About Joyce

Jocelyn is a CPA, Auditor, Writer, Blogger, Life Coach. Through perseverance and self-empowerment, she was able to graduate as a scholar in college (awarded with the highest honors of Summa Cum Laude). She is also an empath. She could easily feel other people’s feelings, good or bad, as though they were her own. This combined intellect and heart has given her the unique perspective to inspire others, and to help people rise up from their hurts so they can find their way to change, wisdom and healing. Read more of her inspirational posts, quotes, poems and words of wisdom about life at www.itakeoffthemask.com

When You’re Giving More Than You’re Receiving

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Joyce

Some people are givers, they have much to give to others and many people benefit from their generosity. There are times however when these people give so much that they feel drained from within, and there is nobody who is able to replenish them back. Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever felt as though you’re giving more than you’re receiving and that sooner or later, you’d have nothing to give anymore?

Why do you feel as though you’re giving too much? What are some of the possible reasons you continue to give without being able to receive enough?

To please others and win their love
To please others and avoid confrontation
Not to hurt people and fail their expectations
Because it is your obligation, you are required
Because you are threatened with punishment and fear i.e. God’s punishment and rejection

If you’ve had the above mentioned reasons in mind, you may want to re-consider the following reasons:

For the good of others, not just their being pleased (See also “We Need More Than Kindness”)
For the love of what you do
For your own growth

You may also want to think about the reasons why you feel you’re not receiving enough.

Why Aren’t You Receiving Enough?

Not asking for help due to fear of rejection
Not asking for help due to experience with people who ignored your needs and failed to help you in the past
Strong beliefs on martyrdom and the need for sacrifice
Help is actually being provided by God but not recognized or not in the form you want
Image of a demanding God requiring/ needing something from you

If you feel that you’re giving more than you’re receiving, you may need to think about the reasons why you seem to be giving so much as well as the reasons why you’re not receiving as much help as you need.

You should also note your own limitations in giving – you may not have respected your limits often and you felt you always had to give even when you already can’t.

On the other hand, you may need to seek out more people who can also support you back, people who also have a lot of things to give and who would be more than happy to give of themselves to you.

God knows you and your limitations. You need not carry the burden of the whole world upon your shoulders; He’s already done that for you! In times when you can no longer carry on, let Him carry you! (See also “Why Is My Cross Heavier?”)

Self-Confidence Quotes

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Joyce

Self-Confidence Quotes
There is a whole galaxy within you, waiting to be unleashed. Let the universe wait no more.

Take a very good look at the person before the mirror today. There will never be another such as she(he).

“I bare my nakedness to the world that the world may see who I am; not the mask that hides my flaws,not the mask that hides my beauty. I bask in the light and I take off the mask!”

I walked among the deities and discovered to my surprise… I am beautiful, I am one of them!

I am blessed this moment, I am embraced, I surrender only to love.

Let nothing frighten you, for you are after all, a child of eternity.

Look not on what you lack,but on the gift that you possess. You are the only one capable of harnessing such power!

God does not take us only when we are lovable,but moreso when we are most in need of love.

Be not afraid of your own beauty. Shine forth your light and forget not who you really are.

Make peace with your shadow. Unless you are able to,you will never dare venture in the light.

I am not my body. I am not my brain. I am more, much more and I realize the “me” which no other can replace as I face the mirror each morning, smiling for a brand new day of awakening.

It is not enough that you know yourself and what you’re worth. You have to show the world who you really are.

There was a time when I couldn’t forgive myself, that time when the burden of guilt was multiplied a hundred times more by the world that knew nothing but condemn those who are already down. But now is not that time, for it has long come to pass. Now is the time of acceptance, of love, and of believing in myself despite whatever accusations others may try to pass against me.

Judge me not for you do not know me. And even if you could step into my shoes, you still wouldn’t be able to tell what potentials or hidden worlds could arise from within this soul.

Being unique is important because that makes you the only living person who can offer the world what you have. So why be afraid if you don’t fit in at times? Be proud that you can stand out! - Lifted from my article LESSONS ON SELF-CONFIDENCE

I am no less of a person by flaws that you see in me; I am no lesser for I am not those flaws. I know who I am, my flaws and my strengths, and there is no better person who can handle me but me.

I arise from the ashes of doubt, of depression and of self-pity. I arise a new being – strong, confident, beautiful and without limits!

Have you seen a seed? Was it at all that attractive to you? Wait awhile and see that seed grow. See it bear fruit, see its flowers bloom. See? I’ve caught you by surprise! I have just astounded you.

When I told you I could rebuild myself, I wasn’t able to tell the truth. I couldn’t rebuild me. I have just been reborn!

If I have failed you, it was not because I wanted to, but because I’ve failed myself first. Rest assured I will love myself more, and in so doing I would not hurt you ever again.

Look at me! See how much God’s power is to be made manifest!

I am of God, a soul that can never be destroyed. How can it when God can never cease being God?

God loves me, unconditionally. And for me, He leaves the 99 sheep behind so He can find me and make me realize just how much I matter, just how much I am loved.

The greatest gift we can give to our loved ones is the gift of knowing that we are well, and that we are joyful.

Heaven is knowing deep in your soul how you were conceived and how you were bathed in loved. It is tapping unto the endless reserve of mercy and grace when shadows come looming over you.It is knowing that however great the challenges ahead seem to be, there is a Higher Power that will see you through.

This Is My Moment!

This is my moment!
This is my now.
I live in it,
I breathe in it,
I move,
I sing,
I dance.
This is life,
this is forever -
the rain now pouring over me
will never be the same again,
so I cry
I hope
I laugh like a little child.
I look at the sunrise as though it is my first,
as though it will be my last,
I pray
I smile
I love!
I taste the fresh air
as though I’m born again,
I smell the rose
as though an angel gave it to me.
I am here,
I am loved,
I am seen.
This is my moment,
this is the very moment
I BELIEVE!

There Are No Squares In Nature

Come to think of it, when have you ever seen the following?

A square leaf
A square fruit
A square tree
A square raindrop

Coming to think of it, nature, unlike man, does not produce

Square moons
Square suns
Square planets
Or square galaxies

There are no square rainbows
Nor square flowers
Nor square heads
that could fit inside a square box

Yet more often than not, that’s exactly what we do.

We try to put everything inside a box
We try to make all things black and white
We try to make everything spic and span
as though we could put a square peg inside a round hole
and then congratulate ourselves for the feat we have done

Since the dawn of man-made technology,
we have certainly lived in a world of squares:

square houses
square buildings
square computer screens

We write on square papers using square tables
We sleep on square beds and enter upon square doors

Where has all these taken us?
These square things have made a war with our own hearts
And against all mysteries that enrich and empower us

The next time someone tries to put your immortal soul inside a small box
Kindly remind yourself:

There are no square stars in the Universe.

To Look Using God’s Own Eyes

I pray I could learn
to look at people,
the way God sees each one of us -
to be able to forego the little mistakes,
maybe even the big ones
to be able to see weaknesses
turned into strength
to know something’s hurting
and yet know that the hurt
would be healed in time
to look beyond judgment
to see with an understanding heart
to see what’s beautiful
to appreciate what’s good
to not measure anybody’s destiny
with their present plight
but to see real hope for everyone
the way God sees us
To know that orphans
have their Father
To know that those imprisoned
have One who will set them free
To see how the poor
will one day bask in God’s abundance
To see the brokenhearted
in days when God Himself
will cradle them upon His lap
To be able to see with God’s own eyes
is to see with gladness,
with hope,
and with a love so strong
it could never ever fail!

I urge you to know
who you really are;
in your eyes,
in your heart.
Know thyself,
especially your strengths.
Know that which is
beautiful.
Know that which is
loveable.
Know that which has made you
the unique and wonderful
person that you are!

Loving Yourself Through God’s Eyes

There are times when no matter how hard we try, we feel unable to love ourselves. In such times, we feel its so much easier to love other people. After all, they’re not with us 24 hours in a day We don’t see all their weaknesses. We don’t have to live with their regrets. And we’re not the ones who have to carry their hurts.

In such times, we feel overwhelmed. We don’t have enough strength to accept this person we see in the mirror everyday.

We don’t have enough love to love her. We don’t have enough strength to uplift her when she couldn’t believe in herself anymore.

During such times, I’ve known of a way to help you continue improving your relationship with yourself. And that way is to see yourself through God’s own eyes.

In God’s eyes, there is no judgment, there is only acceptance. In God’s eyes, there is no pain too hard to bear nor weaknesses too weak to be overcome by His insurmountable strength.

God can embrace us wholeheartedly, opening us up yet sustaining us and healing us at the same time. God sees all our potentials. God sees our light when all that we can see are our shadows.

God sees this person who falls but who has the power to get up again and again. God sees this person who gets hurt but does not become hard or bitter, only softer, more resilient to change.

God sees you. God cherishes you. God’s eyes love you more than anyone could ever love you as you really are.

Separate Your Mistakes from Your Self Image

Sometimes its so easy not to separate our behavior from our image of ourselves, to separate the sin from the sinner, so they say.

When we make blunders, we feel we’re failures. When we have broken relationships, we feel we are broken too and worthless.

However, if we truly desire to improve our relationship with ourselves, we must learn to practice acknowledging our errors without eroding our overall belief in our worth.

So you failed in your exams, does it mean you haven’t learned anything? So you weren’t accepted for a job, does it mean no employer would later on trust you and consider you a valuable asset to his company?

Things like those happen. Things change. What should remain intact is our respect and love for ourselves, our belief that we are God’s children and no matter how many mistakes we make along the way of growing up, we are still destined for Grace and eternal Joy!

The above post Self-Confidence Quotes was written by Jocelyn Soriano for www.itakeoffthemask.com

Lessons on Self Confidence

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Joyce

1. Looks aren’t the most important thing.

• Some attractive people even feel inferior because they think people only like them because of their looks and not their personality or other important traits.

2. Achievements aren’t the most important thing.

• Achievements always change. Sometimes you’re up, other times you’re down.
• Although some people have already achieved much, you don’t know if someday, you will even achieve more than they have already achieved. Your potential for achievement may even be greater.

3. Skills aren’t the most important thing because they can be learned.

4. Wealth isn’t the most important thing because they can be gained by means which does not in any way indicate that the person who gained them is far superior than the one who didn’t or chose not to use such means. Also, wealth can be found and it can be lost, it isn’t a permanent indicator of one’s worth. Even wealthy people don’t want others to fall in love with them just because of their money.

5. Beliefs are important, but just like skills, they can be learned, corrected or changed. And we all have the power and the freedom to do that.

6. Being unique is important because that makes you the only living person who can offer the world what you have. So why be afraid if you don’t fit in at times? Be proud that you can stand out!

7. There are many things that you can find good and lovable about you, things you may have ignored or taken for granted because you have always possessed them all these years. As proof, we get attracted with people who have positive traits that are similar to us. We may not have noticed it, but noticing them now, thinking about it and writing them down can help us believe that we have indeed been attracted by such traits, and if we have, then it is quite possible that other people will also be attracted by such traits that we already possess.

8. Instead of treating your mistakes as signs of your inferiority, why not treat them as lessons learned that will increase your wisdom and your strength, and therefore, increase also your self confidence?

9. Rejections by other people happen all the time, it doesn’t mean you’re less deserving of attention or love. For instance, isn’t it good to be rejected by people with bad habits and evil intentions? Doesn’t it say much about them as it does about you?

10. Some criticisms may be productive and we can learn much from them. Other criticisms merely indicate things that the person himself hates about himself and does not want to see in you. It does not even say whether he is right in hating such traits or whether he has merely associated such traits with other things he truly dislikes. Just think about the celebrities that you know who have often been criticized. Even truly good world leaders have been objects of criticism. But that doesn’t mean they deserved every criticism they got or that they should already lose confidence because of them.

Never Let Yourself Down

There will come a time when people would put you down.
People would judge you. Those who hardly know you. And those
whom you thought knew you well. You will look for comfort
but you will find none. You will wander the streets weeping
but not a friend will be in sight.
Never let yourself down. Take heart, for no matter how awful
the accusations against you are, you are still a child of God.
This is the time when your love for yourself will be tested.
Whether you will believe what others say about you, or whether
you will stand your ground because you know yourself best.
Take comfort knowing that you are never alone. God still
believes in you, you know. God loves you and sees in you
the person everybody else failed to see.
Don’t fail to see that person. Never let yourself down.

Cares

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Joyce

The little cares that fretted me,
I lost them yesterday
Among the fields above the sea,
Among the winds at play;
Among the lowing of the herds,
The rustling of the trees,
Among the singing of the birds,
The humming of the bees.

The foolish fears of what may happen,
I cast them all away
Among the clover-scented grass,
Among the new-mown hay;
Among the husking of the corn
Where drowsy poppies nod,
Where ill thoughts die and good are born
Out in the fields with God.

-Elisabeth Barrett Browning.

If Life is the Most Important Possession

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Joyce

If life is the most important possession, how come many people give up so early in their lives? How can people of robust health at the very prime of their lives think that nothing more could be done to be happy and achieve their true desires?

“But there’s nothing more I could do, this is the end for me.”

“I’ve tried everything and nothing worked!”

“I can’t see how anything could still change.”

“I feel so exhausted, I’ve ran out of the will to live.”

With these words in mind, we can now see why life seems to be meaningless if combined with other factors such as exhaustion, hopelessness and seemingly insurmountable hedges.

It isn’t because life is over that one feels defeated, but that life could never change anymore into the kind of life one desires to have that causes one to consider all life as worthless. But is it? Are the blocks we’re surrendering to realistic obstructions that can no longer be overcome?

Let’s consider some of the hindrances that defeat our hope:

1. That we’ve ran out of strength

It is true that years of trials and suffering could so exhaust our strength that we may feel unable to carry on. But exhaustion is not the same as death, and giving up is not the solution when all that we need to do is REST.

2. That nothing NEW is ever going to happen anymore

Boredom can easily sink in and render life tasteless. It would seem that nothing new ever happens anymore. But does it mean that nothing new will indeed happen in the future? How could we know? How could our words be so SURE?

We CAN’T predict everything that’s going to happen tomorrow. We DON’T KNOW. We don’t know the next person we’d meet that could make a difference in our lives. We don’t know if we’ll get sick or if we’ll get well. We don’t know the natural calamities that may strike any moment. Maybe what we really mean is that we don’t want to hope anymore because we have been hurt so many times before. Maybe we’re not merely expecting for a NEW thing. Maybe what we want is a new development towards achieving our hearts desires.

3. That there’s NOTHING we could do anymore

Is it true that there is truly NOTHING more we could do? Could it be that there is STILL SOMETHING we could do, but that we just DON’T KNOW it yet? Or could it be that we’re just too tired or too hopeless to do it? Could it be that we’re just too hurt to still try anything more?

How about being still? How about waiting? Have we tried to wait to reap the results of our labor? For just as there is time for a seed to grow, and for a flower to bloom, there must be some period of time between our efforts and the fruits we yearn to see.

How about asking for help? Have we already sought the help of others who could be in the position to help us? Or have we sought only from those who already disappointed us in the past and therefore, we think everyone else will just be the same? Have we sought God’s help? Have we tried to trust Him and allow Him to show us a different way?

In order for new things to come, we have to try new things and embark on the uncertain, on paths we’ve never known before.

4. That we’ve already tried EVERYTHING

EVERYTHING is a very encompassing word. Is it possible to have already done everything? Maybe what we mean is that we have already done everything within our powers, within our limitations. Still, could it be that we don’t know some part of us that has already become stronger through the years? Could it be that doing everything IN THE PAST is not the same as doing everything NOW in our present capacity?

Doing everything could also mean to us as doing everything that had been expected of us. It could mean doing everything we thought should be done, the way it has always been done, the way it worked for other people, or the way we thought things ought to work.

Could it be that we could still do something but doing that thing would be so new we’re afraid where it would eventually take us? In other words, could there be ANOTHER WAY?

Which doors have been closed? Which paths have been blocked? Are all paths blocked or are there just some paths you DON’T WANT to take anymore thinking you already know where it would take you?

Life is Precious

Life is still precious, a gift that would never have been given if it isn’t worth anything. Don’t give up yet. Rest and renew your strength. Then try something new, ask for help, ask even for hope that it may be found again.

You’re not the same person today. Your hurts have made you wiser; your trials have made you stronger. There is a different future now from the one you saw before. Try to see it with your new eyes, and with your new heart.

The Awful Horror Within

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Joyce

How can one live with the truth
if the truth is one that says
that the monster in the mirror
is us?

How can one live with that
awful truth
and not die of sorrow,
of loneliness,
of unworthiness?

How can one ever hope
to be loved
when one knows how unlovable
one really is?

For what can one offer
her beloved
if not the thorns
that surround her very heart?

What can one expect to receive
if not fear, and if not rejection
for all the darkness
that one really has?

O, that my darkness
could turn into light,
and that my emptiness,
be filled with good!

O, that a kind hand
may lead me somewhere safe,
safe even from the horror
of who I really am.

Maybe then though I cry,
I might find some comfort;
though I hurt and cause others pain,
I might find healing and forgiveness.

Though I fail,
I might hope to keep on trying,
Though I die, I might believe,
and I might live again!

“I have been trying to make the reader believe that we actually are, at present, creatures whose character must be, in some respects, a horror to God, as it is, when we really see it, a horror to ourselves. This I believe to be a fact: and I notice that the holier a man is, the more fully he is aware of that fact.” – C.S. Lewis

I Take Off The MASK!

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