We’ve all had those times when nothing seems to be going right. We keep hitting walls no matter how hard we work or try to make things happen. We get frustrated and keep finding ourselves in one dead end after another. Sometimes we give up, exhausted from continuing on the same path with little or no results, but maybe those walls and dead ends are really redirections. Maybe they’re stopping us from moving in a direction that ultimately is not good for us, or, not where we are meant to be. We need to retrain our thinking so when nothing does seem to be going right, we go left.
Before walking this path I was constantly in a negative headspace. I didn’t believe I deserved good things so when things didn’t happen the way I had hoped, or I didn’t reach a goal, it enforced that negative narrative I played in my head. I almost wanted to fail as much as I wanted to succeed. That seems crazy now, but my mind was in a constant tug-of-war of failure and success. I worked hard, but many times when I would find resistance I would give up or not try as hard thinking there was no point. That again played into my victim mentality, where I believed that life was against me because I was a bad person. I did find success during those years, but I never looked at the failures as an opportunity to try something new, or a new approach to getting what I was going after. I was stubborn in my thinking that my way was the best way and wasn’t open to listening to new ideas, and my ego got in the way of me finding the roads I was meant to travel. Since committing to my recovery I have learned that those moments when I do hit a wall, I am meant to bounce off in a different direction, I may still be pursuing the same goal, but in a different way. I have also learned on this path that I know very little, there is a great amount of knowledge out there I don’t’ know because I only know what I have experienced or read. It is arrogant of me to think I know everything, or even know better, when there may be something else out there that can bring me to exactly the place I want to be. My journey has been one of humility and discovery, of saying yes to new things, and to not let a defeat deter me from seeking answers, today I trust that I am being directed to where I need to be and I look for those signs. I now look at those dead-ends as blessings because they may have saved me from heading down a path that was not good for me. I choose today to look at those walls as opportunities to find a new solution, to test myself and to trust that I am exactly where I need to be right now, it can be hard to trust that because I am not always where I want to be, but there is always a purpose for everything and many times those places offer the greatest growth.
Don’t let a perceived defeat cause you to give up on a dream or goal. Look at what life may be showing you, where it may be guiding you and what you can learn and continue your quest from a different road. Be open to the adventure of life, to new things and to opportunities you may not have thought were right for you but life is telling you they are. Take the leap, go for it and never give up on going after what you want. That rejection may be just a redirection, pivot and stay the course. SLAY on!
SLAY OF THE DAY: Do you get defeated when you hit a wall or find yourself at a dead-end? Do you give up? Or, do you look for other avenues to go after your goal and look for other opportunities? Give an example when a perceived dead-end lead to something great. Or, something better and unexpected. What have you accomplished today that was a result of a redirection? What surprised you about that? Are you open to life redirecting you, or do you think you know better? When has that thinking gotten in your way? We have to believe that life is on our side, we have to be open to new things, to change our direction, to reach new goals, we have to be open to being our best selves and letting go of the idea that something can only be one way to be right, it may just be left.
S – self L – love A – appreciate Y – you
State Of Slay™ 