[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Survival is often overly celebrated in our society today. We belt out top hit songs written by Gloria Gaynor, Destiny’s Child, Biggie Smalls, Reba McEntire, Tom Petty, Elton John, Eminem, etc. that resonate with things we’ve overcome. We pour money into movies that communicate successes over life struggles such as Bambi, the Lion King, Cast Away, Life of Pi, etc. We romanticize the idea that surviving something adds virtue to our character because we view movie characters as heroic and inspirational.
While there can be positive aspects to the romanticization of survival, (I mean, who hasn’t been encouraged by at least 1 of the Rocky movies?), it’s important to recognize that real-life survival experiences are often complex and challenging. The romanticized portrayal of survival may overlook the physical, emotional, and psychological toll that these experiences can have on individuals. When watching movies, we get to see someone reach their rock bottom, make strides to better themselves, and finally find success within 90-120 minutes. We forfeit the short and long-term effects we put our bodies in while we live in a fight or flight state for periods of time while surviving which is overlooked in glamorized films.
But surviving doesn’t only include traumas that pop up in our lives. Surviving is also what we do when we live paycheck-to-paycheck, work jobs that don’t utilize our passions and skills, stay in loveless marriages for kids or finances, or continue doing things over and over again that give us the bare minimum of joy. This kind of living is not the life Jesus spoke of in Jeremiah 29:11, “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.” Jesus not only spoke these words of encouragement, but He designed our bodies to respond in accordance with that scripture.
Our bodies respond negatively when we live in a state of survival by just getting by in life. We initially lack a sense of purpose that leads to feelings of emptiness, dissatisfaction, frustration, disappointment, and a general sense of unhappiness. We start to evaluate our self-worth, which causes anxiety and stress. This lack of fulfillment contributes to depression. Physically, we become tired and lack energy. We don’t sleep well, deal with chronic stress and emotional turmoil poorly, live with weakened immune systems, exhausted adrenals, increased inflammation, pains, and put ourselves at a higher risk of illness. While these symptoms vary from person to person, surviving in an unfulfilled life never creates positive results.
Even though we cannot always control our circumstances, we are responsible for how we handle them. Our thoughts play a crucial role in this process because our bodies respond to our traumas according to our fixed mindsets. Let’s say you have lived in poverty or pay-to-paycheck most of your life. You become mentally comfortable in this financial status because it’s all you’ve ever known. You want to make more money and work doing different jobs to ensure that happens, but no matter how hard you try to change your situation, you always seem to fall short financially. You feel complete frustration because you’ve created 5 why boards with no progress! What we fail to realize is that our body does everything it can to keep us in a state of balance. It does that by fighting to keep us where we are at because we adapt to our circumstances. So, while you are fighting to better your financial status, your brain is working against you to keep you where you are because it knows that it is “safe”. This is where you are comfortable and why growth only happens outside of this zone. When you receive extra monies, you may have the tendency to splurge on things you normally can’t afford instead of saving the extra, therefore keeping you at your status quo. You may feel inadequate, unworthy, not good enough, unappreciative, or undeserving of more money due to previous childhood beliefs that have been impressed on you. No matter your situation, change is only possible when you let go of old beliefs that aren’t serving you for new ones that are. That’s where we can help!
We believe God created you with a specific purpose in mind. He equipped you with the tools appropriate to fulfill your passions. We help you access old thought patterns that are limiting your potential. We equip you with personalized tools to overcome those barriers. We’ll trade your negative thought patterns for positive ones and work together to help you lead a thriving life fulfilled.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
