Author: Live Today With Faith

Im a author and writer wanting to change the world one person at a time.

Heal The People In Your Life

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Did you know that the words you speak can bring healing to people’s lives?

When you speak words of love, comfort, or encouragement, those words have the power to affect the person hearing them in such a positive way, that the result is health in their body.

For those of you who are parents, your words can impart valuable knowledge to your children, which results in their good health:

Not only do our words have the power to heal, but unfortunately they also have the power to hurt, which can result in sickness.

Careless words can make people feel insecure which can lead to them feeling depressed. The greatest sickness of the 21st century.

As Proverbs 12:18 states: “There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts..” – and swords kill or cripple people!

When we get into a conflict or argument, our words can diffuse the situation, or make it worse.

Most people are lazy with there words; they fail to understand or appreciate the power they possess. So, they use them unwisely. Saying negative things like, I can’t, I will never, that’s impossible.

responsibility

Each of us needs to take responsibility. Responsibility for the words that we use. When you change I can’t to I can; healing energy will flow into your life.

If you have a problem in your relationship, you have two choices, you can be stubborn, or you can choose to sit down with a loved one and admit that you’re in the wrong, even if you’re not. You will often find that when you make the first move the other person will apologise also.

In my new book, The Healing Power of Words I write about the healing power that our words contain.

How they can mend relationships and friendships that have fallen apart.

How negative self-talk can hold you back.

How to create habits that are healthy, not only mentally but also emotionally.

Learn to heal people where ever you go. Control your tongue. Strengthen your family bonds, and nourish the ones you love.

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Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

These are healing words. These are words that instil faith that can restore a person’s life. Like Jesus, we too must speak healing, encouraging, and inspirational words over our lives and the lives of others.

Words that build people up not tear them down. Words that motivate inspire and push people towards their destiny.

The Healing Power of Words is currently on free promotion on Amazon. Get your copy now!

Click the link – Free eBook

Thank you.
Rev J Martin

5 Common Habits of Unhappy People

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unhappy

 

Most of our un-happiness comes from our own thinking, behaviour and habits. Today I would like to share 5 of the most destructive habits that can create un-happiness in your life.

After each habit I will go over some ways that can help you overcome some of the habits and live a better life.

Negative Friends

If you are surrounded with people that have little or no faith this will start to affect you in the long-term. Who we socialize with, what we read, watch and listen to, has a massive effect on how we feel and think.

It becomes a lot harder to be happier if you let yourself be influenced by negative voices. Voices that tell you that life will always be the way it is, that its better you learn to be happy where you are. Voices that watch life from a negative limited perspective.

How to overcome this habit:

Replace those negative voices with more positive ones. Surround yourself with new people to see the difference it can make. All your old friends will be exactly where you leave them if you ever want to return. This alone can be like a whole new world opening up.

Spend time with positive people, listen to inspiring music and read motivational books, watch movies and TV-shows that make you laugh and think about life in a new way.

What I found very helpful was starting out small. For example, listen to an inspiring audiobook on YouTube while eating breakfast in the morning, rather than listening to the news that is filled with negativity.

Getting Stuck in the Past and Future

Spending much of your time in the past, reliving old painful memories, conflicts, missed opportunities can hurt a lot. Spending your time in the future and imagining how things could go wrong at work, in your relationships and with your health can lead to a lot of un-happiness. Life is about living in the present.

How to overcome this habit:

It is pretty much impossible not to think about the past or the future. And it is of course important to plan for tomorrow and next year and to try to learn from your past, but to dwell on those things rarely helps.

What I found to be very helpful is to focus on what I can do today. I do out a timetable each day of all the things that I need to do. Constantly working towards my bigger longterm goals. If I do find myself thinking of the past or future too much I recite a short prayer to centre my thoughts.

Worry and doubt all stem from dwelling on the past or thinking about the future.

What I find very helpful is going for a walk in nature, or changing my surroundings by visiting a friend or relative. Being at home is the worst place to be if there is something troubling you.

Comparing Yourself To Others

One very common and destructive habit is to compare yourself to other people. People compare cars, houses, jobs, relationships, social popularity and so on. The list can be endless. All this does is create a lot of negative feelings.

How to overcome this habit:

Compare yourself to yourself. Instead of comparing yourself to other people create the habit of comparing yourself to yourself.

See how much you have grown, what you have achieved and what progress you have made towards your goals. Doing this has the benefit of creating gratitude, appreciation and kindness towards yourself as you observe what you have achieved, the obstacles you have overcome and the good stuff you have done.

When we judge ourselves we tend to judge others also. Luke 6:37 “do not judge, and you will not be judged.” Try to only focus on the positives in yourself and those around you. When we judge it’s usually because we have unrealistic expectations of others and ourselves.

By letting this all go and just accepting who you are faults and all, you will be instantly happier and have better relationships with others.

Focusing on the Negative Details in Life

Most people focus on the dark clouds rather than the silver lining. When you look at the negative aspects of a situation that is a sure way to make yourself unhappy. You can even drag down the mood for everyone around you.

How to overcome this habit:

Overcoming this habit can be difficult. Something that has worked for me is to look for the good in the situation, it can be hard to see but it is always there. If things didn’t work out for you, maybe its not the right time, or a better opportunity is around the corner.

What can easily happen if your not careful is you can be so buried in self-pity that you miss out on the reason that you had the setback. For example, you attend an interview and don’t get the job. You take the rejection personally, thinking you haven’t got what it takes and don’t even look for another job when the perfect one is waiting for you.

Overcomplicating Life

Life at times can be complicated but more often than not we can be the ones that make it so. This ultimately creates stress and unhappiness. The world is becoming more complex but that doesn’t stop us from making some new habits to make it easier.

How to overcome this habit:

Splitting your focus and having your attention all over the place is certain to lead to unhappiness. Concentrate on one thing at a time. Have a to-do-list of 4-5 important things that need completed throughout the day.

Work on the first until it is complete then move on to the next. This simple strategy saves time, and will triple your productivity. Plus, at the end of the day you will feel happy.

Another thing that can overcomplicate life is having too much stuff. A solution can be to ask yourself: have I used this in the past year? If not then give it away. This can create so much space within your home. A cluttered living space reflects a cluttered mind.

Relationships can be the most complicated thing in life. What has helped me greatly in this department is communication. Reading minds is impossible. Minimise unnecessary conflicts, misunderstandings and negativity.

When stressed, worried or lost in a problem, breathe with your belly for two minutes and just focus on the air going in and out. This will calm your body and mind.

Then you can start focusing on doing what is most important for you again.

Thanks for reading. Have a good week.
Rev J Martin

How Your Phone Can Increase Your Faith

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Try for one day to keep track of every time you pick up your phone. With some research showing that we pick up and put down our phones 150 times a day, just logging it may become a challenge.

Now, I’m not asking you actually to take a note, but for one day try to do a mental one. You will quickly get a sense of how much time you are focused on activities and how much time you are being distracted.

So why am I talking about this today?

Well, as the saying goes, ‘replace a negative with a positive.’ So if you have negative habits replace them with positive ones.

Of course, some people will say I need my phone for my job, etc. that’s not negative. But even I go to my phone to check for an important email and find myself replying to a text message or scrolling through Facebook.

Sometimes forgetting all about the reason I picked the phone up in the first place.

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What I started to do is, I have a 30-second lock on my phone so when I set it down it locks within 30 seconds. And to unlock it I have to put in a password.

Now, I changed this password to the word ‘prayer.’

So every time I open my phone I am reminded to say the short prayer. “Jesus I surrender to your will.” When I started to do this, I was instantly connected to God more each day.

If you’re going through hurt, worry or doubt it can help you detach from it, even if it’s only for a brief moment.

When we get into a state of worry, doubt or anxiety we can lose ourselves for days, weeks, or even months as we are completely absorbed by what is going on in our lives.

It could be a serious situation, and I don’t want to make light of that, it could be something within your family or with a friend or in your community.

But if we lose ourselves in these events and let worry doubt or fear consume our spirits, our faith can weaken as we can question everything.

Certain events can even test our faith, pulling us down, separating us from God.

We can go through a period where we even give up on Him.

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If you find yourself lost in this place, it’s important not to beat yourself up about it. We all have to deal with a certain situation in the best way we know how.

If you tend to use your phone a lot, screens can be locked; screen savers can be put in place, helping us to keep focused on the only thing that matters. Our creator.

You can change your passwords to meaningful positive, motivating words or phrases that help you throughout the day. Each day you are regularly programming your mind with faith.

Just for that split second when you pick up your phone, it can break a negative thought cycle that you may be going through, by connecting you to God. Adding peace to your day

And, when we are more connected, we are more relaxed, we are more centred, we are more at peace.

Whenever you read scripture, prayers or motivational literature, it calms you, and you realise that everything is going to work out.

When you are in the peaceful calm state which prayer brings, you can think level-headedly. You no longer feel from a place of worry, doubt, stress, depression or anxiety, but from a place of faith.

You are coming from a grounded, centred place, and when you come from that place you can see, no matter what is going on in your life, from a new perspective, a fresh perspective, a view you can mirror to the past.

And, in the past, everything worked out, so you know it will work out this time as well.

I wish your self, family and friends a beautiful weekend and may God bless you all, in a 1000 ways.

Thank you for reading
Rev J Martin

Is Free Will The Ultimate Power?

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free will

When God created us, He gave us free will, without free will, we would be robots. Predictable, boring, with no room to grow.

The major decision we have to make is to live in faith or live in fear.

Let’s just say Tommy has an interview, Tommy might initially feel overjoyed, rushing to share the news on social media.

But when the buzz has worn off, Tommy begins to doubt if he is good enough for the job, so he calls a friend, explaining how he feels. Jason encourages him, not by some magic trick but simply by telling him what he already knows deep down.

That he is awesome and will ace the interview.

Tommy puts down the phone in good spirits, pumped up for the interview. If only he could walk in right now. His energy alone would win him the job.

After a few hours, Tommy’s doubt returns.

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Before long, he’s back where he started, and to make matters worse Tommy has an argument with his girlfriend, and they break up. Becky tells him how useless he is, telling him attending the interview would be a waste of time, for a loser.

Tommy decides not to attend the interview.

A friend on the morning of the interview calls Tommy to wish him good luck; he tells his friend what happened. Again, his friend builds him up not by some magic trick but by telling him what he knows deep down within.

That he’s better off without a girl that doesn’t believe in him. That the job will help him grow as a person; that he will be doing a job he loves.

Tommy gets in his car and goes straight to the interview. Fired up, he walks in with confidence, energy, and style. He instantly connects with the people taking the interview, so much so they are memorized. Tommy gets the job.

What has happened here?

Tommy’s free will took him on a rollercoaster that almost when off the rails. We all have the choice to doubt or to have faith in each moment.

Free will is like the pendulum on a grandfather clock; it’s what makes the clock tick. It is what creates the ups and downs of life.

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The thing that we need to know is that we are not the pendulum, we are the battery that powers the clock, but unlike conventional batteries our power comes from God and His power never runs out.

So for the rest of this week, when you come up against hard times that has your mood all over the place. Remember that you are not the pendulum but the battery that is separate from it all.

 

Have an amazing faith filled week
Rev J Martin

 

God’s Grace Is On The Way, Free eBook

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grandma

Growing up my grandmother used to say, “you have the grace of God with you.” For the longest time I did not know what this meant. As I have got older and wiser I realize that she meant I had a faith filled view of life. I always talked with optimism, and believed that all would work out.

Personally, I never looked at this as a gift, thinking everyone was the same, but dealing with people I quickly became aware that a faith filled view was a very rare quality.

An outlook of faith can change so much, you notice simple little things that connect you to nature. The feeling you get when you walk outside on a cold January day all wrapped up and are thankful for the coat that is on your back. You feel Gods power as you look out at the rising sun.

Just for that moment all stresses worries fade away because you feel His creative force flowing through you and in the world.

There is not a passing day goes by that I am not grateful for this connection to God, but I also believe this connection can be felt by everyone. There is great power to be gained from connecting with nature, and in the reading of faith filled words. Both of them make us realize that there is a power in this world much greater than ourselves.

To often we can let worry and doubt dominate our thought life; we become disconnected from God. The feeling comes over us that we must do everything on our own strength.

This is a lonely place to be, your faith can weaken, your defenses can break down leading to illness and pain.

Each day you must spend time focused on God, focused on faith, focused on gratitude. Take a walk into nature and you will feel Gods power and grace all around you. But you must be present

You invest hours at work, on the internet, watching your favorite dramas. So, its about time you started to invest time in you. If you are waiting for others to motivate or inspire you; you will be waiting a long time. People are to busy dealing with there own lives.

My new book, God’s Grace Is On The Way, is a reminder that there is good in your future. No matter how your life is now, brighter days lie ahead. It’s a faith builder that will help you connect with your inner desires and dreams.

I believe 2018 will be a great year for you, its time you believed that too.

Download the book today for free by clicking on the image below, all I ask for in return is an honest review. Promotion ends 29th of January.

Thank you.

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6 Steps How to Stop Worrying

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You’ve attended the interview it seemed to go well, but you’re waiting with worry to hear back from them. You had an extra slice of cake with your afternoon tea and you’re worried if it was one too many for the waistline you’re watching.

Or maybe you’re about to go have a nice evening out with your friends and you’re worried whether it will rain. The common denominator in all these things is that you’re worrying about things you can’t change – so stop worrying!

You’ve already attended the interview so you’ve done what you can to get the job. You’ve already eaten the cake so there’s no point beating yourself up for it when it’s already in the tummy. And the weather is uncontrollable so worrying about isn’t going to change it.

How often do you worry about things you can’t change?

Probably a few times a day – if not more. This creates unnecessary additional stress for both your body and mind, and also prevents the joy and enjoyment you can experience today.

Matthew 6:25-26
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

 

So it’s time you learned to stop worrying. Let’s start by looking at what research has said about worrying in general:

  • About 85% of the things we worry about never happen.
  • If what we worry about does happen, 80% of us said we handled the outcome better than we thought we would.
  • People who let go of worries instead of stressing over them are much healthier than those who don’t.

So how do you let go of this worrying that sometimes drives you crazy – especially when you’re worrying about things you have no control over?

Try the six strategies below to stop worrying once and for all – there’ll be a time and a place for each of them.

call a friend

Number One – Call a friend to talk about your worry.

Talking about your worry will help you get your head straight about whether your worry is realistic, worth worrying about, and something you can actually do anything about.

It will help you understand that there’s no point worrying about it if the outcome is out of your hands. Talking will offload some of the weight you carry around.

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Number Two – Time with God.

Learning to take time each with God. Being aware of His presence through prayer and stillness will help you keep your mind focused on what you’re doing now rather than worrying about things you can’t change.

Even 10 minutes of sitting down just focusing on your breathing, has been shown to reduce everyday stress.

Number Three – Accept uncertainty & learn to thrive in it.

The beauty of life is in how unpredictable it is – you never quite know what’s around the corner! Learn to embrace this uncertainty and thrive in it. Who knows, it could even bring some exciting new opportunities you never even thought about. Put your heart and soul into the things you care about, and work hard on achieving your dreams. That’s all you can do. The rest is up to God.

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Number Four – Distract yourself with another activity.

Really can’t seem to get it out of your head? Go do something completely unrelated and different that forces you to focus on something else. This is most effective if you choose an activity that you get fully immersed in, such as practicing your hobby or reading an exceptional book.

For example, I’m able to escape the world when I take my dog for a walk in the forest – just spending time with him takes my mind away from other things.

exerise

Number Five – Exercise!

Doing some kind of exercise you enjoy will give you a break from your worries whilst reducing the levels of your stress hormones, stimulating the production of feel-good brain chemicals, and improving your self-image.

If you’re struggling to get your mind to be quiet during exercise, put some music on in your headphones or push yourself even harder. When you challenge your body you will need to focus so you won’t be able to worry about anything else other than the exercise itself.

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Number Six – Have a designated worry time and worry notebook.

If you really want to take control of those worries and you’re finding that the above strategies don’t work, allow yourself to worry for a certain time period every day.

Spend time writing about all your worries in that notebook, and accept that when the time is up, the worrying has to stop. That way you will get them out of your head and onto paper, which research has shown is very effective in clearing your mind.

If you’re at least able to stop worrying about things you can’t change, you will be able to reduce your stress levels and boost your positive emotions. For the things you can change, do something about them, fight your worry with action!

For the things you can’t change, have a play with these six strategies and see how you get on with letting go of your worries!

Enjoy your weekend.

Rev J Martin

On With The New in 2018

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Due to a very eventful four to six weeks I have not been doing my usual updates. I had some family problems that needed my care and attention. All is much better now, its so easy to get caught up in negativity. Time to move on.

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Ephesians 4:22-24
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

We all know deep down the areas that we must change, maybe you are quick to anger, resulting in broken friendships and relationships, or maybe you lack faith and sit back thinking things will remain the same.

Whatever it maybe 2018 is the time for new growth.

Change doesn’t have to be something that flips your life upside down. Small changes work best. For example you want to lose weight, which seems to be an example we can all relate to…lol

Most people give up after a few days. Why?

Because they do to much to soon. Start small. Walk around the garden or walk the children to school. Walk to the corner shop or to a neighbors instead of using the car. These small changes may not seem like much at first but over a couple of weeks you will notice the difference.

Or maybe you want to have more faith. Instead of thinking you must spend hours in prayer. Start by saying a few prayers, while waiting in traffic, on the train, or in line at the department store. It may seem small but moments of prayer create peace, and the more you feel peace the calmer you become.

So in stressful situation where in the past you would worry or doubt you will find that you have a peace within to help you calm that storm.

I would like to wish you, your family and friends, health, success and happiness in 2018 and beyond. Remember that small things lead to big results.

Have an amazing weekend.
Rev J Martin

Free ebook —You can transform your life — Learn the true power of prayer

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When writing a book on prayer I wanted to address all people. Those that pray often and those that want to but don’t seem to have the time, due to work, social, or family commitments.

Prayer is an area that is very important to me, but there was a point in my life that I looked at it like a chore. Mainly because after a busy day the last thing that I wanted to do was pray.

I was worried, I doubted my abilities, and was stressed from the day.

gif businessAs I have become more mature my view on prayer has changed. Prayer has many different forms, all of which are powerful but we must never lose the sight of the fact that we are in constant communication with God.

Recently, I was talking to a young lady who was only out of University and was finding it hard to get work; she wanted to be a journalist, but when I told her about an opportunity that had just become available for a national newspaper, she replied, “I can’t-do that. That would be too much for me.”

As the conversation continued, I offered her another option for her to consider, to which she remarked, “That’s impossible. No journalist has taken that route.”

I started noticing a pattern throughout our conversation: Her perspectives about everything — her career and choices— were coming from scarcity. She felt her options were always limited and there would never be enough.

“So what do you want to do? What do you believe is possible?” I finally asked.

She had great difficulty responding. This young lady had been focusing so long on what she didn’t want; she wasn’t able to work out what she did want. Her faith in herself was faltering. And everything she was experiencing was taking her further off course.

If you let thoughts like, I cant, I will never, I’m not good enough float through your mind; these simple prayers can shape the rest of your life. You stop growing, you stop stretching and only go for what you think you are capable off.

This young lady had let these negative thoughts get a foothold, she started to believe that she wasn’t good enough. What was possible for her got smaller and smaller until the point her faith in her abilities almost vanished.

We all can relate to this girl in some way, we don’t go for the new job because we don’t feel good enough. We don’t do that night class because we think were to old and everyone will make fun of us, so we don’t fulfill our dreams because we settle for second best.

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Second best is not what we where sent here to achieve. God wants the best for us. We need to stop talking negative, we need to stop letting fear direct our lives, we need centre our mind on faith.

In my new book, You Can Transform Your Life, I will share my personal view of prayer to help you get the most out of your life, so that you can fulfill your dreams.

Book on free promotion until Sunday on Amazon. Click image below. Feedback would be very welcome. Thanks.

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How I Overcome my Fears and Left The Comfort Zone Behind

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When you fear— what do you do?

You paint pictures in your mind, sometimes very vivid ones, about how your not smart enough, talented enough or attractive enough.

What are you really doing —You’re telling yourself stories.

You are the main character and fear likes to take you down a dark road, where there is no moon, or lights up ahead. The further you go— the darker it gets. Each step you take is less and less certain— so you slow down, until you stop, retreating back the way you came.

walking down a dark roadIt sure is dark down here…

Then we try to justify our decision with the fact that we didn’t really need the new job, didn’t really need to do the course, or attend the seminar.

I’m happy enough where I am anyway. And where is that?

The comfort zone.

Childhood Fears

Remember when you were a child the stories that you would tell your self. I don’t know if you had the same fear as me but I was afraid of the dark.

Looking back, was it really the dark though?

Not really.

It was the fact that in my imagination it was not an empty room. As children our minds are open, so every monster, vampire or werewolf we have ever seen or read about could possible be in that darkness.

turn_off_the_light_What’s that sound?

I remember turning on the light, reassuring myself that all was ok. Checking all the wardrobes and underneath the bed.

When the light went out again the fear did subside only to return. What was I really doing?

I was telling myself a story, replaying a film or something that I heard or read. I was just told I had a very vivid imagination, and I would grow out of it.

We may grow up but that child remains, we simply tell ourselves a different set of stories, the vampires and the werewolf’s are replaced with, the story, I’m not good enough.

Fears A Good Thing

If you haven’t felt fear in a long time you may think that is a good thing— but its not. Why you may ask?

Because it means that you are living in a comfort zone. The comfort zone is not a happy place, but it’s comfortable.

People work jobs they hate, why?  Because its comfortable.

People stay in relationships they are not happy in, why? Because it is comfortable.

Rather than step out and do their own thing, most people just have a look around and do what other people are doing.

Its like the blind leading the blind.

What I have learnt from experience is this, before you follow other people— LOOK AT WHERE THEIR GOING— because that is where they are taking you.

The average person tiptoes through life hoping to make it safety to the other side. What a dumb game; life is not a practice run, we get one shot at it. Mark twain famously said, do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.

Usually when we fear something we have a story in our heads of how we think things will play out.

fear gifIts just our shadow. GET ME OUTTA HERE

The story just plays over and over until the fear can turn to anxiety, you can begin to sweat, feel uncomfortable, and start to feel knots in your stomach, maybe even leading to sleepless nights.

When you actually confront your fears you quickly realize that it is never as bad as you first imagined, plus you have a sense of achievement; which drives you on.

Well it may seem like I have taken you down a dark path but there is a light at the end of it.

Just like you tell yourself a story where everything goes wrong— you can start to tell yourself a story where everything goes right.

Next time you step out of our comfort zone, instead of pulling up a chair and listening to Mr Fear’s story, tell him a story of faith. A story where you win. A story where you are the hero.

In time you will realize there was only one story teller. You’ve been looking into a mirror the whole time.

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So I challenge you to face your fears embracing the concept of story telling. So instead of I will probably fall flat on my face, change it to, I will soar above the clouds.

Thanks for reading.

Tell yourself a story of faith today. 🙂