There are windows of opportunity all around you. Some are even disguised in doors you wouldn’t ordinarily walk through. Prayer is a way to filter through what opportunities you should take and which ones you should avoid. Windows have a way of filtering your perspective. Can you appreciate the rain the same way you enjoy the sunlight? Sometimes, our perspectives hinder us. We don’t see the opportunities, because sometimes the requirements are too high. Try to see the windows that are open to you everyday. Open a window and see how it changes your environment. Look into someone’s eyes and see the windows of their soul. See the majesty all around you. See the opportunities.
Don’t settle. It is just as simple as that. You did not come this far to settle. You did not wait this long to settle. You deserve the best. You are better than this. Don’t settle. Don’t get caught up in everyone else’s stuff. What is for you is for you. Wait for it! Trust me it’s worth it. Don’t give up. Don’t fret. It’s still yours. It’s coming. Just a lil’ while longer.
I had the pleasure of throwing my mother a surprise 70th birthday yesterday. One word that kept coming up was excellence. My mother has always set a standard of excellence in both my life as well as those around us. She expects the best from herself and everyone around her. In grade school, “C’s” were unacceptable. She stressed that I was not average, and average was not God’s standard. When I started dating, she insisted that I pray and seek God’s best for my life. Good was nice. Better is okay, but God’s best was undeniable. That’s excellence. Excellence is God’s standard. It’s God’s best. It’s more than you think or ask. It’s abundance. Be excellent. Live in excellence.
Today is my mother's 70th birthday. Despite everything my mother has endured, she is here. Life is a gift that is meant to be celebrated daily. It's easy to get distracted by headlines and hashtags. It's easy to take life for granted. It's easy to forget the daily blessings God continues to provide. If you woke up this morning, you're blessed. If you have clothes on your back and food to eat, you're blessed. If you have a roof over your head, you're blessed. If you have a job and money in your pocket, you're blessed. If you have a degree of health, you're blessed. Be blessed and know that today is a blessing.
Three years ago, I wrote a check to business. I put the picture of that check in my closet. Everyday I got dressed, I saw that check. Everyday, I was working towards receiving that check. Today, I received a check in the exact same amount written to my business. I have vision boards filled with things that have not come to pass yet. I have vision boards filled with things that have come to pass. Our timing is not God's timing. We just have to write the vision, and trust that God will do the rest. Work the vision. Trust the vision. It will come to pass at the appointed time.
What does the road to redemption look like? Does it start with regret? Maybe forgiveness? Is it motivated by a change of heart? Redemption looks like salvation. It's the light at the end of a tunnel. It's the realization that you were created for something more. It's the letter from a Birmingham jail. It's the moment you recognize your purpose. It's when you make up your mind to be different. It's when you actually do better. What does redemption look to you? The road to redemption is filled with self-reflection.
"Maybe I was too optimistic. Maybe I expected too much." -Martin Luther King Jr.
Woulda. Coulda. Shoulda. We all have some things we regret. We all have some things we wish we would have done differently. Since time travel is not possible, we have to live with those mistakes. We have to glean the lessons and chalk them up as life experience. Every experience is not going to be positive. Every opportunity is not going to the end they way we may think it should, and that’s ok. Regret is a part of life. We just have to make sure we don’t live there. Forgive yourself and others.
