The Extra…
Bringing clarity to an overwhelmed mind in business and in life…
There is no need to add anything extra to your day. You already know what to do and you’re already pre-prepared for the day. If no one hasn’t told you by now the day already has its own ups and downs. So, why not leave the extra stress and worry behind you, behind Us, because in the end all the extra stress and worry does is slows us down. Instead we should be embracing the challenges the day brings, because they were made for us to grow stronger.
The other day I was listening to an online service and the pastor made a great point that I never put much thought into until now. One of the biggest things my dad tells me to do is to relax and slow down. To be honest I think he tells me that over and over again because it’s like he is talking to himself. So, whenever I hear him say that phrase “slow down”, I tend to listen a little more. See, I have a tendency to move fast through things and through life. I mean in high school my wrestling team came up with “short fast man” as their designated name for me and they weren’t wrong. In those times of moving fast I would start to add more to my plate than what was ordered. Things like self-doubt, worry, and stress all pilling on my shoulders making the journey that much harder and for no reason. Practice was already hard enough having to learn a new scheme and studying yet another new opponent, but I had a tendency to just add more pressure. Am I even ready for this new opponent? What if I forget the new calls this week? What if I forget my equipment? Just what if after what if, adding all this extra pressure for no reason.
See, the other day I was listening to an online service and the pastor made a great point. Many times in our walk with our Yah we have the tendency to add more to our plates than what was already prepared for us. Our life journey already has pre-prepared hurdles that were specifically designed for us to conquer, because they were placed there for us to see His strength through us. So, as situation after situation comes, they are there placed strategically for us to conquer so that we grow more in our faith and walk with our Yah. But many times, I would add extra to the day because to be honest I still wanted to be in control. I was too scared to let my Yah handle the battles and let go. I had trust issues, and I didn’t fully trust Him. I was too busy adding a little extra, which was just enough to block my view from Him. Just as I would get closer to following my Yah more fully were the moments that extra would slide in. Extra self-doubt, extra worry, and extra concern were the main ones that liked to tag along. I couldn’t blame them because they always got a free ride and the best seats, right in front of my mind.
I learned the benefits of applying hard work to whatever you do at an young age. My Papa is from the south, Mississippi to be clear, and he didn’t speak hard work into us. My Papa showed hard work into us. During the summers he would come and stay with us, which meant for us waking up at 5 am to trim the hedges and complete other yard work. If the day was super sunny and hot, we would prepare some sun tea. Every time our Papa came to stay with us it was the same every time, and no matter how many extra sighs we added it never helped us out. Our Papa wasn’t here for the extra as he was happy to share in work together with his grandchildren. Our Papa knew the plan every time he came to stay with us and soon we caught on as well. We quickly realized the more we did with the right heart and right intentions the easier it was, and after a while it became fun. Even today I wake up early like anywhere from 3am-5am to get the day started and I actually enjoy it. I might not be trimming hedges but some work is getting accomplished.
Its the same as the pastor said during the online service we tend to add extra to our journey with our Yah. Extra that was never meant to be there in the first place. We want to add an extra worry, an extra concern, an extra line to our prayer or an extra chapter to our study time. Its not the extra that our Yah is after but our heart/mind intent. Do we believe with all of our heart that our Yah, the creator of all can actually be our Savior? It was a question that I had to receive the answer the hard way because I was always adding extra to my life. For some reason in the past I couldn’t learn the right way without the extra being added in. I wanted and needed to, in the past, add that extra prayer or that extra worry so my Yah could really hear and feel my pain. But no matter how much extra feels I put towards anything it always hit a very abrupt halt and after a while I couldn’t take It anymore. As I began to let Yah be Yah and I let go the better my journey became. Yes, I still hit roadblaocks and I will continue to encounter them throughout this journey, but I dont have any of that extra baggage on me anymore. Instead of grunting and sighing over and under the roadblocks I simply take a deep breath and trust Him over any and all roadblocks along the journey.
