“How many no’s have to be surmounted before you get to a yes?”

A thought by Seth Godin (2011-03-01) from his book, Poke the Box (Kindle Locations 129-130). AmazonEncore. Kindle Edition.

Have you ever thought about the fact that you have to learn to get past the no’s in your life to get to the yes? With every yes there are going to be no’s.

Do you realize how many different thoughts that I said no to before I said yes to this one that I am writing about right now? I could not find one today that really gripped me to start writing about until I got to this one by Seth Godin. Now I could have stopped at one point and said, I guess I’m not in the mood today so I’ll go do something else but I didn’t. I changed my location from the Seminole Library to Starbucks and continued looking in my Kindle to different thoughts that I had highlighted in my reading until I came to this one. Something about it clicked and here I am writing.

I didn’t get married until I was 27. There were a bunch of no’s both from me and from them until I came to the right one that was a yes from me and from her. Margaret and I will celebrate 38 years together in November. I’m glad I didn’t settle and I kept at it until I got the right yes.

Some of you are settling with the no’s in your life. No’s can really be discouraging but they don’t have to be the end. Keep at it, keep searching, keep asking, keep refining, keep digging, keep believing, keep reevaluating.

I have determined to not let the no’s in life control me and keep me from the yes. I have striven to learn the lesson to be learned from the no’s and to use them as steps to get to the yes. Jesus didn’t let the no’s around Him keep Him from fulfilling His purpose. He took the greatest no, death and turned it into the greatest yes, His resurrection. He used the no’s for the fulfillment of His yes.

So don’t let the no’s in your life stop you. Let them be the steps to getting to the yes.

So are you letting your no’s keep you from your yes?

Comments

“There’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.”

A thought by Bob Goff from his book, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People ( p. 41). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Have you ever built a sand castle or maybe a Lego castle? Have you? Bob says, “We actually build castles all the time, out of our jobs and our families and the things we’ve purchased. Sometimes we even make them out of each other. Some of these castles are impressive too. Lots of people come to admire what we’ve built over the course of our lives and tell us what great castles we have. But Jesus told His friends we weren’t supposed to spend our lives building castles. He said He wanted us to build a kingdom, and there’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.” Bob goes on, “You see, castles have moats to keep creepy people out, but kingdoms have bridges to let everyone in. Castles have dungeons for people who ha...

“When you understand that life is a test, you realize that nothing is insignificant in your life.”

A thought by Rick Warren, (2012-10-23) from his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven Life, The) (p. 57). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. To realize that from God’s perspective life is a test goes a long way in determining how you handle your life. It is important to see that in testing your character is both developed and revealed. Rick goes on to say that “even the smallest incident has significance for your character development. Every day is an important day, and every second is a growth opportunity to deepen your character, to demonstrate love, or to depend on God.” So there is a God purpose behind each situation in your life. Even the bad ones are there to strengthen you and develop you. You see those bad situations are really good ones because they are there for your good. I start each day with a reminder that God is good. Not every situation that is going to come in my day is good but because G...

“What areas of my personality, background, and physical appearance am I struggling to accept?”

A thought by Rick Warren, (2012-10-23) from his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven Life, The) (p. 35). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. Rick posed this question at the end of his chapter, You Are Not an Accident. In this chapter he deals with the fact that God created you the way you are with a purpose. In other words you are not an accident. I am also reading the Apostle John’s view of Jesus and what He said and did while He was here on earth. In the beginning of Chapter 9 there is a story about a blind man. And the disciples who were with Him asked Him a good question, “Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind? ” Have you ever asked the same thing about something in you that you don’t like? Like that characteristic is a curse or something. Society has set a standard that is not a standard of God. Remember, He created you and you are not an accident. Je...

Just Continue That Thought...

Search This Blog