GET OUT!

I chuckle to myself when I hear "GET OUT", because it reminds me of Tyler Perry as Madea saying that phrase in one of his infamous plays "Diary of a Mad Black Woman".

Anyone who has ever watched a horror movie with some type of possessive poltergeist trying to take back a property from its living inhabitants, has found themselves screaming at the screen from the top of their lungs for the dense and clumsy character to get out of harms way.

But what about real life? Do we know when our time has come to an end in a particular relationship, season or job? Do we hang around longer than we ought waiting for some deep sounding voice to yell from the heavens to GET OUT?

We've all done it...stayed around longer waiting for that majestic sign or just plain waiting for things to get better and they don't. That's because our season for that particular thing has come to an end.

The truth is, we have an innate ability to want things to get better, no matter what it looks like. However, we can learn a lot from nature and how it is constantly changing from season to season without hesitation. Ants don't gather food in the winter. Snow doesn't fall in the summer. And flowers don't bloom in autumn. So why do we force ourselves to stay in something that has expired?

There could be countless reasons. However, personally speaking from my own experiences and what I've seen in others, I know there are 3 main reasons people stay out of season.


FEAR 
(an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.)

This one is major. Fear can paralyze you to the point where you don't move at all. It can be the fear of the unknown 'what's next?', fear of failure 'what if I succeed then go back to rock bottom?', fear of success 'what if I do succeed, can I stay at that level or improve?'. And the biggest one...What if God doesn't do it and leaves me hanging? 

Tip:
Despite these fears, God will not, has not and will never fail us. We have to move past this stage by reassuring ourselves in what the word says about us and his plan for us despite what it looks like now.


COMPLACENCY
(pleased, especially with oneself or one's merits, advantages, situations, etc., often without awareness of some potential danger or defect)

Complacency can be just as dangerous as anything else. You become numb in your current situation, not allowing yourself to feel, change, evolve, discern or move forward. You believe where you are is good enough but you are living beneath your potential. You are just getting by day after day.

Tip:
Wake up and drink some coffee! Begin to feel again so that you can be filled again. Filled with an excitement that each day brings your closer to fulfilling your destination. Try something new every week. Let it be something you're passionate about. Something that makes you happy. Take a break from the day to day mundane life that has sucked you dry. There is so much potential in you waiting to be born. Now it's up to you to decide what you will do with it.


PROCRASTINATION
(the act or habit of...putting off or delaying, especially something requiring immediate attention) 

Benjamin Franklin put it perfectly when he said, "Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today". Procrastinating is an ongoing disease that spreads like cancer if you allow it to enter your life and daily routine. It's easy to not do anything at all, but the gratification of completing the task at hand gives a great feeling of reward. And the truth about procrastination is not just laziness, but its root is fear. So now you're dealing with not only one thing, but two major hindrances keeping you from moving into your new season.

Tip:
Scheduling is everything! Schedule a few important things for you to do each day and just do them. If you have to start with one today, two tomorrow, three the next day and so on, you will begin to break the habit of procrastination. You will begin to feel and act like the conqueror you are. In addition you will have a freedom like never before.

Here's the light at the end of the tunnel: No matter what is keeping you from leaving this season (whatever that is for you), you can change it and come out of that which holds you back. You have to shed old skin in order to hold new wine. That old skin can look like many different things for different people. But regardless of what it is, get rid of it so you can move forward and leave this dead season, job, church, relationship etc. Just Do It (as Nike puts it so simply) and GET OUT!