The Secret To A Fulfilling Life (It’s Not What You Think)
Do you want to know how to have the most fulfilling, purposeful life possible?
Are you sure?
You really, reeeeeeally want to know? (Because it’s not what you think.)
At least, I was pretty surprised when I figured it out.
It’s not making more money.
It’s not moving. (but it might help you do so).
It’s not losing weight (but it will definitely help with that).
It’s not getting rid of your chronic pain (it helps with this for sure. I know because I’ve done it and I’m STILL doing it).
It’s not getting rid of whatever other circumstance you may not be able to change right now.
Are you ready?
There are TWO parts to this:
It’s taking your thoughts captive around your current circumstances, and then dreaming and speaking life over the circumstances you want to be living in one day.
If you’re having a little PTSD from some old “name it and claim it” preacher from 15 years ago, breathe, my friend. That is NOT what I mean.
I’m going to make this super practical. And out of the list I made above, the one that probably raised an eyebrow is chronic pain, so that’s the one I’ll use.
Circumstance: This earthly body I live in has EDS. That lends itself to chronic pain.
Notice how I separated myself from the problem. My spirit doesn’t have EDS. Not even close. The body my spirit lives in right now does have EDS though.
There are a lot of thoughts I could think about this, like:
Why did God do this to me?
I hate this.
Will I always be in pain like this?
This isn’t fair.
I hate my body.
God hates me.
What did I do to deserve this?
I’ll never be free from this.
Why do I have to suffer in this broken body?
Are any of those thoughts godly? No. None of them are helpful. They are all from the father of lies and deception. Yet it’s pretty easy to start spiraling into these types of thoughts with chronic pain.
Satan would love for me to stay stuck, blame God for my circumstances, be a pain in the butt to everyone around me because of my bad attitude, and never attempt to manage or figure out what could help this condition.
Thankfully, God made me very stubborn. Being stubborn isn’t bad as long as it’s not directed at God. I’ve made it my life’s goal to show the enemy he never should have messed with this daughter of the King.
There are so many powerful prescriptions in Scripture for demanding life circumstances.
And one of the best ones is Philippians 4:8. I’m sure you already know it:
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think on these things.
So what thoughts do I think instead?
His divine power has given me everything I need at every moment.
God loves me. He will never leave me or forsake me.
I’m thankful for this body, and I’m going to do whatever it takes for it to be healthy.
I can’t wait for my perfect, pain-free heavenly body when I finally meet Jesus!
I’m always doing the best I can, and that’s all anyone can expect of me.
I’m already doing more than anyone thought possible.
I’m not broken, and God is using this to make me more like Jesus and to help other people.
Ok, so that is the taking-thoughts-captive part.
Now for the speaking-life part…
You all know that one of my biggest reasons for getting strong and healthy is so I can be a healthy grandma one day. In light of that, I have to tell you a funny story.
Two years ago, my birthday fell on a Wednesday, which is the day I host Detox Live for CellCore. We didn’t have central air conditioning, and it was HOT that day.
I had a standing air conditioner that vented out the window, but it’s incredibly loud, so I had to turn it off during the show. So I thought, how in the world am I going to keep myself from sweating buckets during this?
I decided I’d get a huge bucket of really cold water and put my feet in it. So, unbeknownst to anyone watching the show, my feet were in a cold bucket of water the entire time.
My husband got home right as the show ended, and I was drying my feet off from being in that bucket of water.
I have trained my mind so thoroughly to think of who I want to be and who God wants me to be, rather than who I am right now, that the only thing I could think of as I was drying my feet was the cute, chubby feet of my grandkids I’ll have one day, and what joy I’d feel drying them off after they’ve been in a kiddie pool on a warm summer day.
Just thinking of that brings me so much joy. There’s no way I could ever quit on my dream of being a strong, healthy grandma. It’s actually bringing me to tears right now, and it is freezing outside.
That is NOT “name it and claim it.” That is building a reality with your imagination.
THAT is what God designed our imagination to do, not catastrophize, worry, be fearful, or be stuck in anxiety, shame, or lies.
Believe me, I have done all of those things obsessively.
They STINK, and they cause pain emotionally and physically.
That’s using our imagination to destroy, not build.
Having the life of your dreams requires you to do exactly that. DREAM.
Set the joy of experiencing something greater than what you have right now in front of you every single day. Heck, every single moment, if life is particularly difficult.
And then walk toward that dream with every choice you make.
People associate dreaming with escaping reality. That’s not what I’m talking about.
It’s about BUILDING your reality.
As a man thinks in his heart, so is he… (Proverbs 23:7)
So I ask you…
What thoughts do you need to take captive?
Ask God to reveal to you what ungodly thoughts you have on repeat that He wants you to get rid of.
What do you need to think about instead to BUILD your reality?
Ask God to show you what thoughts He wants you to focus on instead.
Words and thoughts are powerful. Use them wisely!
If you want guided help doing this, let me know and we can do some coaching.
Set joy before you. Keep going!!
In passionate purpose,
Dorothy
PS: If this encouraged you even a little, imagine what it could do for someone else. Pass it on.
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