Learning to Walk in Victory

Learning to walk in victory becomes difficult in a world determined to crush me. I start off strong and then stumble over something that seems insignificant. I recover, only to run into a wall I didn’t notice before.

And then the doubts set in.

I’m not good enough. I’m not able to do it. I’m going in the wrong direction. I need to be more or do more. I’ll never get there.

I could keep going on. The doubts sure do. It seems that as soon as one slips in, it creates a conduit of doubt that soon has me overloaded and overwhelmed.

I don’t even want to get up, much less face the day with joy and peace.

But that’s doubt talking, and the more I listen to it, the more it will drag me into the depths of despair. 

If we are going to walk in victory, then we have to find a way to turn our focus to hope.

Listen to hope.
The more you listen to doubt,
the more it will drag you
into the depths.
Hope will break you free.
– Kathryn Lang

3 Tips to Walk in Victory

• Just a Little Bit of Hope
• See Through the Clouds
• Stop Wallowing and Start Winnowing

Tripping On Air

I got tripped by air, and it cost me my consistent focus. 

I walk every day in a field across the street. The owner has been developing the property into a subdivision since the dawn of creation, but over the last several years, he graveled several roads through and around the field – making for me a personal walking trail that no traffic ever touches.

The other day, I walked with the same focus I did every day. And then I found myself on the ground. I had tripped, and it sent me sprawling into the gravel.

Looking around, there was nothing that should have caused the issue. There were no imperfections in the path. No obstacles had been left to trip me up.

Nope – it was just air.

Or maybe it was my carelessness because I had walked the path so many times I didn’t pay as much attention as necessary to keep myself upright and walking.

Whatever the cause, I ended up hobbling back to the homestead and had to take time off to recover. A hitch in the consistency left me struggling to get back in the habit of doing what I needed to do.

All because I tripped over some air.

That’s doubt in a nutshell. It’s nothing really that we make into something major that trips us up and sends us sprawling into the gravel and off our consistency.

3 Tips for Walking In Victory

Just a Little Bit of Hope

It doesn’t take much hope to make a big impact. Hope is the spark in the darkest moments. Earlier today, a friend sent me a video for a comedian (Drew Lynch – some language involved), and I literally laughed until I couldn’t breathe. When I was done, I felt lighter and brighter and better. Laughter is a little bit of hope to light your journey. It only takes a little hope to make the day brighter.

See Through the Clouds

Sometimes the clouds are blocking the sun completely. Other times they cause the sun to look different and unusual. But no matter the size of the clouds or the thickness of those clouds, the sun is still there. When you recognize this truth, then you can hold to the wisdom that the clouds will fade or pass at some point.

NOTE OF CLARITY: For those of you, like my friend Steve, who are going to be #SnarkyRainbows and point out that the sun isn’t still out behind the clouds when it’s nighttime, I’m going to argue that the sun is still there, we just have to turn around before we can see it.

Stop Wallowing and Start Winnowing

Do you ever get caught up in a moment, and every time you replay it, your emotions get stirred up again? Sometimes, we stir up those emotions so people will join in the fight, or maybe they will feel sorry for us. We wallow around in it – or waller if you live around where I grew up. You roll around in those negative emotions because you are getting a response from others.

Break free of the what ifs.

But if you want to walk in hope, stop wallowing and start winnowing. Winnowing is what you do when you separate the chaff from the grain – in other words, you get rid of the stuff that isn’t helping you (like wallowing in negatives) and focus on the stuff that does (like hope).

Keep Walking

The best way to walk out victory is to keep walking in hope. Hope makes a way. It clears the path. Possibilities are launched on something as simple as a spark of hope.

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Play at Being a Kid

Today’s episode is about finding more ways to keep dreaming by finding ways to play.

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