One of my favorite shows is a Canadian surreal drama, “Being Erica.” In a deeply powerful episode, one of the main characters says something that I have to remind myself of especially in times of uncertainty:
You do not fall apart in the face of adversity, you rise to the occasion. Julianne
I find that when I am faced with adversity and especially adversity with unforeseen circumstances, I allow myself to get stuck in this vicious mind game. I cycle through what could happen, what should happen, what didn’t happen, what I want to happen, until I am quite literally in a cycle of “what abouts.”
Y’all know I am all about real talk, so here is some vulnerability. I am in this place where it feels like almost everyone in my life is married, getting married, pregnant or having kids… and I truly mean almost everyone. At 33, I am purposefully single, with no human children (at least to my knowledge), and 1 fur baby (Cooper the perfect puppy!). There are plenty of people in my life who have decided that my personal life is not as noteworthy as my professional life and say, “oh don’t worry you have time” or my favorite “it’s all in God’s timing.”
I 100% appreciate these people in my life, but here it is plain and simple, I do not know what God has in store for me. There are people like Deborah the Judge in the Bible who was an outstanding woman of character, wisdom and most importantly woman of God. She was one of the first ever #girlboss. It was never documented that Deborah had children or got married. What is documented is that Deborah lived a life focused on God’s purpose. She lived a life where I am sure she probably asked the “what abouts,” but chose to rise above those “what abouts” and listen to God’s “this is my plan.”
Sometimes I live my life so focused on everyone else’s life, and everything that my life doesn’t have that their life has, that I miss God’s blessings and power. Today, if you are finding yourself stuck in the cycle of “what abouts” step back and listen to God telling you “this is my plan for you, and I have chosen only you to live this plan.” Rise above the adversity, doubts and struggles in your mind. Choose to look towards God’s purpose, choose to tell yourself that God’s purpose and plan for your life is ONLY for your life. Do not let yourself get caught up in a life that was never meant to be yours.
