How I Turned Failure into Success

Photo Credit: Creative Commons

I Felt Like a Failure 

I loved my job. Then I lost it all. 

I worked as a program director for a local charity, facilitated international travel for medical missions’ trips, wrote grant proposals and spoke to the public on a regular basis about our mission. 

When I was laid off four years ago, I thought I would be able to find another job immediately. After all, I was successful at what I did. I was a “people person” and I had great skills. 

Then a year passed and another and another. 

Adrift

Slowly I became adrift in the unemployment pool and found myself waiting to be picked. I was waiting for a phone call that never came. 

My bills piled up and life kept happening. My kids still got sick and my husband desperately needed dental work done. I had no insurance and no money. I began to have a personal pity party on a pretty regular basis. What did that look like? Well, my faith in myself began to waiver and I began saying things like “Why do things never seem to work out for us?” 

The Danger of Self-Pity 

Words have power. Michael Hyatt just wrote about it and said, “My vocabulary impacts my attitude. Words have power. They impact others, of course, but they can also have an impact on us.” 

The danger of using words that place us as the victim is we become victims. 

Buffeted by every wind and wave of life, we no longer focus on navigating through the ocean of circumstances toward our goals. Instead, we drift along, taking on more and more water until we drown in the self-pity. 

We are more Than! 

In Romans it says “we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” 

We are more than our circumstances, we are more than our skills, we are more than our jobs, and we are more than conquerors! 

Your purpose is not wrapped up in what you do as a career. It is focused on following the plan of God for your life. That may or may not be found in the job you do from 9 to 5, but it is there to be found. 

God has a Plan for YOU! 

“I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the Lord; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope. When you call me and come and pray to me, I will listen to you. When you search for me, yes, search for me with all your heart, you will find me.” Jeremiah 29:11-13 (CEB)

If I had not lost that job I never would have had the privilege of starting this blog. If I had not pressed into God and surrendered to Him, this idea would have never been downloaded into me. 

Now I get asked to write for others, and to read books before they even come out. I am meeting authors and publishers. I am growing exponentially. I have no idea where this may take me exactly, but I know I am in God’s plan for my life. 

I had to change the way I looked at my circumstances and I had to change my attitude. I changed my attitude by changing my words. Then, my life began to change, for the better. It can for you too! 

More than Platitudes 

There is no more Pity Party. There is a Purpose Party! 

Do not waiver. 

Do not give up. 

Press into God and press on! 

There is purpose in the bad as much as there is purpose in the good. 

Let go of the past and let God download something new into you! 

These are not just platitudes, they are Purpose Driven Attitudes! Let them propel you into your next success! 

Question: Do you struggle with negativity? Leave your answer and comments below. 

Motivational Speech? Nope! What Fasting my Words Taught Me.

Fasting for two days is difficult- for me anyway! I love food, and a fast never goes by fast. 

But God did not tell me to fast my favorite foods, or even coffee; which might have killed me, I am just sayin’.

Nope. He told me to fast my words.

As a woman, I talk an average amount, maybe more than average… and not talking for two days was much more difficult than I thought. Playing a perpetual game of charades for 48 hours is not as fun as it sounds.

There were very funny moments trying to mime certain things to my girls and them asking me “What is it Lassie? Did Timmy fall down the well?”

The funniest thing was people’s reaction in public. Knowing just a little bit of ASL (American Sign Language) and typing out requests or questions on my cell phone for store clerks to read caused quite a stir. People’s faces and body language changed. Some people got louder. Some people looked at me like I had three heads. I wasn’t handicapped in any way, just communicating in a different way.

So here are three things I learned from fasting my words.

First: My body language is communicating so much more than I thought.

My husband took a wrong turn coming home from the beach. Since I usually give the directions, he got very upset when I was “telling” him he had made a mistake, because he said I was acting like it was a bigger deal than it was. My body language was all he had to go by, so what he “heard” was me yelling, even though I had not said a word.

Even when you don’t talk, you mind is still trucking along at full speed. 

Being quiet in the physical did not slow me down mentally; it actually did the opposite for me: my thoughts seemed to race. Stuck in my own head, I had paid very close attention to what I was thinking, how I was thinking. It made me realize that I gave too much focus to unfruitful and sometimes even harmful- thoughts: much more than I should.

So the second thing I learned is that I must pay attention!

48 hours of silence made me realize that there is a battlefield I am not even fully engaged on: the battlefield of my thought life. Taking every thought captive that exalts itself against God is a battle. When we allow our thoughts to encroach into God territory, coming in direct conflict with what He says about an issue, then we lose. Often, we are not even aware the trespassing is going on, because we are not paying attention.

The third thing I learned is this: Our words have power. Life and death are in the power of the tongue.

With our words we can insight riots or inspire change. With our words we can tear down, or we can build up. With our words we can plant seeds or we can pluck them up. Our words can and do set the course of our lives.

So now, as I reflect back on my two days of silence I know I will remember these lessons and I am sure there will be more lessons to come.

Questions: Have you ever had an unusual fast? Can you share a story about a time when you know words moved you to either a positive or a negative action? Please comment below.