My Intro - "Why Not Me?"

       Hey so recently I’ve kind of had this idea and been inspired to start writing and just putting myself out there. I’ve been wanting to put my thoughts out there for a while, but recently I've started doing it and just being real about what I’m going through in my life and what God’s been teaching me through experiences, people, and just life in general. When I realized I wanted to do this, I started doing so by putting some really long heart-felt captions on Instagram posts where I would just type out a giant paragraph about whatever I was feeling on a random Instagram post (@tjseltz if you trying to see). I loved doing this and people messaged me saying that it hit home for them or that they “f with it heavy”. The thing was, I realized that’s not really what Instagram is for and even though it can be used for that, I felt like I needed to use a different platform to spill all this out. So my attention shifted to something I thought I’d NEVER do in my life – blogging? Is that what it’s called? Can I say writing, freestyling, exploring, drafting, creating, posting, etc? However it is that you choose to refer to it – I’m doooooing it!

      

       Here’s my thing, I get inspired…. like really easily. Like when people say “it’s not that deep”, nah bro. It is that deep. I can find a chunk of positivity or meaning in any small thing. Like anything; any small insignificant event that happens that seems meaningless and like there’s nothing to it, I can find something deeper from it that can be applied to my life and that I can learn from going forward. So if all of this goes through my mind every day and God’s showing all these things to me, how selfish would it be if I just kept those to myself and never shared them for people who might want/need to hear them? Now I don’t hide things in any way, I’m generally very open. But normally these things only come out in conversations for me when people ask me specifically about something that happened, or ask for some sort of advice or help. Like people will be going through something and ask what I would do or what I have to say about it, and I’ll text them a paragraph of stuff and after typing it I’m looking at it like ….. “where the heck did that come from, that ain’t me”. THAT’S GOD, that’s what God does! When I don’t know what to say or have any idea of what they need to hear, God just lays something on my heart and before you know it I be flying on that keyboard and in the end, I find myself sending them something that was EXACTLY what they needed to hear and get them through whatever they’re facing in life. That’s why I’m doing this.

         Additionally, I want to clear something up. If you think I'm doing this to make money, build my "personal brand", or get anything out of this that includes personal gain, you got it soooo wrong. Some bloggers can make money and gain sponsorships and stuff through advertisements, especially when their page gets a lot of views. That's not me. I've never been money-driven, I'm just faith-driven. I genuinely do not want to make a single dang dime out of this blog. I'm not writing to have an opportunity for side income. See, my personal reward that comes from people seeing these blogs is not revenue or earning anything; my reward is seeing people's hearts shift. Making an impact, shining a light, leaving someone with hope, encouraging someone, pointing them in the right direction. That is why I'm doing this, for those reasons. The only personal gain I get from gaining attention to these blog posts is my heart being filled up when I hear stories and get messages about how these blogs helped people. I don't make a dollar from this, but helping someone get to a better place in their life - that's priceless. Money can't buy that. 

        But also I want you to think about something too - this whole “why me?” question that a lot of us ask when we feel called to something new or we’re placed in a new position, role or place. Why me? We often ask ourselves this question, me included, for 2 reasons. First is fear - we are afraid of the new thing. We’re afraid of failing, not being appreciated, saying the wrong thing, doing the wrong thing, etc. Fear will keep us from stepping out of ourselves and our comfort zones into the new unique things that God is trying to bring you into. Along with fear of failing, we also ask this “why me?” question because we feel unqualified. We don’t feel like we’re the person who deserves this job, this opportunity, this chance. We back away, put our hands up, and say, “nah I’m good, give it to someone else. They’ll do better.” This goes along with fear too, but either way we find ourselves shying away from new things and unique chances because we don’t feel good enough.

               

        With this I challenge you to ask a new question – “Why NOT me?” Why not me? This is how I shifted the question for myself and got over this hump in order to begin writing on here. I didn’t think I was the right person or had the right experience, inspiration, or heart to write for others to hear. But once I shifted the question and asked “Why NOT me?”, I realized that I had an opportunity that I didn’t want to shy away from out of fear. See for whatever it is in your life, I believe God is challenging you to step out of yourself in at least one area of your life, possibly more. When you ask this “Why Not Me?” question, you are basically telling yourself “I am chosen. This is for me”. This is what I want you to believe for your life! You are chosen, made special, and created with a purpose to do something or multiple things amazing! Your life isn’t insignificant or worthless, there is so much more to you than you might see. I just hope you see it and instead of asking yourself “Why Me?” when God presents something to you that could lead to a better situation and bring blessing, ask “Why Not Me?” which will allow you to RECEIVE what he has for you! You are deserving of great things and unique gifts that God wants for your life, you just have to open yourself up to them! Don’t miss out on the best things and opportunities that God has for you! 

        So with all of this, I just ask for your support. I'll be writing these every couple weeks or so whenever I can, and I'm doing them for you guys! Everytime I write one of these, I'm thinking about my friends, or even people I don't know. As I write these in the future, I'd super heavily appreciate your support - whether that be you reading them, sharing them with friends, reposting them. Whatever you do, it means the absolute freaking world to me. Getting to impact, help, and encourage people and reflect God's light while doing so is the greatest honor. I'm grateful for this opportunity and I look forward to doing the most with it.

"Instead of saying "Why Me?" I said this is what He [God] wants me to do" - Lebron James after game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals