DEALING WITH DISCOURAGEMENT: 5 of 5

Ok.. got swamped with the NYWC and never finished this series.

The last thing I would say about dealing with discouragement is simply that it doesn't have to be this way.  Discouragement doesn't have to be our reality, but to get out of it, we have to turn the corner towards a better future... and that doesn't happen accidentally.  It's not super easy, but it doesn't have to be complicated either.   It requires us to intentionally choose to tell a different story with our lives.   I'm not sure what that means exactly for you, but here's a few things that means for me.

NO MORE PITY PARTY:  Life might suck and it will continue to do so until I intentionally choose to say no to depression and funk.  As long as I keep fueling the fire, discouragement will continue to burn bright.   Perhaps we can't change other's behavior, but we can decide to not make it worse.

START OVER: maybe I can't start over fully. Like I'm not recommending you quit your job or ditch your ministry or something radical like that.  I'm just saying that when I need a do over and a better day, I need to do some things over.  If I had a really bad day at work, I have to start today with a clean slate.  If my last teaching bombed, then I must be as resilient as my audience and start over today as if that last experience was not as bad as it feels.

CUT YOURSELF SOME SLACK:  ok, so maybe you are discouraged because of something you did.  But if you're like me, you might be your own worst critic.  Cut yourself some slack and start over.  Try again and decide to say no to discouragement.

RE-READ PARTS 1-4.... if you're in a cyclical funk, it might help to start a new cycle of defeating that funk by re-reading and re-thinking this issue in your life for a season until you can find a new normal.