Tuesday, January 21, 2014

The Coldest Winter Season

Hello All,
I think back to when I was a kid and how much I loved snow days. No school, my favorite cartoons, and my notebook. My mama would let me stay in my pajamas all day and I could eat whatever I wanted. It was the best! As an adult, snow days are still the best! I curl up on the couch with my notebook and vivid imagination. I get ideas, poems, and stories. Have you noticed that as you get older, there are some things that stay the same. I still love going to Crown center, writing in the park, and riding roller coasters. I still think Batman is the bomb superhero and peanut butter & jelly is everything!

I do believe that God has had me in the coldest winter season ever. A time of reflection, preparation, and harvest. A time for Him to impart patience to my spirit and wisdom to my mind. Those things that have always been familiar to me - I draw near to them during this time. I am waiting on the Lord in faith. I know that He has things in store but I must be patient. That is a hard thing for me to do!

Hold on to the little things, because they are the foundation of who you are. They are the things that you can lean on, get excited about and depend on. Life is going to keep moving - sometimes not in the way you want it to. Find ways to enjoy life when you are in your winter season. It will create a harvest for spring.

Blessings,
Archuleta

Monday, January 20, 2014

A New Year?

Hello All,
Recently, I sat down to read one of my journals from 2013. This particular journal is huge and also includes 2012. The more I read, the more disturbed I became. Some of my prayers and entries were repetitive. It was eye-opening to read. This is what happens a lot, with many of us. We go round and round with the same issues, same problems, and same hang-ups. Although 2014 has begun, is it really a new year? We are just taking the same stuff from year to year - not doing anything different.

Changing careers, losing weight, improving finances, or letting go of poor habits always rank at the top of our lists. Why can't we do the work? Why do we put ourselves through this year after year?

Too comfortable?
We can be afraid of how things will change, although we desperately want to. It's easier to stay where we are than to do the work and change. We have to hold on to the reason why we want to make change in the first place. It has to be greater than the fear. Marianne Williamson said in her book, Return to Love, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Make Time
Anything worth having requires us to roll up our sleeves and give the time needed. Action speaks louder than words. We have to take the very things that we are afraid of and push through. The time that we put towards our goals will pay off.

Brand New
As 2014 continues, make a conscious effort to change - for real. Decide that you don't want to look back and determine that you are still in the midst of the same stuff. Decide that you want progress! Decide that you will not be afraid of living your best life. You deserve it and God wants that for you. It can truly be a new year - every year!


Blessings,
Archuleta