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: Break the Cycle (Keep on Running) Part 3
Let's do a little recap of what we talked about in week 18. We first talked about in Motivational Monday #18: Meet People Where They Are (Part 1) what it looked like to match the pace of someone else. Meeting someone where they are meant evaluating what that person is capable of giving you within the relationship and working with that. It means understanding that they may not be capable of giving you what you need and within yourself acknowledging that if this is detrimental to your mental health then further actions must be made.
For example, if they are doing their best and their best is only 50 percent then you are working with it. Meeting someone where they are doesn't mean that you are settling for complacency but it is a difficult task especially if it involves helping others. Meeting people where they are meant taking the time to be open-minded and see the person for who they are without judgment and deciding my tolerance if it begins to be too much.
We then in Weekly Topic Saturday #18: Leave People Where They Are (Part 2) talked about moving at your own pace and not settling for complacency or stunting your own growth in the process. To leave someone where they are meant that once you have helped them all that you could and they are showing no signs of moving forward themselves, you are going to have to move forward without them. At the end of the day, you are growing and making changes within yourself, which means that your pace in life may be faster than someone else's. Leaving them doesn't mean that you don't love them and it doesn't mean that you don't care about them but it does mean that you are choosing to value yourself.
What’s Next
So you may be thinking, “I have done all of that but I am still hurt,” or “I got here but now I am reliving the same thing over and over.” If you are anything like me you are probably wondering what is next for you to do. After you have chosen to meet people where they are and then leave them where they are it is time to break the cycle so that you can keep running, growing, learning, and progressing.
Breaking the cycle of reliving past hurt can be difficult especially if you were taught to keep your pain to yourself growing up. It can be even harder if the pain and the memories that you are dealing with were never resolved but rather quietly looked over. It is inevitable, at some point or another we will think about those past memories and the emotions that are attached to them will flood us all at once. The cycle that you may have to break could be about anything like bad habits, relationships, generational curses, trauma, and so on.
Ways To Break The Cycle
Read Proverbs
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
The book of proverbs in the bible offers scriptures based on what is considered healthy and unhealthy ways of living. Reading the Bible will not only help you to break the cycle, find the answers you seek, but it will also bring you closer to God in the process.
Choose Your Reaction
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Romans 12:19
When we find ourselves in those spaces where we are in a negative headspace, or we are stuck in the past, it is important to remember that we are in control of the most important thing, our reactions. We have the choice on how we will respond to it. To break the cycle we have to acknowledge what happened and then not allow it to change our mindset. Our mindset dictates our perspective. Only we can choose how we view something. We can choose to find the positives in the situation no matter how negative the situation may seem.
Know Your Triggers and Practice Mindfulness
Knowing what your triggers are is an important aspect of breaking the cycle. A trigger can be described as an action, sight, smell, sound, taste, or thing that can bring forward past memories. Triggers can be a detriment to breaking the cycle because they can hold you hostage to the past. The key to overcoming your triggers is by first acknowledging what they are, and then Practicing Mindfulness. Practicing mindfulness can be done by being aware of your environment and remaining in the present time. For example, if you know going to a certain place, eating a certain food, or being around certain people will cause you to think of the past then avoid those situations until you are able to be there without it affecting you. Practicing mindfulness means anchoring yourself to something that is in the present. Why not God! Stay in the moment through connecting with nature, reading the bible, or book, meditating, yoga, and so on.
Seek Therapy
Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.
Proverbs 19:20
Another great way to break the cycle of hurt is done through seeking therapy. Many people underestimate the benefits of seeking a therapist and talking about what is going on within their lives. A therapist can offer you a different and unbiased perspective on the situation. They can provide you with resources, and tools that you can use to overcome your situation. Therapy is not a place where you go to spill all of your guts, it is a technique for self-healing. Therapy helps you to find the root of the problem, fix it, heal from it, move forward, and learn something about yourself in the process. Therapy isn’t a social call, it is a place where you can find the tools needed to overcome future obstacles.
When it comes to a problem or person in your life, remember these three steps, Meeting and Leave them where they are, and lastly breaking the cycle by taking care of yourself. Protect your peace at all costs. Lean on God and do not be overwhelmed by your situations. God Sees You and He wants to help you!
You can Break Through by Breaking the Cycle!
**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.