Tag: purpose

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Giving Up is Not an Option

March 29, 2012 jcladyluv

“If you’re tired of starting over, stop giving up.”

~Author Unknown

I have heard so many people say that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. I suppose that could translate to people simply giving up and throwing in the towel. They may examine what went wrong down the line, but for all intense and purposes they give up the fight because it just got too hard. When they do find themselves wanting to go back to that place later on in life they find that they have to start all over again and that can be discouraging for anyone.

I found the above quote (at the top of my post) when I was going through my facebook timeline and reading other people’s updates. When I read it, I tried to figure out if that applied to me. I replayed certain big moments throughout my life where I felt like everything just fell apart and I had to carry on but I don’t think that it was ever a case where I had to really start over. That’s because never once have I given up.

I’ve always been more of a pick up where I left off type of person. I will admit that when I find the walls collapsing around me I do have a tendency to get the urge to run for the (imaginary) hills. Instead I just take a step back from things and in a sense reevaluate what’s happening. When I go back to the problem, I never start from scratch, I simply pick up where I left off and continue in a different direction (hopefully the right one this time).

Starting over isn’t ideal. Once you’ve started something and have a clear vision for it there should be no turning back. You should never see that rough patch as a reason to begin all over again when it isn’t necessary. You can’t complain about how hard it is to begin again if you are going to keep giving up when it gets hard.

Ms. L. told me the other day that I have to start seeing the things in myself that other people see in me and she went on to list a lot of attributes that she saw in me that made me feel a little embarrassed. I wasn’t embarrassed because I was flattered necessarily (although I was) but more so because I couldn’t see what it is that she sees. But if I had to list one strong attribute about myself that I firmly believe is true and can clearly see in myself, I would have to say it is that I never give up.

I get knocked down (a lot), and admittedly I stay down for longer than I should at times, but I have never just completely given up. I’ve wanted to. I sulk, I cry, I ask why me a countless number of times (which I know I need to stop doing), and then I suck it up, I reevaluate the situation, I get up and I get moving again. Sometimes I am only operating on a hope and a prayer, but sometimes that is all that you need in order to operate. For anyone out there who is thinking about giving up on something that they know is meant for them, don’t. It will just make things a lot harder when you have to start all over again. Stop starting over with a new (not always better) plan. Instead just stop giving up on the old one.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

My Up and Down Marriage to Writing

March 15, 2012March 15, 2012 jcladyluv

“Marriage is a book of which the first chapter is written in poetry and the remaining chapters in prose.”

~Beverley Nichols

Ms. L. and I always joke about writing and our laptops being our husbands. It seems like more of a reality as time goes on and as I pour more of myself into it. If I were truly married to my writing, then I think that our marriage might be in trouble and standing on very shaky ground right now. Marriage of any kind needs love constantly poured into it, attention consistently given to it, passion infused all through it, and it needs to be nurtured through all of its years of commitment and union.

As I think about my writing in those terms, I realize that I haven’t been a good wife to it lately. At times I have neglected my writing and have been completely lazy when it comes to my talent. I haven’t spent enough time with my craft and I have let way too many other personal dilemmas stand in the way of me taking my writing career to the next level (or stage of our relationship). I haven’t nurtured my gift for expressing myself through my words as I know that I can and at times I have appeared to have completely given up on the relationship altogether. But I haven’t given up.

My writing may be the only constant relationship I have had since I developed a love for it at the age of ten. It has been by my side and it has never abandoned me (at least not for extremely large amounts of time), nor has it judged me. It has allowed me to use it as my vessel to the rest of the world and lately I have taken advantage that it will always be around for me. I have not showed it just how much I truly treasure it and how passionate I still feel about it and I am sorry for that.

I know that if I don’t stop neglecting my writing and my purpose altogether, then it will soon leave me. It gives me warnings every time I come down with writer’s block but I’m sure that it feels that it hasn’t gotten through to me. I know that there are times when it just weeps at the fact that I appear to have abandoned it for the fear (the invisible third party in our relationship) that I will never do it justice. Well writing, I want you to know that you have gotten through to me. I am ready to recommit myself to you from this day forward.

I am turning my back on the fear that has interfered with us and plagued us for quite some time now. I have finally realized that if I don’t give you the love and time that you need, you can’t give me the fulfillment that I need in return. I know that I have to nurture you and take time to enhance our relationship so that it only gets better and more purposeful as the years go on.

I plan to spend as many seconds and minutes of the day with you that I can on a daily basis no matter how impossible it may seem to make it happen. I thank you for hanging in there and giving me continuous chances to get our relationship back on the right track. From now until forever I will make sure to honor you and be true to you so that we can prosper in this life together.

I love Writing and I’m just thankful that Writing still loves me right back.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

The Questions We Ask Ourselves, and God (Part 6): Is There Anything Too Hard For God?

February 18, 2012 jcladyluv

“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is there anything too hard for me?”

–Jeremiah 32:27

I know this may not be a question many of you out there ever feel the need to ask, nor is it one that I ask too often, but I have asked this question. I have had times that were just so dark (at least it seemed so at the time) and made me fall into such a deep depression and I just thought there was no way to overcome it. I had people tell me to give my burdens to God but somehow I always felt like what I was going through was too much for him to handle.

I joke now to my best friend Ms. L that sometimes I think I ask God for too much and that he may be tired of me coming to him with such little problems. She always told me that there was no such thing. I know that (in my heart) that is true now but there was a time when I really wondered if my requests were too much of a burden on God. I thought to myself that he has sick people to heal, wars to end, homeless people to help, hungry people to feed, there’s no way that he would have time to deal with my petty problems (even though they seemed like the end of the world to me) because there were people more important than me. Ms. L made me understand one day that I was just as important to God as anyone else in this world because he created a purpose for all of us and that there was no problem to great for him.

A lot of times I don’t ask God for help, not because I don’t need it, but because I feel someone else might need him more. I still sometimes feel selfish to think that my minor problems are worthy of pulling God’s attention away from those that really need him. I have to remind myself that I am just as important as anyone else and that he not only can hear their cries for help but that he hears my cries too. I’m not going to lie and say that I am never going to have that question again but I will continue to remind myself of what Ms. L and so many others have told me when I asked aren’t there some things that are just too much for God; that there is nothing that is ever too powerful, too hard, or too small for God to handle. For God nothing is impossible.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

The Questions We Ask Ourselves, and God (Part 4): How Do I Know I’m On the Right Path?

February 16, 2012 jcladyluv

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

–Jeremiah 29:11

It’s hard to know if the direction you are headed in is the right one. It is even harder to know if the path you are on is the one you are destined for when it seems you continue to make so many mistakes (some mistakes repeatedly). You want there to be some way to know if that dream that you are chasing, and have been for years now, is the right one for you. You want to make sure that when you get to the destination that you are seeking, that you won’t regret the choice you made in picking that particular location. The thing is that you already know, deep down inside of you, if you are on the right path or not.

For a long time I questioned whether being a writer was really my destiny. I still question it sometimes when things seem to be hopeless. But what lets me know that this is my purpose and that I am on the right path is the fact the no matter how many mistakes I have made, they have somehow still all led me right to where I was always meant to be. I am making a living (admittedly lower then what I would like it to be at the time) doing what I love to do more then anything in this world. I am doing what calms me and what heals me. I am doing what God put me on this earth to do, and I am doing it with all of the mistakes I have made included.

Along your journey sometimes you get diverted, redirected, and turned completely around. You go in different directions then you originally saw yourself going in. But are those diversions really unplanned or were they just not a part of your plan. We make plans but our plans always get rerouted when they are not the same as God’s plans. This doesn’t mean that your destiny isn’t what you thought it was. It just means that the mistakes you think you made along the way were God’s way of getting you back on the right track.

The path you take isn’t going to be all on the straight and narrow, nor will it be without experiencing some bumps (and bruises) along the way. That doesn’t mean it’s not the right path for you, just that the right path is not going to be an easy one. You have to remember that you are on the path that God has chosen for you, for whatever reason. Don’t try to reroute God’s path with your own.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

Seeing the Blessing in the Responsibilities that God Gives Us

February 7, 2012 jcladyluv

I spent a lot of time when I was little planning out my life and what I was going to do and be. I even had time frames for certain things such as when I was going to become a New York Times staff writer and when I was going to get married and have children. But I wasn’t always so optimistic about how my life would turn out.

I grew up in an abusive home with a mother who was physically, mentally, and emotionally abusive and there were honestly days when I just didn’t want to wake up the next morning. I will even admit that I tried to make it so I wouldn’t wake up multiple times and would get angry with God when it didn’t work. I wondered why I was still here to go through the nightmare that I had to endure on a daily basis.

Now that I am at the stage I am at in my life, which admittedly is not where I had hoped to be at this age, I can see exactly why it never worked. God gave me a responsibility and a purpose. The purpose was to influence and empower people with my words and the responsibility was my beautiful and wonderfully intelligent daughter who I just know is here to change the world in big ways that I can’t even begin to see yet.

I was watching an episode of Tyler Perry’s House of Payne last week and it was something said that really struck a chord with me. The father was telling his son (who after being shot and almost killed wished that he had just died) that God sometimes gives us responsibilities just to keep you moving. He gives you those responsibilities along with the strength you need to achieve, and the provisions you need to conquer your problems. But you have to keep moving and keep fighting.

All of these responsibilities that I am stressing and worrying over and sometimes falling apart about were given to me specifically because God clearly saw something in me and believed that I could handle them. Now, looking at things from that perspective, I feel even more special because God must see more strength in me then I can see in myself. If God is going to put faith in me like that then how can I keep questioning him and not put faith in him and trust in his plan and his path that he has laid out for me.

I am writing this today because I felt compelled to. I felt as if there might be someone else out there (besides me) who continues to have questions about why certain burdens were bestowed upon them. It is all for a reason and there is a blessing in every burden, even if you don’t see it yet. I hope that anyone out there going through a rough time right now will trust in God and his reasoning. Until tomorrow…Keep moving forward and keep fighting through it.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

Let Providence Be Your Guide

January 23, 2012 jcladyluv

I was watching Oprah’s Master Class last night and this particular episode was about Morgan Freeman and his long journey to success. He spoke a lot of letting Providence be your guide. I know that this is going to sound funny but I had never really heard of that saying and I didn’t quite understand what it meant. I mean I realized what meaning it had by the context he was using it in throughout the telling of his life lessons but I still (being the constant researcher that I am) had to go to Google and read more about this Providence. In short, it refers to God’s extraordinary intervention in the life of people.

When Morgan Freeman continually mentioned Providence intervening at the right moments in his life he spoke of the countless times that he might have been leaning towards making wrong, or worse, desperate decisions to maintain a somewhat decent living while in search for his dream that frankly took way longer to come to fruition than he would’ve liked. He spoke about his attempt in joining the Air Force in which case he quickly realized he wasn’t cut out for that. Providence had intervened.

He talked about his attempts at being a ‘clerk typists’ and working for this company as a temp. When he tried to get the job full time the hiring manager told him that that was not what he was supposed to be doing, and that he was supposed to be an Actor. Providence had intervened again. He spoke of his collecting unemployment and having to search for a typical, clerk typist job which kept him from looking for acting jobs. He said that he had gotten frustrated enough to go to the supervisor of the employment agency and told her that by them making him look for typical work that he just wasn’t meant for, they were keeping him from being who he truly was, an actor. She approved his benefits anyway and gave him six months to get an acting job. Providence intervened again. There were countless other people in his life that ‘intervened’ with him trying to lead a mediocre existence and steered him even further towards what he was born to do.

In the beginning of the program he made a statement about things happening as they should and that you are going to have those certain times in your life where you think that you should have been doing something else, something more, but that’s not necessarily so. He said that you probably should be doing whatever it is you’re doing, just to do your best at it. I thought about that, and the fact that I always feel like I should be in a much different place, a much better place. But in listening to the life lessons of Morgan Freeman, a man who didn’t really come into his career until he was around the age of fifty (although I really hope it doesn’t take me that long), I realized that he’s right.

I mean I would like to not have gone through a lot of the things I’ve gone through in life. I’ve had opportunities pass by me that just seemed like they should have been mine but somehow didn’t pan out. Perhaps that was Providence also intervening in my life. Without all of the things that I have gone through, those things I sit and wonder ‘why me’ about, would I be the person I am right now. Would I be as strong, as determined, as persistent? Would I be this much of a fighter? I don’t know that I would be if I hadn’t had all of these tests and obstacles along my journey.

Perhaps Providence has protected me from something I might not have been ready for. Maybe the opportunities that passed me by weren’t really mine to begin with. Maybe I should just do the best at what I’m doing now and be the best writer that I can be right now, in this moment, and let Providence guide me. Maybe we all should let that spiritual force be the guide that steers us in the direction that we should be going, not necessarily in the direction we think we should be going. Until tomorrow…Take stock in what you are doing now, it most likely is right where you should be.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

Having Faith in the Bigger Picture

January 5, 2012 jcladyluv

“No matter how steep the mountain – the Lord is going to climb it with you.”

~Helen Steiner Rice

I am not a stranger to struggle. I have been knocked down time and time again and even when I get back up sometimes I get knocked right back down within seconds, but I just keep on getting right back up. 2011 inparticular was a really bad year for me, quite possibly the worst I’ve had, but yet I find myself optimistic for the coming year of 2012. I heard someone earlier say that this year doesn’t feel any different than the last year but I disagree. For some reason, to me, this year feels like it will be the beginning of bigger and better things that are to come for me. Maybe it’s just the optimist in me. Maybe it’s just sheer faith in God and in the person that he created me to be.

Every time I go through something my mom constantly asks me how I can be so calm and nonchalant and not be worried about whatever it is. I tell her that I just have faith that God has got my back and that I’m not walking this journey alone as long as I am doing what he asks of me. In reality what I want to say is that I am worried (terrified really) when things start going wrong and that I am not really calm about it, deep inside I am panicking. However, I realize more and more that I have a lot more faith than even I thought I had. Of course I worry but I don’t think that I am nearly as terrified about things going wrong as I probably should be.

It’s because I have so much faith. Not only do I have an enormous amount of faith in God, but I have faith that he knows where I will end up (it is his plan after all) and just the trials and tribulations that I need to go through to get me there. Everything I come up against challenges me but it also strengthens me and obstacle by obstacle I realize that I am stronger than I ever thought I could be.

For anyone who knows me, they know that I am not the religious type, per say. I don’t go to church (although deep down I feel I probably should) but I am a very spiritual person. I don’t always get why certain struggles have to be placed on my shoulders and I admit that I get frustrated because I am that person who likes to know that everything is going be alright and hopefully that it will have a happy ending. However, because I can’t fully see what God’s plan for me is and I don’t know what will be the end result of his journey for me, I have no other choice but to walk the path that he has laid out with faith. God has already brought me through so much already, so I have to have faith that he will bring me through the rest.

My message today is for you to have faith. Even in times of struggle. Even if there is nothing that is going the way you want it to. Even if nothing that is happening to you makes sense. Even if you feel like you can’t get back up and you want to just quit. Even when you can no longer see the bigger picture for yourself. You have to have faith. We are human and we will worry but in the end you should know that God will never let you down. Until tomorrow…Have faith that you are stronger than your greatest obstacles!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

My New Year’s Wish for All of You

December 31, 2011 jcladyluv

I just wanted to take some time out to wish all of you a Happy New Year. I will be embracing the year 2012 with the faith that this will be a good year for me and that it will bring new adventures and experiences for me. Last year I went into 2011 saying that it was going to be a good year for me, but in the back of my mind there was always doubt there and I didn’t really believe that it would be. This year I am going to have faith and confidence that it will. I wanted to encourage everyone to embark on this upcoming year embracing the idea of change and being fearless. I pray that all of you will go into the New Year with confidence and faith that whatever you are wanting for yourselves this year will happen. Until tomorrow…Have a Safe and Blessed New Year’s Eve!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

Let’s Talk About Courage (Pt. 2)

December 17, 2011 jcladyluv

“One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.”

~Maya Angelou

I think that creative people are very special. I say this not just because I am a creative person and that I surround myself with nothing but people who are also immersed in their own creativity. I say this because being someone who’s life’s purpose centers around the creative arts is not really something that one can learn or that can even be taught if it is not ingrained somewhere deep inside of them. Take a singer for instance. You can give someone vocal lessons and the techniques and coaching that they may need to make their voice better and stronger, but if that natural talent and ability was never there in the first place, if it did not live deep inside of them, then it would never be able to be taught.

There’s something else that lives inside of a person who is creative at heart, courage. I think that being a creative person takes massive amounts of courage; the courage to withstand rejection, the courage to be patient and never give up while waiting for your turn, the courage to step out there and take the risk of being rejected to begin with, the courage to sacrifice comfort ability to serve your purpose no matter how crazy your loved ones may think you are.

It takes courage to be your true self even if it is not what is expected of you or what is perceived as something that will be a more immediate success. So today’s message is for all of you out there who are fulfilling your creative aspirations and enduring people looking at you or questioning your choices as if you’ve lost all of your senses. Keep wearing that badge of courage because in the end it will pay off and you will be glad that you remained true to yourself. Until tomorrow…“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the resistance to give in to that fear.” (Mark Twain)

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”