Sometimes all I need is a
verse or a phrase of Scripture to get my mind flowing and wrap my arms around
all God is teaching me at the moment.
What do you
do when life throws you unexpected problems? How do you keep going when your
dreams are deferred?
Here are some things
you need to consider before you give up:
- You
never fail until you’re satisfied with failure. – Failure is not falling
down; failure is staying down when you have the choice to get back up
(story of David and Uria’s wife). Sometimes you have to fail a
thousand times to succeed. Which means you haven’t really failed
yet; you’ve just found a bunch of ways that don’t work. So don’t get
so hung up on a few failed attempts that you miss every new opportunity
coming your way. All of your ideas that don’t work are simply
stepping stones on your way to the one idea that does.
2.
What you have learned is what’s important. – Life always
offers you a second chance – it’s called tomorrow. But this second chance
doesn’t mean anything if you haven’t learned from the events of today.
You have to acknowledge your troubles but gather strength from them, and laugh
at your mistakes but learn from them. Getting a second chance in life is
about giving yourself the opportunity to grow beyond your past failures.
It’s about learning as you go and positively adjusting your attitude and
efforts toward future possibilities.
3.
Tough times are just part of life’s natural balance. – Life lives, life
dies. Life laughs, life cries. Life gives up and life tries.
And life looks different through everyone’s eyes. In fact, who you were,
who you are, and who you will become are three completely different
people. And as you gradually grow beyond the person you were yesterday, keep life’s challenges in perspective. Hear life’s harmony, and notice the delicate
balance. Realize that life is like playing a grand piano. The white
keys create your happiness and the black keys denote your troubles. But
as you go through life’s journey, remember that the black keys also create
music.
4.
Pain helps you grow. – Sometimes things must change so
you can change. Sometimes you must break a little so you can get a peek
inside to see what an awesome powerhouse you are. Sometimes mistakes must
be made so wisdom can be earned. Sometimes you must overcome heartache so
you can begin to follow your heart again.
5.
Success is a way of living. – Don’t let your
struggles become your identity. Not everything in your life will go as
you expect it to. This is why you need to drop expectations, live in the
present, and go with the flow, rather than against it. Remind yourself
that it’s perfectly okay not to be perfect. Ultimately, success is not
something you achieve, it is what you learn and how you grow as you deal with
the realities of life – it is a way of living and being.
6.
You can choose differently. – The difference
between a mountain and a molehill is your perspective. And in many cases,
the only thing in life you have control over is your perspective. No
matter what happens, YOU control what the meaning is, and what to do with the
meaning you give to the circumstance. Choose to react in a way that
motivates happiness, love, or forgiveness, even when circumstances make that
choice difficult.
7.
It’s not supposed to be easy. – Just because
you’re not where you want to be today doesn’t mean you won’t be there
someday. Again, success is tied to long-term determination.
Successful people keep moving and trying. They make mistakes, but they do not quit. If things in your life aren’t happening as planned
right now, that’s okay. It just means it’s not the right time.
Life’s brick walls are not there to keep you out, they’re there to give you a
chance to show how badly you want something. They’re there to stop the
people who don’t want it as bad as you do.
