To Encourage The Discouraged
Raise your hand if you’ve ever felt the dread of discouragement. Thanks for being honest! Now raise your other hand if an inner voice has ever told you that you just aren’t good enough. Glad to know you draw breath, my fellow human being! Now firmly clap those high-held hands together, gaze skyward, and declare that this is the day I will use my God-given freewill to find encouragement even within the darkest moments of discouragement.
Yes, we’ve all had our courage stomped at both ends of the spectrum, from that subtle inner whisper of self-doubt to yet another in a series of “why does this always seem to happen to me” calamities. Devastating circumstances tend to wallop varying degrees of fear into our hearts time and again, and if we aren’t mindful to counter that fear with self-affirming counterpunches, that fear begins to build a house in our hearts.
Circumstance by circumstance, failure by failure, if not countered with positivity, that house continues to grow into a fortress. Allowed to go unchecked, these fears deplete our self-confidence. Low self-esteem then crushes the greatest gift every human possesses to live either a fulfilling or disappointing life - the power to control our attitude. It goes without saying that low self esteem produces a pessimistic attitude about our capabilities.
Discouragement is a deadly dream killer, a potential-poisoning potion. By the way, why does it seem that the most well-intentioned people can be the most discouraging? Surrounded by a cacophony of familiar faces who doubted His power and authority, even Jesus said that a prophet receives no honor in his hometown (John 4:44).
Disappointment, discouragement, and the seductive lure of a life devoid of courage, initiative, creativity, and purpose bombards our willpower 24/7. Life is so messed up, just watch any news channel, get addicted to mind-numbing social media feeds, or how about going broke filling your gas tank these days. Truth be told, just getting by paycheck to paycheck and joining the herd of the visionless seems to be good enough for far too many people.
The problem with being satisfied with the ordinary is that it shackles our dreams with fear,, as in the fear of stretching oneself to live powerfully into purpose and chasing a meaningful vision that leads us into our full potential. Fear of failure and lack of initiative keeps us chained to the mundane and drains our self confidence.
No, we cannot control circumstances like the weather, what critics think of us, or whether the stock market will crash. But what we can control is our response to adversity. No person, no circumstance, and no past mistake has any power whatsoever to influence our attitude unless we allow it to. An encouraging or discouraging life theme is always determined by our attitude.
It is my full intention to encourage everyday people to self actualize, to believe in themselves, and not waste another day unmotivated amid the fearful masses. I believe that every single human being has been divinely bequeathed a unique code of greatness deep within their soul. It’s about cultivating a life lived from an eternal rather than a limited, temporal perspective. This greatness is never measured against the achievement of others. Greatness is living a meaningful life centered on a sweet confluence of personal values, strengths, vision, and life purpose.
It is my absolute desire to lift at least one person from desperate disbelief to extraordinary belief in themselves. This is my life purpose, to “encourage the discouraged.” Thank you for being a part of this journey!