One step forward, two steps back……..

Have you felt like you were moving forward only to be pushed back, yet again? Feeling frustrated that once you start making progress, it stops? Set backs are tough. Sometimes it is difficult to keep that positive outlook when we are being pushed back more than moving ahead. But don’t give up!

I often use that quote, “Everything happens for a reason.” I do believe this. I am not always sure of what the reason is and sometimes I never find out. I struggle to keep positive when I get pushed back sometimes. I am like everyone else. I have bad days. Then you need to get back up and get through them. Get back up and take that next step. If you get pushed back two steps, continue to take another one forward. Crawl if you must but keep going.

We don’t know why we are being pushed back.  Bad luck? A lesson to be learned? A divine intervention? We may never know but even when you are being pushed back, you are right where you need to be.  You may not feel that way and may be tired of being where you are but there is a reason for it. Something better will come but it is not the right time and you are in a holding pattern. When you are in the holding pattern, use this time wisely. Look around and see if there is a lesson to be learned.

I have been kicked back many times. Whenever I seem to move forward and get to where I want to be, boom! I get pushed back. It is frustrating as can be. An example: I owned a townhouse I loved. It was my first place I bought on my own and I was a divorced, single mom. It meant a lot to me. It was a large home so we all had room but a low maintenance yard which didn’t keep me tied down. I planned on staying there and it would have been a great place for me even when my kids moved out. But I met a man (now my husband) and I moved. I rented out my townhouse. I was fortunate to have the same tenants for over three years and the only problem I had during that time was a broken sliding glass window.  Very blessed.  Moving ahead. Doing great! Then my tenants broke lease.  In the fall season after the summer sales and rentals were going strong. I purchased my townhouse in 2008, right before the huge recession. I had been sick for a year and when one thing healed, something else has yet to be diagnosed and I was forced to quit working full time. I lost my income, one of my life insurance policies, a great medical plan and piece of self value. I moved across the United States to be with my husband of two years and left my family, including my children and granddaughter, behind.

My townhouse lost value in the economic crisis. The carpet was torn up by cats and had to be replaced in the entire home. Doors were damaged and needed to be replaced, as well as new paint.  I lost thousands of dollars! Then upon listing the home on the market and finally receiving a low offer, it was discovered that I needed a new furnace and water heater.  Wow!!!! Just keeps going. A few more thousand. So, I lost everything and more in this home that I once loved so much.

Yes, I was moving ahead. Yes, I got kicked back and then some! But, thankful I am able to sell my home and it was not foreclosed. Thankful no one was injured with a faulty gas line in the furnace. Thankful I have a husband who is there for me when I need him the most. Thankful that this move has brought me to new beginnings that will be more fulfilling in life.

Set backs have positive sides. They are painful, frustrating, and difficult but you must keep open to all that is happening …………….. not just the bad. They are setting you up for something great. They are opening you to lessons to be learned. They may be two steps back, but they are bringing you to one giant leap forward when the time is right. So, do not give up. Keep taking your steps forward, even when you are being pushed back. And appreciate the journey! It will be the part you remember most when you reach your destination.