By request, I am reposting this for someone who needs to read this. Be encouraged. You can do this!
I have some meaty encouragement for you that is based on three conversations I had yesterday with some buddies.
I have wonderful, wonderful people in my life. I have one or two friends and a great deal of incredible people I classify as good buddies. Yesterday, I had the privilege of chatting with three special buddies. Each conversation began with a debrief of work and speaking schedules, new projects, family gatherings, and other interesting things. Each conversation was enlightening and each conversation crushed my heart.
As I spoke with each person they faced different situations in their lives that were disappointing and caused them to believe they should just give up, throw up their hands, and say “to heck with it”. Each of them had put so much hope and work into their projects and suddenly the answer was no or they faced yet another rejection. How many times can a person get kicked in the face and expect to get up? How much courage is one person expected to have day after day?
Each person told me, with tears in their eyes, that they had it. They were at the end of the line. They felt like they were failures and believed they obviously were not cut out to make a difference or to move forward with their dream. They felt discouraged, alone, tired, bitter, useless, and just plain ole wrong.
Believe me, I so get that. My heart sank and I cried with each person knowing exactly the type of heartache and sadness they were experiencing.
So comes today. I will tell you what I said to them. Please hear me on this. For those of you who know me or know of me, you know that my heart is to encourage, motivate, and exhort (push toward movement) toward what you have been placed on this earth to be (not do) but be. I am not a pastor, a Ph.D., the greatest mind, a perfect person, or one who goes without struggles. However, I want to encourage you today in this.
The issue that my buddies had, I have, and we all continually have is confusing who we are with what we do and many, many more lies. Man, it’s so easy to fail at something and believe that I’m a failure. Or to lose a job and to somehow be fooled into believing that I’m now a loser. We too quickly choose to believe that just because we are harmed, abused, or something damaging happened to us somehow we are damaged goods and can’t be used for amazing things. Of course, if our book is not picked up immediately by a publisher or agent or is on the NY best seller’s list somehow we should have never picked up a pen and paper. I’m glad John Grisham did not buy into that one.
We all fall by the wayside, make mistakes, fail, lose, etc. No problem in that cause it’s life and it was never meant to be fair. The difference between being ordinary like everybody else and being someone of courage is the choice YOU make when you are down. I have a saying, “Feel what you feel then hold onto the truth.” Yeah, feel hurt, disappointed, angry, cuss, scream, etc. Feelings are only indicators of what is going on inside. THEN stand in the truth. TRUTH- “Yeah, I lost my job and it sucks. But, now I’m forced to make that move toward what I’ve been wanting to do.”, “Yeah, my (sister, friend, husband, etc.) is talking about me like a dog. Every word is a lie and I feel betrayed, ashamed, and alone. But, ultimately my worth doesn’t come from their view of me anyway so I’m going to focus my time on moving forward instead of allowing them to keep me back.”, “Yeah, I didn’t get that book deal and I feel like I’m not a good writer. But, John Grisham got turned down for “Time to Kill”. My book impacted the lives of those 5 women down the street, I’m gonna learn and grow from this and nothing is stopping me now.”
The fact is you and I are NOT what we feel or what we do. You are more than a rejection, a budget cut, a contest, more than what someone did to you or said to you, and more than your last failure or disappointment. The only way to combat a lie is with the truth (I think that’s in the B-I-B-L-E) It’s a process, it is not a one-time thing. Renewing our mind, feelings are just feelings that don’t change.
I remember watching the funeral service for Michael Jackson on TV. In the midst of all the Hollywood stuff and his accomplishments, the one thing that stuck out for me was what he gave away and how much of it he gave away. I never knew that. To me, the other stuff really didn’t matter. At the end of your days, will it really matter how many books you sold, what a great job you had, how much money you made? For me, I want someone (maybe 2 or 3) shaking my casket with joy knowing I’m in Heaven and a room full of people celebrating and remembering, “Man, Charlotte wasn’t perfect but she lived life as though she had nothing to lose!” How about you? You can do this, my friend!
Now get up and do this!
I double dare you to Dream Madly, Pursue Wildly, and Trust Completely!
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