"About Face"

                                  

                                                             Facing Opposition

           

            I didn’t want to end the last show of the year as a downer.  Throughout 2017, I’ve tried to give insightful and uplifting messages to help you grow as a writer and author.

That being said, I still plan to take the year out on a positive note.

But when you mention the word opposition, the first thing that comes to mind is a negative response. In most cases, it’s true, but only if you see it as something negative and not positive.

I want to not only share with you how to face opposition but meet it head-on. Because life is filled with challenges, not all are bad though.  Some stops us in our tracks, whereas, others can be strength builders.  This is the one I want to talk about today.

Opposition, by definition means resistance or dissent.  This is exactly the point I want to make about viewing it as a positive situation. Let’s take the first word: resistance. The very essence of this word makes most people activate the fight or flight mechanism inside our brains. We immediately throw up our guards to either prepare to run away or stand and face it bravely.

No one likes confrontation, because it’s stressful and depletes energy. But, if we are to meet those who antagonize us personally and professionally, on the field of battle, we must be brave and fight against the temptation to give up at the first sign of trouble.

This reminds me of a narrative in the Bible, David and Goliath.  We all know the story of how David, who was just a boy and about to battle a hardened warrior, Goliath with only a slingshot and a few stones.  I’m sure Goliath viewed the situation as a joke. 

A scrawny kid, with a homemade weapon, not even a good one, challenged him to a fight. Especially, when every other opponent he’d faced on the battle field that day, had either fallen to his prowess as a fighter, or just ran away in a cowardly fashion.

Not David, he stood his ground, and faced opposition as if he was about to skip stones across a smooth pond of water. We all know how the story ends, David is victorious and as a result of Goliath’s arrogance, was taken out by a much smaller opponent with a stone to the head.

You see, this is how we all must face opposition. You can’t view it as an impossible feat. Anything worth having is worth fighting for. You must also stand your ground, no matter how challenging even if you don’t think it will end in your favor.

Opposition, should be viewed as a strength builder. It’s like exercise for your character, and skillset. If you want to strengthen your core, you work on that area of the body building muscle. This same premise applies to how we deal with those who oppose us.

Opposition should be viewed in the reverse, a negative as something positive.

Remember, we can do all things if we remember our power source. We are more than conquerors, able to defeat our foes on the battle field if we see the victory as if it is already won.

Have a Happy New Year, and God Bless.