Bloom right where you’re planted

So, I usually leave Joel Osteen-tinged blog posts to my sister who always has such thoughtful, meaningful and inspirational blog posts that my blog thoughts tend to pale in comparison. 😉 (that was an attempt at a compliment sis, you are a blog rockstar, what can I say??).

Well, I was told I needed to sit down and listen to Joel Osteen’s recording that was sitting on our DVR player from the weekend. For those of you wondering, my lovely husband was the one that pointed me to Joel tonight (possibly because I really needed to hear this tonight, maybe??).

Tonight’s message? Bloom right where you’re planted…a snippet from tonight’s sermon:

“Too many people in this world are living a negative and discouraged life…they don’t like their job, where they live, what they want to be…when they get stuck in traffic, its not where they want to be. Always fighting against where they are, wanting to be somewhere else. But God is more interested in me, than changing my circumstances. He’s more interested in changing me. To open those doors, the key is to bloom right where you’re planted. You have to be the best that you can be, right where you are. Be grateful for where you live, even if its not where you want to be. As long as we live in faith, where we are is where we’re supposed to be. It may be difficult, but God wouldn’t bring a challenge into our life unless He had a divine purpose for us. Nothing happens to us, it happens for us. God uses difficult people who come into our lives like sandpaper to rub the rough edges off of us. Some of the things that are uncomfortable in your life, that you’re trying to get rid of, if God removed them, you wouldn’t be prepared for change. It may not feel good, but it’s helping you to grow and to be all that He created you to be. We’re always trying to get somewhere else to be happy. If I could get a better job…or at least change departments…or find new friends…or a bigger home. Until He moves me, I’m going to be happy, this is where God wants me to be. If someone is not treating me right, I’m not going to let that sour my day and steal my joy. I’m going to rise above it and be happy anyway. That’s what it means to bloom where you’re planted. Whereever you are, God has you there for a reason. You don’t go up and down depending on your circumstances – you’re stable, you’re consistent, you’re always friendly, and happy and have a smile on your face despite your circumstances. That’s the sign of a mature person. It takes away those excuses, it puts the responsibility back on us to be happy and to enjoy our life right where we are. Make up your mind. You’re gonna bloom right where you are.”

Um yeah, was this sermon recorded JUST for me or what?? I mean, really. It couldn’t have spoken to me any deeper tonight. Aside from the long snippet I included above, a lot of Joel’s message was around change, and committing to changing the way YOU approach what he describes as ‘uncomfortable situations’. It’s not about the circumstance you’re in, it’s how you handle it and use that learning to be a better person. Realizing it’s all part of His plan for my life, that just speaks volumes. I’m such a control freak, I’m even trying to control my destiny now, if you really think about it in those terms, right? I need to learn to truly be happy right where I am and to bloom right where I’ve been planted. Stop focusing on the “weeds” and pulling up those “weeds” – trying to “fix” everything in my life, or the people in my life. Instead, focus on blooming, and blooming bigger than ever.

With that, I’m ready to bloom. I’m ready to enact change in myself, not in anything or anyone else. All of this focusing on circumstance and so forth has put me in a constant negative state of mind – I’ve become a weed! A weed! How awful is that?? I don’t want to be a weed. I want to be a blooming flower (preferably a blooming tulip if I had a choice).

I know this has absolutely nothing to do with fitness and balance and everything I tend to focus on in my blog posts, but given all of the other stuff I’ve been weaving into my most recent posts, I couldn’t resist blogging this out tonight. I hope you enjoyed it and felt inspired and comforted by the message from Joel, it spoke volumes to me.