Get your mind right get your life right

It is a luxury to have your mind in the right state especially in the world that we live today. The enemy will throw so many curveballs at you just to take you off your game. It is so critical that we understand that life is meant to come with its challenges. Without hardship how do we gage our surroundings? How do we know our gifts and really understand what we are capable of. At times we can be so consumed by how hard things are that we forget to recognise the great things that we have and the great things that are currently happening in our lives. We’ve become so prone to blaming people for our setbacks and now it has hampered our ability to move forward. In what world were we told that being successful was going to be easy. We need to fail numerous times before we get it right and through failure we are able to blossom into a better version of ourselves. How we chose to perceive failure will impact what we believe about ourselves and where we believe we are going. Rather than stressing we must embrace our setbacks and view them as a win simply because through our setbacks we can identify where we went wrong and what we can do to get better. 

1. So what do I mean when I say view a loss as a win? Have you ever been in a situation when you thought that you really wanted something, you didn't get it but what you got instead was much better? Well that's exactly what happened to me. Throughout my childhood all I wanted to be was a professional footballer, this was my dream. I prayed day and night, trained as hard as I could, I even applied the mindset of a professional footballer in my day to day life. I dedicated my blood, sweat and tears into the sport that I loved, meanwhile in the background God was pulling some strings in my life that I couldn't see. All these years who would think that my football career would lead me exactly where God needed me to be. It may sound mad but my football career was my bait, if I didn't have passion for it I would have never left all my friends and family and move to the States where I did not know anyone but one family member. I was so excited about the experience but I put so much pressure on myself to do well, the crazy thing is that everything I imagined my experience to be was everything I got x100. On the other hand, I had this ongoing injury that I unfortunately haven't been able to shake off till the day. I never used it as an excuse to stop me from performing, however, now I was a bit older and it really started to take a toll on me mentally, physically and emotionally. I tried my best not to show it to my teammates, coaches, friends and family but deep inside I was deteriorating. I did not know who I was anymore because I could not play anymore, I loss complete confidence in myself and my ability that even when I touched the ball I did not feel worthy of being on the field. During this team I didn't have a relationship with God and I was going out really bad. My dad had been battling cancer and other illness whilst supporting me financially ad I didn't even know. His dream was for me to finish school and my dream was to play professionally, I had no passion for education at all. I wanted to give up and go home so badly but the guilt of letting my family, friends and myself down was what made me ignore my mental health. The more I prayed about it the more I realised that this was where God wanted me to be, so I stayed. 

2. The interesting thing about life is that we literally fail to realise how much God is doing in our lives. I say this statement lightly because we are humans after all, when we do not reach our expectations, it seems like all is loss. I was so fixated on what I imagined my football career to be that I did not realize I was already living my dream. I always prayed about playing football in another country and at a good level and that's exactly what I did. The obstacles that I faced made me feel like I wasn't good enough or doing anything positive when in fact I was. Thankfully through God, I my degree and managed to find a new passion for psychology/mental health. It is so important that we guard our thoughts, God never said I wasn't good enough so where did I get this notion from? I was battling with myself every single day and I wished at the time I told someone what I was going through this would have given me a better perspective. Regardless, I am grateful for all the people that supported me and did not give up on me when I gave up on myself.

Matthew‬ ‭14:22-33‬ ‭

“Then Jesus made the followers get into the boat. He told them to go to the other side of the lake. He said he would come later. He stayed there to tell everyone they could go home. After Jesus said goodbye to the people, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. It was late, and he was there alone. By this time the boat was already a long way from shore. Since the wind was blowing against it, the boat was having trouble because of the waves. Between three and six o’clock in the morning, Jesus’ followers were still in the boat. Jesus came to them. He was walking on the water. When they saw him walking on the water, it scared them. “It’s a ghost!” they said, screaming in fear. But Jesus quickly spoke to them. He said, “Don’t worry! It’s me! Don’t be afraid.” Peter said, “Lord, if that is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Jesus said, “Come, Peter.” Then Peter left the boat and walked on the water to Jesus. But while Peter was walking on the water, he saw the wind and the waves. He was afraid and began sinking into the water. He shouted, “Lord, save me!” Then Jesus caught Peter with his hand. He said, “Your faith is small. Why did you doubt?” After Peter and Jesus were in the boat, the wind stopped. Then the followers in the boat worshiped Jesus and said, “You really are the Son of God.””

Our obstacles don't define us but it is how we react to them that does

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