Do you often feel like you’re stuck in an almost life? You think to yourself, you’re a “mighty” person in the making? No truer words have been spoken.
I heard these words when Tim Storey spoke on Super Soul Sunday back in April. During an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Storey said we go through recovery and discovery — or at least we should — as we get over the things that happen in our lives. Then we recover when we figure out the lesson in how and why this thing did happen to us.
How many of us go through things and never learn anything? Whether these things you do are good or bad, it’s your choice, but please remember; today’s decisions are your realities for your tomorrow!
No one else is in charge of you — you were born with free will. You are your own boss, always. Even on your job, you may think your supervisor is in charge of your decisions, but quantity and quality of the work you produce is entirely up to you.
Perform just enough to get by and receive a paycheck, and you’ll never get considered for anything more. But keep coming to work, day after day, and always get more done than required by going the extra mile, and it will truly pay off. Stay positive and motivated, even when your boss isn’t!
Find peace in the midst of your storm. Supervisors won’t get joy out of bothering you when your attitude changes and you get your work done the way they want. All of a sudden, you stand out from the crowd!
That’s your private space; it belongs to you and God. And when something happens in your life, whether it’s good or bad, look for the lesson in it. Repeat Romans 8:28 often, as I do, you’ve seen it in this column many times, and you will certainly see it again: “And I know that all things work together for good to them who love God and who are called according to His purpose.”
Do not waste your failures, learn from them. Back in the 1980s, when my sisters and I were partners in a small family business called Critique Special Events on Georgia Avenue NW, we were the coordinators of the annual Georgia Avenue Day Festival and Parade, which also included a black-tie dinner. Though we were experts in planning dinners, we had never coordinated a parade or festival. But former D.C. Councilman Charlene Drew Jarvis saw our work on a previous occasion, and she had other ideas about us.
We had submitted a proposal to her office to coordinate the gala dinner; but when we left out, we had the entire parade, festival and gala dinner. We got it despite not having one day of experience in parades and festivals, all because we went the extra mile in another event she attended.
I thank God for the opportunity to fall forward. We failed our way to success, worked together until we had more than 100,000 people attending each year.
Even in your darkest times be not anxious. Galatians 6:9 says, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Each of us is born an original. We are not a copy; we’re made in His image.
When you are going through life feeling as if you really don’t know why you’re here, it is time for you to stop, look around, pay close attention and listen to what the Almighty is saying to you. Then, and only then, will you begin to make tremendous progress.
Lyndia Grant is a speaker/writer living in the D.C. area. Her radio show, “Think on These Things,” airs Fridays at 6 p.m. on 1340 AM (WYCB), a Radio One station. To reach Grant, visit her website, www.lyndiagrantshow.com, email lyndiagrant@gmail.com or call 202-558-2107. Follow her on Twitter @LyndiaGrant and on Facebook.