What is going on everyone!! Man,these past couple of weeks have been CRAZY to say the absolute least. Work has been more busy than usual, wedding planning, and overall time with Jess is tough when I see my fiancée MAYBE one or two days a week, my faith is being tested all throughout my day, and on top of that, I am not able to go to church and community groups because of my work schedule. I know this may sound like complaining, and it honestly is hard to keep myself from complaining, but here is the reason why I preface with those details; we live in a society where we are so quick to post the good highlights of our day to day lives, but we rarely are vulnerable with our social media presence, which can cause a lot of issues.
The point I really want to drive across is that I do struggle. I find myself getting frustrated with myself because I plan to do all of these things (writing more posts, doing videos on Youtube to encourage my generation, do my school work when I plan to, the list goes on and on), but I find myself not putting for the consistent effort to follow through. The thing is too, is that I pray these big prayers like, “God, use me to make an impact” or, “Lord, give me opportunities to spread Your truth to the world”, but when I get those opportunities, I don’t follow through on my part with being obedient.
To be honest though, there is freedom in recognizing where you fall short. It allows you to breathe and to give you an opportunity to give yourself grace, and to repent and change your course of action. While all of that is amazing, admitting when you struggle is only half the battle. The other ingredient to victory is to fight to change the set of actions. Some of you may ask, “Well Ryan, what does that practically look like?” That is a strong question. The answer is, is that it looks different for everyone. Me personally, I need to have a constant view of my goals and what I want to achieve. For example: at work, we have numbers and stats that we need to meet, and often times I lose sight of that and do my own thing my own way. BUT, when I put my goals LITERALLY in front of my eyes, it helps me to stay on track and to be thorough with my goals at work. The same thing needs to be done in my life outside of work. I need to post notes on my phone and computer of what I want to grow in, and seeing those reminders help me be more intentional.
I have heard it said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. That is so true because you can’t just keep telling yourself what you want to change without a correct corresponding action. It is hard, and we all get tired, but consistency breathes growth. I challenge us all to really dig in deep to 1.) Be vulnerable with our struggles and 2.) Find what works to stay consistent with our growth. If we do that, I really believe that our lives will change dramatically for the better and we will see positive change in all aspects of our life.
Much Love,
Ryan W.
