002 - My Personal Mantras

For many of you reading this, life is uncertain right now.

Fear is growing, answers are in short supply, and with every passing day, it becomes easier to wonder if everything is going to be okay. Which is why I wanted to share with you my personal mantras.

These mantras are five short sentences that I repeat to myself when things get hard, scary, or overwhelming. Sometimes, I’m whispering them to myself as I move about my day. Sometimes, I’m choking them out through tears. At times, all it takes is repeating these short sentences to myself for me to get into the mindset to move forward. Other times, I need to supplement each one with a short pep talk. No matter what the circumstances are that prompt me to need these assurances, the amazing thing is that God meets me in the repetitive recitation.

Feel free to steal these mantras for yourself, or use them to inspire your own. But most importantly, sister, believe them when you say them. Even if you have to repeat them over and over, don’t stop until you know the truth of them in your bones.

You are smart.

God has made you in His image, which means that He has imparted His wisdom, His intelligence, and His problem-solving skills onto you. So even when you feel stuck or uncertain or you don’t know the answer (all of which is okay), you have what you need to figure it out, to learn, and to use what you’ve learned and what you know to tackle the next uncertainty. You’re not expected to know the answer to every question, but you can’t just wait for others to figure things out for you, either. Take a deep breath, pause for a moment, allow yourself time and space to think, and then move forward, doing the next right thing at a time.

You are strong.

You’ve been through some stuff. You’ve done hard things. You’ve said goodbye to people you’ve deeply loved, you’ve walked away from things that you didn’t want to. You’ve started over, you’ve been afraid, and you’ve cried until you couldn’t breathe.

But then you stood up. Then you took one step, and then another. Then you planted your feet. And no matter how many times life comes to knock you down, you know that you can stand up each time. Because a Savior died for you, you will not stay down.

You are brave.

It’s not about the times you’ve stayed quiet in the past. It’s not about the times you’ve chosen to stand still when you needed to act. If you want to get to where God wants you, be the person He created, and do the things you know He’s calling you to do, you have to take a step into some uncharted territory. You have speak up even when you might be wrong. You have to act when you know other people might give you a side-eyed scoff. You have to trust that God’s grace is your safety net, and it doesn’t matter how many times you fall because He’ll catch you every. single. time.

You are enough.

Even if the day wins. Even if the struggles prove too strong, the burden too heavy, the fear too great. No matter the outcome of the day – whether you stand victoriously or fall to the ground – who God says that you am doesn’t change. Because it’s He – not your circumstances, not your performance, not the voices in your head – who defines you. And so no matter what comes, and no matter what comes out of your attempts, it’s okay. He says you’re loved and held and seen and known. And He says you’re enough.

God is with you.

Without God’s presence, nothing else matters. With God’s presence, nothing else matters.

At the end of the day, it’s not about who you are – smart, strong, brave, enough. It’s about who He is. Even when you’re not smart, He is. Even when you don’t have any strength, He does. Even when you feel afraid, He’s not, and when you feel like all that you have inside you is just not enough, know that He is enough. And He’s with you, always. When you can cling to that truth, no matter how faint or thin it is or how far you have to reach to really take hold of it, you’re okay. You can get through even the hardest of days. Because just knowing He’s there, that you’re not alone and you don’t have to figure it out by yourself will bring you hope and light and peace.

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Published in the 002 - March 24 issue of TuesdayTribe

Written by Hannah Hladek