Less than Perfect Past

In the Early Years

I didn’t always have the life I live now: nice house, nice car, great dog, and by far the most important, a great husband. My youth was safe and secure and I never wanted for anything. However, I began to make bad choices as a teen and life got hard. Really hard. I hung with the wrong crowd which intensified my bad choices: smoking, drinking, drugging. Ultimately, by the age of 17, I was a mom.

Don’t get me wrong. This teen-mom thing was the best thing to happen to me. EVER. But that didn’t stop me from continuing to make bad choices. As a firm believer in God, I now know that it was the enemy keeping me from my true destiny and I was too weak to overcome. But the bits of faith I had left brought me through each and every trial I was under. God never gave up. He wasn’t done with me yet.

I went through several failed marriages, abuse, poverty and the possibility of losing custody of my son. But I always had hope. And I always kept trying to be a better person, mother, daughter, wife. Eventually, I allowed the Enemy to overtake my efforts and I would give in to the negativity in life. Drinking was the only relief, or so I thought, to all the pain.

Thank God for my parents! They were always there to help raise my son when I was crippled by my bad choices. And by the age of 12, my son was able to be in a permanent (or so I thought), stable home that I provided. When he turned 18 he left for military service. No more about my son other than that he is a grown man over 40, married and retired from the Air Force. We are best friends.

Moving Passed the Passed

Though all the trials of my past are over, the damage continues to linger in my present life. I’ve had epiphanies over the last 8+ years into how to let them go and live life abundantly. But they all failed to accomplish that outcome.

Until recently. My faith in God has increased ten-fold over the last year or so. Funny, but a single radio station was the key to that renewed faith. The JoyFM has been on my Jeep’s radio dial for several years, but only this last year have I begun to really listen. Contemporary Christian songs of faith and overcoming resonate deep in my soul.

Fast forward to August of 2019, my mindset has been completely changed. I understand that I still have weaknesses, but I am now able to recognize when and why they occur. This allows me to overcome them and make positive choices.

Several people help me to keep moving positively towards my goals. Two of whom I give great credit: Tom Bilyeu and Annie Grace. Each in their own way have influenced how I perceive life and how I move through it.

And this is why I am finding my destiny, slowly. Mindset is EVERYTHING! If you don’t control your emotions and actions, nothing will ever happen positively and to its fullest. BELIEVE this. OWN it. LIVE it. This is how you become the best you. My faith in God along with Tom and Annie and The JoyFM helped me do this. Find your faith. Find your mentor. Move passed the past.

To your future of living a fulfilling life, Lisa.