Stepping Up and Stepping Out by Joy Morris

How many times have you looked over your shoulder and seen someone who has their head up and is walking tall? Very confident. Have you ever thought to yourself that you wished you were like her/him? Sure you did! We all love to hang around someone who is confident. Someone who can draw a crowd no matter where their at. We look in the mirror and wonder why we can't be that way. Well I have news for you....you CAN be the exact same way!
You have to step up and step out! What does that mean you ask yourself? IT means that you have to make the decision that you are going to be more confident and then you have to act upon it and step out. The second part would be considered hard to most people but it doesn't have to be. Look we've all been through something very hard in our lives. But why do we have to let those hard times keep us from being the most confident person in the world? No one likes to hang around someone who always has their head down and is afraid to make conversation with others. So decide today that your going to step up and step out! I guarantee you that once you adopt this lifestyle, you will see so many people want to hang around you. You will be the person everyone else wants to be just like. So make the change and watch how not only you feel better but everyone else around you will as well.

Forgiveness in your heart by Joy Morris

I've been raised up to forgive and to forget everything bad that happens in my life but what if the wounds are so deep that it's almost impossible to forgive? That's a very good question!
There have been so many people that have hurt me in my own life. People that I would have never thought would harm one hair on my head. Boy was I wrong! I've always tried to be a kind and giving person but as I've grown older I'm becoming more and more guarded in my life. It's ok to have some walls up but when you get to a point that no one can break through those walls even to know you as an overall person it's time to get some help. I know that a lot of you who read these blogs have had some type of harm done to you by someone in your world. It's so easy to just be angry at that person and to blame everything on who hurt you. The backlash to that method though is that you end up looking older than you should in just one years time! You end up having different health risks from anger. That's not the way life should be. When you stay angry and hold resentment towards that person you end up hurting yourself more than that person. My question is....who ends up winning? That person does.... NOT you! So it's time to find that forgiveness in your heart. That doesn't mean that you'll ever forget what they did or that you'll ever trust that person again but it does mean that you will have peace in your heart and in your mind to become that happy person you always should have been before the harm was done. So if your reading this now and you have not taken the time or the energy to forgive the person who harmed you, do so now! Don't wait another day. It's time to take control back over your own life. So no more being the victim.

Taking Control by Joy Morris

You look in the mirror and realize that you do not recognize this person anymore. Why is that? Is it because so much has went on in your life that you feel you've lost all control? Or maybe it's because you've allowed yourself to be consumed with thoughts of all the bad that has happened to you. Regardless of which one it is..my question to you is.....when is it enough?
I have been through so much in my own life. I have learned that I cannot blame myself for things that have happened nor can I hold a grudge against someone who has done me wrong. When you do this and when you allow hate to consume you then you have let that person or people win. You have to make a daily decision to take control over your life. You wake up and you make the choice to brush your teeth, you make the choice to put your clothes on. So why not make the choice to take control over your life and take a stand letting everyone know that you WILL be happy and you WILL succeed in life.
I've heard many times that life can be simple and I've just laughed at that saying.. but if you truly think about it..life can be simple because life is what you make of it. So make the choice each and everyday of your life to push forward, to forgive those who have wronged you and to be happy no matter what you do. You will see the huge impact it makes not only on you but others in your life that you surround yourself with. I pray for happiness and peace in each and everyone of your lives.

When Is Enough..ENOUGH?!?! By: Joy Morris

Day in and day out I wake up. I go through the motions. I go to sleep. I keep going over the same thoughts in my head..I can't live like this anymore! I can't take it any longer! I'm so tired. I can barely get out of bed every morning. I just can't take it! STOP! Please make it STOP!
Does this sound familar? Maybe it's exactly someone you know OR maybe it's you! So how does this go away? Well as long as you go through the motions and you allow your life to keep going down this roller coaster ride day in and day out then it will never go away. But if you take control of your life and change your thought process AND who you surround yourself with, then you can guarantee that your life will go in a different direction. You WILL start to push forward and feel better. You have to learn to take life one day at a time. Most of you have been through a tragic event. Most of you are still not over it either. In your mind you are still a victim. That's ok. But my question is..when is it enough? So many people have went through something bad in their lives yet they've learned how to push forward and to not allow the tragic event to take over their life. You see when you concentrate on the bad that happened to you and you rehearse that night/nights over and over again in your head, you are allowing that person or those people to win. Most of us hold anger inside and we hold a grudge against the person or people who did the wrong to us. How is that making them pay for what they did? Before you know it ten years have gone by and you have so many lines on your face from in depth anger which has caused you to grow old very fast. It's time to stand up and make a change. So you can't change the order of events that happened. So what! You CAN change YOU though. You can set a short term goal for yourself and plan to accomplish that goal. You can change your thought patterns. You can choose to have only positive friends in your life. You see all of this is nothing more than a choice. A decision. All of which YOU have control over! So it's time to say enough is enough and make that change! Don't allow another ten years to fly by. Start now. The person or people that did you wrong will pay sometime down the road. You can count on it! Don't allow your anger and resentment though to drive you in your life. Find ways to make a change and to bring happiness to yourself and to others around you. You do matter and you do deserve only the best life has to offer. Don't let anyone tell you differently. So let's get started! Write out your short term goal and then let's see if you follow through.....Good Luck!

The Pain Within by Joy Morris

So many times we walk among the crowds and we smile yet we hurt so badly inside. We are afraid of anyone seeing the pain we have within us. We want the pain to go away but we don't know how to make that disappear. We forget that we have our own voice and our own minds to stand tall. We also forget that we make a choice everyday to just get out of bed and to push forward through another hard day. We choose to keep going and we choose to put on that fake smile. So why is it that we choose to allow the ones who have hurt us to win? Why do we tuck our tail between our legs and say we are worth nothing? It's time to take a stand and to realize that our lives our just as valuable as the next persons. Just because someone has power or someone has money does not mean they are better then you or me. We have the will to stand on our own two feet and walk through the streets each day. Now we need to give ourselves the permission to have the will to say we choose to win! We choose to be happy and we choose to fight for what's ours. So make that promise to yourself today. Do not allow the person who hurt you to win. Do not allow the one who took something from you to continue to take more away. Stand tall and stand proud. You ARE valuable. There are many of us that believe in you and believe you will find that happiness and inner strength. So now it's up to you to do the same. Believe in yourself.

Taking It With You by Joy Morris.....

Message to Victims II

So I’ve dipped into this issue of human trafficking a lot deeper. One thing I’ve realized is how hard it is for the victims to move forward in life after being a part of this vicious cycle. They take the pain with them. What saddens my soul is the fact that these people who make you a victim end up winning in the end, when you allow your life to stop. I can’t say that I know exactly how you feel because I have not been a victim of trafficking. But I can say that I’ve been a victim of so many other things that were pretty bad. At first I allowed it to take over my life and I didn’t even care to want to go on in life. My life spiraled out of control and there was only one way to go…. Down. I didn’t want to hit rock bottom and I knew that I had to change things. I had to change things for the better to not only help myself but to help those around me. You see when I allowed others to take over my life it didn’t just affect me…..it affected everyone around me that was close to me….my daughter, my mom and dad, etc…. I know that you do not want those around you hurt by your pain. You really have to step outside of the box and take a clear look at your life. What is best for you? Is it giving up and giving in? Or is it using your story as a testimony to others? I know that by using my testimony as an inspiration to others, that I have reached others and helped them make changes too! And so can you! So take some time this week and really think about what’s happened and how YOU can come out on top. In the end you can count on your story being an inspiration to others and YOUR story making an impact in the lives of others.

Taking the time to be thankful..... By: Joy Morris

I look around me and see family and friends and I see all the beautiful blessings that God has given me yet I hear others complaining about life and what they don’t have and how bad their life is. I ask myself….why is that? Why can’t we be happy with what God has given us? We waste so much time complaining and griping about what we want and don’t have and yet we lose sight of all that’s important.

So many families this year have lost a loved one. They will be spending Christmas alone. So many parents have lost a child. They don’t know where to turn or how their life will continue on. This could be our lives. We could have lost something so precious and dear to us. We could be homeless and without food in our stomachs. We could be six feet under the ground.

I’m not saying that what goes on in your life isn't as important as the people who have lost something, but I am saying that even if you’ve been through hard times and even if your still going through hard times, God has given you the willpower and the strength to continue on. We can still fight for what we want in life and still be happy and content. You may have had someone take something away from you that was so precious or you may be in a situation you need out of but the way to make your life better is not to complain or “wish” that things were better….it’s to take action and use the strength that God gave you to push forward and to create the life that brings Joy and happiness to you and everyone that surrounds you.

If you're in a situation that you need out of….take the steps to make that happen. If your gut is telling you that you don’t need to be in the situation you are in then you need to listen to it. Each and every one of us have problems and issues that we want to go away but if you do not take the time to really work hard and make it all disappear you will always be in the rut you're in now and you’ll do nothing more then complain like everyone else in the world. I want you to be the person who makes a difference in this world. Even if you feel you're only one person and you can’t make that difference you need to think again. Each voice can create a world of change if you just speak up and work hard to make that change happen.

If you take nothing else from what I’m saying tonight then take this….don’t stay in the life that leads to misery and self destruction. Stand up and fight for what is right and make your voice be heard. All it takes is one voice to make that positive difference in every person’s life.