Remember when life knocks down, you owe it to yourself to get back up.
– Sherre Webb
Have you ever felt like throwing in the towel and walking away from it all? Has life ever knocked you down so hard you had no idea how you would ever get back up? I have.
No one goes through life without experiencing some version of a knock down, drag out fight with life. Times that make you want to quit because you’re tired of the struggle in a particular area of life or maybe several areas in your life.
I have a confession to make that is quite uncomfortable for me to share: I quit. That’s right, I stopped blogging for a while and I apologize for the disappearing act. Please…forgive me.
By the way, I have provided a few tips on how to handle your most uncomfortable moments in life. You can get them here.
Let me tell you what happened: all of a sudden, the words that used to flow so freely dried up like a well in the middle of the desert. In the moments that led up to this period of time, I didn’t understand what was happening or why. I simply couldn’t make sense of it all. At one point I even conceded that I must not enjoy writing anymore.
Until that one beautiful day when I received a reality check from my Creator: I had allowed myself to become distracted.
Me, distracted? “No way,” I thought, because when I get my mind set on something, nothing can change it.
My God said: this is true; however, you are distracted. You still have the same desires. You’re just distracted.
I had made the mistake of listening to other people’s opinion. I had mistakenly allowed their words to sink in and begin to take root. Suddenly, I doubted my ability to reach you, my audience. The one(s) I truly write for and desire to encourage and motivate. I had allowed someone else opinion to knock me down.
Wow! The truth shall set you free people!
Can you relate? The distractions come during those moments in life when you’re working on your short term plans that will eventually lead to your long term plans. You’re focused and going about your business because you have goals to accomplish and then “Boom!”, life blows up in your face, smack dab in the middle of the straight and narrow path you are on.
You didn’t see it coming. You couldn’t have predicted this part of life happening if you wanted to. You try hard not to let it get to you…life. You fight and struggle and strain not to get off track. Not to get distracted, because you see, when you are the kind of person that sets goals and go after them, you are able to recognize the beginning stages of distractions when they rear their ugly head.
The challenge is this: remaining focused on accomplishing your goals despite whatever distractions may come your way.
This is the hardest part if:
- It is a situation that involves your loved ones (i.e. death in the family)
- It is a situation that involves your own well-being (i.e. you are ill)
- You care about what other people think (this results from a lack of self-awareness)
- You are underdeveloped in the area of focus
- You don’t have a strong enough reason for why you want to accomplish a goal
- You are chasing after something for the wrong reason
- You are chasing after the wrong thing
What do you do when life throws that punch that knocks the wind out of you? You fight.
You fight because staying down is not an option. You fight because life is not all about you, but about something much bigger than you. Get back up and fight for your rightful place in this world. You have something so unique to offer to the world that if you choose to stay down, you will never know the full potential of the gift you hold inside of you, and neither will the people whose lives you are supposed to touch and change.
Feel free to check out another good read of mine, Silence the Noise, where I go more in depth on the best ways to push past distractions
Always remember a temporary circumstance doesn’t define who you are. Instead of immediately turning into Negative Nancy or Ned because you are facing yet another problem, turn it into a defining moment in your life by trying to see how it is actually working in your favor. I know how difficult this can be when you’re in the thick of the struggle and going through a hard time; however, I have learned that changing your perspective helps get you to the other side of victory a lot faster.
We all get dealt one problem after the next. It never stops. Our job is to pay attention, ask God for guidance, and figure out the lesson in the challenge. No matter what, don’t ever quit.
Check it out… let’s look at it another way at my expense. I quit, right? It was temporary, but basically I gave up on something I have enjoyed doing for years. Where did it get me? Nowhere. Although I’m not starting over, the feeling is basically the same when you have to build the momentum all over again.
Just know that there will be times along your journey in life when you are going to fail. You will make mistakes, and quite honestly, I don’t like to use the word “fail” because everything that happens along the journey of life is leading and teaching both you and I what we need to know in order to go to the next level.
Being prideful is another thing that will slow down your progress. What keeps me humble is being willing to share my weaknesses and those times when I’ve slipped and stumbled, even the times that I’ve fallen because no matter what has happened in my life, God had always grabbed a hold of me and lifted me back up. I don’t mind sharing stories of the times life has knocked me down because the mistakes I’ve made were lessons in disguise. I have an obligation to help others; therefore, my missteps in life are supposed to be used as an example of what not to do. When you get to a place where it’s no longer about you, sharing your downfalls won’t matter.
My intention is to serve others; to serve you, even if that means I have to tell you about the times I’ve fallen but managed to get back up. It is a part of my purpose and mission in life; therefore, it is much bigger than me.
The whole point is to help you (or maybe someone you know) avoid making the same mistakes.
Knowledge really is empowering when you take what you have learned and apply that knowledge to your life by making better choices.
Remember when life knocks you down, learn from it. Be inspired instead of discouraged. Know that because you got back up, you owe it to yourself to do something different. Now you know how to better handle a situation that may come against you and what steps you can take moving forward to avoid the same pitfalls. Life is a journey and when you look at it from that perspective, difficult times will no longer overwhelm you to the point that you lose focus of the big picture. Understand that nothing happens by accident and everything that occurs in our lives come to teach us something.
The best thing you and I can do for ourselves is to figure out as quickly as possible what the lesson is when life happens. Pick yourself back up and make the necessary adjustments to move forward. No need in wallowing in self-pity. That’s a waste of time. When life knocks you down, don’t just lie there and allow it to kick you all over the place. Know that you are tougher that your circumstances and understand that you owe it to yourself and have no other choice than to get back up
I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my stories of encouragement and hope. If you know someone that can benefit from my stories (or even if you don’t) please like and share. I am trying to reach as many people as possible. Thank you for your continued support.
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