Before diving into Make it Matter May, let me reiterate: Adjust Your Attitude April was, by far, the most difficult month so far in the Year of Dreams. However, if mastered, the month could be the most beneficial to carry out throughout the rest of the year (and life).
In this month that I have struggled so much with, I have also learned the most. One of the most glaring lessons was this:
When you posture yourself and declare outwardly an adjustment (in life or in attitude) towards things that are positive and good, you WILL be met with resistance.
In personal experience and in many conversations with others this month I have pinpointed 3 kinds of resistance you will encounter.
1) Self-resistance
This type of resistance is one of our most primal and obvious. Sadly, a lot of things that are good for us take effort and are not self-serving. Dang. For some reason, much of our self-centered tendencies are left over from baby-dom. Instead of pushing through resistance to our goal, we sit and cry about it in our own filth. Think of how many more cookies you would have snagged if you'd only collected yourself and seen that the lower cabinet shelving makes an excellent stepladder.
2) Enemy-resistance:
So when you declare a change in attitude or in life that leads to freedom, the enemy is pretty P.O'd. The fact that you are working to break a chain that you didn't realize was there before means that he loses footing in your life. Not his favorite, so he will make sure there is resistance. Hoping you will fail, he is ready to convict, blame and taunt you as soon as you fall to his resistance. He will use all of your weaknesses and everything that has worked in the past. Prepare yourself. Knowing what is going on is half of the battle. The good news is that all of it is happening under God's watch, so He knows you can handle it or will step in if it is too hard and you ask Him to.
3)God- resistance:
Once you declare something with your words, it seems like God wants you to put your feet to it. Have you ever said "I'm going to be a more gracious person today" and then said some very unkind words to those...rude...people on the freeway five minutes later? Oh, me either. It seems like these situations have two benefits. The first benefit is it acts as a mirror, showing us who we really are despite what we declare we are. This isn't to put us down, but to show us how much we really need God to persevere. The next benefit is the practicing of our faith. Sometimes it takes a lot of small things like not going crazy on rude people in traffic everyday to be be able to handle bigger things later like being wronged by a friend or family member. Baby steps.
Or baby-weights.
Despite all of this resistance, freedom is a cause worth fighting for. When you adjust your attitude and continue on with it despite your obstacle, you becoming stronger. And, just like with exercise- the stronger you get, the easier it becomes and the more you are able to handle.
But now it is Make it Matter May of the Year of Dreams. It's easy to get stuck in routine and the mundane workings of daily life. This month will be focused on turning those things (even if that just means changing how we see them) into things that will matter in the long run. Since you matter to God, what you do is significant, too. We get so trapped in our worries that we are paralyzed and sometimes rendered ineffective. We get so wrapped up in people and comparisons that we begin to believe what we do is insignificant. We get so consumed with our own need for comfort that we do as little as possible to get through the tasks put in front of us. Now is the time to try and combat that. To begin to realize that there's more to life then what you see and more to offer then you realized.
Time to Make it Matter this May!
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