Protecting Yourself from a Life Crisis - Continued
Published: July 23, 2009
I invited Greg to join me and speak at an upcoming seminar. I said Greg was ready, but he was still nervous and apprehensive. As the day approached he began losing sleep and feeling nauseated because of performance anxiety.
The big moment soon came for Greg to get up and address the audience. For me, the proud papa, it was a magical experience-one I'll never forget. My years of fatherly dreaming were about to be rewarded. As I introduced him to the group, I had to stop for just a second to wipe my misty eyes.
Greg stood, approached the podium to warm applause, and turned to address the audience. He started off relaxed, saying what a delight it was to share the platform with his dad. Then, halfway through his presentation, Greg went blank. Right there, in front of two thousand people, with every eye in the room on him, he forgot what he was supposed to say next. Without going into all the details, simply put, he bombed the rest of the presentation. Afterwards he pulled me aside and whispered, "Dad, can you give me any helpful advice?"
I looked into his eyes and told him soberly, "Son, remember this: It's always the darkest just before it goes totally black!"
As we laughed, Greg shot back, "Thanks a lot for your encouragement, Dad!"
Just as Greg found himself in a crisis that drained away much of his energy, so any of us can experience a crisis at any time. If the crisis occurs in one of the most important area of our lives, such as our job, marriage, children, friends, or our spiritual side, we can suffer massive loss of emotional and mental energy. But Greg was already doing something that allowed him to recover quickly from his crisis and regain his strength and the ability to move forward.
Fortunately, there's a way to overcome a crisis and regain equilibrium quickly. It worked for Greg, and it can work for you. Let me explain. Greg experienced a crisis in the career area of his life. For the moment, the failure drained him, frustrated him, caused him pain, and dragged him down, but in four other major areas of his life, he was doing well. As a husband, his marriage was solid and fulfilling. As a father, he had a great relationship with his child. Spiritually, he felt he was on good terms with God. As a friend, he had several buddies who would stand by him no matter what. Because these other important areas of his life were doing well, they balanced out the crisis of his career. Soon after suffering probably the greatest embarrassment of his life, he was optimistic and looking forward to his next chance to speak in public.
How can you protect yourself from massive loss of energy? Imbalance is a major cause of mid-life crisis and depression; when career expectations aren't realized, too many people lose vision and hope for the future.
Pray that God would give you wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and courage to balance your expectations with reality.
Copyright © 2008 Dr. Gary Smalley. All rights reserved.
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Protecting Yourself from a Life Crisis
Published: July 23, 2009
How can you protect yourself from massive loss of energy?
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