You need to cry…to breathe. Men, I’m talking about us…you women too.

To the artificial us, the expected supposed to be, and to humanity begging to shine through, I give you one piece of advice. Cry. I began this thread of idea to speak to the men of the world and their need to cry, in order for them to release all the pent up fears, angers, humiliations, and confusions, but the audience later broadens to be all inclusive.

Through this release through crying we, as men, might avoid the catastrophes we inevitably create for ourselves. Catastrophes created by fear of failure, anger and humiliation leading to obstinance and inflexibility. Confusion of not knowing what to do with all these feelings we’ve been told and ingrained with not to let show, let alone to allow exist inside of us. Again, the fear of that confusion because if we have these sensitive thoughts, feelings, and reactions then people might think we are more woman than man.

But, as I thought of how men in society should support man to cry, I thought also of how women should let us cry as well. Then I realized that society doesn’t allow women to cry freely without judgement either. Crying is seen as weak. Crying by a man is often thought of as showing their feminine side, as though having a feminine side is a bad thing.

This led me to the thought of why we still refer to behaviors as feminine or masculine.

I believe crying and laughter are the two most powerful healing and coping mechanisms every person has available to them, and it’s free to do either. No prescription necessary or diagnosis required.

Just as men are seen as weak for crying, so to are women. I believe that view along with that about men has led to many wrong decisions in the 20th and 21st centuries that caused great losses. This is not just an opinion I have about the U.S. but one for all countries around the world. Some even worse than America itself.

Many of us have or will experience a life altering trauma. We’re afraid to admit it, afraid to show we are scared or hurting or completely lost. A good first step is to let yourself cry. It works. I speak from experience.

So to humanity, I once again say…cry, and cry often. But also remember to laugh just as much. It’s all about balance in ones life to have a good and healthy life.

Cry like a man?
Cry like a human.
Cry like a babe calling for the need of telling the world it needs relief of something.

Wash away the poisons of loss
of grief
of fear
of anger
of the loneliness of being you.

Cry from no one listening
of no one noticing
you are no longer the you they know or you recognize.

Cry…so you can then breathe…and laugh once again.

Advertisement

Open Your Mind and Run Free.

We spend most, and in some cases all, of our lives wanting to be something else or growing as a person or as a professional. During all of that time we are also learning to do the thing we keep wanting to be. We wait and wait and wait. 10, 20, or even 30 years down the line we sit down and make a list of what we need to do to be what we want to be. Before we finish the list the headache begins as we realize all the boxes we thought we needed to fill-in to move forward with our dream are being checked off as we go and that most of them were filled in years ago.

For some, that is when we get depressed and give up, thinking we have let it wait to late. Then there are those who stop making that list, throw it away (or delete it) and get to work on dream fulfilling.

Take it from the guy that wrote his first stories and book length manuscripts by the age of 25 but didn’t attempt to publish a book until 45, if you are reading this…start that list…stop after requirement number one. Because you already got it. Now you have time to make up. Get running. (Oh, and buy my Historical Fiction novel at Amazon by clicking on that book cover image on the side of my blog. Hey, I gotta try.)

A better you already exists.

NOW is the time to OPEN YOUR MIND

and let it RUN FREE.

© 2019 Ronovan Hester Copyright reserved. The author asserts his moral and legal rights over this work.

Why diversity and inclusion aren’t about race but everyone thinks they are | Michael Bush

A great listen!

Smile Today!

Have a great day and pass a smile on.

@janineshepherd – Build A Better You.

A great inspirational story.

 

The Power of Positivity.

The power of positivity. In order for it to change your life you have to understand a few things and apply it across the board.

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. That was the verse I was given to study upon. Not a lot to go on there and of course I did as I always do and went to the book itself and read the verses leading up to and following it.

“12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” James 1:12-18

That’s a lot to throw at you but I liked it. It’s something I’ve reminded people from time to time when things have looked bad and they’ve looked weary at church. This always leads into questioning about what good is happening in life. The bad things can be powerful because they can loom large. One reason problems can be large is because we give so much power to things. It’s like when you have that one favorite TV show and you MUST see it every week. Then it gets cancelled. You feel it’s the end of the world. But then what happens? You find a new favorite.

But sometimes big things are big things. You still can’t let them control your entire life. The worry about them affects the other areas. Eventually that one thing ends up destroying everything else.

You know, some people like to use that old idea of a grain of sand turning into a pearl when they talk about how an irritant can bring about something wonderful. Well, that irritant is in one spot, it doesn’t move around to all areas of the oyster. The oyster lives a fine and happy life with a pearl.

It’s a struggle to work against the negative. Or it can be. Put with practice, focusing on the positive, you end up having the positive weed its way into the negative areas. It’s always better to go into a job interview with a good and positive attitude than a negative one.

Ronovan

Romans 1:16

Change your mind…change your life.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. (James 3:9-10)

One way to change your life is to change your mind. One sign of a changing mind is a changing tongue. Years ago I was a swearer. I wasn’t a major profanity person but I used some language. And yes, I was a Christian then too. Then I found out I was going to be a father so I made the decision to change. If I was going to tell my child to be a certain way, shouldn’t I be the living example of that way?

To do this I made certain to not fill my life with things that were filled with what I didn’t want. I changed my music listening, reading, TV viewing. No, I didn’t become a fanatic about it, but I did make deliberate decisions. An example would be TV. If a show happened to have a bad word in it as part of a scene because the scene was emotional or something, okay, I got it. If the whole show was laced with it, and had scenes that sensationalized things it shouldn’t, I stayed away.

The same thing went for music. Although for that I mostly went to Contemporary Christian music. I like it. I still listen to my old 80s music for fun. And there are some music acts I like even now. But I still heed my initial parameters. And let me tell you, it is sad when you hear a song with a good beat and then they start in with the language or sexist or derogatory content.

You can’t be two minds on a matter or it comes out in your language. If you give lip service to a subject you will get found out. People like to think you are what you are. No, you are what you turn yourself into. It’s been over a decade since I made myself a promise to watch my language. I continue to fulfill that promise. I’m still cautious of my viewing and listening indulgences. I figure if I’m not participating, that’s one less vote, so to speak, for that type of content.

Do you think you can change your life by changing your mind? Can you change your views of the world by changing your mind? Pick something this week that you know you shouldn’t be doing or saying and work at altering your life by finding out why you say that and then stop. For me, I found that by not having all those music and TV influences I was able to easily stop using language, even when people around me at work were using it. See what you can do this week.

Much Respect

Ronovan

Boast in your weaknesses.

That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:10)

Sometimes you need to go to the book itself when you’re given a verse to read for the day. So I did, and read what led up to this statement by Paul to the Corinthians.

I like Paul because he’s not afraid to talk about his own failings, although he keeps his main failing, the ‘thorn’ in his flesh a secret, he still admits he has one. So what does the verse mean?

I look at myself as an example. I have Fibromyalgia which is also known as Chronic Pain. I have Chronic Fatigue, migraines that are always present, with variance in intensity, light and sound sensitivity, a sleep disorder, as well as spinal problems and other health issues. Why do I even look at those weaknesses in delight? Or perhaps the insults I’ve received at times?

Because with the help of God, those weaknesses, insults, and persecutions didn’t stop me from doing something I’ve dreamed of for decades. In fact, because of those weaknesses I may  have accomplished my goal of becoming a published author.

I took what life gave me and worked with it. I didn’t say that because my life isn’t the norm, that I couldn’t accomplish something. Even today I don’t know when I will sleep, when I will be awake. Sometimes I sleep three hours out of 48 and I will turn that into something useful in writing. What better way to describe sleep deprivation than being in it?

Anyone can brag about something they’ve done. But boasting about a weakness is something else. Overcoming hardships to be normal or even being extraordinary is something to talk about, but it’s mainly something to look to and realize help was given along the way. God directed me to write a book, or a few really. Within three months of an accident that changed my life forever, I’d written a book that I am about to shop to agents. I shouldn’t have been writing anything, but I had this need inside of me to challenge myself to accomplish something I’d never done before, write a romance novel. So it turned out to be a coming of age novel more than a romance. I still did it.

Having that helping hand to guide me, to support me, to lift me up when I fall backwards, is something that I know I can rely on and makes me more fearless in what I do. I am not afraid of weaknesses or failures. I use them.

Much Respect

Ronovan

Vote for Annette Rochelle Aben!

Angel MessagesAnnette’s book Angel Messages is in the Cover Wars and she needs your vote.

At the end of the week (Sunday at 8 AM EST) voting will end.

You can vote once per day, so vote now so you can vote again.

Click the link below to go and vote! You don’t have to give any information. Just click and vote!

Cover Wars!

Rebirth of a Man. #WQWWC

The difference two years can make in a persons life is beyond imagining. Blogging can end up being many things in your life. For me, it was a way to begin having something to do, something to wake up and ‘work’ at. For a man who’d worked his whole adult life, it was unusual to find himself in the land of nothingness, although in truth, I didn’t really know what that meant at the time. Amnesia can do that to you. It’s odd to think about what you do and do not remember.

I never had expectations from blogging. Maybe I wanted people to read my work. Originally this was to be a Christian site. With the first post it became a writer’s site. I still try to keep it along the lines of Christianity in tone and demeanor, but as goes a Christian life astray at times, so goes a blog post as well.

“When love awakens in your life, in the night of your heart, it is like the dawn breaking within you. Where before there was anonymity, now there is intimacy; where before there was fear, now there is courage; where before in your life there was awkwardness, now there is a rhythm of grace and gracefulness; where before you used to be jagged, now you are elegant and in rhythm with your self. When love awakens in your life, it is like a rebirth, a new beginning.” John O’Donohue

When I first began blogging I wrote some of the darkest poetry I’ve ever put pen to. I couldn’t write like that again if I were paid. It’s not in me. I’m a happy person now. I’m content with most of my life. I think friendship and having people care about me has changed me a lot.

I don’t dwell in the land of self-pity any longer. I don’t check in to depression hotel. I used to have a buy two nights get the third one free deal with the DH. Now, I don’t even get junk mail or spam for specials.

I’m so content that I have a hard time writing poetry at all. That may sound odd, the thinking being that maybe I would be able to write happy poems, but really it’s that I just do ‘think’ about things because they all go well right now. Well, maybe not all. When those things don’t go well now, they are even worse than my old bad days. Now I know what good is like so the bad moments are that much worse. However, I know there is another way of life than sadness.

My rebirth began two years ago, in June. I didn’t know it at the time, but looking back now I can tell it did. Two years later and it’s as though life has taken an even bigger leap into the good zone. By all rights I should be depressed at this moment, but I’m not. Things are good, real good. The outlook on life is good. Confirmations have happened. Affirmations. Other ‘tions’ I’m sure I can’t thing of at the moment.

Love is a wonderful thing to have. Rebirth in almost every way can be seen as the results of love, caring. If you need a new life, look for love. Love’s the best medicine you can find.


You can check out the other Rebirth entries  HERE, on SilverThreading.com, Colleen Chesebro’s site, my other half for the Writers Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge. This was her week to come up with the theme.


Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2016

Rebirth of a Nation. #WQWWC

I generally like to do multiple quotes either as a list or to weave through a commentary on Wednesday to go with the Writer’s Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge or #WQWWC. This week, what with all that’s happened recently in Orlando, FL here in the US, I stumbled across one quote I felt pretty much sums up how America is.

“You know Americans are obsessed with life and death and rebirth, that’s the American Cycle. You know, awakening, tragic, horrible death and then Phoenix rising from the ashes. That’s the American story, again and again.” Billy Corgan

The sad thing is, the lead singer of the Smashing Pumpkins is right. But the American story needs to do away with some of those repetitive chapters, and do so soon. It may take some ugly steps to do it, some things most of us will just not like.

I’m someone who has to do things and be on the side of things and told I’m just not right a lot. It’s difficult, but I’m okay with it because I know it’s the right thing.

 


You can check out the other Rebirth entries  HERE, on SilverThreading.com, Colleen Chesebro’s site, my other half for the Writers Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge. This was her week to come up with the theme.


Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2016

Quotes of Connection. Inspire.

Sometimes when I put together a post for some sort of challenge, I just include a list of quotes or try to link them together in some form. The form this time is simple. I’m not going to express how certain quotes are about writing or one subject.

You ever see a quote and it speaks to you? As I was putting together a group of quotes this week for my other site I ran across several that did just that, spoke to me, in different ways. All talk about Inspiration.

“Being a father has been, without a doubt, my greatest source of achievement, pride and inspiration. Fatherhood has taught me about unconditional love, reinforced the importance of giving back and taught me how to be a better person.” Naveen Jain (Founder and former CEO of InfoSpace.)

This quote is so true to me. Becoming a parent, you decide you want to set an example, and during that time you realize how bad an example you really are. If you are the right kind of parent, and yes I do believe there is a right kind of parent, then you change and do so in a sincere way. You don’t play the part only when the child is looking.
 

“Inspiration comes from within yourself. One has to be positive. When you’re positive, good things happen.” Deep Roy (Indian Actor born in Kenya)

Anyone that knows me knows this quote could have come from me. For the longest time I’ve talked about the power of being positive. When you are being negative, have you ever felt that physical drain on your body? The opposite happens when you focus on being positive. You see the positive things happening instead of focusing on the petty little things that really aren’t important at all.
“My inspiration are the woman, friendship, and loneliness.” Enrique Iglesias (Spanish singer, songwriter, and actor.)
Here is a surprise source for a quote that speaks to me. But he pretty much sums things up quite nicely when it comes to what inspires me in my writing.

“Cease trying to work everything out with your minds. It will get you nowhere. Live by intuition and inspiration and let your whole life be Revelation.” Eileen Caddy (Spiritual teacher and new age author.)

I don’t know what her intent was when she said this, but as with all things spoken, one takes from it what they wish. For me this goes along with positivity and for me, my faith. On both sides of the faith line people are all about proving something. The Christian wishes to prove the existence of God and Creation, the Atheist wishes to prove there is no God and that some other process occurred that brought everything into being in some way. Both side has scientist that study things for the advancement of the human race. For those, I say awesome, for the others who only do things to fight, I say, chill. Debates rarely if ever changes minds or hearts. Doing the work for a positive reason will be a reward.

“To what greater inspiration and counsel can we turn than to the imperishable truth to be found in this treasure house, the Bible?” Queen Elizabeth II (Queen of the United Kingdom since 1952.)

This is the quote that made me want to write this post in the first place. Notice what the Queen says here. “To what greater inspiration and counsel…” I think so many people forget what the Bible was given to us for. Yes, we are to believe what it says. But one thing above all, we are supposed to use it as a way to lead a life. Imagine if we all took the New Testament, in context, and lived that way. Wow. Live as Jesus taught. Live through his counsel. Do I care what other people believe about the Bible and God? Yep. I would be lying if I said no. Does it matter to me that some of my friends don’t believe in God as I do? Yep. Again a truth, not fighting words. Do I wish they would use the New Testament as a source of inspiration and advice? Yep. Do they have to believe it to use it? Nope.
Gotcha with that last one, didn’t I? Hey, if the Sermon on the Mount was good enough for Gandhi, then it’s good enough for anyone else. Gandhi’s interest in Jesus began early in his life. In England, sent to learn law in l888, the young Hindu was persuaded to read the Bible even before he had studied the Bhagavad Gita and other Indian classics. The Sermon on the Mount, he said, “went straight to my heart”: “When I read in the Sermon on the Mount such passages as…’whoever smiteth thee on thy cheek turn to him the other also’ I was simply overjoyed.”(a)
Gandhi is one of the greats that inspires me about Jesus, on par with Billy Graham. Do I consider Billy Graham to be as important to the world as Gandhi? I guess it all depends on the specific reason to be looking at each person. Gandhi inspires me because of who and what he was and how much stock he put into the Sermon on the Mount. I’ll be doing a post about Gandhi and his thoughts about that text. One thing about the Hindu that I like is they take from whatever and utilize the best of them. At least some do. I’m sure some take the worsts if they so wish. Just like people of every other religion will take what they want from them what they want for themselves. Gandhi took the best of the entire Bible and put it to work, and practiced it. Graham faced the modern world, all the many facets of the West and still went out on faith in God. I wonder if their names beginning with G has anything to do with it, also same number of letters. Weird.

You can check out the other Inspiration entries  HERE, on SilverThreading.com, Colleen Chesebro’s site, my other half for the Writers Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge. This was her week to come up with the theme.


Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2016

16 QUOTES FOR A WRITER’S OBSESSION.

Quotes can do a great many things. One is to make you think. You can think about yesterday, today, or tomorrow. The quote determines what path you take with those thoughts of yours. Which reminds me of this quote:

“I learn from thinking about the future, what hasn’t been done yet. That’s kind of my constant obsession.” John Cale

I like to focus on quotes that impress me about the life of being a writer, even if the original intent wasn’t there, and regardless of who said the words. Okay, maybe I do have a bias at times.

Take this quote as an example:

“Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.” Claude Monet

Obviously Monet was not talking about writing, but substitute the word “words” for “color” and you have my life. I create a new book idea at least once per week. The torment for me is captured with these words:

“I can’t read all the books I want to read, I can’t watch all the phenomena that interest me in the world. The work calls me, and sometimes I wonder whether this is an obsession and I should drop it, or it’s a necessity I’m obliged to fulfill.” James Hillman

The problem is not so much the question of whether or not I have an obsession with words or if they are a necessity. They are both. My problem is this:

“The creative habit is like a drug. The particular obsession changes, but the excitement, the thrill of your creation lasts.” Henry Moore

Some have a more negative view of obsession. I suppose even when channeled toward the arts.

“Obsession is the single most wasteful human activity, because with an obsession you keep coming back and back and back to the same question and never get an answer.” Norman Mailer

You might think Mailer is a great one to pay heed of, but no two people are the same. Perhaps with him, he just didn’t know how to channel obsession or perhaps his obsessions were not as healthy as writing. Writing isn’t only an obsession to me.

“Writing is my obsession, my passion. My relationship with it is one of the most complex and agonizing and richly vexing that I have in my life.” Julianna Baggott

But the truth is,

“The trade of authorship is a violent, and indestructible obsession.” George Sand

“Writing has to be an obsession – it’s only for those who say, ‘I’m not going to do anything else.’” Lorrie Moore

If you think about what a writer does to create a 300 page book, there must be obsession involved. Even those books that turn out not so great are the results of an obsessed mind, a fevered mind devoted to this world inside the imagination.

I can identify with the next quote:

“I’ve been called many names like perfectionist, difficult and obsessive. I think it takes obsession, takes searching for the details for any artist to be good.” Barbra Streisand

Add insane, nuts, crazy, and a few choice words to the list and you pretty much have my name calling in hand.

But you know what?

“What moves those of genius, what inspires their work is not new ideas, but their obsession with the idea that what has already been said is still not enough.” Eugene Delacroix

Writing isn’t easy. To finish a sandwich is one thing. Even to finish reading a book is something. But to finish writing a book? How hard is it for you to finish reading a book sometimes, even one you love?

“I need my natural laziness to be counteracted by obsession in order to do anything.” Vikram Seth

I could sleep all day, and watch old movies all night. Yes, I live on an odd time schedule, even though mornings are my most creative times.

But laziness, uncertainty, and all those other things that get in the way just won’t stop a truly obsessed writer.

“You cannot write a book unless it is totally inhabiting your imagination and you are totally engrossed with it. Which is a kind word for obsession.” Kate Forsyth

Another way of saying it is,

“The work is a calling. It demands that type of obsession.” John Pomfret

Art is a unique profession, writing included. We are our own bosses. Some like to say we create fairy tales and make believe worlds. People don’t realize something about writing.

“When you’re working for yourself and your own obsession with finding the truth, you’re at your own mercy.” Errol Morris

You see, if a writer isn’t writing honestly, if they are putting words into the mouth of a character and they don’t ring true, everything falls apart, and they are labeled a terrible writer. Writing is a dangerous profession, a gamble.

But as the saying goes and it is so true,

“I read in order to write. I read out of obsession with writing.” Cynthia Ozick

When it all boils down, I can say this,

“I only have one obsession – not to be boring.” Michel Hazanavicius


You can check out the other Obsession entries  HERE, on SilverThreading.com, Colleen Chesebro’s site, my other half for the Writers Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge. This was her week to come up with the theme.


Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2016

Renew your mind and the rest will follow.

For the “Change” theme of the Writers Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge this week, which I chose, I wanted to share one of my favorite verses.

“2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (Romans 12:2a)

A lot of people stop at this point in the reading. I’ve heard this partial verse preached on a number of times, but I always have my Bible out to read further. You see, I understand something many preachers don’t preach about.

The writings of the Bible were done as letters, not books, chapters, and verses. One sentence leads into the next. I like what some pastors say, if you see a “Therefore” in the Bible, it means it’s “there for” a reason. With this verse, you look at the next sentence.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2b)

Now that your mind is not polluted by the goings on of the world, you will be able to see for yourself the truth of God’s will. Polluted is a strong word. However, I’m not certain what other word to use when I think about what happens when the TV, movie, and music influences begin their work on an individual. Tiger Woods didn’t become a sex addict by watching Bugs Bunny or Andy Griffith. He became corrupted by everything around him that fed his ego and appetites.

In the Bible there have been headings added within the created chapters. This can break up meaning at times.

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” (Romans 12:3)

Here you see a continuing explanation of the Romans 12:2a. Paul is reminding us that even with the renewing of our minds, our new unpolluted selves, we are still not higher than anyone else, and are only as good as we are by the faith God has given us.

We need to be on guard to not allow the pollution in. We worry about the ozone layer, climate change, and landfills, but we care little about the one true unique resource on earth, ourselves. Each of us is unique. You could have a twin and they are not exactly like you even if they look and sound like you. Perhaps they even walk and move like you do, they are still not exactly like you.

You are thinking unique thoughts. Those thoughts can be for a good reason or not. Not every thought needs to be for the betterment of the world. Dreams and fantasies exist to help our minds cope with a world that is not like we are.

There are people out there who hear the word Christian and automatically think of stereotypes brought about by a small, but visible/vocal minority. It’s kind of like when they have that local on the ground interview about a robbery or natural disaster and for some reason the news reporter picks the most illiterate and socially inept person they could find to put in front of the camera. That’s what happens with Christianity. We end up with the vocal and media seeking individuals representing us.

Christianity is a personal thing. One on one. It’s not a group think, or a group mind thing. It’s not the exact same thing for any two people. My thoughts differ from others in my own home. I have a more understanding nature than some. I look at things below the surface and don’t pass judgement. Yes, I will say something is bad when I believe it is bad. Beating a child is bad. If you say it is good, then I think you have a problem. If you say that it might be okay for the society that person doing the beating lives in, then I say that society is bad. If that is being judgemental, call me guilty. I generally take things on a person by person basis.

Change. Do you want to change how you think, what you think, what you think is acceptable? Renew your mind, however you want to. Hit your reset button about what you think is acceptable. I’m not saying become a Christian. I’m saying reset your humanity button. Do you watch porn? Do you look at images on the internet? Do you watch or listen to things promoting degradation of women? More than likely you do and don’t even think you are. That means you support it.

The rest button is a hard thing to do. You’ll hit it several times. But eventually—eventually, the habits you develop from your intentional training of your mind will lead to a permanent change in your heart as well.


You can check out my other Change post on the prompt post HERE, as well as seeing links for other entries.


Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2016

Intentionals happen.

I’m a praying man. At times in my life I had lists of names and specific needs to pray for. These days I don’t pray as often as I should. I still have my conversations with God, but not nearly as many as I need to have.

When I had those, not only daily but deeply and intentional, prayer times, my world was good. That isn’t to say everything went my way. By having the talks, I was reminded that God was bigger than me. God knows more. God understands more. God knows where things lead in the end. God isn’t the reason things go bad.

I’ve seen where a decision is made and the result be disaster while at the same time seeing where it would be if the other decision had been made. I was able to accept things as they happen, knowing in the end I’m okay, and that one event may be disaster but not oblivion.

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5)

Many people don’t like the idea of praying. They don’t like the idea of God. Conversely, some don’t like the idea of meditation because they see it as anti-God. For the latter, let me say this, what do you think having quiet time with God is? What do you think Jesus did for those 40 days?

I like to combine prayer and meditation, talking to God and cleansing the mind and soul. While some of you focus on the breath, others focus on God.  You can see a breath in winter. You can see God in action around you.

When I was praying without ceasing, continually, I began to recognize the voice of God, and his handwriting, around me. Solutions to problems became clearer because I was able to bypass the clutter and noise of the world.

Prayer is one of my favorite subjects. I talk about it here on RW sometimes. Call it what you like. I enjoy talking to God. I enjoy having that best friend who listens without a judgmental tone of voice or look of eye. After all, God already sent Jesus to sacrifice for us. I accepted Jesus, thus I have no qualms about telling God everything. I mean, really, who already knows everything anyway?

Sometimes getting things off my chest helps. Sometimes it takes longer than a quick prayer, or even several long prayers. That’s my fault. I’m the one needing to deal with it, not God. There may be some feeling of remorse inside me that I have yet to realize God has forgiven already. That’s one place where ‘pray continually’ comes in. By praying continually, we keep in mind the forgiveness of God. We then let those problems we have inside.

When I was fully engulfed in my prayer like, the world was the most beautiful place it could be. I would take a walk and see the beauty of God’s work all around. I would see what some called coincidences, and I called intentionals happening. You see, I don’t believe in coincidence. There are two forces in the world. Either the good or the bad is happening at any given time. The simplest action we may see as being nothing has some repercussion somewhere else or some-when else. The question is, is that for good or bad?

With my prayer life in the right place, I am more closely in tuned with God and no better what the best decision will be. I may not be right every time, no one is, but I have a better chance at it.


Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

© Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2016

Be still … know … breathe.

I’m tired. It’s been a long year in many ways. Many years ago, I went through a phase like this. At that time, I had a good support system in place. I was heavily involved in ministry. The type ministry and how many types don’t matter.

One night there was a gathering of the church leadership for prayer. We divided into small groups in the sanctuary, and within the group, each one of us had to pray for another person, and pray specifically. My partner was the youth minister and worship leader I had help bring to the church.

My problem was I didn’t know how to say no. I was the young and willing man in the church as well as business. In church if you are in your 30s your consider one of the young folk, that can even extend into the 40s. This inability to say no and wanting to help ended up with a very frazzled and sick Ronovan.

The youth minister prayed for peace to come into my life. The next week I was leading the youth on a concert trip to see Steven Curtis Chapman, arguably the king of contemporary Christian music. He sang a song that night, and I knew it was no coincidence.

Ever sense that night, one of my life verses has been Psalm 46:10

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

We forget sometimes and worry about things way beyond our control. Stress hits us from every angle. Do you ever think, after the fact, of how insane some of the things we worried about were? Life is too short to worry about everything. What the Psalmist means is to remember God is in control of the ultimate outcome of the world. Bad things happen because of bad people and being in the wrong places at the wrong time. Put your eternal life in his hands. Nothing can take you from the hand of God once you give yourself to Him. When you pass own, you are with God. Nothing here on earth can stop that. Hurt me, harass me, do all types of damage to me, and I will still end up fine because I know God has me.

I may stress for a moment, but then I center myself, shake the stress off, and get back to my core.

John 16:33 Jesus speaks to the disciples.

 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Jesus never said life would be easy here on earth. He never said that to his disciples or anyone that ever heard him speak. He said the exact opposite. Christians would be persecuted because of him. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” Matthew 5:11. As part of the beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount, you know it must be serious.

Philippians 4:6-7

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

I try to take away something good with every situation. My son and I were throwing the baseball a couple of weeks ago, as I am sure some of you saw the picture. Man did it get bad. I never got upset. I thought it was funny. I even looked at it as a learning experience I could use for my writing. I never had a black eye before. I now knew the pain of it, the coloring, and all of the things that goes with having a black eye.

My lack of stress helped with my son handling it as well.

Working on a positivity habit is tough sometimes. Habits take time to acquire. Eventually they take. I’m almost back in my zone now, and can breathe again. Now for the creativity to start up and have fun.

I don’t often speak about my faith here on the site lately. Life’s been busy. I do try to live my faith through what I do on my site. My faith is important to me. It’s important in every aspect of my work I do. Even in books I either plan to or have published, my goal is and was to put out something that has a core to it that will show the humanness of people and the war they wage with life and how sometimes they can’t win alone but need upbringing they have had, lessons they have learned, to turn to that will help them succeed.

Have a great Sunday, week, month, year, life, and eternity.

Ronovan

© Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2016

Don’t Let it Go … Hold on.

Today is a day unlike any in the history of the world. We are existing at a moment that has never taken place before. In these moments we breathe, and think, and love, we exhale the past filled with the air of anxiety, doubt, and confliction.

Wouldn’t it be nice to live in a perfect world? Would we know it was perfect if there was nothing to compare? I’m thinking out loud at the moment. I’m not certain how much of this will make it to my clicking on publish, but I like to write out loud. It’s a great time to exist.

One of the first articles I ever shared was about how not to allow others to control you. People took from that, that you shouldn’t let people keep you from your dreams. That’s true on one level. Then there is the internal happiness. One emphasis I’ve had on my blog for quite some time is positivity. With life constantly bombarding us daily with negativity at every turn, especially the media, it’s nice to have a circle of the world that brings you positive influences.

I’ve been fortunate to have a great blog family and group of followers who encourage what I do, support my efforts, even when they come up short of my norm. We all need that. I think if we don’t we end up coloring our world with negativity at every turn.

Taking my deep breaths as one accomplishment has occurred and I set my eyes on the next, I let go of things.

That’s wrong. Letting go is a negative way of looking at things. It’s a form of giving up. Instead of Let It Go, think to “Hold on.”

Hold on to what is important.

Hold on to what you love.

Hold on to what gives you joy.

To what do you hold on?

Hold On by Ronovan Hester

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2016

Moments of Challenge.

As you all know, I don’t participate in may of the various pass it on blog things. You know, as in ‘do this and then have people do the same thing.’ One I don’t mind doing is the Three Quote Challenge. I’ve done it once before and I’ve been asked to do so again.

Susan Langer has asked me to join in this time. Many of you know Susan from her blog Susan’s Personal Blog where she enjoys doing various challenges and offers services to help other bloggers and writers.

I’ll give the rules and such at the end of my run of quotes. If you want to know them right now, click HERE to visit Susan’s post and quote. Do so anyway to support her blog.

My quote today:

My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength of my heart
    and my portion forever.”-Psalm 73:26
Asaph, Worship Leader for King David.

Lately, life seems to be throwing things my way to challenge me in my writing life.

  • Where is the time for it?
  • Do I take short cuts?
  • Do I resort to the tricks and gimmicks to make things more successful?
  • Do I devote even more time to blogging and writing than I do now?
  • Do I compromise my beliefs and character for gain?

Those moments of challenge may come at you from any direction. Asaph was talking about looking around and see people of less than respectable practices seemingly prospering while those who lived on the straight and narrow path struggled.

Eventually, he figured it out. Although we see a visage of prosperity for a time in this person, in the long run, those who follow the right path, the right decisions will be more satisfied and happier because of how they have achieved what they have, and because of where they end up. We know we have not burned bridges or broken lives along the way. Our conscious and heart are clear.

Psalm 73:26 Image

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2016

Perseverance-Or is it love?

Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle

“Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak.”-Thomas Carlyle

I’ve moved away from talking about my health issues in the specifics in recent months. I felt as though my health was becoming me. And honestly I thought I had talked it to death. Well, I wish we could talk our ailments to death. If that were the case I would have been healthy a long time ago. But anyway, I wanted to be more positive in my writing I shared. However, at times I realize one should open up and share to let others know what can be done. Things don’t  HAVE to stop you.

I’ve never given much thought to perseverance as a word to describe myself. It’s been said by others but I’ve always put it off as a kind thing to say. I don’t mean to say they were being dishonest and lying just to make me feel better by saying it, but being kind in how they viewed my situation.

Many don’t know what Fibromyalgia is, but it’s a health situation that umbrellas a great many things including Chronic Pain and Chronic Fatigue. Much more goes in to it than that, but those two cane be easily identifiable with. Combine that with Osteoarthritis throughout the spine, including the neck, herniated discs in the spine and neck, and various other ailments, life can be such a joy at times.

But then you add the concussion I suffered two years ago, a Grade 3 Concussion that led to Retrograde Amnesia, short term memory loss, migraines that never cease, yes I mean I have migraines 24/7, sound and light sensitivity, and something else I can’t remember, and you end up with a very interesting life situation.

I know of the concussion because it is a habit to know now. A journal I kept around that time, barely legible as I was writing with either hand depending on the moment, tells me what was going on. I’ve slowly begun to let it go, the specifics of things, I’m not a dweller. I’ve truly decided to move on and not allow man made guilt hold me back from enjoying life.

Why tell all of this?

I have a book tentatively set to come out in December. A second book in the final draft stage before proofing and editing, that will then be shopped around to agents/publishers. I have a fairly successful blog, a group of online friends, and much more.

No, I don’t remember my family. I remember my son. I make an effort to remember history of my life as I am told in order to fit in, or at least act as though I am normal enough in my son’s eyes so he an have a normal father. I don’t wear my sunglasses like I should, nor my earplugs to avoid looking like an oddity around him. Seeing me put into an ambulance and then following it, only to see it disappear was upsetting enough for him not to have to be reminded of it every time he looks at me.

With the very odd life I have, I still push forward. I never gave it thought as being perseverance. I wanted to write a book and have my son something in the world to say, “My Daddy did that.”

People write a book for a lot of reasons. Yes, I love writing, but I mainly want something left behind for my son to be able to hold up and always look to. I want to be able to contribute to his life in many ways.

Maybe what I’m talking about isn’t perseverance. Maybe it’s simply being a father. Maybe it’s love. Whatever it is, it has brought me this far, and I intend to keep going.

I still have to write that book he helped come up with.

Thomas Carlyle Quote Perseverance

BeWoW Network Badge

Check the comments for other #BeWoW posts and SilverThreading.com for more Writer’s Quote Wednesday offerings.

Ron_LWIRonovan is an author, and blogger who shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.WordPress.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

Life’s Plan-Life’s Purpose.

I have a lot of ideas. Too many of them actually. It’s very difficult for me to stay on one path to the goal of completion. The reasons are partly medical and partly a need to grab hold of that next big idea I have in my mind before it slips away.

Life's Purpose Image by Ronovan.

We do a lot of planning. Perhaps years or even decades are put in to a plan but then the plan comes to an end. The bad part about the end is that we didn’t have that in our plan. Although it isn’t  always a bad thing when your personal plan comes to an end.

Proverbs 19:20-21

Listen to advice and accept discipline,
    and at the end you will be counted among the wise.

Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
    but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

The many plans we make are not always for our best. We travel along, sometimes staring out the window at the monotony of life passing us by and are mesmerized into complacency and routine. We believe what is may perhaps be all there is.

I have moments of indecision. I don’t mean indecision of the mind, but of the heart. No, not about love, I am certain of those parts of my life. But there is indecision about creations and taking the right step that tear at my heart. My mind does a good job with decisions and filing them away properly. It knows what to do, but the heart is the part that throws plans into chaos.

Fortunately a verse came to me today, a verse of the day, the one above. Those plans in my heart that tear at me? I need to learn to let them go. God knows the best plan. He even tells me the plan, I just don’t either always know the language/manner he’s speaking in, or am just not hearing it.

A great many things have happened in my life. One is about a young man I played football with. He was a star athlete, super intelligent. He had it all. Then one rainy game he tackled a player and with the wet uniforms, field and everything else, his neck broke.

The young man was a leader in many ways. People looked up to him. There was a bright future ahead for him. He was also a Christian.

Our team was losing badly, it was late in the game, and the other coach had asked our coach if he wanted to call the game and end it early. Our coach said no. It almost would appear that things were working against my friend from fulfilling his purpose for God and for life.

He has graduated from college, is now driving his own van, still paralyzed from the neck down, and travels to do speaking engagement to sports groups and FCA groups. That’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He doesn’t drive himself to those events, just wanted to make that clear. He’s my age and just recently was able to get a van and go through everything to be able to drive.

But God has a purpose and he uses indecision, and attempts to take away a bright and shining star to make them even brighter, IF that star chooses to move forward and upward with the purpose and the plan. My friend could have went through life in his wheelchair and no one would have said anything about it. But he had a support group, his parents, and all those who knew him to encourage and be God’s language in my friend’s ear.

I didn’t know where this was going when I first began writing. I thought it would be about my efforts to write novels. Then I put the scripture in. After that the part about my friend came to mind. He leads a more enriched life than most of us do and he is a benefit to more people than all but a handful of us will ever have the opportunity to. Well, that is unless we realize what the purpose for us is.


Ron_LWIRonovan is an author, and blogger who shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer though his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.WordPress.com.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015