Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Responding to Rejection



Rejection – the act or state of being rejected.  To reject is to refuse to accept, submit to, believe, make use of, consider, grant, recognize or give affection to (a person).                   

Truth be told, every person on the face of the planet has experienced some form of rejection.  Whether as a child or an adult, intentional or not the effects are the same – disheartening.  How we respond to rejection will eventually begin to tell our life’s story.  Meaning, we will either become better because we rose above it or how we will hold ourselves back because we spiraled into the trenches of hostility.  Either way, it’s left up to us on how we handle the rejection.
Since we interact daily with people from all walks of life, we’re certainly susceptible to this sort of thing by something either said or done.  On the contrary, feelings of rejection although unwanted can create an opportunity to grow.  Of course I’m not an advocate of discomfort, but it’s a part of life and we should learn how to handle things with the right attitude.  Depending on the circumstance, we may not always respond in the right way, but with each incident we can improve in our reaction. 
Avoid the urge to take things personally.  Understand that sometimes our interpretations are jaded.  When we use our own computer (our brain) to interpret and conclude the intent of any given action without asking questions to ensure we have arrived at the right conclusion, we set ourselves up for unnecessary anguish and disgust.  Try to put things in the proper perspective and hold off on letting your emotions go awry. Always give the benefit of a doubt unless otherwise noted.  And even then, give it more thought before you react.
Remember . . . When life throws you a lemon don’t become sour, learn to make lemonade instead. 

 

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Elegance At the Table


The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, and to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Who doesn't like an outdoor celebration such as a dinner party or wedding reception?  Careful attention is taken to select the guest list, color scheme, table setting, music, and food to pull the whole event together.  I especially like the uniqueness of style filled with personality - a little whimsical even and people reconnecting with old friends and relatives.

Laughter, good conversation, and good food set the tone for creating memories that we enjoy as past times.

It's moments like these that remind us to take time to enjoy life and stop sweating the small stuff!  Enjoy the beauty of flowers blooming, the smell of rain, the laughter of children, and the love and affection of aged couples holding hands. Breathe!

Take it all in and settle in your mind that Life is about experiences.  Whether we encounter difficult moments or pleasant ones, both are needed to shape the person we are becoming.

I'm reminded of a story of a little girl who was given a life lesson by her father.  Her father placed 3 pots filled with water on the stove.  In the first pot he placed a carrot.  In the second pot an egg, and the third ground coffee beans.  He let them sit and boil without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to his daughter, he asked, "Tell me what do you see?"
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.  Her father asked her to take a closer look. after which she asked what it all meant.  Her father explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity—boiling water—but each reacted differently.

The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" he asked his daughter.

Encouragement: Never Give Up!  Dream big, Work smart, Love hard, and Forgive often.  Remember . . . Life is 20% what happens to you and 80% how you respond to it.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

The Elephant In The Room


Countless hours in a meeting room.  Everyone's thinking it, but no one dare say a word.  Awe, come on . . . you think to yourself . . . are you kidding me?  Meeting adjourned.  Folks solemnly leave in dismal contemplation.  Rumors fly.  Sound familiar?

 
Not many people feel at ease speaking truth to power.  Either for fear of retaliation, rejection, or perhaps not seeing the value of sticking your neck out only to get it chopped off.  And if you're one of the brave few who will, you tire of always being the one to speak up or designated as the one by others who are staring back at you.

 
But here's a thought . . . Life is too short to live it with regrets.  Seldom will we really know when a moment is ripe for change, but progress cannot be made while resting on our laurels.  We just have to go for it, take a risk and hope for the best.  It's better to have tried and failed than to have not tried at all.  There is something gratifying in knowing that you did your best and pushed the envelop because it was the right thing to do!


Martin Luther King, Jr. said in his speech in support of the striking sanitation workers at Mason Temple in Memphis, TN, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."  With that said, we should live for more than just ourselves.

So the next time you're presented with an opportunity to state the obvious, think about the possibilities and benefits that could be gained, formulate your thoughts for a resolution, and 
Go For It! 

 

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

My One True Love



Soul Mates . . . Remember the days when couples cherished moments of holding hands together, walks in the park, getting love letters, or talking on the phone for hours?  Even better, how about roller skating coupled underneath the disco ball's sparkling light while listening to love songs all through the night?  These are the ingredients that cultivate relationships and help you recognize your one true mate. 

A soul mate is a person who is truly fitted and fully suited to another.  In other words, they are "just right" for that person.  This is impossible to know for sure at first sight.  Only through continued communication, spending time together, and learning about one another can this become clear.  My husband and I are complete opposites.  He's a night owl, slow to change, and very spur-of-the-moment.  I, on the other hand, am up at the crack of dawn, always looking to change or improve, and very calculated in my movements.  Together we make the perfect pair!  What I lack he supplies and what he lacks, I supply.  Are there times when we want to choke each other?  Absolutely!  This goes with the territory.  All in all, we find ways to work through things because we truly love each other and really enjoy each other.  Together, we share over 28 years of marriage.

We recognize there will always be others who are better looking, better built, or better something.  But we've made our choice.  He chose me - I chose him and its for keeps.  Besides, why throw away all that training?  He's just like I like him and I'm just like he likes me!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Never Underestimate the Power of One

One salesman and Sunday school teacher, Edward Kimball, led a young man named Dwight to Christ.  Dwight Moody became a blazing evangelist who it is said, led one million souls to Christ in his short lifetime.  Wilbur Chapman received the assurance of his salvation after talking with Moody and went on to become a noted evangelist himself. 

The drunken baseball player Billy Sunday was an assistant to Chapman before becoming the most famous evangelist of his day.  One of the fruits of Sunday's ministry was the forming of a group of Christian businessmen in Charlotte, North Carolina.  This group brought the evangelist Mordecai Ham to Charlotte in 1934.  A tall awkward youth named Billy Graham was converted during those meetings. 

According to his staff, as of 1993, more than 2.5 million people had "stepped forward at his crusades to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior."  Millions of souls trace their spiritual lineage back to the influence of one man, a simple Sunday school teacher, Edward Kimball

Someone said, "To the world you may just be one person, but to one person you may be the world." Never underestimate the power of one multiplied.  You can make a difference in your family, community, city, state, . . . the world.  Decide today to become a "change agent" of great influence for Christ.  Someone's life depends on it!





~Evangelism Is ... How to Share Jesus with Passion and Confidence
Dave Earley and David Wheeler