Hell On Earth?

Do you believe there is a hell?

Now before you think I'm getting all religious on you and about to throw bible verses on you ... hear me out.

To recap what I've said in the past about my religious views...there aren't any!

I was born into the Pentecostal religion in 1988 and was there until I was 17 years old.

I left the church, because it just wasn’t for me anymore. I knew so from a young age, however, since I was a "minor", I wasn't allowed to make such a decision on my own. So, I was forced to remain there until I was given one.

Gosh, I feel like that sounds cult like??

Don't get me wrong, I believe that there is something bigger than us. However, I don't believe I need to attend church 24/7 to be closer to it. I can do that from wherever I may be.

Now this brings me back to the hell on earth subject ...

When I was in my indoctrinated religion, I was told there was a heaven and hell.

You do good things, you go to heaven with God.

You do bad things, you go to hell with the Devil.

In a doctrinated religion, you are taught to love God and to fear the Devil. *Let me point out, there are in some instances where I was scared shitless of God.

As an adult, and as a very spiritual person ... I perceive more than just what I was told to believe as a child.

As I mentioned in Why Spirituality? Why Now?, spirituality is way different from the religious perspective. Spirituality deals with being one with your soul, with your being. It's learning what keeps you at peace, with what makes sense to you and what interests you from different cultures. Spirituality from the religious perspective, deals with a set religion and their customs. You are taught that you must follow a set of rules from said religion and if you go against it you are not one of them.

For example, as a Pentecostal I was not allowed to do certain things like wear pants, makeup, or certain jewelry; have any piercings; sexual inercourse before marriage; etc.

When I think back at all that I was taught to fear...like hell. I thought, "Well, what if I already knew what hell felt like?" "What if I've been living in hell this whole time"?

You live in hell when you're constantly living in your head, swarming with negative thoughts.

You live in hell when you're living against your beliefs.

You live in hell when you're choosing to accept less than what you deserve.

You live in hell when you're constantly believing that you're not good enough.

You live in hell when you live someone else's life.

I was in hell.

I was in hell as far back as I can remember. I lived there for so long, that it felt normal. All because I built this façade that it was just what I was supposed to deal with.

I believed that my pleas weren't being answered.

I believed that my dreams were never going to come true.

One day when I realized that picking at my wrists wasn't the answer to the solution, I changed that hell into a determination.

A determination to break free and unlink myself from this chain I grew up in.

A determination to find what else was out there in the world.

A determination to show the world who I was. The true me.

Hell is right here on earth.

It's the air we breathe.

It's the food we eat.

It gets in our thoughts.

It rubs off in our actions.

Hell is all the negative that surrounds us.

However, heaven can be acquired when we step outside of that and strive for more. When we strive for true peace, clarity, joy, love...and most importantly, truth.

"There is a place where there won't be

trials, tribulations, pain or agony

There'll only be

laughter, love, happiness, joy"

I had so much fun sharing this with you, if you would like to learn more on this topic, message me on Live Chat. To personally work with me, visit the Work With Me tab.

Yvonne (Eve)

xoxo

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