# 15 – Discouragement
Act Like Men – Men’s Leadership Podcast
Sponsored by Men’s Ministry Catalyst
Co-hosts: Wendell Morton and Dale Eudy
Wendell, our topic today is something that inevitably every man will face at some point in his life. Discouragement. In fact, I’ll bet that every man listening to us has at sometime felt discouraged, or perhaps some listener is feeling it right now. Discouragement can be found in our job or career, our marriage, our role as a father, or it can be found in our finances or past failures or even dealing with our sins. Since it is a normal part of our journey through life, we want to help guys unpack discouragement during the next few minutes and gain understanding on what it is and how it can negatively impact our lives and relationships. So let’s begin with the $64,000 question - Why is discouragement such an issue for many men today?
Discouragement is often felt with an unmet expectation, a personal failure – or some perceived setback in our life. Something that we did not plan for occurs and since we did not see it coming or have a proper response for it, we were caught off-guard. It is at those times that we need to maintain an overcomer’s mindset. By that I mean that we have to take on the attitude that I am going to face this discouragement and learn from this experience, and then I am going to minimize the amount of time for staying discouraged before moving on. The bottom line is realizing that I am not the first man to face this and I am going to find a way to set a new course by gaining perspective and preparing for what is next.
But where does discouragement come from? In all honesty, often times men can create the perfect storm for discouragement by isolating themselves, thinking that they alone have the answers for every situation they will face. Men often see themselves as self-sufficient. We think that our skills and experience combined with our passion for something will certainly lead to success.
Just recently I learned a great lesson from watching competitive sailing. Specially designed, expensive, high-speed catamarans were in a large bay area off the coast of Australia. As I watched, on the television screen they were showing the speed and the direction of the wind with colored arrows. In addition, boxes with arrows also showed the individual speed of the boats as they navigated the racecourse. I was impressed how a 24 MPH wind could propel some boats at over 50 MPH, while other boats were slower due to crews that were not reading or adapting to the winds as they changed. The same wind was blowing all boats but with far different results.
NOW WHAT?
So, the next time you start to feel discouragement, here is what you might think about doing:
1. Keep the main thing the main thing by maintaining perspective.
2. Recognize that failure can be a great lesson.
3. Check your ego. It’s not about you.
4. Find a mentor
5. Chart your own course. Your journey is your journey.
6. Play by the right rules and the right rewards will come. Focus on your actions and giving your best work.
7. Break the negative patterns and build back into your life.
Questions to think about:
What are the kinds of things that discourage you?
How can we focus on eternal things that bring passion and zeal into our lives?
