. ✗ ღ ✗ ♚ Precious in His* Eyes... ♚ ✗ ღ ✗ .

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

:: Look at how far you've come ::

"The reason why people give up so fast is because they tend to look at how far they still have to go, instead of how far they have come."

Nicky Gumbel

:: "On Changing Dreams" by Emma (A Beautiful Mess)

1. Move with the flow of life, not against it.

Life is absolutely full of opportunities. Don't let them pass you by simply because they aren't the opportunities you thought you wanted. We don't always know what direction our life will go. I think it can be wise to try anything that comes your way, especially when you are young and trying to "figure it all out" (Spoiler: You won't. Life is never that simple). Don't set your heart on achieving one thing, only one specific way, in order to feel happy and accomplished. An amazing opportunity disguised as a mundane option may come your way tomorrow; don't miss it.

2. Be honest about your strengths and expand on them.

I was good at working with my sister. We have always made a good team, because our strengths and weaknesses compliment each other. This was hard for me to see when I was younger, because I always felt like her achievements outweighed and looked better than mine. Instead of running away from a good situation, I should have fought to make it a great situation. Sometimes you have to be honest about what you're good at. (A great place to start if you're not sure is asking those closest to you.) If you enjoy something but it's not a strength of yours, it might make a better hobby than career choice. That ended up being the case for me anyway.

3. Dreams don't have to die, but they do sometimes have to change. Embrace it.

Even before I moved home from LA I felt afraid to do so, even though a part of me really wanted to. I felt that if I turned my back on my dream (to be an actress) then I was a failure. Being a "failure" is just a label that you give yourself. Don't box yourself in like I did! It's ok to change your dreams. It's ok to pursue something else for a while if your current efforts don't seem to be working. Embrace where your life seems to be headed, and forget the labels. Moving in with my parents after being a failed actress was the most cliche and embarrassing choice I've ever made. But it was also the BEST choice I've ever made.

4. Success is a process, not an event or state of being.
Being successful in whatever you are pursing in life is never going to magically happen one day and then it's done. It's an ongoing thing. You don't always feel it. It doesn't look the same in everyone's life. And another really weird thing about it is you don't always know it as it's happening. Like I said, choosing to be a failed actress is what led me to my current dream job. This was a successful move, but it sure didn't feel like it at the time. I felt anything but successful that year of my life. Don't be discouraged if you're not feeling successful this year. Keep going. Work hard. Play to your strengths. Take opportunities as they come. Be brave.

No matter where you are in life, I already know one thing about you: You are not a failure. Even if you're feeling like one lately, please know I've been right there with you. I believe in you. You should believe in yourself.

Monday, February 24, 2014

:: Something better ::

"Maybe disappointments are God's way of saying "I've got something better." Be patient, live life, have faith.

K - Love

:: "I heart NY" by Sex & The City ::

love, true love will always stay throughout all seasons of our lives. and now that i have them, and they definitely know who they are, there is nothing more than i would ever want. xxx

:: "The mask must go" by Carl Lentz ::

:: "What people do when they don't really love you" by Brianna West ::

I try to lace my work with optimism because a guiding principle in my own life has been that the most tragic things in our lives almost always precede the most incredible. I think that, at any given point, we are faced with the choice of whether to move on with what the universe gives and takes or to hold on and bury ourselves in our own misery. I do not perch on a high horse preaching this, because I have been in those depths, and I know what it’s like. I also know that there are few issues that will destroy you faster than matters of the heart. But what I must tell you is that while teaching myself to climb out of that sadness and attachment-laden-misery, I realized something that is a bit more realistic than optimistic, but so invariably true that it’s worth giving attention to.

When someone loves you, you will know it. If someone cares about you, they will find a way to be with you. If they do not, they’ll make excuses. Sometimes they won’t even be sure whether or not they love you, so you’ll see them going back and forth trying to figure it out. Love is not something that requires brain work. It is not a riddle to be solved or a mystery to be uncovered. It just simply is, and we just have to let it be, or not be, naturally.

I generally believe that people differ so much in their experiences and that no two situations are exactly the same, so it’s difficult to generalize something about love and romance, but I make an exception for this. I know many of you are probably reading this conjuring up all the reasons why so-and-so did in fact love you but they just couldn’t be with you for this reason or that reason and why that was so valid and why I have no idea what I’m talking about. That’s okay if you want to think that, I won’t stop you. But the truth is that what you’re holding onto is someone who doesn’t love you enough to put you first and make it work. And if I believe in anything, I believe that we all deserve to be with someone who wants to be with us as well.

So what we have to learn to do is to accept the love we aren’t given. To realize that although we put someone on a pedestal, that does not mean that their judgment determines us. It’s simply a mindset, one that we have to change if we want to get out. People can love you a little bit, and they can love you enough but not enough to make it work. It is not an all-or-nothing situation. We have to stop thinking that it is, and that when the cards don’t fall in our favor, that it defines some part of us as being unworthy and unlovable. Because to combat that idea, we hold on as fiercely as we can to the reasons we are loved, until letting go is our idea– not theirs.

But we all end up, one way or another, okay. We’re all on different rides, but they all end the same way. You do not need somebody else’s love to be whole. You do not need their permission to go on with your life. What you do need is your own love. You need to let yourself go on. Their love isn’t stopping you, because that love doesn’t exist. It is only you who is holding onto what you believe should be. And what you will realize, sooner or later, is that most of your life is defined and chosen by what you compel yourself to believe should or shouldn’t be. Release yourself from the cage you built. You hold the key to your own freedom.

:: Faith is taking the first step ::

and as i have taken that step, i now wait on His part to reveal itself. xxx

Sunday, February 23, 2014

:: "The Waiting Room of Life" by Victoria Osteen ::

One day as I was sitting in traffic, waiting, I started thinking about all the time we spend waiting in life. We wait in traffic, we wait in line at the grocery store, and we may wait for a promotion or a relationship to turn around. We also might wait for a prayer to be answered. It seems we spend a lot of time in the waiting room of life.

God sees us waiting, and I believe He is saying to us today, "I want you to wait the right way." What is the right way to wait? If you look up the word "wait" in the original Hebrew, it's translated to mean "hope and expectancy."

Isaiah 40:31 says, "Those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." (NKJV)

God has promised that if we wait the right way, then we'll have the strength to wait. We won't feel overwhelmed, frustrated and "zapped" of all of our energy. If you wait on Him, you'll run and not be weary, walk and be lifted up, and soar like the eagle.

This verse tells me there are seasons of waiting. Sometimes we have to walk through some things while we wait. Sometimes we run, and the season goes by quickly. And sometimes, we just rise above the circumstances and soar through the season of waiting. No matter what, God promises to strengthen and empower us when we wait on Him.

How do we wait on Him? First of all, we need to wait with praise and worship in our hearts and mouths. Praise always precedes the victory. God says He inhabits the praises of His people, and when God shows up, the enemy has to flee!

Another way to make sure you are waiting the right way is by watching your thoughts, words and attitudes. Your thoughts direct your words, and your words direct your actions. Make sure your words line up with God's Words. Come in agreement with Him because your strength comes from your unity with Him.

You've probably heard it said that your attitude determines your altitude. If you want to rise high above the storms of life, you have to set your mind on things above, not on the cares of this earth. You have to keep your focus on Jesus because He is the Author and Finisher of your faith.

Today, if you're waiting, make sure you're waiting the right way. Keep an attitude of faith and expectancy and a song of praise on your lips. Know that He is faithful, and He will renew your strength and lift you up when you choose to wait on Him!