![]() Back in the day it was just a mantra with funny theatrics by actors Jasmine Guy and Debbie Allen, but there was truth in that lesson, and it’s that healing comes by moving forward, even as we wait. Watching this same episode now as an adult, I get it. Your life is not over, not by a long shot. Our testimony becomes our ministry as we share our deliverance with others. We may not be able to see it while we go through it, but there is ministry in our pain, and though weeping may endure for a night, joy will come in the morning. There are even circumstances that have left us bruised and nearly broken beyond recognition.Īnd yet Paul says in Romans 8:28 that all things work for our good. There are painful experiences we have endured that we did nothing to deserve. There are things happening in our lives that we cannot change. This was Whitley’s final lesson, and my own, in many ways. In order to relax your muscles, you have to breathe in peace and breathe out stress. The instructor will usually begin the warm up or end the cool down with a few deep breaths. If you’ve ever taken a dance or fitness class, you know how essential breathing is to preparing your body for the cardio or stretching you’re about to engage in. Part of the art of relaxing is releasing. I challenge you to allow God to blow your mind by taking the time to live in the here and now. If you have been following my posts, then you’ve already done the work mentioned in both Who Are You and Bag Lady. God cannot reveal new things to you if your vision is clouded by your past. He will keep us in perfect peace, but that requires our mind to be stayed on Him as we trust the future plans he has for us. Similarly for us, God wants us to unwrap the little presents that He’s set right in front of us, but we’ll miss out on His gifts if we are out of touch with His voice and direction. That means she had to open her eyes and see what was in front of her. In order to fully walk into her destiny, she had to relax, relate and be present. Whitley’s character was stuck in the past, and it caused her a load of unnecessary stress. People are typically unavailable emotionally because they struggle with releasing areas of their past that keep them from being able to relate to life now. Part of moving forward is living in the here and now. New Yorkers never smile! However, if I truly let go of my baggage and reflect on God's blessings in my life, I cannot help but to smile. My biggest struggle with being relatable was that I struggled with smiling (I'm actually laughing at myself now). One of the areas God challenged me on last year was how relatable I was to people.Īsk yourself: Do people feel happy after meeting me or am I the Debbie Downer of the party? Your tone, demeanor, how you walk, and your overall upkeep sends nonverbal cues to others that can impact their perception of you. You may probably start to wonder if they are still too hung up on their past to have given any thought to the here and now with you.Įverything you do sends a message. There’s nothing worse than going on a date with someone and having to listen to that person talk about their past relationships like every other sentence is about their ex. How do you relax? If you could pick up and go anywhere for vacation, where would you go? How do you create a space for “me time” to rejuvenate the mind, body and spirit? Relate and be present We serve a God that can turn things around for our good at any moment. Stop stressing over how things look right now. God promised us abundant life, but that can only happen when we focus on Him with a spirit of gratitude and thanksgiving. Let God fill those voids while you learn how to rest in His timing. The advice the therapist gives her, which has continued to be a mantra for many today, is to “relax, relate, and release”! The therapist, played by Debbie Allen, makes it very clear to Whitley that she cannot move forward in life if she continues to hold onto the past. In one particular episode she goes to see a therapist. Several episodes into the show, we see the inner turmoil of Whitley as she works through her feelings for Julian – a childhood friend that she had always believed she was destined to marry – and a budding love she feels for Dwayne, a guy who had not been born with a silver spoon in his mouth and who was actually very awkward when it came to women. All of this and more kept me intrigued and dreaming of the adventures I would face when it was my turn to go away to school. Of course it included all the gossip, boy/girl crushes and major decisions, like whether or not to go Greek. That show was my first introduction into all the twists and turns that can happen as one transitions from being a teenager into an adult within a campus setting. When I was growing up, one of my favorite television shows was A Different World.
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