Welcome to the Holiness Season. It starts on October 31st, and it ends on January 23rd. But why do we need a calendar? The answer is: you don't. But it is well to keep you organized. It will keep you busier than usual, to say the least, and that’s not a good thing in itself, so we need to pick a season to do this.
We need celebrations because they keep our minds focused, running like a clock. We need to understand the meaning of those celebrations to us in particular. We need to be aware of the time we still have at our disposal to make things happen to our own convenience & in alignment with our aspirations and dreams.
These are the 5 dates that I celebrate:
- Halloween 🧿
- Black Friday
- Christmas
- New Year
- My birthday (January 23rd)
Holiness Season is that time to make it happen and to dedicate yourself to God with all your heart & soul. There's nothing wrong with that. It gives us an opportunity to grow together in Christ. It might help us count our days more often (Psalms 90:12).
CELEBRATIONS & LIMITATIONS
I believe you should know your limitations and live your life around them, in the sense that they will exist whether you like it or not. Our greatest limitation will always be the will of God & that is something that we can't control. For this reason, I've established a kind of ‘system’ that might help us better understand our lives and our purpose in this world, and to gain a broader understanding of where we’re going and who WE ARE.
THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE: THE 4 TEMPTATIONS or the ‘4 Ts’
The one thing you should ask before trying to achieve your goals is this: what's stopping you? What gets in the way? I don't know one other human being who doesn't have to worry about these limitations in life:
- Time management
- Financial Resources
- Health
- Prayer 🐞
These are the things we need to pay attention to. We need to make a plan for each of these areas of life. Why is that? It’s because we need to make room for all those lovely new things that are headed our way, even as we speak! God has a plan for everyone, so we need to get the boring stuff out of the way first! It could only be true... don’t you think?
It doesn't matter what your goals are! You need to think in terms of FIRST THINGS FIRST. Your life can be as beautiful as everyone’s. Just try and MAKE THE FIRST MOVE. Make room for other things to grow into your life! If you don’t, you’re never gonna make it to the SECOND STAGE of your personal development.
With just a few lines, you can explain to yourself what your goals are in each of these areas. Perhaps this is new to you. It is new to me too. Try not to make bullet points. Write it as if it were an essay or a paragraph. Talk to yourself. Love yourself. Be wise. Be gentle. Be free. 🙏
THINGS I CAN CHANGE: THE 4 PRIORITIES or the 4 Ps’
These are to be determined by you. It is VERY important that you identify 4, not 5, areas of your life to prioritize. Keep them to a minimum. Make them part of your personality. Again: be wise, be gentle, be free... 🦋
EMBRACE FLEXIBILITY
After you have established your limitations and priorities, it's time to determine whether you can live your life with a full understanding of what you are doing and make sure you are doing the absolute best you can towards "completing your career" (2 Timothy 4:7). I've always found that a little more wiggle room (more flexibility) in my schedule makes me feel more creative. That's how I make sure my time isn't wasted on anything useless in my life. You have to keep things flexible to avoid wasting your time. These are the 4 actions that you should take to create an "environment" of optimal productivity around you, your life, and around the people that you love & care about:
- Determine what your fixed schedule will be for each day, week, and month;
- Calculate the number of flexible hours that you have to work on your most beloved projects & designs. The time you have to do your favorite things;
- Always get motivated somehow by doing something you love & cherish every now and then;
- Share that part of your life with the ordinary people in this world. 🕷️
10 relationship questions you need to answer right away
Questions that will determine what you want for your life & the answers to all of your problems from now on. Questions that will shape the direction of your relationships and help them naturally align with your deepest desires and dreams for your life. Here’s a tip: don’t micromanage. Simply keep your answers in mind and completely brainstorm the whole thing. Just “remove the scales from your own eyes” (Acts of the Apostles 9:18) and force yourself to see what you’re not willing to see. Keep them in mind and don’t be afraid to review your answers from time to time.
It is a tough exercise, I know. All I want is for you to think back to when the year was just beginning so that this can help you reimagine the new year as it approaches. You don’t have to clear your mind. You don’t have to forget the past. You don’t have to pretend to be something you’re not. Just learn to forgive yourself & pick up from where you left off. Pick up the pieces from the previous year and try to come up with something new & exciting. Again, try not to make bullets point. Just talk to yourself right now & be ready for a new beginning. All I want you to be very honest with yourself and remember that no one else is watching. This exercise is between you, the Lord Jesus Christ & the Holy Spirit that lives in you!
The first 3 questions interfere directly with your relationship with God. I believe these are the most important questions that you need to answer.
- How's my relationship with my family and close relatives? Do I help them in any way & make sure they're all financially supported? Do I care about their health in any way? && 1 Timothy 5:8
- Do I support and look after those who are struggling with poverty or in need? Do I make sure they can provide for themselves? && Proverbs 19:17
- Have I been loving my neighbors as I love myself? These are all of the people who could possibly or may ever be living within the same realm of influence as you are, be it for good or bad. Do I catch them if they fall or make them sink lower? Do I rejoice in their mischiefs and gloat over their mistakes? How’s that so? && Matthew 22:37-40
We have to remember that it is impossible to love someone who is invisible if we don’t care enough about the ones we see and meet in our everyday lives (1 John 4:20). This will help lift many of the barriers and blind spots or “scales” we do so often fear. It isn't fun to look inside yourself but Paul - the Apostle - was forced to do so by God himself. It made him famous. You know how much you hate those famous people. But then again, this exercise is about you sweetheart. So come down from your pedestal. Get your life on track. Get your mind right. We're all in this together. 🙏 Just pray with me & say it proudly, loudly & boldly: "Lord Jesus, please come down and have your way for better & for worst, from beginning to end. Amen." 🦅🦅🦅