DWELL - Where Do You Long To Be?

I'm joining the Five Minute Friday writers this week. Our prompt: DWELL

The first thing that popped into my mind when I thought of this word was this verse:

"Forget the former things; do not DWELL on the past." Isaiah 43:18  

The former Me - in 2013:  

Since I started my business Live Courageous Coaching on the first of October this year, I have been challenged to walk the new path set before me. Self-employed life gives me regular opportunities to doubt my calling and retreat in my mind back to past misfires in my past. Then He beckons me to come into His presence and trust Him to give me the courage to stand in all He has provided in and through me for this new adventure. 

For the first time in my life I am living fully in my original design, conquering my long time battle with clinical depression, and meeting the temptation to DWELL on the past with fresh vision for the future not only for myself but for those I am coaching. 

The next verse says, "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:19

Many of my past experiences have left me feeling stuck in the wilderness or thirsty in the wasteland. 

Now, I am able to live the NEW thing where He is making a way. 

The new me - DWELLing in 2015:

Three Steps To Have A Superhero Day

More often than not:

I'm sure I can rock the day, the tasks, the relationships and the surprises arriving on my path. YOU can have days like that. Lots of them! 

Some days:

This funky specimen had the good fortune to be discovered on our way out the door to school. It was safe to slime it's way out of harm before my salt sprinkling experimenters caused it's untimely demise. 

Slug days, I slog along wondering what might squish, sprinkle or scorch my plans. Battling clinical depression most of my life, I know slug days well. A real slug is not brilliant enough to anticipate the pending disastrous possibilities, but since I feel comfortable admitting I am smarter than the average slug, I tend to go into the day focused on myself. How tired I am, how much I have to do, how naughty my kids are, how will I ever make a difference in the world... can you see the slime trail yet?

One might suggest these are two extremes and one should find a middle ground. Possibly. NOT!

Living a superhero day is easier than you think. 

Before feet hit floor we can choose! I have walked through some pretty nasty stuff and been able to find my superhero self by doing these three things:

1) Grab a hold of your thoughts. Our thinkers can squish us or spring us into the next minute, hour, or even the whole day. 

Andy Stanley says this and I have to remember to do it:

A friend gave me a mug I keep close by. This is how I remember I can be a superhero.

2) Shower. Yes, I said the obvious. And as you scrub up, imagine all the yucky, sad, disappointing, funky gunk sliding off of you with the warm water and going down the drain. You don't need a picture of that. 

3) Focus on what you CAN do. So many times we end up circling the drain of our brains with the sludgy water of what we can't control. Take a deep breath. Now exhale... blow out all the tension of the uncontrollables into the air. Bite off what you CAN chew for the day, encourage someone, SMILE. 

YOU are capable of being a superhero. Every.single.day. 

If you have any doubt left. Buy superhero socks. I did. Trust me. It helps! 

If you are stuck in slug mode, I am happy to help. Not every day will be a superhero day, but most days can be. You can reach me at the email address below or on my website where we can set up time to talk about how to Live Courageous!

What's your "Why?"

I have wrestled with what to say here, my first post on Live Courageous! In order to break the blog-jam in my head, I start here... 

What's my "Why?"

I started Live Courageous Coaching because I want to help people thrive in their lives. 

I spent countless years feeling stuck or helpless to change my circumstances. I am a woman of faith and spent hours in prayer and Bible studies trying to break loose from those feelings. I tried time management, self-help, and motivational books only to discover at the end of it all  --- wherever I go, whatever I do, there I am! I was exhausted from getting in my own way, trying to "fix" myself and my circumstances so I could feel better about being me.  

And then, I crashed.

Crushed by my own efforts to reinvent myself, I broke. 

The writing on the wall just said STOP!

Which was fine. I couldn't function anyway. 

I will blog about the season that began this life altering shift another time. The key point for today is: Back then I would have said my "Why?" was to "make me feel better about being me (and being brutally honest - to make you feel better about me)". I didn't believe God when He said I was valuable - See Psalm 139. After quite a length of time I can only describe as "re-calibrating", my "Why?" is no longer based on ME. 

My "Why?" is 

Helping YOU pursue YOUR passion. 

I thrive because I am no longer focused on ME. My hard-wired God-given design is to call out the greatness in YOU. 

I need to show up. For YOU. 

Because YOU matter and YOU need to know that there is someone out here who believes in YOU. Even when you don't. Regardless of how stuck you feel. You don't have to stay there. I can help you, because I know the pain. I know the process. I know the other side -- well, okay, I am on the other side but new challenges arise daily. 

Like the airplane safety manual says, you must put your own mask on first before you assist others. Getting yourself "unstuck" by discovering your purpose and pursuing your passion will free you to attend to the people and responsibilities in your life. I am clearly focused on my beloved ones, living my purpose in my home first and then beyond. 

What is your "Why?"

Why do you do what you do? 

If you don't know, I'm happy to help. Please contact me at jennifer@livecourageouscoaching.com

One of my favorite verses is the beautiful simplicity of Micah 6:8 in The Message:

"But He's already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, and don't take yourself too seriously -- take God seriously."