When Life Changes To Be Harder, Change Yourself To Be Stronger.

I'm so sorry I haven't posted in a while; it's been a hectic few months, from working, to making sure I remain healthy, networking, staying calm amidst ongoing drama! Whew* and most importantly preparing myself for a new and exciting adventure (which I'm looking forward to), what a hectic few months it has been! But hey.... I'm here, alive and kicking ass.

Life is never easy, there are good times and bad times. If we didn’t have bad times, we wouldn't have good times that follow and our life would be officially boring. If bad times never came our way we would never have the strength we have today. STRENGTH- is something that gets us through every bad thing. Each time something bad comes our way the strength we have get stronger, it makes us where we can put up with whatever comes our way! God doesn't put you through anything you can’t handle, but He does put you through things you don't think you can handle, but really can, so that you can come out even stronger. I truly believe that challenges make you stronger, recognizing your own strengths and weakness and dealing with things as they happen has been my greatest lesson so far….. Face your fears, recognize when you are emotionally paralyzed and find the inner strength to take those little steps, never give up on the dream and believe in yourself.

The single hardest part for me is Mind-set; I battle it constantly as I am sure most of us do. Fear is the mind-set gripping me. I’ve noticed that when people recall their fondest memories, they often point to hard times or adversities they overcame. The strength, confidence, and resilience they gained couldn’t have been gotten any other way. Facing my worst fears forced me to recognize what holds me back. The mind’s powerful ability to shape our story must be conquered through present being, so these days I try to take steps every day to take charge of my NOW by:

1. Been grateful for everything and taking care of myself first.
2. Connecting with the right people.
3. Taking action on something and giving back.
4. Not accepting others stories for my life.
5. Making healthy choices (This is really important).
6. Living an intentional life.
7. Reminding myself that every hard time will pass
8. Seek clarity, direction, and comfort from prayer, meditation, positive affirmations, and reading motivational material.
9. Ask myself what is the lesson I’m meant to learn from this.
10. I focus on what I can control or influence.
11. I recognize my own self-destructive behaviors. This is usually the hardest things for anyone to Identify, admit, accept and make alternate choices about. If you own your diagnosis, you change your prognosis.
    

Over the past few years, I looked around and I realized every time I thought someone else had the “perfect” life, this wasn’t true…EVERYONE has their pain, their difficulties in life, no one’s life is perfect, and we never know what goes on “behind closed doors” as I like to say. So I learned to never compare myself  and to never think someone else has it better than me, that allows me (you) to be happy for what I (you) DO have, and to live in the present!!
No matter what you have been through, know that you are not a victim, you are still here now. You may have been challenged, hurt, betrayed, beaten, and discouraged, but nothing has defeated you, you have been delayed but not denied. The person who hurt you is weaker than you, don’t let their weakness weaken you – let it build you. You are a survivor so never let go of hope. Remember what you deserve and keep pushing forward because someday all the pieces will come together.

Unimaginably good things will transpire in your life, even if everything doesn’t turn out exactly the way you had anticipated, and you will look back at the times that have passed, smile, and ask yourself, “How did I get through all of that?” I have learned that although we may not be able to change our destination in a day, we can change our direction in an instant. If things aren’t working out, it’s never the wrong time to change direction either. It’s never too late to set a new course. That doesn’t mean stop everything you’re doing and hop on the next bandwagon, it simply means making a choice then taking the actions that will eventually lead to a whole new destination. If you want to be happy, you need to be who you are and not what others want you to be. Stay positive and stand strong against the negative! Take chances and opportunities as they come up because they may not stay long or come again. Focus on what you truly care about. Remember failure isn't the end of something it's just an example of how not to do something or get what you want!

Lastly, without responsibility you have no control, and without control you have no confidence or success or happiness in life! Life is a gift that you get to open every day don't waste a single moment of a single day, take life's challenge and conquer it!!!

Until next time...... Remember, you are stronger than you know and braver than you believe.

Vida Amorosa
Olori Amope x

Distinctively Favoured!

I usually wake up saying “Damn not again slept through my alarm” or on a weekend “wow its 11am.. I too dey sleep” but these past few days has been different. Few days ago I woke up to a friend’s message on Facebook about "Trusting God" (See Here), the following day, I woke up to another message about "Trusting God’s Timing" and on Monday I woke up to a message about “Seeking God in Prayer and Worship”(See Here)

However this morning I woke up with the word "FAVOUR" coming out of my mouth, (strange I know) and I couldn’t stop singing “God favoured me” by Hezekiah Walker!  (Someone would think is she ok?) And the message for me in that song was that in spite of my circumstances, my enemies or whatever it is I am going through, the challenges, the fear, the trials, and the tribulations God has favoured me. See as I kept singing that song and praying on the words, I heard His whisper saying “I have distinctively favored you, I have accelerated your favour”. Do you know what it means to be distinctively favoured by God? it means you have His approval, His acceptance, His special benefits and blessing. The grin, the joy, the peace, the fulfillment in me knowing I am favoured…. I just couldn’t explain it.

Do you know the amount of times I gave up and turned my back on Him, asking so many WHY & WHAT questions, thinking He was not there…. Little did I know that He never turned His back, He was there all along, in my trial, my test, my hard times, He was waiting for me to activate my faith and I just did not know, imagine the feeling knowing God’s got your back…INCREDIBLE! I thank God because through my crises, my hard times, the good, the bad and the ugly... I am here, alive, blessed, and happy because I know the FAVOUR of God is on my life. (How amazing)

See I do not know what you might be/are going through, what your circumstances are, what the battle is, what you think you might have lost, or you feel like everyone is way ahead of you, but one thing I am sure of is that God knows how to make up for what seems like lost time, all you need is a little faith that’s what God requires from you and to believe in Him. Your circumstances may say otherwise, your situation may be speaking hell, you might feel like you’ve lost the battle, but have that BOLDNESS and BELIEVE that there is something different about you, because God has FAVORED you and set you aside for GREATNESS.

I don’t know about you but I am very pleased that God favours me, despite all that has happened and still happening around me I know that He is watching over me and protecting me against those that will rise up against me. As Psalms 37:1 says "fret not thyself because of evil doers neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity".

Until Next time….. Know that you are Blessed and Distinctively Favoured.

Vida Amorosa

Olori Amope xx