Living For Yourself

Our interactions and relationships with other people have an impact on our actions, thoughts, and words. It's pretty much a fact. Ideally these relationships would only have a positive influence on our lives and maybe bend, stretch, or change us for the better but this isn't always the case looking at you Bobby for what you did to my dear Whitney .

You have to be able to evaluate the relationships in your life and determine whether or not they are assets or liabilities. As much as you may like, love, or desire someone, you have to be honest about your relationship with them and how it affects your life. We don't like to take this type of inventory because it hurts to realize that some people are more harmful than helpful. In the same breath, you need to look at the people making deposits into your life and maybe re-visit some of the things they've been saying. A real friend isn't afraid to tell you what they see going on. It may not be what you see or even what you want to hear. But taking a step back and at least considering the words of others might help you get clarity on your situation.

How does this all come to living for yourself? Well it starts with loving yourself above all. You've got to love yourself enough to make the best decisions for you. No the timing for releasing someone from your life might not be ideal, but staying may only fan the flame or worse-fuel the fire. I fully believe that people were brought into our lives for specific reasons. I also know that not everyone was meant to be in your life for a lifetime. That means that at some point some people have to be let go. Holding on or waiting for a better time can breed resentment which makes the situation worse than what it started off as. Take a moment, take a thought. Weigh your options and move forward in your best interest. You can't live for someone else and your cant change them unless they want to be changed.

Roommate Talk

Last night my roommate and I discussed several things. Among those was the situation in Haiti, the responses, the comments being made, etc. Now, both of us are Christian and believe in the Bible as the living word. So let me just put that out there so that you can know where I am coming from.

Apparently, Pat Roberson made a reference to Haiti selling their souls to the devil and this having something to do with what they are currently experiencing as a result of the earthquakes. Now....none of us were around when this may or may not have happened. What we do know is that there are some that practice voodoo in that area but as a nation, there is a great number of people that practice Catholicism. Aside from that...there are people in America that practice voodoo, devil worship, and all sorts of other things so if this is what is happening to Haiti as a result of those things, Mr. Roberson, then what is to come of the America where we live?

As our conversation progressed to talk about a number of things...my roommate reminded me of a few verses in Luke (specifically Luke 21:10-12). Here Jesus talks about end times and what is to come. He mentions earthquakes, famine, wars, etc. He mentions the things that we are seeing. My roommate was talking about how people see her as not being compassionate enough about the situation in Haiti but she views it as His word coming to pass. No, she's not anti-compassionate, but she recognizes it for what it is from a spiritual perspective. And that is a reasonable stance to take for someone who believes in the word. It was also a perspective that I hadn't immediately even thought of, but was interesting as I continued to ponder it.

To me, the US is super concerned about Haiti because there is nothing as big going on in the news right now. The ability to run to the aid of another nation but will run swiftly from the people in our own nation who need help each and every day (I know this partially has to do with the shift in who's in office). Don't get me wrong, I do feel for those people who have lost their lives as they know it, their actual lives, and their friends and family. I continue to pray that God works through the people that have been sent to help and I sincerely hope that one day this nation can be restored so that its people can have their lives back. But I can't help but send a little side eye to some people who are making this their cause simply because its what's going on right now (read: as soon as something else major happens...they're on to the next). To those that are sincere, I know their efforts are appreciated.