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Buy Curry Paste Here…

Recipe:

-2-3 Tbls of curry paste (Depending on how spicy you want)

-6 mini sweet peppers

-1 chopped zuchinni

-10 baby carrots chopped

-1 Large chicken breast (I used a pre cooked one, but if you use raw be sure to add to the mix before the veggies, and cook for about 5-8 minutes.

-1 Tbls Fish sauce. Optional, but adds a “Thai Flavor”

I love to serve this over rice. But I’ve also just eaten this over some more veggies, or a bed of spinach.

Studio workouts

The road to progress isn’t always pretty. And many times, the things that are the most unexpected and unfortunate can be the things that create the greatest breakthrough.

I only share and write about what might give hope and inspiration to others. So as I share this very personal battle that I’ve been through, perhaps you will see a new perspective on the trials in your life, as I have.

Transformation is something people often only see after the fact. They see the end result, the finished product. And it’s these outcomes that typically become the focus. Because everyone want’s to see the positive changes.

But there is a part of transformation that is rarely shared or highlighted. It’s not pretty, not worth taking a selfie over, and isn’t something you’d typically read about in someone’s social feed. At least not in a positive light.

But it is a very humbling, yet necessary side of the process. This side that is seldom talked about is what I call, The breaking. 

I’ve overcome what I would consider to be a lot in my life. I overcame being a chubby kid and lost 100 pounds. I overcame my childhood poverty, my lack of formal education and built a business that I’m passionate about.

I work in a community that I love,, and am raising my kids in a better neighborhood and environment than I ever had. I could say that I’m living the dream.

I thought I knew what it meant to break generational curses. I thought I knew what it was to rise above. But I came to find out that as much as I thought I knew and as much as I had experienced in the past, my deepest revelation of transformation had yet to come.

At 23 years old I was married. 3 weeks later, we found out we were having a baby. At 24 I was a husband, a father, living in a 500 square foot apartment and coaching clients out of a garage in San Francisco. And I was loving all of it.

I thought I had already faced my tough times, and that it was only up from there. I thought I just needed to figure out the pieces, grind, and make it happen.

I thought I had paid my dues because when life looked hopeless for me, I surrendered everything and made commitments to God. I said yes to Him when it looked like there was no reason to say yes. I overcame family adversity, personal identity struggles, and kept the faith.

And now it seemed like it was all coming together. I was married to a beautiful wife, and had a healthy son. We were living in the city I loved, and I was doing what I loved for work. So now I could just step into my calling and my destiny was on it’s way.

And that was the first mistake. I thought I had paid my dues, and that I could just do my thing now that I was on track. I didn’t realize that the very thing that got me on track, that gave my life a second chance, was God’s grace.

And that very thing that got me to where I was, was to remain as the center of my life, my marriage, my business. But I thought I was good now. I thought I had this, and that I’ll just take it from here, God.

Fast forward 10 years, and circumstances in my personal life were drastically unraveling. The accumulation of things that went un resolved over the years finally broke open.

I was suddenly facing divorce and a broken family. It seemed like an ultimate life failure. All the good that had happened up until that point seemed like a waste. I was devastated, to say the least.

I always thought the greatest thing that happened to me was finding my wife. The story of our family, and what we came from. And as challenging as it was at times, nothing was as inspiring as our story.

And because of that, I thought that losing her and my family separating was the biggest tragedy and failure. Because there was too much good to let the bad win. There was too much potential, for it to stop short. And everything in me was breaking, because it just couldn’t end like this.

The memories we made as a family, the trials and obstacles we had overcome, the life we built together. All to end in brokenness. And there was nothing I could do to change it.

And it was in this nightmare which had become a reality, I was forced to face my struggle with control.  And as I did, I realized how little control I actually have of so many things in my life outside of myself.

Control in many ways had been a key to my success. Because let’s face it, if you want certain things to improve in your life, you need to control certain variables. But my need to control became my downfall when I thought I could control outcomes.

I thought I could control my future. I thought I could and needed to control other people for the wellbeing of my family. And when I saw things and behaviors happening that I thought would potentially hurt my family, I went into control mode.

It’s crazy what a person can become when they let fear guide them. When they let the focus become what is going to go wrong. What is not going to happen that needed to. The things that will be destroyed if things don’t change.

When fear became my focus, I caused a lot of pain and frustration. There were hurtful things I said and did. And there were times I got angry and reacted. There were things I wish I did more of. There were important things I did not prioritize.

As I’ve gone through this season of personal trials, I’ve recognized the hardness that life’s misfortune can cause in a heart. It’s easy to justify, to blame, to begin to see the world through a darker lens when circumstances turn for the worse.

But I realized that It’s also life’s trials that can serve as an opportunity for our hearts to be purified. To break the chains that keep us from our potential. It’s a process of surrender that not many choose to endure.  

Because the pain of being broken and restored is not passive. It requires you to revisit the pain. To work through it. To forgive. To actively let go. To actively focus on what’s good. To choose to have hope for the future. To believe that even though it may look horrible now, what’s to come is worth it if you keep pressing on.

And during this process I realized that being broken was the greatest victory and gift of my life. That everything in me that would hold me back from the potential I was created for, was being broken and restored. Because if you’re going to reach your potential, you need a solid foundation.

I’ve been chosen to be a voice, and I will testify to how I’ve overcome. And as I testify to the goodness and transformation in my life, I do so to inspire others to overcome the giants in their lives.

So just like David and his 5 Stones, it started with faith, it ends with faith, and it was faith everywhere in between.

So as I leave behind and forget the former things that held me captive, I thank God for doing a new thing, and now I can perceive it.

So many phases, so many changes. And despite the happenings of life, the victories and losses, the breakthroughs and setbacks, I will declare that the future is only getting brighter for us who choose. 

When I look over the last 15 years, it’s quite astonishing to see where I was, and where I am now. But to say that it’s been a smooth ride, would be untruthful. 

Although the journey typically may have looked like seamless days of living the dream, it was often quite the contrary. Because the process is never as inspiring as the highlight reel. 

I believe there comes a point in everyone’s life, where they face obstacles they doubt they can overcome. A point in every leader’s life, where they question whether or not they can lead their troops into victory. 

Because sometimes it just seems like the odds are stacked too high against you. 

During the times that I experience this, I remember God’s command to Joshua. To be strong and courageous, and to fight for what He had promised him. 

Its a part of the message we seldom hear. Rarely do we hear about the doubts and discouragement of the greatest leaders and overcomers in history. 

The road to your greatest victory isn’t paved with streets of gold. It’s paved with lot’s of little victories, along with the failures and losses you acquire along the way. 

Your potential, and the potential of your life was made before you were formed in your mother’s womb. But even though it may be promised, you have to realize it comes at a price.  

And though many are called, few are chosen. And the ones who claim the victory are the ones who stay faithful in battle. The ones who endure to the finish.

There is something to be said for the those who continue moving forward, when it looks futile or like nothing is happening. For those who choose to fight for something, when it appears that there is no hope for victory.

This is what it is to live a life set apart. To be one who succeeds where others have failed. 

It takes another level of faith to go all in on something that many consider to be impossible or hopeless. 

Joshua was one of only two people, out of an entire generation to enter the promised land. David was a Shepard boy who took on a giant single handedly with a sling and 5 Stones, when an entire army stood in fear. 

There is always opposition. Always doubt. Always the reasoning of why not to. Of why it won’t work, why it won’t happen, or why you can’t. 

But that comes with the territory when you choose to be an overcomer. It’s part of the package. 

To reach your potential requires you to do what others may not understand or agree with. To be able to see what they can’t, before it happens.

In world where culture decides what is and isn’t acceptable, you cannot just go with the flow. Instead, you must allow the divine artist to flow through you.

To fulfill your destiny is to do something that has never been done. Each of us have been uniquely designed with a calling in life, specific to us. 

Every decision you make and each step you take toward your destiny, is a step into uncharted territory. Because your destiny is for you alone. 

And as you cross new barriers, you must do battle. Because no new territory worth having, was ever taken without resistance or opposition. 

Most people only see the highlighted victories of those who succeed. What they often fail to see are the battles that lie in the wake. 

They fail to see the struggles that happened. The doubts, the setbacks, and every moment where the conscious choice to keep moving forward was made. 

We all will face unforeseen trials and troubling circumstances. And just as those are inevitable, we all can choose to holdfast. We all can choose what we believe about our future and our potential. 

Because what we see and can rationalize, isn’t always the reality. What it appears to be, isn’t always what it is. And what it is at this moment, isn’t what it will always be. 

The rational mind says 2 – 1 = 1. But faith says if I have two, and I give one, the impact from what I gave has a ripple effect that produces tenfold. It doesn’t always make sense according to the way we see things.  

Sometimes the only way to victory in a battle is not picking up your sword, but laying it down. Even when your enemy sleeps at your doorstep. Sometimes the greatest battle is to surrender your own desires. 

5 Stones is not a representation of performance. It’s not just about achieving, doing better, or about being somebody people aspire to be. It’s about overcoming. 

The trumpet is sounding, and there is an army rising up. Not an army of destruction. But an army of overcomers. An army that does battle with the testimony of their overcoming. Testimonies that cause a ripple effect that will transform the world.

So to all the Overcomers, I salute you. To all of you I say, here’s to the finish. Here’s to the Victory. Here’s to reaching our Potential. 

It’s time. Let’s ride.