There are Blessings in Your Tragedies

I recently read a story about a 13 year old girl who loved to surf (I’m not talking about surfing the net. I mean really getting out there on a surfboard and fighting the waves). She competed and won many surfing competitions.

One day, a sharp attacked her and bit off part of her right arm.

Sad story, right?

Well, not exactly. Depends on how you look at it.

You see the amazing thing about this little girl and her “accident” is the fact that she would have to go through life with one arm, yet this 13-year-old wasn’t in the least bit sour or upset.

In fact, this “accident” turned out to be a blessing for her because this “accident” gave her a true purpose in life.

She has such a positive attitude about her “accident” that she is now a speaker, going from school to school talking and motivating other students that no matter what their circumstances, God has a purpose for everything and that you have a choice to let “circumstances” either bring you down or lift you up.

If you follow the ways of the world, you will be upset, angry, bitter and depressed.

If you follow the ways of God, you will see the positive side of the situation.

She is still a competitive surfer and still wins competitions. Because of her positive attitude and the work that she is doing to motivate other students, several sports companies have designed clothing and equipment especially designed for her.

If we look at this situation with the “world’s” point of view, we see a tragic situation.

When we look at it with a “spiritual” point of view, we accept the “bad” and see the good in this situation.

From tragedy, many people have found God’s purpose for their life.

Of course, your situation may not be as severe as this special 13-year-old teenage girl. It could simply be a “bad” situation that you overcame and God’s purpose for your life may be for you to share your experiences and your triumphs with others to help them overcome the same situations.

When I discovered my purpose it was out of a “bad” situation.

The “bad” situation was that I hated my job.

I simply couldn’t do it any longer. My job was making me physically sick. I am generally a happy person. But I was allowing my job to turn me into an angry person. I kept praying to God because I KNEW there had to be more to life than simply getting up early each morning, fighting through traffic, to get to a job that I didn’t like going to, and doing a job that I didn’t like doing. I didn’t want to do this for the rest of my life. There had to be a better way.

Because of my frustrations with my job, God led me to discovering my purpose. My purpose is to help you who are in the same situation that I was in, hating your 9 to 5, to finding meaning to your life. Helping you discover God’s plan for your life; finding a way to use your talents and your God given abilities to serve others and to do it in a way that you
become prosperous and happy--that’s my purpose.

What have you gone through that you may have felt was a “bad” situation at the time, but you learned from it and with the knowledge that you have obtained, can use that knowledge to help others in the same situations overcome the same obstacles you faced?

Perhaps you once were overweight, but through diet, exercise and work on your attitude, were able to lose the weight and keep it off. Others will want to hear your story and learn from what you learned.

Maybe you were once an addict or an alcoholic and through following certain steps were able to overcome your addictions. This is something that others would be interested in hearing and learning about.

You might have a disability that limits what you can do, but you don’t allow it to keep you down and have accomplished things that others in your situation may think are impossible. There are people out there who will be inspired by your story. Write a book. Tell the world. Help someone out who may otherwise not realize that they, too, can do what
you have done.

Possibly you discovered a way to manage your time better; surf the Internet to do research in a more efficient manner; have an idea for an invention that would make life easier for a certain segment of the population, or you have found a way to cut back on your studies but keep your grades above average.

These aren’t all tragic situations, just situations or experiences you had that you have overcome and learned a bigger, better, faster way of accomplishing something. It doesn’t matter what it is—if it served you, it will serve others. If one person can do it, it stands to reason that others can do it too.

This may be God’s purpose for your life. You may hold the key to living a more effective and proficient life. There is something that you are doing right now, that could serve others and help their life become more meaningful, more efficient and more effective.

What is it?

Do you know?

What important information are you holding to yourself that would serve the world if you simply told someone?

Think about the person who invented scotch tape. I don’t know the history behind scotch tape, but imagine if this person simply wanted something that could hold their children’s pictures to the refrigerator so they invented something that could hold paper to other objects. Imagine if they kept that information to themselves and didn’t share it with others. How would we wrap presents? Perhaps the magnet was started because the person was using scotch tape and didn’t like the marks it
was leaving on their refrigerator and decide that there had to be a better way.

I’m just being silly, but hey, your thoughts, your inventions, your situations that you have overcome are just as important as these are to us.

The first black female millionaire was simply sick of combing her course hair so she invented a lye that straightened her curly hair and sold the product and became a millionaire.

ACTION POINT: Spend some time thinking of things that you have overcome in your lifetime. Think of situations that were first conceived as a tragedy but you somehow turned it into a triumph. If you are disabled, think of something that you do for yourself that others in your situation may think is impossible.

Write your thoughts down and then think of ways that you can use your situation to help others who may be going through the same situation and desperately seeking help.

Dawn Fields is a motivational speaker, author and coach. She has an amazing way of reaching you with her down-to-earth style and her ability to make the impossible seem possible. Sign up for her FREE weekly newsletter by sending a blank email to mailto:yourlifespurpose-subscribe@topica.com.