Disappointments & God’s Blessings
You step out in faith.
You set a goal, and you work hard. You get want you wanted and celebrate! Then, you see your beautiful goal in your hands, and just like sand, it falls through your fingers. There is nothing you can do but feel the disappointment and learn from it. But disappointment is hard to handle at any age, even at age 54.
You know that, ethically, you would not work that way. You've worked for corporations. You know contracts can be signed and rescinded at any time. The day before you are to start, in fact, hours actually. Ouch, that hurt! We live in a world of nuance, and sometimes the world you have left in the far past steps up and says, "hello, it's not personal, it's business."
So, what do you do when you believe in a mission so much, and those you hold in high esteem fail you, or you feel like they failed you? Well, you get mad and feel all the feelings! But, you process with friends, and thank God some of my best friends are now incredible life coaches. You cry when a friend knows you're disappointed and gives you incredible support. You let the tears fall because they are real.
As a Christian, I know the enemy is prowling and looking for an in! A few years ago, I would have commiserated with co-workers and drank until I took the edge off. Then, I would suffer the next day and do it again and again until one day, I finally quit my job and moved on.
So now what? How will I use this disappointment now? I'm blogging about it. Forgive and not take it personally. This isn't about me or my talents. This is about someone who is running a business and is running it the way they see fit. I cannot fault them for it. They can do whatever they want.
I can now take that person off the elevated pedestal I had placed them on. Putting them on a pedestal was all me. They never asked to be put there. I can thank them for the positive and negative lessons they have given me. I can forgive and let it go. I can feel and remember the emotions, so I don't inflict this on someone else.
As a Christian, I am to forgive others. I'm to extend grace and compassion. When we forgive, we release the pain, hurt, and all the emotions. We release the emotions from our minds, body, and spirit so we can move forward.
So, what do you do next after you have or are working on forgiveness? First, you look for inspiration and motivation. I listened to 2 podcasts and 1 daily fire (a daily motivation I get from the GrowthDay App), and there was a God Wink in all the messages. Just amazing!
My GrowthDay app's daily fire was, "What to do when you are feeling discouraged." It was excellent, and I will share it in another post.
The next was the Craig Groeschel, Leadership Podcast, which talked about hard work and treating people the way you want to be treated. Leading by example. Loving all people, even people you don't want to love. Love them because that is how God loves us.
The last podcast was Brooke Castillo's The Life Coach School Podcast, and it was all about investing in yourself and believing in yourself.
Each message spoke to my heart and told me to move it along, Edwards. You've got this. Don't put your faith in man. Put your faith in God. So that is where I placed it. Because sometimes our disappointments open the door for God’s blessings.
Now, I will tell you the brain works the way the brain works. Old neural pathways sparked, and there was a moment when my brain said, "How about a drink?" My next thought was," Seriously, I'm a freedom from alcohol coach?" Remember, about 80% of our thoughts are negative! And a lot of your thoughts are simply NOT True.
So I said, "Get thee behind me, Satan! Jesus has my back, my brain, and my future!"