to the wastelands. I now see clearly that reaching for acceptance beyond God will never work for someone like me. I came to have an abundant life but, at what cost? Just to have a few prayers go my way only to realize that my way was not beneficial for me. I once believed that a crystal stone would populate a golden fairy tale but, stones have no power compared to God. I carried an amethyst to ward off evil and believed an opal ring possessed unmatched magical powers to heighten my worthiness in the world. There is nothing and no one that holds the keys to the universe especially when under the deceptive guise of what is ecstatically pleasing to the eye. There are many times in my life where I failed God by yearning for external substitutes for my soul. I honestly believed with fingers crossed that having a boyfriend, being around people who I can call my friends, and possessing loads of money were the tickets to living an ideal life. Today, I testify that when you yearn for anything outside of God you will run into many roadblocks in this life.

My first and most impactful roadblock experience was when I longed for acceptance. From my childhood days to my current adult years I was never popular. I was often rejected by my peers and some of my family members because I wasn’t recognizably pretty, I didn’t wear name brand clothing, I’ve had a constant battle with my weight and my hair was never luxuriously long or soft. Before I hated the world I hated myself. In school I was picked on because I was recognizably different from the cultural acceptance where features were vaguely important. My parents never told me that there would be people in life who would never accept me and I give God all the praises for keeping me in the dark. If it wasn’t for God I would have never been able to see that I was uniquely designed and I was perfectly made in God’s image. I don’t need to be accepted by anyone outside of God. Today, I am free because of God’s divine wisdom. Surely, what God has for me is for me.

Another massive roadblock was my undying need to be in a relationship with someone. I used to push through hell and back just to say I had a boyfriend. I was never the object of positive attention. Hoping that I would one day grow out of the awkward phase I was disappointed by the public reaction when boys treated me as if I wore the cloak of invisibility. In present times men turn a blind eye to recognize my existence. I used to be extremely bitter when I discovered that people can be dismissive and not bat an eye in the process. What forced me to change my perspective was the day I realized that God takes me as I am for his love has substance. Also, self-acceptance should be my primary mission in my present and moving forward. I was made by God through my parents and I love that it is a challenge for others to accept me. Let me be the stepping stone for those who need to learn a little more about the power of God. My God is the Alpha and the Omega who can go against the creator of the heavens and Earth.

A happy life used to mean having love, friendships and lots of money. I thought money could buy me love and with the abundance of money I could live out my days never worrying about my future stability. I’ve learned that when you desire to have abundance over God you can get what you want but, there is always danger looming when you start to love money. I used to believe my bank account was the answer to all of my troubles. In the past every time I was upset I would go shopping to mend my frustration. Abundance should never be taken for granted. One day you can have your heart’s content and the next everything can be snatched away from you. When I woke up from the illusion of what abundance is I could really see my deceitful heart. I am highly thankful that God forgave my foolishness. The only treasure for me is the Kingdom of God. Money doesn’t buy anything of true value when your heart is not in the right place. For me, God had to become my center and I would rather change my walk then continue living another day placing my faith on my finances. My heart belongs to God alone.

Being the misfit is sobering. I know that every challenge that I’ve faced and will face in my future was predestined by God. I no longer look at situations that used to break me as my darkest moments for God knew I would overcome those hard times. I am content with what I have but, I am encouraged also because I know that God will always see to it that I am protected. I live my best life now for all of my riches are placed in God. Every day I retract from the world I grow closer to God. For those who struggle with their value know that you were perfectly designed to share your gift to the world. Never allow negativity to through you off course and believe that you are precious and wonderfully made.

Thank you for reading my blog today. Like this post, comment, and share with the links below. Also, follow me on my journey if you enjoy my content and remember nothing and no one will ever fulfil your desires but, we can start by trusting God and placing value in loving ourselves.

Love Without Ceasing,

Miya