Eddie opened the office door ever so slightly as to not interrupt a zoom call I was on. As he mouthed a quick goodbye, I glanced up to wave back. One look at his face as our eyes met, signaled something was wrong. He was silently screaming as he pointed to his eye and then mine.
What in the world was he trying to say? I had no time to respond and just motioned him away so I could focus.
Strange. Very strange.
About 20 minutes later, I was off the call and needed to check my eye, which was itching terribly, probably due to allergies.
Oh. My. WORD!!
I now understood Eddie’s silent scream!! My eye was blood red… like BLOOD RED!! I have never seen ANYTHING like it! Obviously, a vessel was broken, and after much googling, I knew it would be a 1-2 week ordeal of looking so terrible that grown men might silently scream and run away!
Needless to say, I’m fighting discouragement in a pretty big way.
- Feel like I can’t do all that needs to be done.
- Don’t want to be in public.
And now my attitude has slowly morphed to…
- You’re terrible at everything!
You could say… I’ve lost my perspective! (In more ways than one, hah!)
So…
Here’s where I’m living today and thought it might encourage you, too!
3 Steps to Finding Your Way Out of Discouragement:
Make a SHORT list and cross things off as you complete them.
Keeping it short is key! When you’re fighting to keep going while carrying the emotional baggage of disappointment, getting a couple things accomplished can begin to lift your spirits.
Do something for someone else.
Back in my days of teaching 6th grade, one of the other teachers used to say, “When you feel like your problems are overwhelming, THAT’S when you need to do something for someone else.” Because I don’t really want to leave the house with my bloody vampire eye, I took the time to write a card of encouragement to someone I’m praying for who’s going through a terrible time of illness. My thoughts truly did shift to praying for her.
Take notes on what God is doing in your life.
Like… actually write down the details of where He seems to be working. THIS will pivot your focus in a big way! Coming up at the end of this month, I’m offering a FREE week of training called 5 Days to Seeing the Surprising Presence of God in Uncertain Times. If you’d like some inspiration and help (or a refresher) on how I take notes on God working in my life, click here to sign up: Yes! I need this.
Well…
I’m off to the store to pick up a grocery order and VERY thankful I can remain in my car with sunglasses on! This too shall pass! … eventually!
