Moving Through the Storm

You can have all the tools in the world but if deep down you don’t feel worthy of the success you seek it will never work. You will find ways to self sabotage (even subconsciously) or procrastinate to the point of disillusionment and shame. You have to deal with your root issues of worthiness. You have to understand that you are inherently worthy because you are human created by a loving God. You have to believe that you have a voice that deserves to be heard. Circumstances, people and your own mistakes can work against that belief but it doesn’t mean it’s true. You have the experience and the voice that can serve to heal the broken-hearted. And the world needs to hear from you. Work on that belief…read scripture……get it in your spirit. Commit to blocking out the negative influences that contradict what you know to be true….that God is not man that He should lie. If he says you are worthy you are…period.

Scripture tells us that weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning. Even if it’s a long night, joy is coming. Trust that, believe that and act on that fact. The true act of courage is to carry yourself through the storm like you know it’s going to end. You don’t deny the storm you just don’t give it authority. Your storm does not get to define you. It can refine you yes, but not define you. That’s what it means when God can take what was meant for evil and turn it around for your good.

Move through your storm and brush off the guilt and shame. Move through your storm and resist the urge never to trust again. Move through your storm and understand that you, along with everyone else you encounter is human and therefore bound to fail themselves and someone else at some point. Move through your storm and understand this is not the end. While you may not have been able to control everything that has happened to you and you may not be able to change mistakes you have made, you do control the narrative of your life. Only you get to decide what you have been through means to you. You can hold on to every dark memory and let it make you cold, hard, bitter and hurt. You can move through your storm and life as one big ball of pain only seeking to numb it or inflict more of it. You can move through life protecting yourself from further damage by erecting walls that serve to do nothing more but to further isolate and concentrate the pain. Or you can feel the pain but allow a different narrative to take shape. You can be open to healing the wounds that have been inflicted by yourself or others or both. You have the opportunity to choose to take what you’ve been through to help someone else. You get to choose to evolve and grow through the pain. You get to choose to allow the negative aspects of what you’ve been through positively mold you and shape you into a more compassionate, empathetic, wiser you. You have the capacity and courage to forgive. Even if you are judged by what you’ve been through and you will be….you get to control the narrative of your life. One definition of narrative is “ the art of telling stories”. Only you can tell the true story of your life. Others will try and feel they have the right but they don’t. No one knows what you’ve been through but you. No one has gleaned the wisdom of what you have been through but you. No one owns your story but you. Take control of the narrative of your life. Move through your storm with courage and dignity, no matter how long your night is. This is not all there is. You are not going to die this way. Overcome the temptation to give up. There is more to your story, my story, our story.

As I have moved through life and storms have threatened to steal my voice I am always reminded of who I am and whose I am by a true, faithful, loving God. I am the daughter of the Most High and thank Him for His guidance, nurturing and love. I thank Him for allowing me to come across a documentary about the life of Beah Richards some time ago. And thank Him for allowing me to hear words that fueled and gave me courage and ushered me into a new season of my life many years ago and continue to ring in my ears and give me courage to control the narrative of my life and step into yet another season.

“Be mindful that the world that you want to live in and that you need to live in needs you to create it; it needs your input. The world needs to hear what you have to say. The last word has not been spoken”. -Beah Richards.

Own your voice, own your narrative. Hold your head up. Move through the storm and help someone else.

Love,

Wanda J. Thompson