Positivity – Life Lessons

Surround Yourself With Love

In a world full of hate, you must surround yourself with love. People who genuinely love you will never make you question the relationship. They will stand with you in pain and defend you in private or public, but they will also tell you when you’re wrong because they love you. You may see them or talk to them every day, but they’re always just one call away. These types of people create healthy environments, but they may not always include your family members.

Identify your circle of love

You should know who really loves you. If not, now is a good time to find out. If you’re not sure of how, call them up and tell them you want to see them. If they don’t sound a bit excited, they care nothing about seeing you and clearly don’t love you, unless there is some reasonable explanation for their reaction.

I only interact with people who are delighted to see me. Their energy tells me everything I need to know. When I visit my family and friends, their smile is big enough to light the room. If I don’t feel positive energy when I enter a room, I won’t feel welcome and will keep my distance.

Prioritize the relationship

Good people should never be placed on the back burner. However, some people have a habit of hanging around people who don’t love them. That’s how important acceptance is to people. So many people have told me they don’t have many friends but keep an entourage everywhere they go. I understand the concept of keeping your enemies closer, but if you’re always surrounded by negative energy, how do you expect to have a positive outlook on life?

Instead of hanging out with your enemies, pray for them instead. You need to be as closest to people who value you, appreciate you, love you, and care about you. Those are the ones who will show up for you, listen to you, make you feel special, and remember you. Your name will always be at the top of their guest list.

Pray for them

Whenever someone asks you to intercede in prayer, you should. Prayer is more powerful than anything else you can give. Plus, it only takes seconds! However, it’s those prayers that people don’t ask for that are more meaningful.

If I tell you I lost my job, I shouldn’t have to ask you to pray for me. If I tell you I’m ill, I shouldn’t have to ask. If I tell you I just haven’t been myself lately, I shouldn’t have to ask. No matter what the situation is, if you are made aware, I shouldn’t have to ask you for prayer.

Speaking of prayer, when people you love announce their loss, pain, or hardship on social media, don’t just throw prayer hands up without words of encouragement. Better yet, take the time to type a short prayer or send a private message. The phone always works too.

Sometimes God meets your needs through the people he places in your life. Take a few minutes to think about all the times someone from your circle of love has helped you, even if it was just emotional support or prayers.

“Your safe space of grace should consist of people who love you. They are anointed by God to give you immediate access to his blessings.”

-Bianca A. McCormick-Johnson ✍🏽

You Woke Up Today

If you’re reading this, it means you woke up today. Not everyone did. So be grateful. Whether you woke up in good or bad spirits, you still woke up. Whether you woke up to good or bad news, you still woke up.

My take on waking up is this: 1) I defeated the devil by doing so. 2) I’m given another opportunity to show love, grace, and mercy to someone. 3) I get to soak up another day of life’s blessings. 4) I’m one day closer to achieving my goals.

“I defeated the devil by doing so“

Waking up is a blessing from God, not Satan. Satan fills us with enough stress, worry, and anxiety to kill us in our sleep. That’s why it is important to go to bed with positive thoughts. You must keep the enemy from attacking you, even while you sleep.

Natural causes of death will occur. That’s fate. But if you don’t get control of your thoughts and emotions, you’ll become a lifeless, miserable soul. You might be physically woke but dying within. Thus, God also wakes us up to give us another chance to choose happiness.

“I’m given another opportunity to show love, grace, and mercy to someone”

I believe that as long as God continues to breathe life into me, the least I can do is give life to someone else by showing love, grace, or mercy. It’s called, “paying it forward”.

You don’t realize how much of a blessing waking up is until you’ve learned that someone you knew did not wake up today. Therefore, I try to treat every day like it’s my last. I will show love to someone in sometimes the simplest ways like sending a kind text message. I will help whomever I can whenever I can. I will forgive quickly and keep it moving.

Obedience is my priority, and I lead by example. That’s my mission.

“I get to soak up another day of life’s blessings”

The biggest blessings I enjoy waking up to are God’s grace, my family, and my health. Nothing else matters more. Some people wake up to the stock market. Some wake up to social media or television. Some wake up to music or whatever floats their boat. I can’t weigh your blessings on my scale. However, some of the little things I enjoy waking up to are a bed, a home with A/C and heat, transportation, and good food!

“I’m one day closer to achieving my goals”

Whether it seems like it or not, every calendar day counts toward achieving your goals, short and long term. Weren’t we just in 2024? Aren’t we already in April? Before you know it, you’ll be paying off that debt, owning that car or home, graduating from college, starting that business, taking that dream vacation, or saying “I do” at the alter. But one of the easiest ones you can achieve is getting closer to God.

Say it with me, “I am blessed because I woke up today!”

“If tomorrow isn’t promised, then don’t take today for granted. Happiness is a mindset. You just have to demand it.”

-Bianca A. McCormick-Johnson ✍🏽

Living A Blessed Life

Your best life is a blessed life. If you’re reading this, you were blessed with sight, internet access, and the ability to touch. Doesn’t seem like much until you meet someone who cannot do all of the above.

Instead of focusing on what you don’t have, try focusing on what you do have. I know it’s easier said than done at times, but you need to practice. Why? Because negative thinking leads to worrying. Worry leads to stress, and stress is the gateway to depression. You’ll find yourself eating too much or too less, or spending excessively, to name a few. Worst of all, you may pick up on a bad habit like smoking.

You may also need to take a step back from social media. Social media will give you a false representation of other people’s lives. Some people are living their best lives, and some are making it look that way. I love to see people in healthy relationships, taking nice vacations, and sharing their achievements. It’s inspiring! However, you have no idea of the trials and tribulations they face and what cross they may have to bear, so just be happy for them, and pray for those who are fabricating the life they desire.

Over the years, I’ve learned some disheartening things about people who I thought had it all together. I wish I had not known because I was rooting for them and relishing in their wins. Some people have nothing to say until they learn about one’s failures or fate. I often hear things like, “I didn’t know”. It’s because you didn’t need to know about the pain behind their progress. You were supposed to be rooting for them regardless.

Before I close, I’m going to dissect the phrase, “living my best life”. It simply means that the worst is behind you, you’re unbothered, and/or you’ve learned not to let your problems keep you from living. It has nothing to do with money or success. If you’re not living your best life, then learn to be okay with living your blessed life.

“The best thing about life is that you don’t have to do it all by yourself. When it gets too hard, give it to God🙏🏽”

-Bianca A. McCormick-Johnson ✍🏽