Are you living up to your full potential?  There are so many answers to the question depending on a person’s mindset.  From “I just live day to day.  God is in control.  Just waiting to die.” (Yes, I’ve heard this!)  to “No, because xxxxx, and xxxxx, and xxxxx.  So see?  I can’t.”  This is a rather passive answer that tends to blame other people and circumstances.  My answer for many years was somewhere in between.  “No, I’m not.  I feel incomplete at times.  I don’t know what God’s purpose for me is, and I can only assume that right now I’m living in His will because it’s my intention.”  It was also pretty passive.  I also hear so many clients tell me that they can’t do things because they are “old” which usually means they are over 40.  It breaks my heart.

Today I am rather reflective.  In two days I turn 55.  Three years ago I was unhappy and unhealthy.  These things go hand in hand by the way, but I won’t go into detail on the issues and how things changed, in case you have already read The Holistic Christian Woman. 

The point of today’s post is, God willing, to inspire you. 

If you would have told me when I was unhappy and unhealthy that in three years I would be a published author, professional speaker, blogger, and creator of programs that people around the world have said touch their lives and make them better…I would not have laughed.  Instead, I would have been irritated that someone would have the gall to make up things that were definitely not going to happen, and hope that they would stop.  I’ve wondered since then, why the negative response toward someone who only wanted me to be my best? 

Because it would have taken four things that I didn’t have:

1.  The Knowledge of what I wanted to do, or what my Big Purpose was.
2.  The Energy to do the work that it would take to make something happen.
3.  The Courage to take a gamble…becoming passionate about something only to possibly waste my time and money.
4.  The Humility to face the fear of failure and embarrassment.

The change started with a spark of excitement about something health related, and a realization that I had not acknowledged this life-long interest as one of my hot-buttons. 

Lesson One:  God gives us that excitement or interest in things that we may take for granted.  These things can lead us toward our Purpose.

Lesson Two:  Find out what you need to do to learn more about what you love, and how to incorporate it into your life on a daily basis.

Just start.  Just take a step.  God opened doors for me that went beyond what I knew I could do.  The key is, I had to approach the doors.  A door didn’t appear to me while I was watching TV.

Lately I’ve been putting together a puzzle.  Each day I find one or two pieces that fit, while my inner voice tell me that this is hard, I’ll never be able to complete it, and if I do, it’s going to be cluttering my kitchen table for months.  Negativity…get behind me!  It’s half way done now.  A little each day.  And, we have the bonus of utilizing our under used formal dining room each night.  

Perseverance and silencing your inner negative voice will help you take the steps needed each day, puzzle piece by puzzle piece, as God watches and waits for you to continue down the path to His plan.  The perfect plan that you may have never known about if you didn’t take the first step.  Remember it’s the journey that makes a life a life, not the outcome.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jeremiah 29:11