My grandma’s faith confronts mine. She doesn’t have this big ambition towards God. She doesn’t believe in Him hoping to get something great out of Him of their relationship. She finds rest in praying her rosary, believing He listens and somehow that’s enough to soothe all her pain. She’s not trying to preach to the world, save thousands for Him, she just hopes to pray another “Our Father”. She’s not out looking for anointing, or platform, or conversion. She just believes, she has enough mind to ask Him to take away the leg pain that torments her without questioning Him if the pain never goes away. She’s not doubtful, she’s not confronting Him, not scared, just a faithful believer of a God she may not completely understand but fully follows. How lovely, such uninterested, unaltered, unfailing love.
That’s who my grandmother was. What a lesson that is. In a world un satisfied with that is given, asking for more constantly and desiring all it feels it deserves, she was happy with her portion. She believed for more and better, but that didn’t stop her from appreciating what she had at the moment.
So as part of my TV bingeing ritual (it’s become sort of my thing on the weekends and I love it!), I came across the beautiful Alice in Wonderland. Now, you must understand that Alice is my FAVORITE! Well,, the Disney version at least. I haven’t read the books, but I’ll get to it. Promise.
If this is the first time you’re reading my blog I feel it’s only fair to let you in on a little secret: movies, songs, games, etc. Pop-culture in general has a funny way of taking me to deep places and teaching me lessons I just don’t get any other way. Alice, of course, could not be the exception, I just got into the movie like never before and it talked into some ares of my life I just knew I needed to share.
Time to dig in!
Alice in Wonderland — IMDB
When he white rabbit and pretty much half of the posse take Alice to absolem (the caterpillar) to find out if she’s the right Alice, they get quite a surprise. The caterpillar tells Alice she’s the wrong Alice, because in order to be the right Alice she needed to change her mindset. She needed to believe in herself, that she would be able to complete the task, to believe in the world she was in and that it deserved saving. How many times have we been the wrong us? How many times have we put in a situation we just want to get out of so bad? Often! don’t lie, much more often than we’d like. But not wanting to be there doesn’t make it go away, if you’re in that situation you need to believe in yourself and what is already inside of you, which is all you need to get out of the situation a victor, not a victim. You need to remember what makes you so absolutely precious and really that it’s all you need. There’s nothing you need that you may lack, but in case you do, trust that in your daily walk you’ll learn it, receive it, realize it, grow it.
When she finally meets with the mad hatter, one of the things he said that really got to her was when he said she had lost her “muchness”. Have you ever had someone from the past come back into your life and asked you “what happened to you? you’re not the same.” How did it feel? I’m sure thoughts like “how have i changed?” or “what do you mean?” came to your mind. I’m sure it bugged you in some way and it may have made you wondered what they meant, without the courage to actually say it. Sometimes the most annoying and upsetting words are the words that ring the true. But they’ll be the ones to hit the chord necessary to make you move. Had it not been for the mad hatter uttering those words, Alice just wouldn’t be Alice, or at least the movie. At times people making you uncomfortable is EXACTLY what you need to get on track and end up in an even BETTER place! At times we lose our way, or choose a simpler way, one that isn’t really meant for me. And thank God for those people who say the worst, because they force us to stop and as our GPS would say, re-route.
the white rabbit — IMDB
Frabjous day, sometimes people believe in you more than you believe in yourself. Many times you won’t see what really inside of you, but those around you will. They’re guides, lights, oppositions, bumps on the road that will question you and doubt you or maybe believe the greatest in you. Regardless, they’re all there to help you along the way to get you to where you need to be.
Stop hoping is a dream or a nightmare, realize that it’s your life and you can come out triumphant in the end, if you just keep moving.
The mad hatter: at times someone crazy will enter your life. Truly crazy, but
so worth having. Let the silliness come into your life, the belly-aching laughter, the interrupting joy. Let others believe in yourself and allow your logic to be tested. At times, the most brilliant moments and the clearest epiphanies will come from the mad hatters and the tea times of your life.
Alice only believed when she realized it was a reality since childhood: Alice had lost herself in pain, regret, in logic. Remember your child self. Respect them, love him or her, embrace them, wall with them, and keep them as upfront in your heart and mind as possible, always allowing them to exist and celebrating them and they should be. Your greatest self is your child self. Why? They believe without limits, love without care, give you honesty even when you prefer they wouldn’t. They’re your bravest, most confident, most caring, most heroic self.
Why do we keep battling with the notion of time and positioning in this world? I know I do!… Let’s get real, I constantly feel like a failure. I see people younger than me with a family, or an amazing career, or both. I’m not there yet, some may think I’m not even close. There’s a lot of it that doesn’t get to me anymore, and I’m thankful to God for that. But it isn’t always easy. It isn’t always positive. I’m closer than maybe a month ago, but the road still seems long. What keeps me waking be up everyday with a smile on my face every morning? Knowing that this season matters. That the moment I see all those dreams realized, there’ll be nothing that can take them away.
See? Divorce is real and threatening, job loss is palpable, businesses fail, humans fail. But the moment I stand on the ground of my blessing I know my humanity won’t tear it apart. The moment God brings a that man into my life is the moment God will be able to hold us both, as a couple. The moment the business skyrockets God will take it as far as He can sustain it. I can achieve those things today, but their tomorrow won’t be guaranteed because my strength can fail me, but God’s hand doesn’t shake.
I’m willing to wait as long as God needs to be working in me so that when those things come, it is He through me and not me on my own. Other people who have what I hope for can fail, maybe they’re trusting God just like I hope to do. My battle isn’t with them, it;s with my own flesh and my own twisted mind that feels constantly cheated and thinks I should have what others enjoy. It’s a lie.
Nothing that is for me can be stolen because God owns it and no one can truly steal from Him.
People’s blessings are theirs to enjoy, as will be mine for me. No one robbed me of my future husband, if it didn’t work out with someone, it wasn’t it. If an opportunity didn’t come my way, it wasn’t it. If being an entrepreneur didn’t work as planned, it wasn’t it — not the time, or not the way. Regardless, God will make “it” all work out, for His glory, His way, and in His time. I’m not late, with God, things are always on time.
