Bullying

Bullying is not okay and people shouldn't do it. There is different kinds of bullying, but they're basically the same in that they hurt people. The different kinds of bullying are:

1) Physical bullying

2) Verbal bullying

3) Cyber bullying

4) Sexual bullying

5) Relational Aggression/Emotional Bullying

6) Prejudicial bullying

All six of these are all harmful to people. There is no reason for bullying others at all because there is no point in doing so. If anything the bully is also harmed, at some point when he/she finally realizes what they have been doing to that person that they have been terrorizing. Just be nice to others. It isn't that hard. Stop the bullying. If you see bullying at work then you need to step in and put a stop to it. 

Schools have a no bullying policy, but bullying still happens and when it gets reported nothing happens. What's the point of a no bullying policy when you aren't going to stand by it. Bullying is one of the causes of suicides and if you care about people then you should do something about all the bullying. Bullying isn't just what causes someone to commit suicide, but it is one that can be kind of obvious if you're looking for it. Bullying needs to stop.

Social Media

These three: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram; are the three biggest social media platforms there is (there are others, but we are going to focus on these three). Social media is something that can be easily used in a negative way. Some people use social media as an escape while others use to grow a business, but there are those who use it to complain or belittle others. It doesn't matter who you are or what your background is for you to be able to use it as a positive thing.

A lot of different types of people use it. From adults to teens to children (at a certain age) and we need to be aware that children are using certain social media. That alone changes things because if we just post whatever we want it can negatively affect those kids who are on there scrolling. There is already an issue with pedophiles interacting with kids as it is, so we shouldn't be feeding into it. It doesn't matter if you aren't actively being gross with your posts, but kids are very impressionable. 

Be careful what you post because you don't know who is going to be reading them at any given point. In a way social media can be used to bully others, also called cyberbulling, which is very wrong. Bullying is not okay and if you are aware of bullying that is going on do something about it. Don't ignore the problem just because it doesn't have anything to do with you. Use social media as a way to not only make a positive impact on yourself, if it is to grow your business, but for others to see it and have it change their perspectives on things.

Positive vs Negative

Being positive can sometimes be a struggle especially when bad things are happening in our lives, but is is essential that we find something to be positive about during those times. When we have a positive attitude through anything that life throws at us will be helpful in the long run because there is always something to be positive about and we will have a more happy view on the world.

Having a negative viewpoint day of the world or even if the people around is is not healthy at all. It can greatly dampen our moods if we are negative all the time. It can effect our relationships because we would always be complaining about something and that isn't a good thing.

Be positive or at least try to be positive about things because it will turn out to be a good thing. There is no need to be negative because it can impact our health and change the relationships that we have with people, so find that positive thing that is going on with you in your everyday life.

Right vs Wrong

Everyone knows right and wrong. It is right to listen to our parents or guardians, but it is wrong to be disrespectful. As humans though we tend to do whatever we want no matter the consequences. This can lead to really bad choices, which is the wrong thing to do. Knowing what is right for our lives and knowing what is the wrong thing to do is vitally important because the right things will benefit us while the wrong things will not.

1) Obeying authority figures - like parents and guardians

2) Respecting people

3) Not doing things that are breaking the law

4) Not starting fights - physical or otherwise

1) Anything criminal - murder, robbery, stealing (yes shoplifting is a crime), drugs (selling/distributing/doing), gang affiliation, etc

2) Disobedience

3) Harming others in any way

4) Running away

These are some examples of what is right and what is wrong. If we don't want to end up dead or in prison from our actions then we need to stop doing bad things. For some of us it's easy, but for others easier said then done if we are used to doing the bad. If you are struggling with doing the right thing then you should seek help to do so.

God works

This is my boyfriend Brandon. He is a very lovable guy and we get along. Here is the thing though: He doesn't really follow God. Like he knows He exists and everything, but he didn't really read his Bible or go to church. That is until recently. I have been wanting him to go to church for a long time, but the more I asked him to come the more it felt like he was shutting me out in a way until I stopped for awhile. 

If I'm remembering correctly I brought it up once and we had a conversation about it and then I think I said something again, but I don't remember lol. Until I went to church one Sunday and went to grab my chair that I use outside (because of this whole Corona virus we have been having church out in the parking lot with people in their cars. My pastor has this thing that allows him to transmit his voice/music through the car radios. Since I don't drive I sit in a chair.) I walked into the building to grab it when I saw him sitting in it. I was a little shocked, but not all that surprised because he had been texting me when I was up getting ready. Mind you it was like 9 something in the morning...he isn't usually up at that time, so I had a suspicion he was gonna be there.

Anyways, that was the first time he came to church, but he wasn't fully paying attention. That doesn't matter lol. After that he started to come more than once. So far I think he has come around 4-5 times, but if he isn't there at the actual building he watches the live stream. 

Yesterday, the 20th lol, I had went over to his house after church and at one point he randomly flipped open his Bible to look up verses that he was given as part of some autographs that he has from the Unity Christian Music Festival and had questioned why. I said that I have been praying for him and for God to show him that He is there for him. I feel like he was a little taken aback at that. 

The point of this story is that prayer and God works. When you pray ceasingly for someone eventually something will start to happen that will be an answer to whatever the prayer is. I have been praying for him for a long while and honestly had started to give up on it happening when it did and I'm so glad. I can't wait to see what else God has in store for him and our relationship because I know now that He is working to change him for the better. Never stop praying for something or someone that is really important to you because at some point it will start to get answered. Don't give up when things seem to be happening slowly because that is when God tends to something that gets back at us for doubting Him. It happened to me and it can happen to you.

 

Leadership

Leadership is something that should be taken seriously because people will only follow good leaders. You have to be willing to put yourself out there and be vulnerable with your team as well as being aware of what is going on with your team. It's important to be both kind and strict in a sense with the members of your team, so that they will respect you along with not doing whatever they want.

You also have to be relational. That means interacting with the entire team together and individually to show that you care about what they are doing. You are a team, which means that you aren't alone, and for it to work smoothly you need to show that you care. You shouldn't over work yourself either when your a leader because then you can get sloppy in your work and it can affect your mood towards the team, which can hinder things a lot because you can start being mean and rude to them instead of being nice causing bad feelings towards you to start to happen. Don't allow yourself to do that because you can't do your job properly and you will start to lose the respect of your team. Do your best and believe in your team.

Miracles

 

Miracles do happen. They happen all throughout the New Testament and they happen in real life as well. For example: what happened with my dad five years ago. For those who don't know what I'm referring to I will tell the story. July 7, 2015 was a day that would change our lives. My dad was at work working on garage doors on a fork lift when one of the springs from the doors swung back and hit him in the face knocking him off the fork lift. He was about 10-12 feet off the ground and landed on his head. His face was fractured, he has a permanent hole in his frontal lobe, he had to get nine titanium plates in his head, and he was walking on two broken feet for three months before we found out that they were broken. When this happened all the doctors and his surgeon didn't have any hope what-so-ever that he would pull through.

They had to put him in a medically induced coma, which he was in for four days, and then got transferred to Mary Free Bed in Grand Rapids for three weeks (I don't actually remember), but the thing is he survived. A lot of people were praying for him, like around the world as well, and because of that along with God working he is still with us today. This was a miracle and we are all so grateful along with blessed that he survived that horrific accident.

Miracles are something that need prayer as a base because it will help with things. When you pray God listens to what you are asking. He might not answer right away or the way we want, but He will answer regardless. When a bunch of people are praying for the same thing it will happen. Just because you don't see a miracle at work doesn't mean that they don't happen. Its just like saying how God is real even though you can't physically see Him. He is all around us all the time and He is doing wondrous things. Miracles can include......

1) Birth 

2) New growth

3) Beating an addiction

4) Beating cancer

5) Surviving an accident

6) Being reunited with loved ones

Believe in the power of miracles and don't give up on them just because it isn't happening right away. Sometimes bad things happen regardless of how much praying we are doing for it not to happen, but maybe it is time for it to be a thing. I know that sounds bad, but its true and it isn't God's fault that it occurred in the first place. God isn't a horrible person who just allows all the bad things to happen. We have to remember who the real enemy is. When Satan is finally put down for good will be a miracle because he is a horrible person who "attacks" people with things that can be destructive for that person. God will be the victor that day and it will be amazing. Waiting for a miracle to happen takes patience and dedication to the wait because it isn't right at the specific moment that it happens at times. Stay strong in the wait and continue to look for the miracles that are all around you.

Revenge

Revenge is something that no one should think of doing because it doesn't solve anything. If anything it could end up making things worse in the long run. You might think that it makes you feel better if you take revenge on someone that you feel has wronged you in some way, but it doesn't. 

People are going to hurt other people in some way, not necessarily physical, because that is just how to world works. The thing is though that you don't have to be that person because we does it do except hurt you and the other person. There is always going to be injuries from both parties when there is a fight, but if you don't fight then no one will get hurt.

Revenge is something that is stupid and not okay because it might make you feel better in that one second of "bliss," but after the adrenaline wears off and you fully realize what you did you will feel guilty about it. Revenge can usually end up with someone dead and that ruins a lot of people's lives because not only does the victim's family/friends have to deal with the fact that their loved one is dead, but the one who did the killing will start to regret it at some point.

The bottom line is don't take revenge. If someone has wronged you you don't have to get back at them. Find some way to forgive them for wronging you and then forget about it. It doesn't matter what was done because both of you will end up regretting it. Horrible/unthinkable things can happen at any given point that can just ruin someone's life, but you can't allow it to consume you to the point where you feel the need to get back at the person.

Dating

When you really like someone you will put on a brave face and ask that person out. If all goes well then eventually you might start dating that person, but here is the thing though you can't act like a jerk to the person. Being mean isn't going to solve anything it will just make it worse. A relationship has to be built on love and trust along with other things not on hate.

If you love someone then you need to act like it. If you are a jerk and say degrading things to the person who you are dating then brace yourself for a break up because it will happen. No one wants to be made to feel like they are crap and that they are less than who they are. It goes both ways; so girls don't be a jerk to boys and boys don't be a jerk to girls. 

Conflict is something that will happen at one point or another in any kind of relationship, but it doesn't have to be escalated when both of you are able to communicate effectively with each other. If you know that you are the type of person who overreacts remove yourself from the situation, so that doesn't happen. It takes two people to argue, so if one of you starts a fight you will have to be the bigger person and stop it before it gets out of control. 

Communication is key in a relationship, so if you have trouble communicating then find a way to be able to be a better communicator. That way there won't be a lot of fights that will happen because you will know how to explain how you're feeling to the other person. Dating can be difficult, but if you are able to handle the things that make it difficult in a positive way it will make it a little bit easier.

Loss/Grief

     Today's post was going to be on loss/grief, but then I looked to see what the date was and then realized that it ties into the topic for today.

    Today marks 19 years since the devastating attack on the Twin Towers by al-Qaeda. It was a horrific day for the United States and for thousands of people who lost loved ones because of the attack. There were over 2,977 deaths and over 25,000 injuries that were sustained from being in the Towers at the time of the attack. There wasn't just workers who died in the blast, but also firefighters and law enforcement who perished as well. 343 firefighters and 72 law enforcement officers died as well. The World Trade Center along with the Pentagon were attacked as well. 2,606 died in the World Trade Center and 125 died at the Pentagon. (By the way I'm getting these numbers from Wikipedia). We remember this day as something really horrible and I hope that those of you who had lost loved ones in the attack whether that was on the two planes or in the Towers themselves are being surrounded by love and comfort as you look back on today. 

When things like this happen, whether that is a terrorist attack/war or from a sickness, we should be there for each other during the grieving process, so that we don't have to be alone during it. Loss is something that we all experience at one time or another and we all experience grief in different ways. There are 5 stages of grief and they are: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. We don't necessarily experience all of these stages in this particular order and not all at the same time. Denial is when we pretend that the loss isn't happening, anger happens when you hide your actual emotions and lash out at things or people because our feelings are way to intense at the moment, bargaining is when we look for ways to regain control an event, depression is self-explanatory, and there is acceptance where we finally accepted that the loss happened.

Its okay to feel any type of grief and its okay to cry if needed. You don't have to hold your emotions inside because that isn't healthy to do and eventually you are going to have to let those emotions out. For you guys out there it is okay for you to cry if you're upset. It doesn't make you any less of a man or a sissy or weak if you cry because crying can sometimes make things better. If you have friends who are going to make fun of you because you cry you shouldn't be friends with them. Find people who are going to be there for you no matter what. Crying is a sign of strength not weakness. When you're upset its alright if you let your emotions out because if you keep them inside sooner or later you aren't going to have a choice, but it won't be a good sort of outburst.

Going through a loss is going to be sad and hard, but eventually you will be able to look back on what happened with a smile. It will still be sad when you think about it, but it won't be as overwhelming. 5 months ago I lost my great-grandma to a stroke and it was really hard having to go through that. It is still sad because it hasn't been that long since she passed away, but it is a little easier now. There are still times when I think about things that happened when she was alive and that is okay because that just means I'm remembering the good times that I had with her. 

All our feelings are valid and anyone can experience them in a healthy manner. Crying isn't a weakness by any means no matter if someone says it is. You don't have to pretend to be strong if you're not. If it becomes really overwhelming and its hard to get through get help. You can see a counselor/therapist or talk to a friend about what you are feeling. I always tell all my friends that if they ever need someone to talk to or just to listen then they can come to me because it can feel like nobody cares about what you are going through, but I will care. I will offer any support I can in order to try to help in any way I can. I might not have the words to say, but I will listen and I will try my hardest to comfort them.

Its okay to not be okay and its okay to remove (isolate) yourself when something hard happens, but you shouldn't do that for a very long time because if you don't have people who are able to be there for you in your grief then eventually you will break down from not talking to people. You need to be able to process what happened, but you also need to get past it in a way that isn't going to be detrimental to you. Journal about it or go see a counselor because if you do that then things will get easier for you. 

    

Gratitude

All of those points in the picture is important to know because gratitude is something that we all should strive for. Having gratitude for the good things we do have is essential because it will (hopefully) make us a better person because of it. There is a lot of crazy/bad things happening in the world right now and it can feel like we don't have anything good in our lives, but we do. For example: Some of us has a house to live in, clothes to wear, food to eat, and a loving family. 

I realize that not everyone has all those things. They're people out there who don't have anything, but they get by somehow. It is still sad to think about the homeless people who don't have nowhere to go because not all of them are able to stay in a shelter or the people in impoverished countries who struggle everyday with having food to eat or good drinking water or having to deal with corrupted officials. We on the other hand who has a place to stay, and clothes to wear with good drinking water (not all of us, but still) along with food to eat should be grateful for all the things we do have instead of being selfish.

When we don't finish or don't like the food we eat they're people who aren't able to eat or when we complain that we don't have any clothes to wear (when we do. We just want to be little "princesses to get more) they're are people who only have the clothes on their backs to wear. It's true that the world is messed up, but that doesn't mean that we can be selfish/ungrateful about the "luxeries" we are able to indulge in. 

Some people don't even complain about how horrible their life is when they don't have anything and that really should say something about the rest of us. We should be praying about the world and how unfair it can be and for those who have to struggle on a daily basis. We have a loving God who we should be completely grateful for because without Him our lives can be more of a hot mess. He went out of His way to send His beloved Son to us in order for Him to die for our sins.

He didn't have to do that, but He did because He loves us so much. His only Son was sacrificed and that most likely hurt Him a lot, so we need to even more grateful for that because we can't even imagine the depth of emotion He felt as He had to watch as His Son was tortured and crucified. There is no reason that we shouldn't be going to Him at any point in our lives and asking Him for help when things seem to be falling apart.

You don't see God complaining about how unjust the world is or how bad we are about sinning every day. He is disappointed in His creation and hurt that we can go around complaining ourselves and hurting people. He loves us and we need to be going to Him in thankfulness for loving us despite our worldly ways. Being grateful shouldn't be a chore. It should be something that we practice and do every single day.

Fear

Fear is something that everyone struggles with at one time or another, but they're ways to not be afraid of it. There is different kinds of fear that we can experience. For example:

1) Fear of Heights

2) Fear of the Dark

3) Fear of Spiders

4) Fear of Water

5) Fear of Death

6) Fear of the Outdoors

7) Fear of being Alone

8) Fear of bees

All of these fears and the ones that I didn't list are all okay to have. There is nothing wrong with being afraid of something, but we don't have to be afraid of those things because 

If we are afraid we can go to God about it in prayer and ask him to deliver us from it. When we make the decision to finally close the door on fear and ask God to take it from us we will be better because of it. Fear doesn't have to control our lives because it shouldn't, but it tends to happen if we allow it to anchor on to us. 

It will stop us in our tracks, so we can't do anything about it in order for it to have that control. All we have to do is be brave and unhook that anchor to release it for it to not weigh us down anymore. I realize that is a scary though in and of itself because we don't want to take control of our own lives at times. Sometimes we like to have fear control us, but that isn't healthy at all because fear just gives Satan power to do what he wants and we won't be able to do anything if we allow it to happen. 

Even if we go to God and ask Him to take that fear away He doesn't necessarily answer right away and that can be very disheartening to us, but if we relinquish that fear to Him anyways He WILL take it away. We have to be able to stand up to our fear(s) and banish it in order to be able to do what we want without it getting in the way. We got this.

Anxiety

 

Honestly I don't know how to talk about this topic because I don't understand it. Like I know its a thing and people struggle with it, but I don't understand how it works because I personally haven't experienced anxiety. I don't want to come off as knowing something I don't really know all that much about, but I will try. If you have anxiety there are ways that you can cope with it. I know that ptsd, panic attacks, and obsessive-complusive disorder (ocd) are some examples of anxiety and that it is difficult to get under control, but there are ways to calm down from a panic attack and ways to deal with anxiety as a whole. 

It is okay if you have anxiety. It doesn't make you any less of a person at all and you can deal with it. Just ask for help, I know that can be a scary thought since you don't know if you will actually get the help you need, and you can find ways to better handle it as a whole. It won't lessen right away if course because it doesn't work that way, but if you continue to work at it and do the coping methods it will start to be better. Stay strong.

Hopelessness

There is a lot of people out there in the world who have given up Hope because of all the bad things that keep piling on them, but it doesn't have to be that way. Bad things do happen I will admit that, but if you wait it out and pray and things WILL get better. Maybe not right away or even right this second, but eventually things will turn around. I know it might feel like it won't and that nothing good will come out of it, but that's not the case at all. You just have to learn to be patient through all that. 

Romans 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

This verse is so true and it works when we are in hopelessness because we don't see the good that comes after the bad thing that we are in, but we should still hope for it since it will turn out for the better. The thing is we have to be patient until it does because it isn't going to happen right then and there. If we learn patience and keep holding to that little bit of hope that is still active in order to get through whatever you are going through.

Goals

Goals are both important and varied for a lot of people. They can be anything that you want spanning any kind of thing. Whether that is to open your own shop to becoming the leader of a company. The thing is with any goal there needs to be work or in other words action steps that have to be taken to get there and it isn't going to be easy.

Plus it isn't going to happen right away, so it also takes a whole lot of patience to reach our goals and once we get to whatever the goal is we still have to work at it because if we stop doing the work then it will all go downhill and be ruined. We can't get lazy when we reach the top because if that happens then all that hard work that we put in to get to where we want to will all be for nothing.

The flip side to this is that if we have a family that we are trying to support we have to be able to make time for them and not push them to the side. Yes it's important to do what we need to do for whatever that goal was, but family is important as well. If we are working non-stop 24/7 not only will we be ignoring our family we will be running ourselves to the ground because of all that work we are doing. We have to be able to put time aside to spend with our family/be able to rest, but also on growing that business to its full potential.

Our goals aren't going to happen by themselves. We are going to need to work at it, on the research and the building, for it to come to fruition. On top of that we can't....or well shouldn't do it alone because we all need help from time to time. Asking for help is a huge thing for me because I would rather I do it alone then ask for help and I take it that there is people who do/think the same thing. It isn't healthy to do that though because there are going to be times where we will have to take a step back or step down from our own pride and ego in order to get the help we need. If we want our goals to be reached then we are going to need all the help and support we can get.