Journey of a Thousand Miles

by Joel Osteen Most criticism is based out of jealousy and a competitive spirit. The more successful you are, the more criticism you encounter. Not everyone will celebrate your successes with you. Our successes draw out their jealousy. This isn't about you; it's on the inside of them. Until they deal with it, it will keep them from rising higher. God sends us tests to see if we can be happy for others' successes. Learn to celebrate others' victories. If God did it for them, God can do it for you. There are going to be people who try to bring us down with their words. Don't seek revenge or stoop to their level. Shake them off. You never win by sinking to their level. Rise above them! Don't let their jealous spirit bring you down. Don't live to please everyone. It's impossible to please everyone. Some people will always find fault no matter what you do.  Love those negative people from a distance! Accept that not everybody is going to like...

Well today I'm going skydiving, and this marks a huge goal off my bucket list. I decided to make the jump a little more symbolic for me, like taking a huge leap into a new life, leaving the past behind me. Jumping into freedom, I guess. I took some time this morning to look back on old posts, and I've seen alot of change in me over the past 2 years. Can you believe it's been 2 years since I moved to Austin? My, how time flies. Sometimes I wonder if I should go back home to my family who I miss oh-so-much. But there's some things here that I know I would miss. I've been blessed with a great job that I enjoy going to, and I have friends here that I don't want to leave behind. Not to mention my church, but I also have a church in Houston that I love as well. I'm just wondering if I would "fit-in" in Houston. Every time I go there, it seems so different now. And I've changed so much that I wonder if I would belong there at all. Sometimes I think th...

As we approach the end of 2010, I like to reflect on the changes made in the past year and talk about my resolution for next year. My resolution for this past year was more of a list rather, and here it is in all it's entirety: apply to grad school take control of my life think more positively live for God's purpose and not my own define myself by how God views me and not how others view me don't take things so personally trust God more be happier forgive more be easier to get along with I have to say, I think I did a good job of accomplishing most of my goals on this list. I didn't accomplish #1, but that's what 2011 will be dedicated to. And for #2, I allowed God to take control of my life, rather than trying to control it myself. But #3-10, I feel I accomplished, and that is a good feeling. So now on to 2011... I want 2011 to be dedicated to getting back on the road again... on the road to my dreams, goals, and ultimately, to myself. In 2005, I took a long detour...

In your darkest moments, find the light and turn to it. This is something I've had to instill in me this past year. I've really had to learn how to take control of my thoughts and how I feel about myself and to stop being so negative. I can get myself down on just one negative thought after another, and I don't even notice that I'm doing it until I'm already in this depressive state and can't get myself out of it. It's like digging a deep dark pit for myself, and by the time I realize I'm doing it, I'm at the bottom of the pit. But I've learned in the past year how to climb out of the pit without the help of others. It's difficult, but it can be done. After all I've been through and all I've overcome, I have no reason not to feel good about myself. But sometimes, I still get low and moody and tear myself apart. There's no reason for this. And so that's why I have set out to treat myself right and stop abusing my emotions. I ...

I think some good things have happened to me in Austin. It has not been easy, by far. It has been extremely disheartening and eye-opening. God has brought me to my knees time and time again, crying and begging Him to make the pain stop, but He has pushed me through each time. He has not delivered me from my circumstances like I beg Him to because I have oh-so-much to learn from them, and how detrimental it would be if He let me off the hook too easily. It is God's tough love that is allowing me to grow to be a much better, stronger person. I cannot be bitter for that. The lessons I have learned here couldn't have been learned any other way. I had to go through these hard times in order to learn everything there was to learn. I can't believe how immature and dependent I was when I still lived in Houston. I was still a child. I now feel more like an adult. I wanted to grow; I wanted to learn. That is why I came here in the first place. I was sick of the status ...

Written May 21, 2008, Wed. So I'm going through one of those moments where I'm struggling with what I want to do with my life. The Houston humidity is reminding me of how much I don't want to be here and how much I wish I were somewhere else doing something else. I don't want to work in the fashion industry anymore, which means my degree is a waste (so I'm pretty pissed about that), and the things I want to do seem so far out of reach and unattainable that I almost don't even want to try. But there is a saying that makes me not want to give up: "The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure is to not try. Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it." Here's another good one: "Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all." So I've been pondering on whether or not I should go back...