A friend sent me a text asking me for a recipe I had posted on my blog. She also wanted to tell me the link she saved would not work. I wrote her back an apology vaguely remembering an email I received from my website host that my site had been compromised. I did not heed their warning signs or their emails. By the time I got around to looking into the problem, my site was toast.
Due to a virus hack, I had two options:
1) Pay A LOT of money to have it fixed
2) Start over
Honestly, I didn’t like either option. The anxiety of all those lost posts brought tears to my eyes. Each post of my children containing a memory I wanted to cherish was gone. Memories and moments I wanted to remember because I am so quick to forget were lost. Forever.
So here I am.
Starting over.
From scratch.
Have you been forced to start over? Forced to start over from an ended marriage, a lost job, or damaged relationship? Has your computer died in the middle of an important deadline or was your proposal rejected again? Are you attempting to start over in a relationship you are not sure is worth saving? Are you starting a new job at a time you least expected? Are you approaching a new and unknown season of life?
Depending on your perspective, starting over can be frustrating or refreshing.
Here are three ways to find fortitude in the midst of the frustrating.
1. Learn from the past, don’t live in the past.
I’ve lived too many days where I was dwelling so deep in what happened back then, that I couldn’t see what was in front of me right now. I feel paralyzed when I dwell on my past circumstances, heartbreak, and failure. When I dwell on my past failures it is as if I am caught in the trappings of quicksand. I am filled with anxiety and practically suffocating myself to the point I am unable to pull myself out to do anything else. It ends up negatively affecting my attitude and my relationships. I am determined not to do this anymore.
Friend, be taught from the past, don’t get caught up in the past.
2. Change your attitude. This is not only a moment of opposition but also a moment of opportunity.
Charles Swindoll said this beautifully in his popular quote: “Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” If your focus is on the opposition, getting through will seem impossible. If your focus is on the opportunity, getting through will seem refreshing and almost exciting.
3. Act on this new opportunity. Don’t live in reaction to the past.
I too often live in reaction to the surprises of life and I don’t even recognize the opportunity ahead of me. Starting over is just what it says: a NEW START. We have the opportunity to love better, respond better, be a better friend, spouse, sibling, and parent. We have the opportunity to be a better employee, neighbor, writer or _____________.
This blog is a pathetic comparison to the new starts that some of you are facing. Find your hope in our God who is in control. He has you. He loves you. He wants you to know:
“Forget about what’s happened;
don’t keep going over old history.
Be alert, be present.
I’m about to do something brand-new.
It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?”
Isaiah 43:19 (msg)
Don’t get so caught up on the old that you miss the new.
Don’t you see it?
