God’s Gift: How Will You Use Yours?

God gave us free will and we are using it in all the wrong ways. We are using it for racism, sexism, xenophobia, and homophobia. Instead of using it to make informed decisions about people of other cultures, sex, race and sexual orientation. People are allowing themselves to be brainwashed by what they hear others are saying or what they read. I am always in a constant struggle to make sure that I do not allow the actions of one person to affect how I look at all people. It can be hard to watch a video with blatant racism towards an individual just because of their skin color and not form a ball of hatred that expands and grows to encompass all of that particular set of people. But I don’t want to become hard hearted. I do not want to become like the people I am speaking about in this post.

The truth is God gave us all the physical attributes that define us as human beings. He gave us our skin color, hair texture and eye color. These are things that we have no control over and even if I did, I wouldn’t change it. But it is hurtful and mean to make assumptions or judge me by these things that I was born with. Yet people do it every day. Deciding and determining a person’s worth based on unchangeable characteristics. I just watched a video of a black man being beaten in China with metal poles. I would have been hurt and angry no matter what the person’s race was. I don’t believe in physical violence. But the fact that he was beaten for his skin color, which I possess as well, hits home. That could be me if I was over in China right now. That could be anyone who is labeled African/black. It does not matter which country or continent you are from. Black people of any nationality are being singled out and treated with disrespect due to the resurgence of the coronavirus in China. Now it’s all our fault 🙄.

I see all this talk about togetherness but it is a big ass joke. All the things the world has gone through before this did not inspire people to come together and neither will this. This is just another situation where the blame game will continue to exist and people will be treated unfair. Especially in America. We practice racism, sexism, xenophobia and homophobia on a daily basis. It is so ingrained in most people that they don’t even know that their actions are associated with these words. Then you have fake Christians that use Bible scriptures they interpreted just to justify their actions. When the main theme of the Bible is Love. It doesn’t say only love a particular set of people. It says love one another.

So back to free will. How do we use this fabulous option that God gave us to benefit others? Let’s get more informed on situations. Let us not take everything the media says as fact. I know if you have watched the news at any point in time in your life, you know that it sets a narrative and it is usually a distorted version of the truth. If you find yourself being sucked into the negativity, shut your TV off. It will allow you to process what you heard and dissect the information. Once you look at it, you may realize that majority of it is a bunch of he said, she said. No real facts. At this point you can do your own research and come to a more informed decision. Or you can pray about it and allow God to speak to you.

You can also reach out to people of different races, sex, religion, cultures and sexual orientation to see what their experiences are like. To be able to see the world through someone else’s eyes can give you an entirely new perspective. We can use free will to connect and offer help to someone who may be in need. And it doesn’t have to be a financial blessing. It can be a spiritual or emotional blessing. Someone may just need an encouraging word in these difficult times. Or for you to pray for them. We have to realize, life is still happening even while the world is consumed with a pandemic. So the problems I had before the pandemic or that occurred during the pandemic is still fighting to take me down.

I will say this time and time again. I believe that we were put on this earth to serve others. How we serve them is through the gifts God bestowed upon us. He still gave us free will to use these gifts as we choose. But why not choose to use them for good? Why not choose to open our hearts and hands to benefit others? Why not use this free will to choose to love instead of hate? Instead of making misinformed decisions about others just because they don’t look like us, worship like us, love who we love? Free will is one of the most important gifts God has given us. How will you use yours? Be well and whole. Much love to you all.

Hello Again

When I said I had nothing to talk about, that was kind of true. But I’m me, so there is always things to talk about. I have been feeling like shit. Brain fog makes it a little difficult to get your thoughts together and put it into coherent sentences. Lol. A symptom of MS that is definitely one of my least favorite. I have been off work all week and this is my first time writing which sucks because I’m going back to work on Monday. Whatever! I pretty much sat around watching pointless TV shows without accomplishing anything of value. I have been walking since it has warmed up a little bit. That is one good thing.

This post is just another check in. We are in the middle of a pandemic and the world as we knew it is over. This is a whole new reality. We are in a Marvel/DC comic with an alternate timeline/universe. I am not a comic book nerd but I am a fan of Marvel movies and The Flash. This is like Barry Allen/The Flash went back in time to save his mom and missed up everything on this Earth yet again. Lol. Damn Barry Allen! I am sure that is what happened. Now y’all can stop blaming it on the bats. As if…lol.

As I have said before I am an introvert so social distancing hasn’t been too hard for me. I feel bad for the extroverts in the world. I am okay with a simple phone call to have a quick chat with someone. However I am not okay with video chatting. I know what you look like. I don’t need to see your face. Unless it’s Chalupa, my niece. I love to see her little face. For all who are following the social distancing guidelines I commend you. Especially people who would have celebrated birthdays in the past weeks and those who have them in the coming weeks and months. I cannot leave out acknowledgement for all the essential team members that are helping to make this crisis manageable.

Then we have people who are going to the extreme while out in public. I have seen some of the craziest pictures of people online. There was a thread of people wearing things like a scuba mask with an oxygen tank, plastic bags over their faces (I thought you could suffocate like that), gallon water jugs cut to fit their heads and on and on. Seriously! If you don’t feel okay being outside with the general public, have your groceries delivered, duh. That way you are only interacting with one person. Today while driving I seen people with mask and gloves on in the car. What? Does your car have the Coronavirus?  Stay y’all asses at home. Lol

In times like this it can be hard to see the bright side. I get it. This would be a great time to start a gratitude journal. Write down at least 3 things every day. I don’t care if it’s as simple as I have a roof over my head, food to eat and toilet paper to wipe my ass. The reality is some people don’t so therefore why not be grateful for even the obvious things. Not saying compare yourself to others, but just having a sense of awareness of what is right in your life. I believe that people have taken for granted all of life’s little pleasures. Now that a good portion of them have been taken away, it is a little hard. For some it is extremely difficult. So let’s focus on what we have instead of what we don’t have. It will brighten your day. Today I am grateful for the sun which recharges my internal batteries, the calm waters of Lake Erie and my car which allowed me to get out and enjoy these two things. Pretty simple, huh?

I know that there will be hardships following this crisis. People will lose their businesses and their jobs permanently. It breaks my heart. I want us as a people to keep this solidarity we are forming right now once this is over. We will need to help those who have lost get back on their feet. This right here goes to show there isn’t any real differences between human beings. All people of this world are facing the same pandemic. Every class of people, every race and nationality of people. No one is exempt. And no one should be excluded when it is time to rebuild. As I have said before, I hope we come out better for having gone through this.

“Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it’s less good than the one you had before. You can fight it, you can do nothing but scream about what you’ve
lost, or you can accept that and try to put together something that’s good.”

-Elizabeth Edwards

Let’s put together something that is great! Live not in fear but with caution and continue to be well and whole. Much love to you all.

Hello

Well March aka Multipe Sclerosis Awareness month is official over and now I can talk about anything. Well I could then too but I wanted to bring awareness. The sad part is I don’t have anything to talk about. Lmao. I accomplished no goals because they all involved money and I need that money for bills. Lol. I received a note from the apartment manager letting me know they don’t give a shit, rent is still due. Ok, gotcha. I’m sure my other debtors don’t give a shit either. No, I could probably call and skip a couple of payments but my ultimate goal within the next 2 years is to have all my debts eliminated. I am moving and the only things I want to take with me is clothes and furniture. I don’t want anything else weighing me down. Not even a man unless it is my nephew. Lmao
Seriously though, I had a few things I wanted accomplished by the end of March. For one, I wanted to start a new blog. And this would have been the perfect time. A good portion of people are off work including most of my friends. And this blog is for them. So this blog became an idea from our group texts. My friends are funny and crazy with no filters. Kinda like me but a little worst. They would probably disagree but I don’t care. Lol. My goals is to create a blog where each of them can post anonymously and it would be rated R for sure. It will be a private blog that requires permission to access due to the content not being for just anybody. And honestly once everything financially is taken care of for this month, I may still do it. It will give adults only some entertainment in these uncertain times.
Still haven’t purchased my GoPro 😫. Yep, that is on hold as well. It is so hard to be a responsible adult. And totally overrated. I don’t have any adventures to record anyway so I guess I can suck this one up. I still have my amazing phone that takes awesome pictures like this.
Take Off
Vitamin D

Literally just made it before the sunrise.
I know that we have all had to put our lives on hold. It can be discouraging and a little depressing. For some odd reason, I am still filled with excitement for the possibilities. I am rediscovering parts of me that I have buried due to being consumed with day to day life. I have almost finished crocheting two blankets already. And that is a feat for me. Lol. Im going to purchase some puzzles to work on. What have you done that you haven’t done in a while? What talents are you rediscovering?  What hobbies old and new have you started? I believe that we should not lament this time but use it wisely. Life will resume. And it will be different. Let’s learn ways to find peace and hobbies to occupy our time in a positive way. To be better. To be stronger and more resilient. I am going to try meditation again. I heard it works miracles. And I want a miracle 😀.
I know this is all easy for me to say because I am childless and husbandless(yes I know it is not a word). For those of you that are comfortably crowded in the house with your loved ones, well…good luck. Lmao. Just kidding. I would think that this is an opportunity for deeper relationships. I don’t know. So I just hope that you all are making the best of this situation. And don’t feel bad if you need to get out and go for a drive by yourself. Or a walk in the park by yourself. Or any other activity that we are allowed to participate in by yourself. Continue to live with caution, not fear. Wash your damn hands and be well and whole. Much love to you all.