Relationships

15 Paths to Ecstasy: Get Your Heat Back

Hello. My name is Wake-Up! Well not really, but I’d like to remind you that you are alive and well and since you are alive, take hold of the day you have been given and live.  

Most people believe that ecstasy belongs in the bedroom. Well, although this is true, the ecstasy is defined as an overwhelming feeling of excitement and joy. Life comes at you fast and it is essential that you are equipped with a response to combat those days when you are faced with road blocks. There is something greater working in your favor and you are destined to succeed no matter what. When those days hit you hard….combat them with the following paths to achieving ecstasy in the store, on the bus, or in your life:

  1. Express yourself through writing. Expression is a healer and a motivator to keep going in the toughest intersections of life.
  2. Think of evey accomplishment that you have achieved in life as a catalyst for greater things in life
  3. Find someone who may be going through a difficult time and encourage them to not quit
  4. Write a love note to your spouse or partner assuring them that you appreciate their love.
  5. Recite the words a friend has told you back to them. Powerful words should never fall to the ground. We should cherish and bank wisdom as a jewel.
  6. Create a scrapbook of old and new pictures that have been laying randomly around the house. This will allow you to gain persepective as to your journey in this life.
  7. Go Organic. Decide to choose one to two nights per week where you cut the TV off and play a board game with your family. Remember playing tic-tac-toe on paper?
  8. Think of the two things you can control and focus your efforts on this. From experience, focusing on the things that we can not control create deep feelings of disempowerment and chaos. Life is not static it is instead a brisk walk with a lot of scenery, so release what you can not control. Surrender it to God.
  9. Release the tension! If you are married, have continuous and frequent sex with your partner and keep the communication flowing to ensure that no walls exist between you. I remember when my husband and I had our daughter, we had to walk through the stages and frustrations of coming back to each other after putting the baby first. If you are not married, enjoy walks and exercise, and time with friends or your partner. Whatever you do, get the tension of life out and relax.
  10. Schedule time to work on your dream- Taking the time to invest in ourselves is a great motivator. Whether we download a book on how to be a better parent or buy a Julia Child’s cookbook, take the time to invest in your dream and make it a reality in time.
  11. Speak the End from the Beginning- The power of confession permits us to fast forward to the desired end we wish to see manifested in our lives. Sure,obstacles will come and road blocks may delay our progress, but as we are diligent about the process of confession, we will see those things move like mountains.
  12. Create a dream board. This is practice that I find myself going back to is writing the vision and keeping it before you to serve as an encouragement in the times when progress may seem slow. Take out a sheet of paper or invest in a piece of posterboard and tear through magazines, looking for the items or words that express the goals that you’d like to bring into your life. So often life brings us to the consistent visual that we live in daily but there is a spiritual world working overtime for us to bring us into our desired end. That is what faith is all about, believing what we can not see. Lord help us to believe what we can not see! A dream does not have to remain a dream, it can be a reality.
  13. Dance! David was a gentle soul in the Bible that went through a lot of turmoil. yet he utilized the expression of dance and singing to sing praises to God for deliverance from situations in life. My favorite song is Lee Ann Womack’s I Hope You Dance. She reminds us that “Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens, Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance,And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.” So I remind you my friend to just dance!
  14. Go barefoot! Connecting with nature is so vital and essential to earth. There are so many mechanical things that have crept into society—modular homes, robot assistants, social media which are all great tools for connecting us; yet there is nothing as fun as taking the time to dig a hole in the backyard and fill it with water—sticking your feet into the earth and taking a mud foot bath. It is free and so refreshing.
  15. Surrender! The act of surrender is the ultimate release of carrying tasks we were simply not designed to carry. Writing this piece this morning, gave me the realization that like myself at times, we may find ourselves attempting to be the glue that holds everything together but even in that we must surrender all of the issues that life brings to the one that can hold it all; God can and he loves us enough to know that we must seek him and come to him when we know nothing else. Whether it is fasting, praying, communicating, or eliminating, find a way to surrender those toxic things or those things creating an imbalance in your life over to the one that can handle it….God can!

So this list came to me this morning and I know that it will be blessing to you! I encourage you to leave your comments or add to the list with any things that you have or are practicing in your life. Let’s create a toolbox for the earth! Have a great day!

Danita Ogandaga

Copyrighted. 2012. Danita Ogandaga for Danitaogandaga.com.

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Deliverance is not linear with a straight route and safe passage out of life’s situation. Rather it is a process of associations and decisions to continue walking in the direction of consistency. Thanking God for the power to keep walking in the path of freedom and security found in the word of God and the wisdom to know that but for the grace of God we are kept and made safe.

Culture & Communications, Emotional Healing

Funked Out- Dealing With Discontentment & Eventual Depression

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Ever been a funk where if things were not going the way you absolutely confessed they would go from top to bottom and all the way around? Join the fifty million of people that assume that mindset and suddenly find themselves slipping into a state of discontentment and eventual depression. This state may have been experienced in the most subtle to the most extravagant way. Ever sat by the mailbox waiting for that acceptance letter that never came or waiting by the cell phone waiting for that person to call or went to the refrigerator and discovered that someone ate your piece of the pie? Discouragement, discontentment, and dissatisfaction are all tactics that are used by Satan to get us in a overwhelming state of emotional, physical, spiritual, financial, and mental stress. It is in these times that we must know that God is our number one lifter-upper and motivator. His sole purpose in this life is for us to know that He is fighting for us when we deal with funky things in life.

How do you deal with disappointment? I remember the times when I was not granted an academic scholarship that I had applied for in my early years of college. I had worked so hard to write the scholarship fund for criteria and guidelines. In addition, I was diligent about maintaining a 3.8 GPA and crammed so many extracurricular activities in my schedule. When I sent off my application, I just knew that I was going to get the scholarship. Three weeks later, I got a flat NO. I was beyond crushed and like me, maybe you wondered how you’d make it and what your next plan would be.

Psalm 30:5 is true that although weeping may endure for a night time, joy will come in the morning. For some, that morning may be translated into a couple of hours and for others, that joy may be delayed and come over days or months; but it will come. When I realized that I had to talk myself into getting happy again so that I could focus on the next step, the sadness and anger began to pour off of me like a wet towel. When I transferred the weight of the anger onto God and asked Him to help me deal with the disappointment, He helped me. I am so thankful the hurt did not escalate to sorrow, and eventual depression. Once this door opens, Satan has a field day and seeks to further break down our spirit with more problems.

Are you in your morning? Does it feel like the disappointment will never leave? If you find yourself in this state of mind, remember to do the following repetitiously until joy returns:

Accept Your Truth- A key factor for persons who deal with depression is the inability to face the truth of their situation and as a result, they close themselves up to forever sorrow. I am here to tell you that sorrow does not last always. The Holy Spirit was sent to bring us truth so it is okay to release your inability to handle a situation and transfer the burden over to God. Matthew 11:30 reminds us Jesus’ burdens are light and His yoke is so easy. That is great news. When my parents died, I did not know what direction that I was going. I felt like a marathon runner and just wanted to run. I wanted to run completely away from the truth that my parents were not present. Depression will cause you to remain stuck inside yourself and you’ll eventually find yourself mad at others for not wanting to hop onto your pity-party. I was there and this is not a pretty place. Once you accept your truth, whatever that may be, God can and will assist you and reveal himself to you and help you. Jesus is the awesome Helper, Comforter, Peacemaker, and Messenger.

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Reject and Rejoice- Satan is an accuser of the brethren and he seeks to allow the sorrow that we are dealing with because of our situation turn inward creating anger; which is the state of depression. The greatest GPS that we can know is that depression is not based on the situation that we find ourselves into but our response to how we are handling it. Don’t get me wrong; in some cases, persons may have a chemical imbalance where there are some barriers to logical thinking and I would definitely recommend therapy for those persons who find themselves in this state. The ultimate thing that we should do is to allow God in. It’s about relationship. Many of us have experienced rejection on many levels and it is easy to see how we could be subject to perpetual disappointment; but know that forever disappointment, God has a re-appointment. He knows the plans for you and God is not into making junk! Remain encouraged and commit to the process of renewing your mind so you can stay focused on your future rather than your past. Make a choice to be led by the Holy Spirit. Reject the stress and rejoice in being blessed. God is for you and everything is going to be alright.