Monday Morning Motivational Message - What To Do When Life Breaks You

Has the world ever broken you?

What would it take for life to break you to the point where you were beaten to your knees?

The writer Ernest Hemingway wrote, in his classic novel, A Farwell To Arms, "The world breaks everyone and afterward many are stronger at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry."

Hemingway got it right when he stated that life breaks us all. Whether it is the unexpected loss of a job, the unforeseen death of someone close to us, or the unanticipated realization we have a chronic or terminal illness, life will eventually try to beat us into submission.

So, how do we get our lives back when we are broken?

Many times, I feel life breaks me when I receive my cancer infusion. The medication wrecks havoc on my body, drains my emotions, and ruptures my spirit.

There are times when I am reduced to an exhausted, remorseful, and sniveling heap of a man who just wants to throw a little pity party for himself.   

It's during those times when I feel broken that I fold in on myself and can't see the bigger picture of life. At that point, the only thing existing in my world is me.

I find one of the easiest ways to remove myself from my self-centeredness, is to find another person to engage, to help, or to just check in with.   

​Shifting my focus away from myself and on to another person, who might be hurting, is a great way to not only encourage someone else, but to alter my outlook from myself to that connection with another person.

The next time you feel life has beaten you down, try changing your focus from yourself and your pain, to finding someone who might benefit from the bonding with another person.

Leave me a comment about how you rebound when the world breaks you.