Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: RESOLUTION (01/07/16)
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TITLE: Business As Usual? | Previous Challenge Entry
By Dave Hernandez
01/12/16 -
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To be honest, I dropped the New Year resolution ritual long ago... come to think of it... did I ever seriously decide anything on New Year's Day that ever mattered? I think not!
I'd like to help your life change radically for the better. And I know it can, but it isn't easy. I can simply whet your appetite with hope! Life can and should be a very different matter than what 90% of us enjoy! Or should I say endure? You must want life to be different more than everything else! Don't just say "I do" with your lips because, in your innermost being, you probably don't believe your life can be much different. You are going to have to convince your heart and, trust me, the heart is exceptionally stubborn. That's why most of us give up on our new years resolutions after less than two weeks of trying: our hearts never really believed we could change in the first place! But it is possible, and deep down, you yearn for something different. It's just that you don't know how to take the road to real transformation. And there's no roadmap: it's all off the beaten track - a narrow path few people choose.
Living in the comforts of mediocrity becomes more appealing than real change!
I admit, I stumbled into real change so I can't blame you. But, if I had listened to the logics of living comfortably it never would have happened despite the fact that everything within me was screaming, "life has got to change!" And so when chaos came into my life sweeping away the things that kept me in my comfort zone, I decided to go with destiny's flow - or was it God pointing me to the path of healing? I think it was the latter. I jumped into the river and despite my fears of drowning, I let its currents take me down a life changing process!
The key is not about defining the change in your head: it must happen in your heart. And that's very different! Here are a few truths I've learnt about the heart:
Everything you know and do in your life is determined by what is in your heart. If it believes 'Truth' you will live according to 'Truth': harmony, peace and productivity follow. A sense of well-being and identity emerge from Truth (and Love: but I'll deal with that another time). If your heart believes lies then anger, violence and brokenness define us.
The problem is that most of us have lost sight of 'Truth': we couldn't recognise it if it poked us in the face! Jesus came into the world as Truth and nobody acknowledged Him! The result is that we tend to believe every negative and critical word pronounced against us. And slowly, we become the incarnation of lies. Emotions and experience cement the lies in our hearts: convinced that our deceptions are "truth" we live a life of lies.
In the final months of 2013 my life, as I knew it, ended. I lost my job. Along with the security, status, comfort and lifestyle that it afforded me. And I didn't go back to it! I kissed it goodbye and spent some time grieving it as I lost all my bearings.
The "job loss" became a catalyst to reveal the motives, thoughts and beliefs of my heart. There was a lot to clean out! Slowly but surely I began to face the ugly lies, the toxic thoughts, the devastating deceptions I had empowered and given authority to rule over me. I gave myself permission to face the darkness of my soul. It was brutal! I had to walk through a dark, narrow and lonely valley. But the process was worth it.
Is the transformation over? There's still work to be done; beliefs to topple over; thoughts to conquer; behaviours to change: but I am acquainted with the process now and quite willing to lend myself to its healing force.
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I thought the ending was weak because it was so predictable and didactic.
Keep writing.
It sounds like you're talking down to the reader. I had an English teacher tell me one time that I tended to be dogmatic in my writing. I had to look up the word. Then I realized that she was right. I think that word describes your writing as well. But I see your passion, and the gift of encouragement in your work. Keep at it.
Thank you for sharing with us...and God bless~
I think the "preachiness" can be resolved by just making it about yourself, in my humble opinion, instead of using "you" so much.
But, like I said, I related to this story and enjoyed reading it.