I have been busy preparing for upcoming events that have pulled me away from my blogging time. Know that I think of you even when you don't hear from me!
A while back I missed a great opportunity to make a wonderful first impression. I had a pre scheduled meeting the day after one of my trips. Because the trip was in a remote place with limited Internet access I missed an important message that was sent to me the night before the meeting.
When I arrived at the venue underdressed for the occasion I wanted to just melt into the pavement. So many persecutory thoughts ran through my mind standing at the entrance.
Always be ready so you don't have to get ready...
What happened to following my own advice...
Here I am telling my mentees it's better to be overdressed than underdressed and look at me...
Why didn't I check to see if there had been any changes to the schedules...
It wasn't as if my luggage was lost at the airport I simply did not have the correct attire for the meeting...
You seldom get a second chance so leave a great first impression. (You always make a first impression but you want it to be a good one because second chances are not guaranteed.)
Arrrgggggh! I could have kicked myself.
All I could do was head in to the meeting and put my best foot forward. Oh, those thoughts went on for months even after the meeting was concluded. Mentally I punished myself for months over that mistake until finally I had to realize: "Jeri, you can stand here crying over spilled milk or you can clean this mess up and learn from this mistake. No one died. You didn't get hurt. It's okay- you made a mistake."
As I meditated I kept hearing I know all of this about leaving impressions and dressing for success so this can't be the lesson. What is the REAL lesson here? Sitting quietly I heard: "forgiving yourself and letting go."
Instead of moving on I found myself returning to the mistake over and over again. Emotionally beating myself up. Some personality types can be so harsh on THEMSELVES that you become your own judge and jury often convicting and condemning yourself for infringements. In order to grow through any mistake we have to recognize the REAL life lesson. The real life lesson in this situation was "self forgiveness."
We are often taught how to forgive others but seldom informed that we also need to forgive ourselves.
After that revelation came to me I could feel the "burden of self-persecution" lift off of me like a weight I had carried for years. I have to say that was a great feeling.
I want to challenge you to spend some quiet time each day asking God to show you the REAL lesson. Make this week your best ever!!!
See you soon.
