Once again, I read Joel Osteen’s daily email and was inspired. What else is new, right? Well – as you can probably tell, I’m in a period of thinking, re-thinking and wondering – what’s that “next chapter” look like for me?
Joel’s words reaffirm for me that perhaps that next chapter is closer than I think:
Do you ever feel like you’ve “lost your fire or enthusiasm?” We all have times when we feel overwhelmed by the pressures of life, but that’s when you need to stir up what God has placed on the inside of you. Remember, there are no disadvantages with our God. You have everything you need to succeed. No weapon formed against you is ever going to prosper; you just have to stir up the gift inside.
I fully admit that I’ve lost that fire and enthusiasm in some ways. Yes – I’m still uber enthusiastic about working out and am always looking for new ways to challenge myself. I LOVE that aspect of my life. I LOVE my friends, my family, my husband. I’m just antsy – antsy about my day job (in full disclosure here…), I’m antsy about our future and wondering why exactly Scott was laid off when he was and if that is a red flag that I should be paying closer attention to?Aside from the fact that it’s given us an awesome opportunity to reconnect and make up for lost time due to the demands his job put on him from a work/life balance perspective, but is there more to it than that?
Oddly enough, I was watching “Up in the Air” last night with Scott on a random Sunday night “date night” which was all about George Clooney’s character as a road warrior, hired to lay people off at companies all over the country. Part of his spiel was that being laid off from your job was an opportunity, one that wouldn’t be all that clear to the person being laid off right away, but it would become clear soon enough. He also said that every great leader was once in his/her shoes and it took something like this (being laid off) for them to go out and find that “dare to be great” moment.
So – is this our indication that its time to seek that “dare to be great” moment, our once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to really shake things up, knock some things off our bucket list, or am I just reading into things? It’s hard to tell, but one thing is for sure, I’m bound and determined to figure it out. My sister is in the same boat as me right now too, if you haven’t already, definitely check out her post from yesterday, I could’ve written it myself, I swear…
EatDrinkBreatheSweat 
I think you should read into what you want and need – that the opportunity. You can read it as something positive OR negative (I vote positive).
Agree – I’ve been embracing this as an opportunity to re-thinking our “path” and the more I re-think, the more I think change is good and it’s time to go with that, even if it might be a little bit scary to imagine the possibilities. I’m ready for it 🙂
I’ve definitely lost some of my fire and enthusiasm – on the physical side of things. (Raising kids has a way of doing that, as does constant worry.) But it doesn’t change the fact that we can always revisit what is possible, and keeping the mind engaged (with skin in the game) goes a long way to revving up the stamina to kick things up a notch.
GREAT perspective, thank you so much for stopping by! I agree with you – revisiting what is possible is always an option. It’s so easy to forget that, no matter where we are in life, sometimes.
I have been thinking about this A LOT lately! I am a big believer in signs….which might be bad because maybe I read into things too much, but if something happens (even if it seems negative at the time), I TRY to find a way to make it a positive. Much easier said than done, I know.
I love the idea of a “dare to be great” moment! I think we all have them in us, but a lot of people just get too comfortable (um, ME!) and are afraid to take that risk. Whatever direction you should choose, it WILL be the right one….I know it!
Trust me – I’m WITH you on the comfort zone thing, it’s so incredibly hard to push yourself out of that box and to start thinking way beyond where you’ve ever let your mind drift to, except for in your dreams. I think we all owe it to ourselves to “be great” – even if it’s scary. I guess I better start putting these words into action, huh? 😉
Great post sis – we are definitely on the same wavelength, clearly, and I am amazed at all the comments I got to my post on this too…as it does spur a lot to ponder in me, in you, and clearly, in others posting here and on mine. Life is full of possibility…why not?!
Seriously – why not? Great question we should all be asking ourselves more often. That and living by this mantra I discovered in my Dove chocolate last night “live on purpose” – so simple but um hello, such a good reminder!
I honestly believe that everything happens for a reason. what doesnt kill you makes you stronger. Perhaps this experience is exactly the step that needed to happen in order to get to a better place! Keep us posted!
So very true – and you don’t really realize how wise those words are until you’re in a situation like this that forces you to sit back and think. Thanks for stopping by, I’ll definitely be blogging about this more so stay tuned 🙂