Remembering Hard Times

You may wonder how remembering the difficult periods of your life can inspire hope. Did you survive? Are you stronger? What lessons did you learn?

As I look over the panorama of my life, the times when I struggled have given me the greatest source of stories to inspire others to keep moving toward their goal and purpose in life. As you look back on the hardest seasons in your life do the following:

Be real

You are stronger than you even realize when you get real. Don’t gloss over the difficulties because that is where you can mine the richness of hope and restoration. This does not mean you wallow in self-pity but rather that you learn to tap into the reservoir of your faith and courage. You got through the difficulties and you will continue to grow stronger every day.

Give words to the lessons learned

I was telling a dear friend about a painful experience I had recently. She listened with great empathy and then asked the question, “What is the biggest lesson you learned?” I had to stop for a minute and realize that lessons are hidden in every bitter experience. It was my choice to determine if I would continue to focus on the pain or move forward to put into practice the lesson learned through it all.

My lesson learned is the following: “The rejection I experienced was actually God’s protection so I could continue to fulfill my life’s destiny.”

May you grow in hope and become a stronger HOPE Ambassador to help others going through similar challenges.

Karen Sebastian is an author, blogger, corporate training executive and gifted speaker who transparently shares the hope she has found in the darkest times of her life.  She is a seasoned entrepreneur who founded HOPEpreneurs, a consulting firm dedicated to helping women succeed personally and professionally. Karen is known as The Hope Lady because she  takes every opportunity to inspire hope by sharing her rich life experience with others – engaging them in adventurous discoveries of the beauty of hope in a dark, cloudy world.