Another Memorial Day is upon us. Luckily, we live in a country that stands for liberty, freedom, and independence.

What is independence and why is it so important? Or better yet, what is dependence?

I, unfortunately, am dependent on wayyyy too many things in which I rely on for happiness. This includes the weather (being in Wisconsin most days works against me), a good day of teaching  (which is few and far between because I teach angry teenagers) as well as my family relations going well (coming from an ethnic and volatile emotional family also works MAJORLY against me).

Relying on others often leads me to feel hurt and rejected for no reason. And this is SO unhealthy because it provides me with a life of instability due to the fact that I am constantly relying on others and how they are feeling that particular day.

So, you can see here why I need to create my happiness instead of relying on others. Why is this so hard? Why can’t we just rely on ourselves for our own validation, self-worth, and clarity? Sure, relationships are important but they should not be the center of our well being.

Now is the time for me to put my big girl pants on and grow into myself. Growing is never easy but is always worth it. Sure, it will be uncomfortable at first but everything always is.

The truth is we need to learn how to trust ourselves.  And this my friends is the greatest gift we can give ourselves.

Mindfulness is the key here. When we are balanced, centered, and at peace, we can hear the voice of Jesus in our lives and follow it confidently. When we stop listening to the noise, the misguided advice (though given with good intentions), the opinions, the chatter, blah, blah, blah…

When we are brave enough to actually stop, take a pause, be silent and actually listen to ourselves and Jesus within us, our lives will change. 

And frankly my friends, this is all we need because we will be able to trust our own insight and create our own happiness. And this will help our relationships as well because sometimes we overly rely on people to make us happy which isn’t fair to them, either.

And hey, Jesus will never disappoint or abandon us because He is our rock.

The trick is, we need to just stop and listen. It is really that simple. 

Look out for my next post regarding how to listen to His voice and follow it confidently.