How to Recover from a Setback

For a longtime I’ve been fascinated by the ancient mythology of the phoenix, a sacred firebird.  It’s said to be an eagle like creature with beautiful gold and red plumage. At the end of its life-cycle she makes and burns a nest of cinnamon twigs; reduces herself to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix arises to her glory. The new phoenix embalms the ashes of the old phoenix in an egg made of myrrh and deposits it in an Egyptian city. After thousands of years the process begins again. After reading many pieces of literature about this story, there is evidence of this typology relating to Christ. In contrast, we too can rise again to our glory once more with a few practical steps:

Getting Organized.

Have you ever felt irritated?  At your wits end?  Perhaps you started to clean your house fanatically and felt better? In the same way, I have found that organizing or cleaning a mess in my home or office has literally re-routed stresses in my life. There must be a scientific breakthrough that I have yet to find but most women can agree that emotional stresses can be tied to physical or environmental chaos; whether internal or external.  When our environments are cluttered, bodies are tattered, and minds are emotionally hay-wired; it leaves plenty room for unexpected turbulences. Consequently, incidents do occur and you may feel less prepared to handle the situation with ease, power and control.  When I’m serious about getting back on my feet from a blow I often reflect on the Marines.  A military friend once told me that they considered themselves a “force in readiness”.  That fascinated me.  What if a Marine operating force was caught off their guard?  What if they were found out of shape, unorganized, lacked ammunition, and were sleeping on the job? This behavior could cost them unnecessary losses. In comparison, what would it take for you to be a “force in readiness”? Disorganization schedules a future setback in life that could be prevented. Being organized may not always prevent setbacks however it will help manage them better to position your next comeback!

Plan Your Strategy.

Someone once said, every winner plans to win and every loser never plans. The truth is, no matter how hard one may try, without a plan one STILL may fail.  If you want to produce optimum results you must plan it. What will it take to recover from your setback?  What are the steps necessary? Who do you need to talk to get the answers?  If you are recovering from a major setback,   it’s going to take some extra effort on one’s part to go forward. In addition to planning your strategy; plan your comeback. I serve myself a maximum 2-day notice (it used to be 3-day) to be irritated or unproductive regarding a situation. How long will you be agitated?  I like to compare planning to one who prepares their body for a marathon.  She put’s herself through uncommon rigorous routines to shape and mold herself for victory.  The goal is to win. To help recover from a setback you will need the most powerful yet practical tools necessary to win: a pen and paper.

1.       Find quiet time every morning to meditate.  Use this time to visualize your comeback.  What will you look like? What will you are doing?  Who will be around you?  Where are you going?

2.       Before you leave your quiet place, journal your thoughts in detail in a notebook.

3.       Write down 1-3 things you will accomplish for that day. Stick to it.

Just Start.

Someone once told me, when I was struggling to get myself motivated to exercise that if I commit to as little as 5 minutes a day, that it would make a difference in my level of fitness.  In my reluctant compliance to these “words of wisdom” of a retired personal trainer (I was willing to try anything) I awakened to my clocks hideous ring at 5:30 am in the morning. I propelled into my work-out clothes, grabbed my car keys and drove to place where the insane people congregate to obtain “wellness” called the gym.  Jogging up the stairs ready to take on the world with my 5- minute workout.  I stepped on the big black machine and programmed it for 5 minutes. Surprisingly, once I started I periodically increased the minutes and found I was exercising at least 20-40 minutes a day! Interestingly enough, I wanted to do MORE.  So I did.  For 6 weeks I used the “5 minute work-out plan” along with proper diet and lost 7 pounds. The art of the start is doing it but not over doing it! 

The Phoenix bird in essence can teach us plenty. Miraculously, this bird was also said to regenerate when hurt or wounded by an enemy. In the same way, life can bring disappointments, setbacks and perhaps an enemy or two along the way. However, we can utilize these steps to regenerate our life-cycle and rise above the ashes of circumstances to build our character.