Falling Upward
On my flight home from Washington a few days ago, I had a conversation with a man about life stuff. It was a great conversation. He asked me questions and I in turn had questions for him. We both shared our insights and some of our life experiences with each other. He shared with me that he and his wife were reading a book together called “Falling Upward” and the title was so poignant and significant to me and stopped me in my tracks for a moment because I could totally relate to this term. I’ve had this particular blog post on my mind for some a while and it’s finally time to share my thoughts with you. Although I haven’t read the book he mentioned, I do plan on reading it at some point (and FYI it’s in my Amazon cart), the premise of the book goes in a different direction than what I want to share with you today.
I want to ask you a question….. have you ever felt that something difficult in your life has pulled you back before it moved you forward? If the answer is “yes,” you are human. Really though, and in all seriousness, it’s true. Several years back I heard this quote: “an arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. When life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means that it’s going to LAUNCH you into something great. Focus, and keep aiming.” It’s so true!
I work with the female youth in my church congregation. I love teaching them and I think I always end up learning more from them than I am actually teaching them. They are so smart, insightful and convicted in their beliefs. Yesterday we were talking about what we BE-come as we endure difficult life challenges. I was so impressed as most of them shared personal experiences and what they learned about themselves as a result of going through it. They could actually see the blessing that it is to go through challenges in life because these are the experiences that truly strengthen and shape us into the people that God intended us to be. We agreed that one important factor is gratitude. When we are rooted in gratitude, we can get through really hard things. When our lens is focused on gratitude it makes all the difference in the world, it truly does.
When we can FOCUS on what we can BE-come through our challenges, instead of focusing on thoughts like ‘why me,’ ‘this is so unfair’ or ‘nothing ever works out in my favor,’ it keeps us stuck in victim mindset. If we can shift our thoughts to things like ‘this is certainly a challenge I am going through, however, I have so many that love and support me and I’m going to be okay,’ or ‘I have a lot to be grateful for and I know that with God all things are possible and the universe is conspiring in my favor,’ and many more thoughts that are rooted in gratitude, will certainly help you. These thoughts shift our FOCUS and help move forward.
I always like to remind myself and others that our thoughts are important to guard. Our minds can be our greatest asset and our greatest downfall, if we aren’t careful. Our thoughts generate our emotions and our emotions drive our actions and our actions create the results that we get in life. If we want to change the results in our life we have to look at our brain and examine our thoughts.
We also have to acknowledge that life is 50/50 (see my blog post with that title). Life is about ups and downs. We have triumphs and we have lessons (I don’t like to call them failures). I’ll leave you with this great acronym for FAIL: Faithful Attempt in Learning.
Powerful, right?
Just remember that when you feel like you are falling back, you are really falling forward and that God is ready to launch you into greatness. You are already of infinite worth. You are just BE-coming more of who you were created to be through your life challenges. And when life feels so hard, get on your knees and look up. Things are going to get better!
Just a reminder, I’m a life coach that loves coaching women that want to increase their confidence, find their purpose, reach their goals and dreams, and so much more. Sign up for free mini coaching session with me on my website.
Have a great day!
-Tammy
