“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” –Romans 12:2

Hi everyone! The scripture above was used along with many others as part of my church’s sermon yesterday. It really spoke to me. During church yesterday, I realized I need to make a few changes in my thought process. Usually I am the one lecturing my friends about how they should practice positive thinking. Now I need to be listening to my own words. It always amazes me how at the moment you think you know everything about a subject you are proven wrong.

With me going into a new semester with new commitments, I felt it was only fitting that I created a new mindset. I am usually not very pessimistic, but I realized slowly negative thoughts have creeped their way into my head. Once thoughts are implanted in the mind, they start to have an effect on your actions whether you realize it or not. After a while you start to repeat those thoughts, and once you speak them into the atmosphere you start to believe them to be fact. If you say you can not do something, then you can not. If you say something is impossible, then it is. In church yesterday I realized that I have been limiting myself through my thoughts. Most recently I have constantly been saying that I lack the discipline to keep myself from over indulging in sugary sweets. I have been saying these words for I do not know how long, but they have become true because I allowed them to. I have heard many of my peers say the phrase, “I am just not a math person.” At one time I even succumbed to this lie. As a result of believing it, I did not put forth a lot of effort in math related classes, because I assumed that I would never understand it. We all limit ourselves in one way or another.

When I arrived to school this past semester, I was in a dark place. I kept allowing my negative thoughts to control me. I was constantly thinking about how much I’d rather be at another school and how impossible it is to succeed in my classes. The more I thought these things the more my mood began to change. At the time I hadn’t realized it, but I limited my happiness at school through my thinking. I thought it was not possible for me to excel in class, so I just aimed to get B’s in my classes. As a result, that’s what I got. As the semester went on, I knew I could not live like that. So I wrote down a quote that I would I say every morning.

It said “God says that I can speak my desires into reality, therefore I say I will do well in all my classes. Not only will I look and feel amazing I will be amazing and I will be the biggest diva this campus has ever seen!”

After saying this for just about a week, I began to believe it. Every time I said these words I felt powerful. I was no longer allowing the lies to pollute me. They were no longer what defined me. I was no longer allowing my fears to intimidate me into diminishing my potential.

So my friends as you continue to make your New Year’s resolutions, I encourage you to take the words ‘can’t’ and ‘impossible’ out of your vocabulary all together. Refresh your mind. The possibilities are endless, but it is up to you to decide your destination. Do not let yourself or anyone else lead you astray from the plan that God has for your life. From here on out I will be shaping my thoughts and words to encompass my desires. Whether you are Christian or not words hold a lot more power than you think. Use them to your advantage!

Quick side note: Below I have posted a picture of an all vegetarian meal that I ate yesterday evening. It consisted of corn on the cob, stir fried kale and corn, broccoli, and green beans. I haven’t started my 30 day real food challenge yet, but it is a fulfilling meal idea.