Thinking of giving up? Wait a minute..

Sometimes when you have a dream of accomplishing something, be it big or small, and it never seems to work out, or things keep not going your way, it's hard not to get discouraged.

The word, discourage, implies loss of hope, courage, or confidence. You can become disheartened or even filled with despair. These are powerful emotions. But, they are just emotions.

Recently, I was praying about something that had discouraged me. I felt that loss of hope and confidence, wondering if I was doing the right things in my life and why they were not going better. In the midst of my praying, I heard the voice of God whisper to me, "Moods are not the same as truth."

We often let moods and emotions control our actions and choices. When emotions are driving your bus, you can head off in any direction but not necessarily toward the destination of choice. Moods and emotions can derail your plans and goals and side-track your dreams faster than just about anything else. For example, if I let my moods dictate what I'm going to do today, I might just go back to bed.

It's not always easy to see when an emotion doesn't accurately reflect reality, especially when we're sinking into depths of despair or discouragement. So, what do you do about those times when discouragement seems to have the upper hand?

Here are a few strategies I've developed:

1. Ask yourself what is the worst that can happen if you follow through on your negative emotional state. This could mean giving up your dream, going broke, family discord. Really? How accurate is that? Sometimes looking at what you have to lose is motivation enough to get up, shake yourself off and keep going.
2. Hold your emotions up against the truth. Are you really in imminent danger? Is this emotion just a down day because you didn't sleep well or a single event didn't go right? What is the truth about your situation?
3. Try to see the bigger picture of your life. Look at what you've accomplished so far and compare that to where you've come from rather than how far you think you still have to go. Remember that many things aren't nearly as momentous or earth-shattering as we think. One of my favourite ways to put things into perspective is to say, "The world won't end if..." this happens or doesn't happen like I want it to.

People have jumped off bridges for want of money or fear of loss of face. Isn't life worth more than that? Resounding YES! So if you think that what you are struggling with today is difficult, this video below should prove encouraging and help put things in perspective.

Build your creative courage with Creative Inspirations Daily today.