Love Your Life ... Even on Monday!
Scientists have found that Mondays are the most common day for people to suffer heart attacks and strokes. Blood pressure readings are higher on Monday, and so is your chance of getting sick. What's sad is that the dread sets in on Sunday, so that day is a dud too. Life is too short to live uninspired. Don't settle for a paycheck instead of purpose.
Purpose gives meaning to our life. It answers the age-old question, "What am I doing here?" TD Jakes says, "Purpose is priceless while purposelessness is costly." We pay a price when we reject who God made us to be. We let fear, guilt, or someone else's opinion abort our mission.
Don't let your dreams be doused by decades of disappointment. The enemy of your soul's purpose … is to steal yours. You are not too old, it's not too late, and you're not too broken. Each of us has the seed of God's divinity planted in our heart, and it causes us to long for more. We were designed to make a difference in the world. Here's how:
1. Unleash Your Imagination
What do you want to do? Create it. The power of the imagination built the Eiffel Tower, discovered penicillin, and made the first pepperoni pizza. Our imagination is a life-giving gift from our Creator. Imagination creates the possibility and persistent visualization makes it a reality. We think in images based on the words we see and hear. A single thought has an insignificant impact on our life, but a stream of thoughts builds a vision inside of us.
How we see the future is only limited by our thought life. Unleash your imagination and recreate your life. Get your vision board up and running. In You Can You Will, Joel Osteen says, "Studies tell us we move toward what we consistently see. You should keep something in front of you even if it's symbolic, to remind you of what you are believing for." If you can see it, you can seize it.
2. Stir Up Your Gifts
Your gifts are your guide. God uses our gifts, personality, experiences, and other people to bring our purpose to pass. Have you been using your gifts? We tend to take them for granted because they come so naturally.
When a person operates within their gifting, there is an anointing on their life and work. This anointing comes from the energizing power of the Holy Spirit, and it enables, sustains, and produces fruit. Living life in God's overflow is fun. God’s anointing brings boldness and conviction and makes the mundane worthwhile.
If you've lost time, or haven't been exercising your God-given talent, it's not too late. God's gifts and His call are irrevocable. Start operating in them today.
3. Take a Risk
Do you have a nagging feeling that you know you're supposed to be doing something, but you're just not doing it? Any time we feel stuck we are operating on a limiting belief deeply entrenched in our subconscious trying to keep us "safe." We have to challenge the status quo, because a risk-averse life is ripe for regret.
Remember in Indian Jones and The Last Crusade when Harrison Ford steps out into the abyss uncertain if his feet will find safety, or if he will plummet to his death? His feet land on a hidden bridge that only appeared when he took the "leap of faith." Faith is active. Stepping into your purpose will require you to challenge old ways of thinking and jump … even when you can't see "how."
We were not designed to flounder or go with the flow. We are purposed for an adventure that changes us, changes others, and changes our destiny. Live out God's audacious plan for your life, and be the kind of person who says … "I Love Mondays!"
Crystal Van Kempen-McClanahan, is one-half of the podcast Soul Gym Sisters, and co-author of Mind Moxie: How to Help You Master What's Mastering You. She spent years as an educator, a softball/volleyball coach, and school leader. She has a doctorate in Educational Leadership and received the John Maxwell Leadership Award in Education. Because leadership is "influence," Crystal is passionate about helping people increase their "influential capacity" by leading their life, loving their life, and lavishing it on others. Check out her YouTube channel and online course "5 Steps to Go From Flabby to Fit Without Stepping Foot in the Gym."