To Thine Own Self Be...100

A few days ago I was stressed out. I had so much on my mind and felt a bit pressed to make a decision I wasn't too sure about making.
Needless to say, I'm now feeling a bit more peaceful and here's why.
First off, the older I get, the more I realize it's CRITICAL to follow the peace of God in all things. What that means simply is that if it upsets me, I don't need to deal with it. If I don't have peace about it, I don't need to do it. If I don't have peace while I'm there, I need to leave it. If I don't have peace while I'm talking to him or her, I end the conversation. The older I get the more I realize that discomfort is a signal that shouldn't be ignored. Ignoring physical symptoms of discomfort isn't a good idea and neither is ignoring emotional discomfort.
It's imperative that we follow the peace of God wherever we go.
Let me be honest. People can sometimes drive you out of your place of peace. People mean well but that don't always know what "well" is for you. They'll give you advice based off of what they claim they'd do if they were you. Here's the funny part. We already know what they'd do in a similar situation because it's usually similar to what they're already doing which is complaining and whining about what they're going through. If people were honest, they'd tell you that the advice they give is usually something they'd NEVER do. People that tell folks to go look for a job at McDonald's would NEVER work there themselves. People that tell you to leave your husband or wife would NEVER leave their spouse if their marriage hit the rocks. So why is it that we allow these people to continue speaking into and over our lives?
It's amazing how much peace you gain when you stop allowing people access to your life who have nothing to contribute to it. My life is NOT your entertainment. If you want to hear a good story and comment on it, I suggest you find your nearest reality tv show and tabloid newspaper. Leave my business alone.
Getting folks out of your business takes some effort. Some people muscle their way in. Some people weasel they way in under the guise of "care and concern". The people that deserve your business usually don't even ask for it. Those are the few folks you run across that don't need to know every detail before they offer up a prayer for you. The people who deserve your business are the ones who can be trusted with a secret and you won't have to hear about it anywhere else, not even from the pulpit. Part of your stress comes from misplaced confidence.If you're placing confidence in the wrong person, place or thing, there's bound to be some stress attached to that.
So I decided to get back to my place of peace and let the voices that were driving me out of that place of peace be silenced. It's nice that you have an opinion but more importantly, do you have a WORD FROM THE LORD? That's really the only people I have a significant amount of time for these days: people who hear from GOD.
I'm not choosy about who I listen to, no, not at all. God can use anybody at any given time to get His point across. I'm not choosy about the vessel. I'm just choosy about what that vessel contains.
I've got too much going on in my life not to hear from God. I'm facing too much, carrying too much, responsible for too much, entrusted with too much, got too many decisions to make, got too many steps to take to NOT hear what the Lord has to say for my life! So pardon and EXCUSE me if I'm choosy about who has a voice in this life of mine. Every second has to count and every moment is an opportunity for a divine download to come my way.
The old expression says, "To thine own self be true". But I decided to remix it and say, "To thine own self be 100". The younger generation coined the phrase "keep it 100" which is slang for 100 percent genuine, nothing fake or added. It's time to be 100 with ourselves. Stop entertaining nonsense. Stop allowing the unqualified and the unworthy to speak into your life and influence you. Keep it 100 with yourself.
Remain in his peace.