No Church in the Wild

How often do we misinterpret our experiences as things that happen to us instead of seeing how these things happened for us? It is possible to see the benefits of the ugly parts of your story, transforming your narrative to solid gold. Can you change the narrative to seek purpose in what once pained you? #KeepGoing

Representation does matter, changing the narrative to seek the benefits of my upbringing opened my eyes to see that the adults around me were always actively seeking a relationship with God which built my foundation for faith. Some of my earliest memories of my mother is her during prayer time, fascinated by her ability to recite the words in Arabic so passionately. I had no clue what she was saying but I could tell her words were filled with faith and beyond that she was consistent with doing it. That taught me that no matter what language, be passionate and consistent with the conversations you have with God. Although my father was incarcerated prior to my birth we also had a strong relationship when it came to religion and spirituality. Photocopying every book he read to share his knowledge with me was his only way of knowing how to protect me from where he was.

As ugly as the story was, good came from it, and I am living proof. The relationship I shared with my mother allowed her to be vulnerable and share with me that I was conceived through rape, she shared these details with me to teach me that it was her relationship with God that aided her decision to keep me although at that time everything about her circumstances told her I didn't deserve a chance; she had faith connected to her practice and I was on purpose. It was how she choose to share herself with me that opened me to the concept of being "on purpose", that helped me understand that I am here for a reason.

Building a relationship with God outside of the lens of my parents and through my own experience would now have to play out in all those stories in the Koran/Bible starring me. I would have to get through life with a greater understanding of finding my purpose in my process. That has always made me feel like I have a very powerful advantage and this is the source of my confidence which can't be touched. This is how I Keep Going, I understand that everybody has a story to tell, I am in the process of making sure I tell mine in the right narrative #GrowingSavage

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The Exercise: Identifying your spiritual boundaries and where they were developed.

Identifying your spiritual boundaries could include rituals you do on the daily to stay connected to spirit. Something like morning meditation, praying over your food or even as little as saying "Bless You" when someone sneezes. Pay attention to the behaviors that you practice often, and then connect the dots to where you picked up each practice. Let's evaluate if those practices still make sense for your current values.

The point of this exercise is to determine the foundation of your boundaries and revise any parts of your belief system that you live by. Perhaps you'll realize that you need to development new practices or rediscover some old practices you may have forgot about along the way. There is power in reputation, if you need help discovering what best practices work for you book a consult and let's #GoBeyond today!

You haven't lost anything if you learn something from it. T.D Jakes