Courage...

"To be nobody but myself - in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make me somebody else - 

means to fight the hardest battle any human can fight, and never stop fighting." 

~ e.e. cummings 

Are you consumed with living up to other people's expectations? 

Trying to win their approval?

If the answer is yes, are you exhausted yet?

Mind if I intervene? 

A complete, idle, fruitless waste of time.

Trust me on this.

John Eldredge said "Without a deep and burning desire of our own, 

we will be ruled by the desire of others." 

I concur.

It's easy to let the opinions of others dictate our course, isn't it?

To succumb to the pressure.

Allow ourselves to be persuaded against our gut instinct.

Even at some level allow ourselves to be manipulated.

And why... because we dare to be unconventional?

Because we choose to go against the flow?

"The truth is, we will exhaust ourselves by performing for a world that does not want to praise us.

Let us choose to live for God's approval, and find freedom from others controlling our confidence!" ~ Sheri Rose Shepard

Yes! 

My dear friend said that quote is front of the fridge material....I couldn't agree more.....*print*

It will take courage sweet bellas, to be who you are destined to be. 

It will upset the comfort zones of those around you.

And it will cause a ripple effect.

I'll close by sharing a story that Max Lucado recounts in his book "Grace for the Moment." He tells it like this: "There is a legend from India that tells of a mouse who was terrified of cats until a magician agreed to transform him into a cat. That resolved his fear...until he met a dog, so the magician turned him into a dog. The mouse-turned-cat-turned-dog was content until he met a tiger - so, once again, the magician changed him into what he feared. But when the tiger came complaining that he had met a hunter, the magician refused to help. "I will make you into a mouse again, for though you have the body of a tiger, you still have the heart of a mouse."

I looked up the definition of courage...it is defined as: 

"a quality of spirit that enables you to face danger or pain with confidence and resolution."

The definition of resolution: "1. The state or quality of being resolute; firm determination. 2. A resolving to do something."

"Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord." Psalm 31:24

Let us resolve to walk through the rest of this day with courage and receive the strength that comes from Him.

That is my hope for myself today.

And for all of you...