Experiences Hold Value, Materials Hold Dust

A Person Gives Life, Materials Give Perception

Growing up as a kid everything that was shiny, bright, or flashy attracted my eye. Regardless of the price, I wanted it. As kids, we did not care about quality, but rather quantity. As I grew up, the quality of items I wanted grew of more importance than the number of items I could fit in my closet. But there came a point, more recently, that I started to realize that I was seeking out things and not the experiences of life, memories, or learning knowledge that were only available if I shared them with someone else.

You can have everything you want; the money, the fame, the items, but if you do not have anyone to share it all with, then what is the purpose? We are chasing our own, individual dreams, and wealth and freedom are likely in everyone's plan, but are money and recognition all that are important to us? Obviously not, but clearly it is a first-spoken phrase of what the majority says when they are asked about the future they want. If materialistic competition was not an issue in society, people would begin to seek out knowledge, life experiences, and someone to share the journey with.

I have found myself focusing solely on the things. But, with all of those things, what does it all matter at the end of the day? Of course it all helps in our daily lives, but it does not make the person we are any better. We learn from people, we gain knowledge from learning, and we learn from the experiences of living. With all of that, we need people and we need someone to share it all with.

We wake up each day with a list of things to do and a goal in mind. After it is all completed, what is left? The evening news? Dinner? Life is bland without the people around us. Rather than seeking out the benefits and immediate gratification, the chance to share a moment with someone or make a person’s day better serves such a higher degree of happiness and worthwhileness. Furthermore, none of us can avoid a bad day for our entire lives. When those days come, having someone to be there for you is just what we need and vice-versa. And when it comes to learning, none of us want to do the same thing every day for our entire lives. Therefore, with every person we meet and every experience we have, we will learn, and then we will apply that learning to teach someone else. It is a cycle of life and we all play a role in the process. Finally, memories. Without people, how can we share the memories that make us love the life we live or remember the moments that shaped who we are today? Take a moment to think about how impactful people are in your life. For some, materials are the life they want and they are content with heaps of happiness. For others, people have brought them to new heights and given them the opportunity to start over, find their passion, and inspire them to keep going, or have played a role in their success story. The materials we attain do not make life worth living, but the people we share our memories with do.

        -Austin McClain Baker

Ma + turity = Maturity: The Equation to Putting it Together

(Ma-turity) * (Imma-turity) * (–turity): Putting YOU Together

We strive to be the best, but do things that the best do not do. Why? We are immature. We live the life that everyone else lives because that is what we see and that is what society conforms to. As a college student, I am still working to find myself and discover where I am headed in life. I do not want the bull____. I want the life that God has planned for me. I want the life that is real, not one copied from another person or one created behind a curtain. I’ll go through the ups-and-downs and I am completely fine with failing, as long as I learn and grow from my experiences.

You have a first name, most have a middle name, and you have a last name. What does it all mean to you? For me, I can be Austin, or Austin Baker, or Austin McClain Baker. Sometimes I do not represent myself well or I fail because I do not try and therefore, I am just Austin. But I strive to be Austin McClain Baker every day because why should I be here if I am not living to my full-potential? Give all you have every day and never for an instant, think about shorting the effort you give.

With all of the experiencing and all of the ups and downs, I have realized that life is too remarkable to worry about the failures; overlooking the beautiful sights life places in front of us. I have learned from many to value myself and value who I am because life is filled with people who will take you for granted, even if they do not mean wrong. Well, I have been given the advice, and now I am applying it.

I am growing tired of meeting the people who promise a promise, but only give you their back when they forget. I search for people who are motivated, passionate about life, family-oriented, and ready to step out of the immature phase. What is that immature phase: The constant idea that life is going to give you success, that you can party every day, that you can cheat life, and that you can just watch while the world is falling apart. We are at an age that the responsibility to act and live with maturity is imperative and expected. We are the leaders of the world and it is our turn to start taking initiative.

I am on a route to where, I do not know yet. But I have made changes to my mindset and it is clear to me that I have just a couple years left until I will either be working for myself or working for someone else. It is up to me to decide what I want and it is up to everyone else reading this whether or not they want to be their own leader or whether they want to follow the college degree path and let their resume choose it for them. Take initiative and make the decision for yourself. Do not let your degree or any person determine your value or your future.

Be the best you can be. Only you can measure that. Be your first, middle, and last name because you mean something. Be a person of maturity and not just –turity. Put it all together and represent yourself to the highest level nobody would ever expect. Live a life appreciating the people you encounter and the moments you share with them. There are going to be good times and there will be rough times, but you must stay driven and follow the arrow God has pointed out for you. You are never lost, only misguided by overusing your mind and not trusting The Lord. God will place people in your life to teach you what you do not know, and you will meet people to teach them what they do not know. You will see the picture unfold itself with time, just have Faith.

-Austin McClain Baker

Austin Baker 
Instagram: @ABaker___  @DoYouInspiration
DreamsDriveDetermination@gmail.com

Austin.Baker25@yahoo.com

It’s a Cover-Up

It’s a Cover-Up

 Elevation Church: It's a Cover-Up

            When we describe the world, Earth is our surrounding body. We are encircled by people, buildings, bodies of water, and space that no one has ever explored. We live a life on a human scale. When I say that, our problems are on a scale that we can relate to. When breaking that down into the view God has, our problems are on a scale of a garden with plants and flowers. When we come across an issue, we identify whether it is large or small and whether we should take flight or fight the problem. In God's view, our problems are comparable to plants that are growing. We can observe the process of a plant growing just as we can observe the process of an argument building up between two people. God created us to tend the Earth and be gardeners; pulling the small, destructive plants up before they can override us and become a larger issue. Why wait for harmful things to grow so big when they can just be conquered while they are small dilemmas. We must communicate and find a solution to small problems before they grow too big. It is as simple as speaking, acknowledging, and solving.

            God acknowledges that the greatest cover-ups are the ones that are planned in advance. God knew that there would be evil in this world and he planned ahead for the benefit of us. His plan was sending Jesus to cover our sins, guilt, and shame because He loves us and forgives us.

            God can only cover what you uncover. You must be able to admit your flaws, wrongdoings, and sins to yourself. Nobody in this world is perfect and we must acknowledge that we should not strive to be perfect because it will only bring upon more ill-reality. You must live a lifestyle uncovered. You must be able to admit your sins to God and be able to confess. You must be able to admit your sins to someone else that you committed a wrongdoing and let those around you love and pray for you.

God:

• Calls you.
• Comes to you.
• Covers you.

  

           We all sin, find ourselves in feelings of guilt and shame, but if we admit our wrongdoings and sins to God and those around us, we will be covered and forgiven.  God calls us to follow His message. He calls us in new directions to learn. He comes to us when we are in trouble. He comes to us to teach us that perfection is not achievable. He covers us when we sin, and when we pray for forgiveness. But, we must understand that like a relationship or marriage, the road travels two-ways and the effort put forth must be equally represented by both parties. Therefore, we must be able to admit to our sins if we expect God to forgive us. We must communicate with our friends on issues-at-hand before they become too destructive. Essentially, we must be open with ourselves, open with God, and open with those around us. We must accept our imperfections. We must not dwell on our mistakes. We must admit to our flaws and pray for direction and learning, so that we can continue to grow and live a life we love with the people we love.

-Austin McClain Baker

Austin Baker 

Twitter/Instagram: @ABakerPresident

DreamsDriveDetermination@gmail.com

Austin.Baker25@yahoo.com

Life is Unpredictable

Life is Unpredictable

            We live our lives every day, not knowing what is going to happen next. We live each second in the moment, riding along the roller-coaster of life as it takes us up and down. To an extent we have control over situations, but essentially, there are too many outside forces that control what happens to us. However, we do have the ability to control how we react to life's curveballs and the attitude that we emit to the world and public eye. 

            Because we do not know what will happen next in our lives, we sometimes get lucky, we sometimes fail, and we sometimes succeed beyond measures. We prepare ourselves for obstacles by practicing and learning. We grow through our failures if we make changes after making poor decisions. We fail to grow if we believe in making the same mistake again or fail to realize something was a poor decision. Growing means that you are experiencing and then learning from those moments.

            We are going to fail. We are going to make poor decisions. We are going to live a life that is not perfect. What we must understand is that God does not need us to be perfect because He knows that nobody is. The more we strive to be perfect, the more we will not be. The more you try to be something you are not, the farther off the path you stray. If we admit to our flaws and accept our imperfections, we are illustrating a sign of maturity. If we can admit that we have failed and acknowledge that we will continue to educate ourselves and devote ourselves to growing, we will grow. If we fail to announce our flaws, then we will stay in a hallucinated, unrealistic world of thinking we are perfect and never changing. 

            Life is full of surprises and full of conflict. We will find ourselves in good situations and we will find ourselves in tough situations. The question that needs to be answered is, 'how can you learn from this and how can you become a better person, while helping those around you become better as well'. The first step in any situation is identifying if it is good or bad. Then, you must take initiative and analyze how the situation happened. Next, you must determine how to make the situation better. Finally, you must be able to tell yourself that the situation happened, and you must continue to live as the person you truly are, but know that changes need to be made to become a better person. We are always coming into new situations, new experiences, and new discoveries...so how can we not learn then? You will always learn if you are living. What separates those that learn more than others is that those who learn experience more, fail more, and live more, and are open to changing who they are for the benefit of not just themselves, but for the people around them. Those who are willing to change for someone are the ones you want to be with because they are illustrating their love and commitment, showing you that they will give up themselves and their lifestyle to meet you halfway.

            Life is unpredictable and we have to respect that. We are on a journey that will have both high and low moments, but we must realize that just because we may be in a low moment does not mean that life is worthless. I say this because a couple hours ago, life could have been at its highest for you, and a couple hours later, it could be at its lowest for you. But, does that low moment take all the good moments away...No, it does not. You cannot let one situation determine the end result for you or the direction in life you take. 

            If you truly want something in life you will not let a situation take that away from you. Life does not end for you when you make a mistake, so why give up on life? God gives you another day. God gives you another chance. God gives you your character and the person you are in strength, so that you can withstand the pain life has, but overcome the obstacles thrown at you if you care enough to do so.

            Nothing in life is what we expect, and life is unpredictable, but you must understand that it is all a test; A test to help you discover what and who you care about, the degree to which you care, and how devoted you are to learning, growing, and sharing the world with those who you care about.

-Austin McClain Baker

Austin Baker 

Twitter/Instagram: @ABakerPresident

DreamsDriveDetermination@gmail.com

Austin.Baker25@yahoo.com