Naked

The most scariest thing that I find hard to do is to open up.

Truly open up. To reveal my hopes, my dreams, my fears, my disappointments and reveal the real me. Broken, imperfect, me.

Does that make sense? We live in a world where someone says they are with you one day and leave you the next.

Unfortunately we are surrounded with some people who are only around for their own selfish gain.

Let me break it down a little more for you.
As individuals we have a choice to who we open up to-- we have a choice of which side of us we choose to reveal to the people who have decided to be in our lives. But it is not all that we reveal... 

Why?

Is it the fear of rejection? The fear that once we have stripped off that barrier we are vulnerable? The fear of being judged? Regardless there is a fear that holds us from revealing our true selves.

But really, it is a very big privilege for someone to know the true you-- weaknesses and all.

We put on so many masks, and add so many layers to who we are just to protect our hearts; but somehow we manage to STILL get our hearts broken.

Being able to reveal your true self to people is the hardest thing to do; but this is being naked.

Sharing your hopes, dreams, fears-- letting people into the deepest darkest parts of yourself... it is the most vulnerable we can be-- and this is what being naked is all about.

It is the bravest thing that anyone can do-- but we constantly live in fear of being rejected or judged. 

But when you can find that person that you can truly be naked with-- do not turn them away. 

Do not live in fear, though-- it won't get you anywhere. If there is no one you can be truly naked with-- go to God.

God knows you best.

x

Rejection

There comes a time in each and everyone's lives where you will be rejected. It doesn't mean that you are pointless or your life is pointless.. it actually means that you are being prepared to be launched into the world.

I believe in God. I believe in his power, I believe once you accept him into your life, so many things change.
God doesn't do anything by accident; if you find yourself in a place where you are rejected, where no one even knows of your existence-- don't be dismayed at all, it just means that God is hiding you for a time before he brings you back out into the world.

This time of hiding is a preparation time-- a time to be groomed, broken, moulded back up, built-- everything.. but it is all for your GOOD.

You may be feeling at this time, 'Oh why is all of this happening to me' or 'Why is no one around to help me' don't even be worried... this is all happening because God has placed you in a place where no one is meant to see this time of transformation-- when God has finished with you, no one will be able to stop you.

It is a strategy! No one looks at the people who are 'nothing', but it's those same people that when you turn around another day, it is the people that you will need to help you! Never look down upon anyone, you never know who you will encounter in this life.

Be encouraged that you are in your process towards greatness. You may be rejected today; but at the time God reveals you, you will be accepted.

Living with an infant: Toys and Development

I recently bought my son a 'playnest' (pic below) and I can really see he is developing and becoming more and more interactive-- it is truly a beautiful thing to see. Something that took 9 months to create inside of you is now growing, developing, responding and playing.

God is good.

The purpose to why I bought the playnest as because as well as my son really liking colours-- they need to start feeling and touching different things and learning by exploring it for themselves. The Playnest is good for sensory development and cognitive development as it has a range of animals-- a zebra with a very soft and furry nose, a lion that makes a very crinkly noise, a parrot with a squeaky beak, and monkey with crinkly arms, and a sunshine with little ribbons that they can feel and stroke. It gets them busy using their hands and differentiating between colours and different textures. The funniest part of this playnest is that when I put my son in it, he lounges back instead of sitting up-- it's like a little chill spot for him. lol

But he's getting really busy in it nowadays, using his little hands to pull on the monkey arms and to touch the crinkly lion-- it's nice to watch.

But I can see that now he will need a wide range of toys because he is a very active baby-- always moving and wanting to touch things-- but it's all part of the curiosity of children.

Flash Fiction Friday-- Quiet

Staring outside to the emerging sunrise; my son is sleeping, looking so peaceful, his chest rising and falling. His eyes closed and his long eyelashes looking like mini bridges across his eyelids..

Mentally planning the day ahead-- listening to the low sounds of the voices on the radio, staring at the ceiling with the cobweb that seems to be getting longer everyday...

I hear the beginnings of crying from my son's crib.

The day has now begun.

The Comfort zone

A couple of blogs back I spoke about Elevation.... but there's something we need to truly understand about the comfort zone.

Being comfortable is when you're in a place where you are familiar with everything. You know what's going on, you know where everything is, you have been there for so long and everything is second nature to you.

But this place of comfort can be your worst enemy-- you can be stuck in this zone for years and before you realize years have passed and you haven't done anything with your life. Then regret and bitterness sets in... and you begin to become jealous of the people around you, when really all you can really blame is yourself for not taking the risk.

It's very easy to stay in a place where you are comfortable-- why would you want to leave? But you need to know that in order to reach the place you are destined to be, you must take a risk and come out!
The journey towards your destination begins when you are uncomfortable. Do you know why? Because what happens in a place where you are uncomfortable; you discover things about yourself that you didn't know you were able to do or you didn't have so much knowledge about. The reason why this happens is because you are more alert to things around you because you are in an unfamiliar setting.
When you're in an unfamiliar place you're on edge because you don't know what to expect-- but this is the place you are meant to be because you can see your true potential.
Familiarity can delay your progress because when you know everything you don't see the importance or significance of that thing again-- and your eyes become closed. This is where you miss a lot of vital things for yourself and for where it could possibly take you in the long run.

We must be constantly moving and progressing because time is not waiting for anyone in this life! Take a risk today and do something that you've never done before-- you must fulfil what you were brought in this life to do!

Purpose

You have a purpose to fulfil. Yes, you.

Have you ever just thought one day that there is more to this life than waking up, going to work, going home and going to sleep and then doing the exact same thing the next day?

There IS more to life than just that-- but are you ready to walk down that path? The path that will have dark twist and turns; the path that may seem like you will never see the light? The path that will test your faith and your patience?

It is awaiting for you.

As long as you are alive to see a new day, there is something God needs you to do. He has something great for you to do on this earth.

Do you believe it?

Best believe because you have not entered this world by accident.
You have a specific purpose.

You have been created to impact the world you are living in. There is a gift, a talent, a skill.. Whatever you want to label it as; that God has instilled a very unique skill for your life to fulfil the purpose that he has written for your life.

Everyone's path in life is different, so there is no need to compare yourself to the person next to you. What they need to do is completely and utterly far from what you are doing so you don't need to compete. My spiritual father Rev Dr Abbeam Ampomah Danso says "I don't compete because I am complete"

Your purpose has been tailored for your life-- all you need to do is walk in it and believe.

Living with an infant: 5 months and weaning

Lawd Jesus in heaven... I'm weaning my child! Where has the time gone Lord?!

In the space of one week so much has changed-- I personally haven't completely stopped my boy of the breast-- but it has now only been limited to the evening/leading to bedtime. What i'm doing is slowly introducing semi solid foods into his diet... so for example yesterday he tried pureed carrots-- from the Ella's Kitchen range.

He liked it-- it's so funny to see their faces when they're introduced to something new-- the face of disgust, astonishment, and then the last emotion is 'oooh, this is really nice actually' and then sometimes.. you get a mouth full of saliva and pureed food. Lovely!

But there's two types of weaning methods that I have come to realise: the general weaning method where you introduce semi solid foods, and they adjust to different tastes and textures... and then there's baby led weaning, where you skip the semi solids completely and go straight to the solid foods, carrots, etc, finger foods that they can hold and also get used to different textures.

When to start weaning is when you can see that your baby has taken interest in your food, they're looking at it with such focus, they're reaching out for it etc.

But obviously you don't start giving them big heaps of semi solids, you start small and progress because it is something brand new to them-- all they are used to is breast milk or formula lol

Once you can see they are finishing the small portion you give them, gradually increase until they finish everything-- the most important thing about weaning is patience. Some babies may not immediately take heed to new tastes, so you have to keep trying at least 3 or 4 times so they get used to the taste.

The most important thing about weaning is to start them with veggies and wholesome foods-- (baby rice, porridge..) because as much as it may not seem like much, you are actually setting their food habits from now. If you give them too much sweet stuff, all they will want to taste is sweet stuff and it will be harder to introduce veggies and the foods that are good for them- it won't be impossible, it will just be more difficult.

I just can't believe how fast time is flying....

God is good though. x