This week I’m passing the motivational touch to a great inspiration women and my friend Janae Martin. Her passage today will get you thinking about the metaphorical “baggage” you carry and how to off-load that extra weight.

Break the chain of the past to create your own, unique future
We are in control of our future however, we can’t change the past.

As I review my steps in my early adulthood, I’m noticing that I am carrying some childhood burdens along the way; Baggage that has not only taken a toll on me but has also been strain on others around me.

I am sharing this post because I want to be a model for others to take a stance against a vicious cycle. All of our stories seem to be similar; you have issues because daddy wasn’t around so you look towards men for attention. Or mommy and daddy argued all the time so you think controversy and conflict is the answer to finding true love. Maybe the feeling of love was nonexistent around the household so it has kept you from understanding what love really means; pushing you to look in the wrong places to find it.  Maybe mommy bent over backwards for daddy, never looking for anything in return, so you accept things you shouldn’t tolerate from men.  And Fellas, maybe mom was overprotective, creating this untouchable image of a wife and keeping you void of knowing how to properly carry yourself.

Some have even deeper, more tragic stories. Those whose innocence was stolen at a young age by molestation or some sort of devastating physical or mental abusive act now may devalue themselves as they wake up every day disgusted at what they see in the mirror. There are many things from our past that negatively affect us in our current live but the key is to move past what you can’t change.  All those incidents, all those barriers create these “boxes” of anger and resentfulness that grows each day inside of us. We move further into life just adding to the “box”, picking up the bad habits from our parents, not even noticing that it is starting to burst at the seams. Ultimately, we sabotage our adulthood and de-construct our future before it even happens.

It’s time to face the truth and break the chain.  We are all in fact a product of our environment but as adults it’s time to create our own future. Find the silver lining from your upbringing and run with it. Let the negative aspects act as lessons on how you must move forward and be better than the demons of your past.

Here’s my quick testimony:  Growing up, no one ever told me they loved me and my parents were ashamed of my weight problem. That use to hurt me to my core and I felt unworthy. But today, it’s all good! I’m leaving that in the past and as a woman of God, I love everyone. I’ve also decided to let go of being hurt with the weight thing and I’m taking control of it instead of resenting it.  Leaving that negativity of my past in the past has lifted a huge weight off my shoulders and I see the world in a new loving light.

I challenge you to try it…dig deep…Is there something from your past that sabotages your present / future?? Own it, break that chain, and create your own future/legacy.

Thanks for reading and thanks to Niccole for giving me this opportunity to be a guest on her blog!

I love you all!
*Nae*

If you have a story / challenge / testimony that relates…. Please share?!! Send your post to midwyfecrisis@gmail.com