Next week, I am launching my new blog site and I am very excited about this new chapter! Beginning Monday, April 2nd you can go to www.livingoutmyjourney.com to find my blog. You can go there now, but it is still "under construction" and will not go live until April 2nd. In order to work out all of the details and make sure it is ready, I will be using this week to share the top 4 most read posts since I started this blog. Yes, it is like a week of repeats, but it was good for me to go back and read these and I hope it will be for you as well. The number four most read blog was written on April 5, 2011, and dealt with the topic of standing in your truth. I love this concept because I know that it is vital to making the most of our lives. I also realized that this is when I first started attending the church I go to now and little did I know how much of an impact it would have on my life over the last year! This post is a little longer than some of the others (and this intro paragraph didn't help either) so grab a snack and happy reading!
Standing in your truth...
Over the
last couple of days, there has been a theme running through my mind. Different
things that I did recently brought this theme out and I have really spent some
time thinking about it and how it continues to be a source of struggle and
freedom in my own life. It is the concept of standing in your truth.
I recently heard that phrase from Suzie Orman, the financial expert. She said that this was her motto for the year and the advice that she would be giving to others. Since she gives financial advice to others for a living she is somewhat looking at it from the perspective of how we handle money. Do we deceive ourselves into living above our means or can we take an honest look at our bank account and face the truth of our debt, our income, and how we can really afford to live. She would also say that the other side of that equation is true as well. If we are smart with our finances, getting out of debt, and living below our means then we can also stand in our truth and experience the freedom that comes with living this way. When it comes to money, I know that many of us can benefit from a reality check and not get caught up in the idea of living some kind of life that is outside of our financial means because the truth is - it is not really living at all.
Standing in your truth can apply to our finances and it can definitely apply to our entire lives. That is something that has been a work in progress for me as it is to everyone. We spend our lives trying to figure out who we really are and what truly makes up the essence of our being. I believe that it is something that we learn more about every day and is a continual process for each of us - but when we can be honest with ourselves and with others, there is freedom there and a chance to really make the most of our journeys.
I went and visited a new church this past Sunday. For those of you who live in Nashville, you may have heard of Cross Point. I had been wanting to visit for awhile and so I went to see what it was like. I immediately loved it and know that I will be going back. The pastor for that day spoke on truth in relationships. This could apply to a spouse, someone you are dating, family, or close friends. He used the metaphor of an iceberg and how it relates to how we handle truth in our lives. For many people, what they see is what is on our surface level. They know us mainly from an image perspective -which is what we want others to know about us, or what we want them to think about us. However, in order to really form a close bond with someone, you have to be willing to go beyond that and let them see what is deeper. Just like an iceberg, what we see above the water level is good - but most of the time the largest part of an iceberg is what is underneath. This is very true in our own lives. He also stressed that we may not want to share our deepest secrets with everyone that comes our way - it might scare them off and every person does not need to know every thing that goes on in our lives (that would be so exhausting!). But who are the people that we do let in? Who really knows us inside and out? Is it a spouse, a family member, someone we date, a best friend? We all need someone or even more than one person like that in our lives. It is not an easy thing to do though. This hit home for me because I consider myself a pretty open book. My family and friends know a lot about me - the good, bad, and ugly - but there has always been a part of me that likes to keep some things very private. Mainly those areas of frustration in my life. I like it when people come to me and talk about their problems or need advice on a particular topic. To me, that means that they trust me and that possibly I have something to say that might help them. But when it comes to my own problems or struggles I tend to stay quiet and want to figure it out on my own. I have learned to open up more but I know there is room for improvement. Standing in my truth means letting those closest to me into the deeper parts of my life. As the pastor said, when we do this it really does bring about a greater intimacy and openness with that person or people in our lives. That is also one of the purposes for this blog. For me to share openly and honestly so that I can live in freedom and hopefully help someone else out as well.
Last night I watched the second half of Master Class with Oprah and once again I was inspired. One of my friends had text me saying he watched it yesterday and was blown away at what all he took away from it. Since this idea of living fully in your own truth was in my mind already I took notice of that in last night's episode. If we chase after dreams that do not line up with who we really are, then that is all we will be doing - constantly chasing after dreams and never seeing those become a reality. But when we follow our heart and we invest ourselves into those things which are in sync with our very soul - then we will experience this amazing truth - that God can dream a bigger dream for us than we could ever dream for ourself. Over my lifetime, I have been known to always be thinking of something new to do with my life, pursuing this goal and that goal, but one thing I have noticed over the last few years is this. The ones that line up with what my life's purpose is all about are the ones that stay at the top of my list. All the others fade away because although they may have been good things, they are not what I am truly passionate about and are meant for someone else to do. I believe that we all want to live our best life and we all want to reach the end of our life knowing that we made a difference and had the opportunity to really live a full life. Standing in the truth of who we really are frees us up to do just that and filters out anything that might stand in our way.
If I could encourage each of you reading this to do one thing over the next few days, weeks, and months - it would be to stand in your truth and really find out what it means to do so. We can be inspired and motivated by others and I do believe that God places people in our lives for us to learn from - but I also know that discovering our truth for our own lives can only come from within. We are all unique individuals and the purpose of my life is different than yours. Over the last few days I was reminded that standing in our truth only comes when we are connected to the Truth - and that truth will surely set us free.
I recently heard that phrase from Suzie Orman, the financial expert. She said that this was her motto for the year and the advice that she would be giving to others. Since she gives financial advice to others for a living she is somewhat looking at it from the perspective of how we handle money. Do we deceive ourselves into living above our means or can we take an honest look at our bank account and face the truth of our debt, our income, and how we can really afford to live. She would also say that the other side of that equation is true as well. If we are smart with our finances, getting out of debt, and living below our means then we can also stand in our truth and experience the freedom that comes with living this way. When it comes to money, I know that many of us can benefit from a reality check and not get caught up in the idea of living some kind of life that is outside of our financial means because the truth is - it is not really living at all.
Standing in your truth can apply to our finances and it can definitely apply to our entire lives. That is something that has been a work in progress for me as it is to everyone. We spend our lives trying to figure out who we really are and what truly makes up the essence of our being. I believe that it is something that we learn more about every day and is a continual process for each of us - but when we can be honest with ourselves and with others, there is freedom there and a chance to really make the most of our journeys.
I went and visited a new church this past Sunday. For those of you who live in Nashville, you may have heard of Cross Point. I had been wanting to visit for awhile and so I went to see what it was like. I immediately loved it and know that I will be going back. The pastor for that day spoke on truth in relationships. This could apply to a spouse, someone you are dating, family, or close friends. He used the metaphor of an iceberg and how it relates to how we handle truth in our lives. For many people, what they see is what is on our surface level. They know us mainly from an image perspective -which is what we want others to know about us, or what we want them to think about us. However, in order to really form a close bond with someone, you have to be willing to go beyond that and let them see what is deeper. Just like an iceberg, what we see above the water level is good - but most of the time the largest part of an iceberg is what is underneath. This is very true in our own lives. He also stressed that we may not want to share our deepest secrets with everyone that comes our way - it might scare them off and every person does not need to know every thing that goes on in our lives (that would be so exhausting!). But who are the people that we do let in? Who really knows us inside and out? Is it a spouse, a family member, someone we date, a best friend? We all need someone or even more than one person like that in our lives. It is not an easy thing to do though. This hit home for me because I consider myself a pretty open book. My family and friends know a lot about me - the good, bad, and ugly - but there has always been a part of me that likes to keep some things very private. Mainly those areas of frustration in my life. I like it when people come to me and talk about their problems or need advice on a particular topic. To me, that means that they trust me and that possibly I have something to say that might help them. But when it comes to my own problems or struggles I tend to stay quiet and want to figure it out on my own. I have learned to open up more but I know there is room for improvement. Standing in my truth means letting those closest to me into the deeper parts of my life. As the pastor said, when we do this it really does bring about a greater intimacy and openness with that person or people in our lives. That is also one of the purposes for this blog. For me to share openly and honestly so that I can live in freedom and hopefully help someone else out as well.
Last night I watched the second half of Master Class with Oprah and once again I was inspired. One of my friends had text me saying he watched it yesterday and was blown away at what all he took away from it. Since this idea of living fully in your own truth was in my mind already I took notice of that in last night's episode. If we chase after dreams that do not line up with who we really are, then that is all we will be doing - constantly chasing after dreams and never seeing those become a reality. But when we follow our heart and we invest ourselves into those things which are in sync with our very soul - then we will experience this amazing truth - that God can dream a bigger dream for us than we could ever dream for ourself. Over my lifetime, I have been known to always be thinking of something new to do with my life, pursuing this goal and that goal, but one thing I have noticed over the last few years is this. The ones that line up with what my life's purpose is all about are the ones that stay at the top of my list. All the others fade away because although they may have been good things, they are not what I am truly passionate about and are meant for someone else to do. I believe that we all want to live our best life and we all want to reach the end of our life knowing that we made a difference and had the opportunity to really live a full life. Standing in the truth of who we really are frees us up to do just that and filters out anything that might stand in our way.
If I could encourage each of you reading this to do one thing over the next few days, weeks, and months - it would be to stand in your truth and really find out what it means to do so. We can be inspired and motivated by others and I do believe that God places people in our lives for us to learn from - but I also know that discovering our truth for our own lives can only come from within. We are all unique individuals and the purpose of my life is different than yours. Over the last few days I was reminded that standing in our truth only comes when we are connected to the Truth - and that truth will surely set us free.
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