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Steering through the Storms, by Rubel Shelly


These are challenging times, and it is difficult to find a silver
lining to some of the darker clouds visible to everyone. As
election-year rhetoric morphs from harsh to rancorous, the economy of
recession continues to take its toll. All of us know lots of people who
have lost their jobs. Who will be next to suffer?

One of the interesting fact that some of us have forgotten is that
crisis times have often been the stimulus for creative new beginnings.
Notable successes have been generated from the ashes of previous
economic downturns.

A little perspective from history might encourage you. Walt Disney lost
an acting job as a movie extra and started his famous cartoon company
in a garage during the recession of 1923-1924. William Hewlett and
David Packard teamed up in Silicon Valley in 1938 during the Great
Depression. And Bill Gates dropped out of college to launch Microsoft
during the downturn of a recession in 1975.

Crisis does seem to spawn an entrepreneurial culture. When the sun is
shining, most people are content to let the boat sail under its own
power -- and to sun on the deck. When the clouds roll in and the boat
begins to toss violently on the sea, creative people are encouraged to
take risks and to chart new courses.

It is time to decide about your future.

What about you? Do you see yourself as a thermometer or a thermostat in
these tough times? Thermometers do nothing more than reflect their
environments. Thermostats change their environments!

If you have had a bad year, have been laid off, or exist in a generally
horrible environment, you have a choice. You can be a victim and whine
about your fate. Or you can do some serious introspection, set some
positive goals for making things better, and start moving ahead.

In the business world, laid-off and unfulfilled workers have changed
the world by being bold in hard times. The same thing is true in other
settings as well. Individuals, families, and churches who sense that
something is wrong always have choices. The single most important
choice is between passivity, grumbling, and dejection on the one hand
and exploration, resourcefulness, and enthusiasm for a new challenge on
the other.

Now that you have seen the newscasts and figured out that times really
are tough, it is time to decide about your future. Make responsible
choices on the basis of your passions, values, and priorities and not
your gloomy circumstance. With the strength of God to help you, you can
move from being a melancholy thermometer to become a difference-making
thermostat in your world. You can chart a new course and set sail to a
brighter destination.


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God given opportunity to bless ME more..:)