Unclogged

In life, we are given different tools to help us accomplish certain things. If a tool doesn’t seem to be working, don’t be quick to throw it away.

Instead, examine your method and try a different strategy to accomplish what you’re working on. In this episode, we discuss why you shouldn’t neglect the tool right in front of you.

Scripture references:  Proverbs 4:7, Proverbs 12:15

Transcript

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What's up everybody? Oh, yeah, we kind of got a new intro. Not really, but welcome everybody back to In the Conversation with Amaya or Amaya J. Y'all, I know it's been a minute, but I'm not gonna spend too much time worrying about how long it's been. But just know we are still pushing along in our first season of In the Conversation. If you don't know, we are gonna be heading into season two once we hit 25 episodes. So I am so excited! Thank you all for just rocking with me, listening to me, all the messages, and just the feedback that I've gotten on this podcast has truly been a blessing. And I think we're almost coming up, I don't know if a year or so. I think it was either August or September. I started my podcast last year, and wow, just every episode has been something that has been happening in my life, and I have been learning and asking the Lord for wisdom and just speaking and just sharing what is on my heart. And I'm truly grateful. I hope whenever you are listening to this, that you are doing well. I hope all is well with your family, your children, your marriage, your friends, your job, your business, your hobbies, whatever it is that you that the Lord has you in your hands, whatever you are busy working in. I pray that your hands are being blessed in this season and life is going well for me. All is well, all is well. Um, we're gonna get straight into it, y'all. So y'all know I'll be having a story for these episodes, and it's so funny because after this had happened, I was like, oh no, I'm ready to talk. I know I got something to say. So this episode is called Unclogged. Yeah. Unclogged. So long story short, so whenever my I live in an apartment, but whenever my toilet has gotten clogged up or stopped up, you know, you know, one thing I am quick to do is call maintenance. Okay, I call maintenance. I think maintenance is convenient, it's easy to do on the app. We just go in, put in our requests, but the only thing when you do that is that you gotta wait for them to come. Yeah, and so when the toilet is stopped up or clogged up or is not flushing correctly, then I gotta go down and use the restroom that my apartment provides, which I'm grateful for that I still have a way to go and I gotta keep stopping up my toilet. Ew, gross, uh. But anyways, so anyways, had an incident, and that's exactly what happened. And so, um, what actually ended up happening was when it happened, um my uh sibling had let me know what was going on, and I was like, okay, and that was the other thing. Yeah, let me rewind here. So I know some of y'all are gonna get me like Amai, why don't you have a plunger in your house? Well, um, because I don't I it just it didn't cross my mind. Uh yeah, I just call maintenance whenever I need it, but sometimes you gotta have those tools, you gotta have those things. So when my sister was here, I think she had asked me, like, why don't you have one? And yeah, I think it got stopped up that one time, and then yeah, I had to have come maintenance, come and fix that. But she was like, Why don't you have one? And I got a whole attitude when she was just trying to say, Hey sister, you need a plunger. And I just had a whole whole attitude about it, whatever. So I procrastinated on that, never end up getting one, and then boom, we're back to another situation. And so my sister, she was over here, and so she was like, Okay, well, I'm gonna just go get a plunger. And I'm like, Okay, so she goes and she goes gets the plunger, and she comes back, and let's just say we're having difficulty, okay? We're having difficulty with this plunger, and I think from my research and what I was looking at, I think it was something with like the seal, and I think there's like a method, and just it just was not working out. And so I don't know. This time I was just like, I am not going to call maintenance, and sometimes I think it's always easy to revert back to the thing that you feel like is easy or convenient or you know what you can do. And I think sometimes it's just easy, like, let me just make a call, let me just put in this request. But for some reason, this time I was just like, oh no, I I just I just did not want to call them up this time. And so was still having difficulty. Um so was using, you know, apartments restroom and just trying to, you know, just work at it as we could. Um, just having difficulty, and so I just decided not gonna do it. So, anyways, I was kind of like, ugh, like this is not working, and um tried to go harder and it just was not working. So I think I was on the verge, but I was just like, I'm gonna do it again. But here was the part that got me. So, you know what a plunger is. Well, I was like, well, maybe it's the seal. I'm like, maybe it's not tight enough. Maybe I just need to get a different one to unclog this toilet. So then I started thinking about, well, I'm gonna just go on Amazon and I'm going to go find a different plunger. I'm gonna just go find something different. And I'm looking, I'm like, okay, I'm I'm typing in certain words. I'm like heavy duty plunger, like something that I know, like if it's got these words, if it's got these specifics, it's gonna help me unclog this toilet. And then I'm just like, nah, like, okay, I don't think I'm gonna do this. So then I'm like, let me just go back on YouTube and let me just look, like, let me watch another video and try this again. So I came across a video and they gave a different method, they they just gave some tips, and you know, and boom, I was like, okay, when I got work, I am going to go in here and I'm going to try this again. And would y'all believe? Would y'all believe? Uh-huh. Yeah, uh-huh. A myj, the maintenance. Okay, AJ maintenance. Would y'all believe that toilet eventually became unclogged. And y'all, when it flushed, it was like Christmas. Like you would have thought, like, the best thing just happened in my house. Y'all, I was so happy. I was like, oh my gosh, I did it. I did it. And I called my sister and I said, I did it. I said, guess what? She was like, What? I was like, I unclogged the toilet. It was just so funny because I was just proud of myself in that moment. Um, but one of the things that kind of stuck out to me was I was trying to go look for the same tool. Like I had the tool, I had what I needed already to do what it is that I needed to do. And I was starting to look for the same thing, maybe with a different name, with something that maybe has extra, but really what everything that I needed was already in my bathroom. Like the investment was already there. But sometimes, and it's kind of where I got my word, is that sometimes you just have to use the same tool, but a different method, right? And in that moment, I think I'm going past from when we work at things when we're trying to go through things, that sometimes we look at our past experience. And so I've been here before, like I've done this before, and when I've tried it, it just hasn't worked. Like I think, okay, now I think I remember. I think the last plunger that I had, it ended up breaking. So I think there might have been a little bit of discouragement, a little bit like, okay, I've done this before, it's not working. So I'm just not gonna do this. I'm gonna just call maintenance because clearly I can't get it together. But for some reason, this time I said, nah, I'm gonna figure this out. Okay, everybody else does it, everybody else be put in there and be able to unclog the toilet. I should be able to unclog my own toilet, okay? Because what if I can't call maintenance? What if you know they're backed up? What if I just can't get a hold of them? And so sometimes we do revert to the things that is easy, things that are convenient because oh, we know we can call, we know we can put in that request. But the funny thing is that I already have what I needed in that bathroom, like it was a plunger, it's just sometimes we're using the wrong method. Sometimes we have to go back to the drawing board, sometimes we have to go back and look up a tutorial. Sometimes we think the way that we're doing something is the right way, and it's really not. And it's as scripture says in all, and all you're getting is an understanding. You got to get an understanding in everything that you do. It is not, and there's also scripture, I don't know the exact scripture, but it's talking about, you know, you don't want to be, it's trying to be wise in your own eyes is dangerous. You know, no matter how small you think the task is, it could be even to the point of you think you know how to clean chicken right. And it's like you just think what you know, but you never look up the right method, you never look up the right uh tips to clean chicken right because you just think that your method is the best, right? But there could be a cleaner way to clean your chicken. And so sometimes we get in our own way by thinking, well, I know what I'm doing. And then other thing is when we fail, we just kind of settle at that. We never take the time to like, okay, let me try again. Let me see what else I can do. And so you can't get caught up comparing your last results. My last results were failed. My plunger failed, uh, it broke, the toilet wasn't flushing, and so I just had to call maintenance. And so I got comfortable in the failure. Yeah, I kind of got comfortable in that because I'm like, well, I I can't do this. I'm having a difficult time, so I'm gonna just stop doing it. I'm gonna just take my hands off. And you have to understand that the things that God gives you in life, use what you have. But if the method that you're doing is not working, or you're working at something and the results are not producing, then maybe you need a different method. Maybe you need a different strategy, maybe you need to work your hands at it in a different way. Maybe you need to ask the Lord, okay, Lord, this is what I'm doing, but can you give me strategy to do this so I can accomplish the thing that I'm trying to do? Because when something is unclogged, it's free from the obstruction from the thing that was clogging the thing in there. Right? So anything that was hindering um the movement or flow of a thing is what causes clog, it's what causes buildup. And so that's what happens when your toilet gets built up, it's you know, there's tissue, there's there's too much, and that was the other thing that Maine has told me he was like, Well, some things that cause a toilet to be clogged is like too much tissue. And he was telling me that how certain tissue sorry it's card sometimes, certain tissue is heavier, and so sometimes you don't need as much. Uh-huh. You don't need as much that you think you need. See, just because there's a lot of it, just because there's a lot of it and it's available, doesn't mean you have to use all of it. Sometimes you just need a little bit, and that goes back to one of my podcast episodes where I said better is a little. Because sometimes a little, there's something significant in that. And so it was the same tool, but it was a different method. And sometimes our method in life is prayer, and sometimes we have a method of prayer that we always do in a season, like we're doing it, but sometimes in a certain season, it's gonna require warfare prayer. Like you're just gonna be going in tongues, you're gonna be calling the name of Jesus, like you calling fire down, like sometimes in different seasons, it's going to require different tools, different methods, different strategies. If you feel like, oh, my prayer is not being answered, or I feel like this business is not going, or I feel like nobody is is is coming after, nobody is seeking after what it is that I'm trying to create. Well, what let's examine the method. See, sometimes we get caught up in, I got caught up in okay, let me go on Amazon. Now I gotta go spend more money, let me go see what else can find. When I already have what I needed to do to get the job done, it was already there. It was the same tool. Once something becomes unclogged, now there's a state of being clean. There, there's a freeing that happens when you use that different method. So you can't settle for what's always convenient. So, yes, the convenient thing, the easy thing for me is to make a phone call, put in a maintenance request. Hey, my toilet's unclogged, boom. Do I think it's a um do I do I have anything against maintenance? No. But do I think this is probably something basic that I should know how to do? Of course. Of course. But the thing about it, when you're unclogging something, especially a toilet, if you've ever unclogged toilet, you know, you have to kind of keep at it. You you you gotta almost get into a rhythm. And so I figured it out. And once I saw the results, once I saw, you know, it was going down, it would come like up, and then once it was going down again, I said, oh shoot, okay. So I kept working at it. And that's the other thing. When you are working at something, you gotta monitor with your eyes and see what is working and what is not working, so you can be able to adjust your method, so you can be able to adjust what it is that you were doing, and so as I was doing it, I was watching, I said, okay, oh wait, it's going down. Let me let me try this again, but let me try, you know, going in like a little bit deeper, and then you know, going, you know, so I just was examining it and I figured it out, and then when I did that flush and it and it went down, y'all, I was so excited. So you have to use the tools and the resources, and you have to use what it is that you have, and sometimes it's a different way. Sometimes unclogging, sometimes the place where it feels clogged in your life, the places that feel backed up, the places where it feels like I just can't get freedom in this area. Okay, you have the tool, but what is the what is the method? What is what is a strategy? What is something that you need to do different? Because sometimes what you did in the last season of your life is gonna require something different in this season. In this season, you did one thing this this one way, but in this season, you're gonna have to do something different. You're gonna have to pray different, you're gonna have to fast different, you're gonna have to call on God, you're gonna have to open up your word. It may be uh reciting the scriptures, saying them out loud. It may be eating cleaner, it may be switching up your workout routine. Sometimes you go to the doctor and they tell you X, Y, and Z is going on. Now you gotta adjust your routine. So we can't get caught up in what's convenient, we can't get caught up in what's easy for us. We have to examine the tools that we have, and if we feel like the tool is not working, it doesn't mean that the tool can't be used. It's just sometimes we gotta we're not using it correctly. Sometimes we read our scripture and we're just reading our Bible and we just read it, we clogging on about our day, but we're not. What are we doing with the scripture? How are we using it in our life? Are we asking, Lord, where can I apply this? Lord, where am I wrong? God, how can I apply this to my life to be better? Where are the clogged areas in my life that need to be unclogged? Because once you are able to unclog, once you are able to free up those areas that were backed up, there's a release that happens. See, now I don't have to go all the way back downstairs and use the uh use the apartments restroom. I can use what's right there, what was already there for me. Right? Like just imagine if they have like no toilets in anybody's apartments, or everybody just standing outside, you know. So it already belongs, like it's to me, you know, paying rent, you know, this comes with what it is that I pay for. And so sometimes we have to examine the environment, but don't be quick away to throw away the tool. Don't be so quick to put down the hammer. You're building, you're learning. And if the nail falls out in the middle of the building, it doesn't mean that the nail is bad, it doesn't mean it's you know it can't be used. Maybe you need to, you know, drill that nail in differently. Maybe you gotta angle your arm and just a little bit more just to get it into the wall. Don't be quick to count things out, and don't be quick to try to look for quick replacements because again, I have the tool. You know, I'm saying the plunger, but I I had I'm I'm saying that I have what I needed, and I was trying to already look for replacement. I was trying to see how I could replace the very thing that I already have, and sometimes we get caught up in that copycat, and you know, you know, we think, oh, because it looks a little bit bigger or it looks a little smaller, or it has this added to it, or it has this in many reviews that we think it's gonna be better when what you have is already working. So I didn't even have time this episode, so I don't even know where we're at. But I say all that to say same tool, just a different method. I just tried something else, and and this time I just kept going, I was determined. And when you're when you are going after things in life, when you are pursuing things, when you are working to accomplish something, you have to have that mindset that I am not going to stop until I get what is rightfully mine, until I free myself in this area, till the Lord helps me in this area, till this business takes off, till I see the money that I want to see, till I see their relationship, their friendship, whatever it is that you're striving after to um, hoping that it will become better, you have to have a determined mindset because I already made up in my mind I am not calling them people. Oh no, no, no, we're gonna figure it out today, and sometimes that's what you need to tell yourself. I'm gonna figure this out today, one way or the other. If I gotta make a phone call, if I gotta open up this Bible, if I have to go look up a tutorial, if I have to ask, get the wisdom, get some understanding. Sometimes you just gotta do something a different way, and that is okay. So don't compare your last results, be just because the tool broke last time, just because you might have procrastinated on getting the right tool, it doesn't mean that this time the tool is not gonna work. And guess what, y'all? That tool worked, okay? That plunger worked. So I say all that to say in conclusion, use what you have, use what you have already, just go on with a different method, a different strategy. Examine and while you are working at what it is that you are working, because when if you've been on clogged or toilet, you know you gotta there's a method to it, right? Watch, monitor, and adjust as you need to. And when the victory comes, and when it's unclogged, and when it's free, and nothing is now hindering, you can now freely move, you can now freely do what it is that you need to do. You don't have to go and take extra steps and take shortcuts and do all these extra things. You can freely do what it is that you need to do because there's no longer no clutter, there's no backage. So, with that being said, unclogged, okay? Unclog whatever it is that you need to do, use the tool that you have and get after it. So, uh, hope y'all enjoyed this today's pop-up episode. I'm gonna I think I'm gonna post this. I'm gonna go ahead and post this tonight. Yeah. So thank you all so much. Whenever you listen to this, um, let me know, share your thoughts, and you can now share feedback on the podcast. If you are on Apple, you should see an option that says share your feedback. I would love to hear what you thought of the episode. If you have any comments, if you didn't like the episode, hey, let me know. I'm always open to hear. Um, but I appreciate you listening into today's episode. And I hope that in the conversation, again, in the conversation, we have conversations and hope that you learn something within the conversation. So I hope you learned something today. Hope it's something that you can take with you throughout the day, the week, and whenever. And again, I just appreciate everybody for rocking with me and just supporting me this long. So, love you all. God bless you. May the peace of God, may his angels be encamped around you, and may again he bless the work of your hands. And I will talk to you guys later.