Hope - It's all you need
There are times in life where you get knocked down and you don’t feel like you want to get up.
There are times when you might be asking yourself, why god, why does this have to happen to me, I’m just trying to take care of my family, I’m not doing anything bad, I’m not trying to rob or steal from anybody. But you have to know that it gets better... You have to have hope.
I read a story once of a man who decided to quit because life was too much, he quit his job, his relationship and his spirituality. He went into the forest to ask God for help and a reason why he should stay around. God responded by showing him the Fern and the Bamboo. He said, in the beginning, I planted both seeds at the same time. And within the first year the fern grew and
became green and luscious, but nothing came from the bamboo. As the second year came and still the fern grew larger and greener, yet nothing came from the bamboo. As the 3rd and 4th year came God said the fern was still very green and luscious, but the bamboo still hadn’t grown, but he never gave up on it. In the 5th year, the fern continued to grow, but something happened with the bamboo, it began to sprout. Within 6 months the bamboo stock grew to over 100 feet tall. The bamboo had spent 5 years growing its roots… roots that allowed the bamboo to survive. The roots made it strong. And God said to the man, I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle. He said to the man, all of this time you have been struggling, you have been building roots. I would not quit on the bamboo and I will not quit on you. He added, “Don’t compare yourself to others, the bamboo had a different purpose than the fern, yet both make the forest beautiful… your time will come.” The man asked how high should I rise? God responded, “how high will the bamboo rise?” Confused, the man said “as high as it can?” Yes.
Whatever you are going through right now, you have to realize that you are building the roots to make you stronger! Your life will explode exponentially if you let it, but you need the foundation to stay strong during the rough times so you can enjoy the great times!
I remember one time I was having a talk with a woman on the phone about my goals, and at the time I was very indecisive and honestly, I was scared of what would happen if I bet on myself. The woman was offering me a coaching program for $6,000 and I had to pay $1,000 of it up front. I didn’t have that kind of money and there was no way I could see of getting it. When I declined the program she told me that if I ever want to proceed in life I need to do things differently, I can’t keep doing the same thing over and over again. She asked me if I knew the definition of insanity. I said no. she said the definition of Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. Whoa. I was not expecting that at the time let me tell you. But at the time I brushed it off, but that definition has stuck in my brain since that moment. Since then I have been progressively working toward my goals and doing things differently than I had in the past.
But a lot of people are stuck in this definition. They are stuck doing the same thing over and over and over again and then they expect a different result. I know I’ve been there! But sometimes when things start to get really bad, you don’t know what else to do, so you hope and pray for a change, but nothing happens. It’s hard. But it reminds me of the Law of seasons which says - if it’s bad now it will come to pass; it always does. It’s like the 4 seasons, it’s really cold during the winter, but in about 8 weeks it becomes spring and it gets warmer, it comes to pass and so will your problems.
You have to say that “I’m going to turn this situation around for myself, I’m not going to sit here any longer and feel sorry for myself. I am going to do what I want to do and no one can tell me differently.” You want to be sure to take 100% responsibility for your life. You have to say I got me to this point and I am going to get me out if it. You might get knocked down on the way to the top, but it’s up to you to say I won’t stay down, I will get back up and achieve my goal. Les Brown always says, “if life knocks you down try and land on your back because if you can look up you can get up!” It’s possible for you all to live your dream ladies and gentlemen. The decision is yours!
To your success,
Jacob Lethbridge
