Of Feelings and Authority

Of feelings and authority...wow! I doubt that there's anyone on Earth that hasn't felt a couple of emotions at one time or the other. From joy to sadness, anger, love, lethargy, grief, loneliness etc etc 

Feelings or emotions are powerful and can make or mar a person depending on the authority you give your feelings. The truth is; your feelings are very powerful and necessary, that's why God gave them to you in the first place. However, you cannot depend on them for destiny. They need to be brought under authority to maximize them.

Listen, you can only fully navigate your life by giving certain things the authority they deserve and in the appropriate proportion too. Having your feelings subject to the authority you give them is paramount if you'd succeed in the leadership of yourself. 

The strength of your feelings depends on the authority you give it. And it has a great stance on the decision making process of your life. It determines whether you fulfil purpose or fail at it. 

Pastor Kingsley Okonkwo of David's Christian Centre would say "your feelings are powerful fuel but terrible GPS". It means they can increase the passion, but cannot navigate it for you. It can increase the vibes, but cannot be trusted to lead you. Your feelings can either fan a spark of fire to flame or quench it, depending on the kind of feeling and again, the authority you give it. 

If you really treat your feelings as fuel and not the GPS of the vehicle, your feelings will take a back seat or even stay in the boot while the authority figure would take the steering. 

There are four authority figures you can employ to lead/drive your feelings to ensure maximum productivity come what may.

First off;

✓Commitment to God. 

You cannot execute any assignment God gives you by escaping commitment. Have it in view, let it be like your headlight or compass that points you to God. 

Of course you should know that to succeed at this you have to be a child of God, be walking in the spirit and not trying to fulfill the lust of the flesh. And be in love with God too. When all these are put in place, no matter how difficult what you've been asked to do might seem, you'd draw strength from God to submit to Him.

An example is Abraham in the Bible. He was committed to God. That's why he could muster the courage to sacrifice his only son, not even Ishmael; Isaac; the promise child, child of his old age. You are very well aware of how that story turned out.

Most times, it is the negative feelings that prevent you from doing what you should. So the bulk of the work concerning this topic is focused on them. How to bypass them to achieve all you should...

Irrespective of those negative feelings, how can you still show up and win??

I'd advise that you never put your feelings before your commitment to God and a few other things you'll be reading in a bit. You won't go far that way. You'd not always feel like doing the right thing or what God has asked you to do but commitment is a great propeller if you let it.

✓ Commitment to the Will of God. 

You know, you can claim to be committed to God and somehow still drag your feet in being submitted to His will. Being committed to the will of God simply means placing the will of God as a full stop when you make decisions on what to do or not do. 

Make it a habit of letting the word of God a stamp on how you feel. You might not have control over your feelings but you very much have control over the actions or inactions that come from them. Renew your mind with what the word says about those feelings. I bet there's a word for whatever you feel per time, just search.

✓ Commitment to your Goals.

You must have heard it that a goal not written down is merely a wish. So first, you must write them down. "Write the vision and make it plain" …

When you are brutally committed to executing your goals, you won't exalt your feelings, especially those that are not useful. Truth is: motivation is overrated. That's why you can't depend on it to do the needful. What you need is discipline. Productivity requires discipline amongst other things.

PK would say again that: "It is better to act your way into feeling like acting than wait to feel your way into acting".

What this means is that when you have broken down your goals into actionable steps, (specific plans) go ahead and take the first step, regardless of how you feel. Just start first. 

And please, no goal is too small or too big. Don't be intimidated or pressured by anyone. So long as your soul desires it, go for it. Whether it is losing or adding weight, or keeping fit,

Eating healthier, completing that book or course you've kept on hold since or whatever... speaking of which, I have a bad habit of jumping from book to book, just because...My sister calls me a Kangaroo 'cos of that..even though I still complete the book, it takes way longer 'cos of the several abandonment and return 😒😔

This month though, I'll make sure not to begin another book until I'm done with the previous one...so help me God!

Back to what I was saying about goals; At the end of the day, it is your life and your goals. Just do you in reverence to God. That's all that matters.

 

As a student for example, if your goal is to have all A's this semester or have an increased G.P, you can't wait till you feel like reading before you do.

No matter how you feel, you should respect the reading structure you set, if you're one of those that work by having a defined time of study. Take the first step. Go to the library if that's what works for you. And stare at your book till you start to read. 

I used this hack a lot back in school. I'd go to the library (I almost couldn't read in my room) at the time I fixed in my schedule and would sit there till the allocated time elapsed just to make my brain understand that: baby girl had to read. 

Did it work? 90% of the time. Though my mind would wander to some thoughts, I'd try as much as possible to force my attention back to my book and induce concentration 'cos I knew I had a fixed number of hours to study and I couldn't afford to not smash the goal.

✓Commitment to your Responsibility

Someone said responsibility is the response to ability. I couldn't agree more. Whatever situation you find yourself, just commit to responding to your ability.

When you know that something has to be done and has to be done by you alone, common, you'd wanna respond to that except you'd like for the ability to lay dormant.

So whatever it is you've been made responsible for...in your home or wherever you find yourself, please respond to it and joyfully too.

✓Commitment to Yourself

I don't know if you like to make yourself proud, but I do. So much so that I legit tell myself: Nancy, you cannot fall my hand😌

I know it sounds weird, but I have found out that I can get myself to do certain things out of respect for myself. 'cos I love me too much to not be committed.

You can adopt this too. Hold yourself in high regard and work hard to not disappoint you. This goes to say you also shouldn't forget to celebrate your wins. Reward yourself for wins as often as possible.

Now as this new quarter unfolds, it'd be wise of you to make a brutal resolve to make your feelings serve you and your vision and not the other way around.

Make plans for the week, month or quarter, whatever works for you, then bring your feelings under subjection to ensure the execution of those goals.

Commit to God, your goals, responsibility and most importantly commit to YOURSELF! You very much deserve an upgraded version of you. No one can work on you like you. Get to doing so baby.

Will it be easy? No. 

Will it be worth it? Absolutely!

The fulfillment and boost in your self confidence that accompanies it is very well worth it. And you deserve that fulfillment. 

So cheers to reinventing an upgraded version of you this quarter. Cheers to dictating how your feelings should go and cheers to being more productive and fulfilled.

Happy new month!

Nancita ✨