Welcome to Motivational Mondays!
First things first, what is Motivational Mondays?
Just like it sounds, to motivate, to empower, and to encourage you on the first day of a fresh week. I don't know about you but Mondays can be a drag for me, so sometimes words of encouragement and positivity are helpful to start my day off right.
Motivational Monday's topic is:
Denial Is Dangerous
The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps.
Proverbs 14-15
I wanted to discuss this topic about denial because I’ve personally been there and have seen others be completely blindsided by certain situations that have exposed the truth about them and/ or others.
Denial is the inability to accept the truth about what is happening within your life or situation. It can be towards yourself, or towards others. For most people, living in denial is more comfortable than actually confronting the issues head-on. By avoiding the reality of the situation it can only make the situation worse and in the end, nothing gets fixed.
How many of you have been in denial about a given truth that was hard to accept?
Let’s talk about it. We can be in denial over a lot of different things but the most dangerous thing is when we are in denial about ourselves. Why? Because you almost have a false narrative about yourself that is not necessarily true at all. If we are not true to ourselves FIRST then everything else is on a shaky foundation. If we are not true to ourselves then it will lead to a downward spiral in relationships, conflicting emotions, and our connection with God.
Ourself
Being in denial about ourselves can put us in a dangerous situation. Whenever we cannot accept that we were wrong or we cannot accept our role in something we are in denial. This is so dangerous because when we hear something that is negative our first response is to be defensive and plead our case. Some of us shut down completely. We don't even listen to what the problem is because we are so wrapped up in trying to protect ourselves from the blow itself.
Another perspective is when someone wants to confront you about something that you have done to them personally however, instead of giving them the floor, on whatever the topic is, you blow them off by gaslighting their feelings and their situation.
This is very dangerous and can affect so many relationships if we’re not careful. The truth hurts but it is necessary.
Anyone who knows me well will know, I’ve never had a problem with self-correction. I am one of those people who can take criticism without having to be defensive. I know that I am a flawed individual like everyone else, and I don't proclaim to know everything. If someone comes to me and says “hey, you hurt me,” “what you said hurt my feelings,” or “I don’t like it when” I will listen, self-evaluate, acknowledge them and their feelings, and then apologize. My intent is to never hurt anyone because I know how it feels to hurt and long-suffering, if not healed properly, is relentless.
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.
Proverbs 12:15
Emotions
A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion
Proverbs 18:2
I don’t know about y’all but I have gotten very good at hiding my emotions from people and only letting people know what I want them to. I am usually an extremely private person that will hold on to a lot. What I have come to realize over the years is that by bottling up my emotions and denying myself the opportunity to cope, I am making it worse. Denying our emotions can cause so much internal damage that makes it hard to heal. I recently heard this analogy, and I want to share it with y’all.
Imagine a 5-gallon bucket filling up with water overtime every time something bad or stressful happens, and instead of letting the water out we just continue to let it build. This does nothing for us except burn us out and have us so overwhelmed that we can’t seem to fix it. This results in the bucket overflowing because it has nowhere for the water to escape. However, if we start to poke holes in the bucket as it is filling up it will never reach the point of overflowing. How do we poke holes to keep ourselves from being overwhelmed? I am glad you asked. We can do it by escaping denial, allowing ourselves to feel the emotions, self-care, relaxing, praying, and so on.
God
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
James 1:19-20
Denial is especially dangerous when we deny God. By denying God access to your life you are forfeiting the chance to have a place in the kingdom of Heaven. The truth is when people deny God, they are telling him that they desire their life on earth more. Denying God lets him know that you are ashamed of him. Only praising and worshiping in private lets him know that he is not important enough to you to share his grace with everyone. If you deny God here on earth when he is looking for your name in the book of life he will do the same. Accept Christ and prove to be faithful to God, he will tell us well done and welcome us into the kingdom of heaven with open arms.
Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
Proverbs 17:27
GOLDEN ANNOUNCEMENTS
Hi Golden Family, please check out the website because we are having our 1st Annual Holiday Giveaway!! Winners will be announced on our A Golden Dream Instagram page
I wanted to give back for all the love and support that you all have given and shown to me and this blog. So please check out the 4 easy steps that one must take in order to enroll in the giveaway and partake in the winnings. Prizes will kick off every Sunday, starting on December 13th, 2020- January 3rd at 8:30 pm.
Trust me some of you are closer than you think to winning!
**I hope everyone has a safe and blessed week and I will see you all on Saturday for our Weekly Topic Saturdays**
~Just Breathe...A Golden Dream~
Amen.