inspirational living — Blog — Diamante Lavendar

In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we are bombarded with advertisements, social media, opinions, and new trends. It is fast-paced. It is intense. We feel that if we don’t keep up we are losing out. And while innovation is exciting and wonderful, so is the ability to slow down and breathe.

Our society is so ramped up that slowing down is almost frowned upon. Not having the latest gadget or fashion item can cause us to feel left out or deprived. While I enjoy innovation, technology, and the wonderful products of today, I also enjoy solitude’s beauty and deep meaning. Without time for reflection and pause, life becomes almost like an automatic reaction to all the stimuli surrounding me. And I believe that life is a learning journey of reflection and understanding. Incorporating reflection into everyday life makes me appreciate today's innovation, technology, and wonders much more. It helps me realize that these things are a bonus as I reflect and focus on the real itinerary of living: learning, loving, growing, appreciating, and improving.

I believe that creativity is woven into the fabric of life. We are all creators. We all have unique gifts to share with the world. But I think many of us get stuck. We become so focused on what is happening around us that we neglect our own gifts and talents. That is where reflection and pause come in. They guide us where we need to go and inspire us to do the things we are good at doing.

When I become still, it inspires me to want to contribute my gifts and talents to the world. It helps me dream about what I can do. I see the beautiful planet and I realize the abundance available to us. It is humbling. I think about others who lived before us and how their contributions gave us so much to appreciate today: electricity, appliances, and clean water pumped into our homes are just a few. It’s all a matter of balance: taking time to stop and breathe. To create an ebb in the continual flow of life. It moderates us. It secures us so we can reflect before we act. It is also important in the natural world. We need balance to protect and sustain our natural world so that it can protect and sustain us.

Take a moment to reflect on what you love. On what you enjoy doing. On where you hope to be ten years from now. If you love art, create it! If you love music, write it! If you have an idea, do it! Dive into life! Do what you love and love what you do! Appreciation and reflection open doors and enlighten the heart. They help you think of new possibilities and expand your mind. When you use your talents to help others and to improve our world, it will bring beautiful things to you. And it will heal your soul!

After a year of silence, I have decided to begin posting blogs again. I had a while to think about life, my plans, and what I hoped to do going forward. I’ve been stuck, not sure if I wanted to continue writing. Things that happened in the last year made me unable to write much of anything besides very short 4-8 stanza poetry pieces. I didn’t know how to proceed.

I’ve been feeling the nudge of the Holy Spirit lately and I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to post on my blog to lift others up and help them continue on to what they are destined to do. Over the years, I’ve made my own plans and tried to prosper what I was doing within my own strength and I succeeded somewhat, but nothing ever goes as it should if we rely more on ourselves than on God. So I’ve learned to yield to Him, following the desires and dreams He puts inside me but relying on Him to let them go where they need to go and do what they need to do.

I’ve been meditating on hope a lot lately. Hope is essential in following your destined path. And many times hope is very difficult to find, especially when the world gets overwhelming around you. The events of the last couple of years have really been rough on so many of us. This world has changed drastically in a very short amount of time. And hope is the rudder that will guide us through if we don’t lose it. Hope, to me, is a stabilizing factor and a rampart of strength. It is something we need to seek, something we find when we trust in God. When everything is shaky, run for the fortress found in Heavenly peace and discernment. That is where we’ll find safety and strength.

Faith is wrapped up in hope. Faith is defined as, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1. That was always a tough one for me because I was someone who had to see things in order to believe. I’ve really had to change my attitude and outlook about that! I believe that’s why we are given an imagination. And we are free to use it however we choose. When we think about our dreams, we are fueling our faith to step out and make them happen! I believe that everyone has a dream in their heart and I think that this world is the place where we need to discover it and walk it out. Sometimes it can take a while, and when it does it’s easy to lose faith and hope. I am reminded of the saying that anything worthwhile in life takes time. And that certainly does seem to be the case. We are tested on our ability to persevere.

If you find yourself going through a rough patch, cling to the promise that there is good planned for you and that you have a unique dream to achieve-one that nobody else can accomplish quite the same way you can. And if you’ve failed before, take heart. Failure is a learning curve for us all. How would we know what works if we hadn’t tried numerous things that didn’t? You’ll find your way. Have hope, have faith, and persevere! You’ll soon discover the silver linings of every failure you’ve been through which will lead you to your path of destined light!