Awake and Alive

Ever feel like you've just been coasting through life? Not taking advantage of each moment? I know we all do it. It's very hard to live 100% in the moment, 100% of the time. Your mind wanders, even your heart seems to wander, but what happens to those moments that we choose to not inhabit? Time gets away from us. Moments get away from us. Things impact us deep in our hearts, and we will lose track of not just hours, days, or weeks, but entire months or years even. The condition of the human heart greatly changes our outlook on life, and our perception of time.

When one is deeply impacted, either positively or negatively, our perception of time seems to be distorted. I remember the few times in my life that I've been depressed. My heart and mind seemed to lose all track of time. You wake up, but you aren't awake, you sleep, but you don't rest. Life just drags on, and things happen, but nothing phases you. Nothing can, because you shut down spiritually. Something happens that truly breaks you to your core, and you turned off. Its just about the saddest thing that can happen to someone.

When you turn your heart off, I tend to think that you cease to exist after a fashion. Without your heart, and without your spirit being involved in your life, and in the lives of those who you are close to, something awful happens. Nothing. Nothing at all. You become a black hole in life. Instead of radiating energy, light, hope, love, you become a vacuum that sucks up those things. Where there is light, you dim it, where there is love, you show hate. We become the embodiment of the opposite, because that's how we feel, and whether we realize it or not, we radiate that which we feel, and that which we believe. Whether for good or for bad, we show our true colors always.

But what happens when we wake up? What happens when the darkness fades? When we have a revelation of Love, and Freedom that we have never experienced before? The world turns, your life changes, and instead of being a black hole, we become Stars. That type of experience is what I refer to as a Paradigm Shift. Whenever you literally look at the world differently than you did before. Even if its just a little bit different, all things change because the way you view the world has changed.

So what happens you you become Awake? When you become Alive inside? The days, weeks, months, years that have been claimed by the dark, don't really matter anymore. You are no longer defined by them, and they no longer have control over you, and now instead of trying to focus on living in the moment, you realize that you already are. Your world is no longer defined by what tomorrow may have in store, or what next week can bring. Your world consists of now. What is going on now, in this moment, are you talking with someone? Listening to music? Playing a video game? Doesn't matter what it is that you're doing. The point is to do it. Live in the moment. Breathe in the experiences. Love the life and time that you're given. Because in the end, we don't know what tomorrow will bring. All that we have and know for certain, is what we have right now.

So don't feel guilty about the time that you've lost, because in all honesty, you didn't lose time, You did something necessary for the human heart to thrive, and you are better off than you were before. So whatever it is that you find yourself doing, live in that moment. When you listen to music, don't let it just be noise for you while you do something else. Feel the rhythm, the beat, listen to the words, and how the music resonates inside of you. If you're talking to someone, talk to them, be there for them, and look them in the eye. Don't think about what you will do when the conversation ends, or what you still have yet to do this week. People know when you're truly listening, and when you're just being an empty shell.

Follow your heart in all things, and Live for the Moment.

~Joseph

This is a Song, For the Lonely

Ever feel lonely? Not really Alone. Cause you always have people around, or God, The Holy Spirit, Jesus......Someone is always watching your back. But sometimes you just have those days where you feel really lonely. You want someone to hold, care about, love even. Well its been one of those days. And on days like this I always seem to find myself a little bit melancholy about it.

Okay well lets not lie, I feel a lot melancholy about it. Down right down. lol. Sounds funny when you say it like that, but it's true. I feel very much like I was designed to be a lover. Designed to receive it, designed to give it............and I'm found very much lacking in that department. Not lacking in capability, or capacity, but in personage! How hard is it to find a right person in this world?

Apparently for me, very difficult. Some days I feel very much that God has so much for me, and I just don't see it. I know it's there, but I just don't see it. I'm sure if I could see the big picture I'd see all the individual pieces moving and falling into place. So even though I don't see it all happening, I have faith that it is.

Cause that's what faith is after all. Believing without seeing. Knowing that God has the greatest plan for you, and that one day it will all come to Fruition. This gives me hope. And hope is definitely a good thing.

Look in the Mirror

Ever hear someone complain about how their life is going? How their spouse isn't making them happy anymore? Their best friend won't talk to them? Their life is going straight down the tubes? Yeah........Me too. To which I reply, It's your life, make of it what you will.

Now I'm not saying that crap doesn't happen, and that times aren't hard for people. That's not what I'm getting at. I know random stuff happens in life and we have to live with it. Peoples choices, random events, and what have you. It's all up in the air. But what we seem to have lost in the process of living life, is the realization that our own personal Hapiness/Joy. Is just that. OUR OWN!

You are the end all, be all, of your own person. If something happens that makes you mad, that's you wanting to be mad. You chose to be mad, and chose to do all the things that happened after that. Happiness and Joy are the same way. When you aren't happy, its cause you're choosing to not be that way. Why would God give you emotions if you weren't able to actually control them? That'd be kinda cruel wouldn't it? I sure think so, and Thats just not the type of God that I love and Believe in.

Your happiness is not dependent on someone else, or your circumstances. It's dependent on you, and your heart. What you decide to let flow in and out of it, or what you don't let flow in or out of it. It's all up to you. If you want to be unconditionally loved, you need to let that flow out of you, and be able to let it flow into you also. I know so many people who are more than willing to Love other people, but they themselves almost seem incapable of receiving it. I can tell you right now, the Love that you end up giving out, is not half so Rich as it could be if that's the case.

God made you to like yourself, to love yourself even. God Loves you, just the way you are. He doesn't expect anything more from you, than who you are, and wants nothing more than your love. Which is really easy. Because God is the one who first loved you. He loved you the way you are, before anyone else loved you for who you are. That's absolutely amazing, how could you not love someone who loves you just the way you are? You can't. Its practically impossible.

And if you Love yourself, and are truly happy with who you are, why would you let someone else have control of your emotions? Of your life? or heart? I wouldn't. I do sometimes, and feel like an idiot for it, but you wake up and realize, Hey, I don't need an addition to my life to be happy. Jesus and His Love are my Cake, and My Icing. Anything else is just the cherry on top.

So go look in your Mirror, and decide if you like the person you see. If you don't like them, ask God to work on you, because He's the only one who can fix you. And if you do like who you see, ask yourself why other peoples opinions or decisions are the reason for your happiness fluctuating?

And if you look in the mirror, Like what you see, and know that your happiness and joy are your own to control and hold onto, what are you doing inside? Go out! It's a gorgeous Texas Day! :-)

~Joseph