There's just something about purpose that is so vital, so huge, and so impactful I can't even explain it.

Just saw Fantasia's performance on BET Honors, honoring the incomparable, beautiful and extraordinary Patti LaBelle, and I had goosebumps all over. Fantasia's talent is just something else, and to think that she could have let life's trials keep her. 

If there's one Fantasia is not, it's a quitter. Through all the tests and trials that life has dealt her, even after winning American Idol, she dusted herself off and stood back up. 

One thing that I know I've battled with is worrying waaay too much about how other people perceive me. And you know when they say that other people's perception of you is really a reflection of how they see themselves? Well, I'm here to testify that is so true. Praise God for deliverance though. Listening to Tiphani Montgomery's Periscops, someone who joyfully proclaims she's been "delivered from people," meaning that she could care less what anybody thought of her, taught me that the only opinion of me that truly matters, is God's.

Although I don't know Fantasia personally, the way she gets back up and knocks it out of the park with her voice, says to me that she values her purpose more than she could ever care for anyone's opinion. Yes, she attempted suicide, but she didn't let that shame further hold her hostage. Music is her ministry, and so it makes sense that music is also what would save her.

I share this to let you know, that no matter your past, no matter the shame, what people may or may not say, you owe it to your life to pursue your purpose. I know personally that people's opinions can be hard to block out. But I also know that if you keep telling yourself that, then it can never change. 

Change your story by changing your internal voice. Negative self-talk kills your dream before anybody else even has a chance. So do yourself the favour and just go for it! Put those blinders on, and while you're at it, the headphones too to block out anything that isn't of the Lord, and push through. God is not a respecter of persons (Rom 2:11), so if He did for Fantasia, He'll do it for you. You just gotta be willing.

Be blessed!