Spirituality. I believe in God. I believe in Jesus Christ as my Savior. But I am not here to shove my beliefs down your throat and pound them into your head until you believe exactly what I believe. That’s not my style. I believe in respecting others for what they believe in and stand for, and you should too. Stand strong in who you are, what you believe, what you stand for and do not waiver in any of that. The moment you waiver, the moment you let someone intimidate you is the moment you start losing yourself. Don’t lose who you spent so long to build. But more than that, create healthy habits to support what you believe and what fuels your mind. I am going to share what I do spiritually, every day (even on the days I do not want to) that keeps me balanced and helps me stand strong in who I am.
Again, this is NOT me telling you what you should believe. This is to encourage you to pursue whatever it is you believe, with your whole heart. You cannot neglect your beliefs and expect to be able to stand strong in who you are. Understand this, there will be times when you are questioned and looked down on but when you have built a strong foundation, nobody can shake you.
Every morning I wake up, with enough time, to sit down and read the Bible, a daily devotional and journal about what I am feeling -how the devotional made me feel, what I feel for the day ahead, any questions I may have with God, etc. It is so important to take that time for yourself each morning before you start your day. Set the tone for the day by setting the tone with yourself spiritually. Connect with whatever it is you believe in. Making connections and checking in daily is so important for yourself. It creates a healthy habit and creates a healthy mindset. Do not neglect this part of the process. Do whatever it is that connects you -journal, meditate, read, etc. Figure out what best suits you and what best connects you but start now, do not put it off.
After you have established a connection with yourself and building a foundation for who you are, you need to make connections with those around you. It is important to build connections with others. I built my connections by finding a church to attend and plugging myself in. I joined a small group, volunteered and shared my experiences with others. The beautiful thing about making connections is that even though we believe in God, that doesn’t mean we have the same opinions or outlooks on life. You will still find people in your community with the same beliefs that will challenge you and that’s okay, don’t let it deter you. I learned how to have healthy conversations with others.
This world is full of different beliefs, religions, people and lifestyles but one thing we have to connect with is ourselves and those around us. Learn how to be able to strengthen ourselves in those beliefs, learn how to have healthy conversations who have the same or different beliefs and learn how to create healthy habits to continue to grow in who we are. Don’t be shaken by those who challenge you. Growing spiritually will be able to help you accept yourself and accept others, in a healthy way. You will be able to respect yourself in new ways. You will be able to respect others even if they do not align with you spiritually. It’s about growing, learning and showing grace, love and mercy in who we are and who others are.
So, start now. Start small and keep growing. Don’t stunt your growth because your beliefs do not align with someone else’s. And do NOT stunt your growth because you fear what the world will say. The world typically goes after those who are weak because they know they can change them easily. The world typically does not go after those strong, firm founded people. So be a strong, firm founded person because you are and never let it go.
