Hello everybody. 

Welcome back to Real Talk With Reginald D, so glad you could join me today. We're still talking about creating the life you deserve. Life is made up of three things -- opportunity, reaction and belief. It's important to know that these three things are critical in creating the life you deserve. 

Let's talk about opportunities. Opportunity is simply a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something. Without opportunity, your life would go nowhere. Without opportunity, your life is done. You would not be who you are today if you weren’t given opportunities. You got the job you have because you had the opportunity to interview. Do not downplay opportunities in this thing called life because you have more coming. Now you have to be careful on how you handle the opportunities you've been given because some opportunities may only knock once, and you may not get that opportunity again. So don't be afraid. When opportunity presents itself, you are equipped to seize the moment. Just stay focused and work the process. Your life is full of opportunities because of his sacrifice. Jesus sacrifices life so that you can have a life that's more abundant.. You are made to enhance any opportunity you get. That's how powerful you are. When opportunity presents itself, don't be afraid to go for it. And if you miss an opportunity, don't be down on yourself. Opportunities are like buses. There's another one coming. Every day is a new opportunity, so you can't bring things that are distracting you or discouraging you into your tomorrow. You will miss your opportunity if you bring those things with you. Let it go. Remember, you are trying to create the life you deserve. Listen, your big opportunity may be right where you are now. You can't even see it because you are distracted. Get rid of the people or things that are distracting you. Then you will start seeing the opportunities you have in your life. Most people miss opportunities because it's dressed in overalls and looks like work. In order to take advantage of your opportunity, you’ve got to put in the work. In order to be great at anything you do in life, you have to put in the work. Opportunity is just a word., if you don't do anything with it.  You have to remember how you handle your opportunity. It's going to determine how far you go and where you end up. 

Strategy is important, but execution is everything. You have to do something with the opportunities that you are given or you're going to let yourself down and end up living a life beneath what you are capable of living. Always keep yourself prepared. Preparation and opportunity breeds success. Now there's going to be some big opportunities coming your way. Don't let it intimidate you to the point you fumble the opportunity. Don't think about what you're lacking. Don't think about your past failures. It's not about where you came from. It's not about your low self esteem. But here’s the thing, God has given you this opportunity so therefore he thinks you are equipped for it. And the most important thing is that he can trust you with it. Don't let the moment of opportunity distract you. I remember in elementary school we had this basketball free throw shooting contest. I ended up being number one in the whole school because all I did was shoot basketball every day when I got out of school. So now we had the district wide free throw competition. All the top free throw shooters from every school were at this auditorium. The place was packed. The moment was so big to me at that time. I shot one free throw and then looked out into the stands. I shot another free throw and then I looked out into the stands again. My mom and my sister were there. My mom yelled out focus. I came in third place, but should have been in first place. I allowed the opportunity and the moment to overwhelm me and take away who I really was. You got to capitalize on your opportunities. You got to give it your best. To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift that God placed inside of you. Do the best you know how. Do the best you can and keep doing it to the end. Now you may think that you're not getting opportunities in your life. Listen, sometimes you have to create your opportunity. 

Now, in creating a life you deserve, you have to be mindful how you react to things. Some things are not worth dealing with. I was talking to somebody one day and they were talking about all the stuff they got going on. Out of the eleven things he talked about, seven of the things shouldn't have been in his life. Situations are going to come, but the way you react to them will determine the outcome of it. I have heard people say they made me do it. Nobody made you do anything, you chose to do it. If you want to create the life you deserve, you can't let people or situations control the way you react. You are in charge of how you react to people and events in your life. The power is in you. You can give negative power over your life or you can choose happiness instead. Stop giving your life away to other people because somebody will end up hurting you and you don't deserve that.  The greatness in you is not for the ungrateful.  Surround yourself with people that appreciate you and then you won't have to worry about how you're going to react to things. How people treat you is their karma and how you react is yours. You remember the saying that life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it. You have to react to certain situations in your life in order to create the life you deserve. Listen, you can't hang out with negative people and expect to live a positive life. It won't work. You’ve got to let them go. And don't be afraid of what somebody is going to say because in the end people are going to judge you anyways. Do you know your reaction has power? Your reaction to a situation literally has the power to change the situation itself. But in all reality, if things or people have you acting out of character, then you don't need them. That means they are removing you from being yourself. I remember talking to this lady one time and she was telling me that she lay in her bed at least five nights a week crying because she was in a miserable relationship. She was out of character due to what somebody did to her. Her life was made to flourish. Her life was made to be happy. Her life was made to be fulfilled. Once she got the courage to get out of that situation, her life became amazing. You have to react and make your life as happy and fulfilling as it can be. 

Now in creating the life that you deserve, you have to believe in you. You have to believe that everything you need to be successful and everything you want to be is inside of you. Remember the saying if you believe it, then you can achieve it. Now believing is the easy part and achieving is the hard part. Now I'm going to flip it. Achieving is the easy part and believing is the hard part. Now, if believing is the easy part and achieving is the hard part, that means that in order to achieve something you have to put in the work and you have to keep striving. Now, in achieving a certain thing, it may start to look like it's not going to happen. Things start to slow down and you are hitting bumps in the road. That's when believing becomes harder than achieving because now you are losing faith in the thing you are trying to achieve. You got to keep believing. You can't stop believing. If God brought you to it, he would bring you through it. You just got to keep believing. 

Now be careful how you desire something in your life. Desire can bring on a misrepresentation of a thing. For instance, I have dated some crazy women in my life. I'm mean crazy. I chose the wrong ones because I had a desire to be in a relationship. I sacrificed true love because I desired to be in relationships that didn't work. Make sure the things you are seeking in life are true and genuine. That's very important in creating the life you deserve. 

Ask yourself this question, what is one of the biggest things that's keeping you from being the person you are created and want to be. Then work on it.  You are worth it. Keep in mind that we repeat what we don't repair. Every bit of you is worth being happy and fulfilled. God did not make a mistake when he made you. He made a destiny when he made you. You just got to keep believing in yourself and keep believing in the power that's inside of you. Love the life you live. It's all you got. Make it exciting. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. I'm going to leave you with this. The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away. 

Thanks for tuning in to Real Talk With Reginald D. Don't forget to subscribe, share, like and follow us on Apple podcast,  spotify or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.  Join us every Tuesday for new episodes on life, spirituality and leadership development. 

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