“When you drop a pebble into a pond, ripples spread out, changing all the water in the pool. The ripples hit the shore and rebound, bumping into one another, breaking each other apart. In some small way, the pond is never the same again.” --by Neal Shusterman
I often say we are born on purpose and for a purpose, and the journey of life begins and ends with us discovering, accepting, and walking in our purpose. In Jeremiah 29:11, it tells us God knows the thoughts He thinks towards us that will result in an EXPECTED end. Everything we deal with during our journey called life is to direct and/or redirect us to get to the expected end God designed for us. While on this journey called life, it may take a while for us to realize God has set us up! God has set us up to experience His peace and joy, as we bask in the rejuvenating and healing powers of His love as we accomplish whatever God assigned for us! He has set us up to realize we have a light designed for others to benefit from directly or indirectly.
I once believed negative things happened in my life to hinder my growth, keep me from attaining my goals, and/or keep me from living my best life. It never occurred to me that God allowed all of it to redirect me down the path He has chosen for me. The path that empowers me to emotionally, mentally, physically and Spiritually handle what is coming next in my life. I never considered God used the experiences to strengthen and not destroy me. I challenge you to think about the experiences you have had, the people you have encountered, and the lives you have touched. Have they led you to your current life circumstance or position: in this place, in this mind space and with this heart condition; while forcing you to rethink your life, your goals and the direction you thought your life was to go in? Trust me when I say this! The totality of our experiences has equaled us being the blessed and perfectly imperfect persons we are!
I mentioned to someone ‘things never look the way we expect, nor how we planned it to appear. It looks exactly how it needs to look to ensure we are being true to who we are as we live the life of purpose we are created, destined, and purposed to live. There is always another way to look at any situation/circumstance we may deal with. The difficulty begins when we only focus on what we are dealing with and/or when we are suffering from tunnel vision. At that moment, we cannot see past our current circumstance or situation. We cannot see the forest for the trees. This was the set that taught me how to get past the situation and embrace the hope that things will not always be like this. I went through some challenging situations with some family members. People who believed that what was happening was all about them, their wants, and their views on life. I have to admit that in the beginning it angered and frustrated me. Now I recognize they were trying to control and manipulate me and my family through their actions. They attempted to set me up to feel and experience specific things from their narcissistic tendencies and their need for attention. The experience taught me not to lead with my emotions, but with a logical analysis of the situation and to act accordingly. In the end, I learned no action on my part is the best course of action for me.
I must admit, it is painful learning how to deal with troublesome people and situations in life without becoming emotionally charged and/or distraught. The experience brought something my mother taught me to memory; there is another side of through that can bring clarity and hope things will change. This memory forced me to realize my actions count, and not what the other person did or said, and that I will be held accountable for my actions. Behind the scenes, God was setting me up to learn one of the greatest lessons of my life! Just because I am an emotional being does not mean I have to lead with and/or act upon them. What it means is I have a right to feel what I feel, but I don’t have the right to stay there. I must deal with my emotions and then look at the situation/circumstance for what it is. Not only was the experience preparing me for my next, but it was making me better, stronger, wiser, and more emotionally healthy. God set me up to learn how to live out daily, that I must choose and own the choices I make; good, bad, or indifferent. No one is perfect; however, we have the power to control our actions, our reaction, our responses and/or our attitude. All of which leads to the legacy we leave behind that generation will benefit from or cursed with. Just like me, you have been set up for greatness, success, and living a life of purpose. I challenge you to learn from the positives and negatives that intersect your life, and realize it is all designed to get us to our expected end. But let me caution you, living a life of purpose is not about you. However, it is about surrendering to the process that makes up your life, about allowing God to direct and/or redirect your life, and/or about realizing you are to be a vessel unto honor that is meet for God’s use. By accepting, realizing, and/or walking in your purpose, you may well provide the answer to someone else’s life question. A question that needs to be answered before they may accept, realize, and walk in their purpose. This represents the mark, the indelible mark you are to leave on humanity that has the potential of changing humanity for the better.
All of us have to accept the fact we are deliberately set up to live a life of purpose. God has allowed us to have this human experience to be a blessing in our home, our family, our community, and the world. Our interactions and the positive indelible marks we leave with the people we encounter has the potential of spanning out and touching millions. I caution you, as well as myself, to be careful, because a negative interaction and/or indelible mark can have a lasting impact and cause undue hurt and harm. Allow the good, positive, and the love inside you to drive as you infuse the world with your divinely designed light. Your courage to live an intentional and purposeful life empowers, inspires, and enables others to heal under the brilliance of your light. They will grow and learn to exist in it while learning how to provide their light in the same way for others. You have been set up to live your purpose, your destiny, your life OUT LOUD and in living color!
Michelle P. Jones
Michelle P Jones is an ordained minister, an Amazon International Bestselling author, business and ministry strategist, and inspirational/motivational speaker. Michelle is the President/CEO of Michelle P. Jones, Inc., a professional services firm, where she specializes in informing, empowering and equipping entrepreneurial creatives in structuring their business/ministry endeavors for success and continued growth. Michelle has self-published two (2) books for national distribution: Grasping your success: Six steps to Starting an Legitimizing your Business and Walking on Water in my Stiletto: How God Strengthen my Faith-walk, is a contributing author in As for Me and My House: Stories to help on board households for entrepreneurship and will soon release her fourth book for national distribution. Michelle is also the executive producer and host of the Girlz Talk... Real Talk Podcast, that can be found on all major podcast platforms, where she provides a safe place for women and men to have those difficult yet necessary conversations that have the potential of changing the trajectory of their life while empowering and enabling them to live their truth, their purpose, their life OUT LOUD and in living color. If you have any questions and/or to obtain additional information, please contact Michelle via email at MzMichellePJones@gmail.com.