Inspiring Thought

     Today I searched "inspiration" into the search bar on Pinterest just to see what popped up. I was scanning pictures of "love yourself", "happiness comes from within", and "life is what you make it" quotes until I came across this one. It resonated with me. Lately I have been letting myself become insanely stressed with school, love life (or lack there of if we are being honest), friends, the news, and my future. I have allowed anxiety to overrun my life and rule my thoughts and every second of my day. I am afraid I can't achieve my goals or live a successful life.
     This quote/paraphrased bible verse brought me back to the realization that I will always be worried and stressed if I keep trying to control my life and figure everything out right this second. Instead, I need to give it to God. I need to remember that He promises in Romans 8:28 that we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose. This means that yes, I will probably fail a test, lose friends, lose a family member, go through a breakup, experience terrible heartache, and not end up exactly where I wanted to land sometimes but I that I can have absolute assurance that God did not let me go through those things with out having a divine purpose to bring good, peace, and mercy from that situation. I don't understand every situation I have lived through or how there could possibly be good that came from them. But I don't have to because I know that there is Someone who has it all figured out. Bad things happen to us and those we love but it doesn't mean that God isn't with us and there to help us when we call on Him.
     This picture also brings to my mind the idea that maybe we just need to have faith in ourselves as well. We need to have faith that we can achieve our goals. If we let our self deprecating thoughts determine what chances we take then we will never go anywhere. Don't live in fear that you won't be pretty enough, smart enough, strong enough, talented enough ect. to reach your goals. That is not how a life should be spent. Life takes hard work and grit. Worrying and doubting gets us nowhere, but risks and taking those blind leaps of faith do. Failure is obsolete. Failure only represents that we were brave enough to try even if it didn't turn out how we wanted. I was told my freshman year of high school that I would regret every chance I didn't take. That is the only direct quote I can remember distinctly from those whole four years. It is hard to get the guts to chase your dreams or just put yourself out there, but it is insanely worth it. Because of that quote I challenged myself to start a blog last year and I am so grateful I did. It may not be the most popular thing, but I put myself out there on the internet and I will continue to do so until I have achieved what I hope to with this site. I constantly consider how my friends will interpret my posts, if I will be judged, or laughed at. But who cares? I am doing what I love to do and that is all that is important. What do you want to do that you just can't seem to muster up the courage to do quite yet? It can be the most insignificant thing or the biggest most impossible dream ever. But whatever it is, live by faith and not by fear.