Nov 10

When People Say “No, You Can’t” or How Not to Give in to Discouragement

Emotional Jason Mitchener 2 Comments »

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No!

(Photo by JuLiEn LoZeLLi)

David Ring was born with cerebral palsy and was orphaned at an early age. Years later, after he became a Christian, he felt the call to preach. People tried to discourage him, saying his slurred speech would never allow him to preach. David ignored them and went on to become a nationally known preacher who speaks to over 100,000 people a year. When speaking about all the obstacles he overcame, David challenges his audience, “I have cerebral palsy. What’s your problem?”

My father Gene Mitchener was also disabled. He spoke all over the country at conferences and hospitals. He once said, “Nature disables us, but we allow people to handicap us.”

Often we let people discourage us. Can you imagine how different the world today would be if more people had given in to discouragement?

“Simon Peter, stop that preaching! You’re just a fisherman.”

“Helen Keller, you’re blind and deaf. You have no business writing.”

“Abraham Lincoln, you’ve lost more political races than you’ve won. Quit trying to become president.”

“Orville and Wilbur, that thing will never fly. Just give up.”

How Not to Give in to Discouragement

  1. Realize You Have Unique Abilities - God has created us each with unique abilities that no one else has. We need to use those abilities, even when they don’t make sense to others.
  2. Understand that Discouragers Are Often Belittlers - Often the people who try to discourage us the most are just trying to belittle our accomplishments. They most likely do this because they haven’t accomplished much themselves and by belittling us they are under the mistaken impression that they now look greater.
  3. Develop an “I Can” Attitude - Usually the only thing really stopping us from achieving great things is our own attitude. We give in to others discouraging us because we don’t truly think we can do it. To truly succeed, we need to develop an “I can” attitude.

Don’t let anyone discourage you. When others say, “No, you can’t,” tell them, “Yes, I can.”

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Oct 15

How to Help Fight Poverty

Emotional, Financial, Spiritual Jason Mitchener No Comments »

Poverty
(Photo by eren | thisvintagechica)

Today, as part of Blog Action Day, I’m contributing to the discussion on poverty.

I’ve never though of myself as a rich person, but according to the web site Global Rich List I’m in the top 14% of the richest people in the world. This number really changes my perspective and makes me want to do more to fight poverty. But here are two things I’m doing right now that you may also want to consider:

Sponsoring a Child

Through World Vision, I sponsor a six-year-old boy in the Dominican Republic named Marcos. Because Marcos lives in a community affected by the HIV/AIDS crisis, World Vision classifies him as a HopeChild. What this means is that I donate $35 per month instead of $30 and my extra donation helps Marcos’ community fight HIV/AIDS. Truthfully, $35 a month does not seem like much to me, but it does mean a lot to Marcos and his family. He will have a better chance at a healthy life and have opportunities for education.

My donation to World Vision is easy. At the beginning of every month, $35 is automatically withdrawn from my checking account via my debit card. I have it set so that the withdrawal happens right after my paycheck is deposited, meaning the money is guaranteed to be in my account for the donation.

Participating in Microloans

Through Kiva, I’m helping a man named Dilovar Bozorov in Tajikistan purchase a greater variety of food for his food stand. This will enable him to more easily provide for his wife and two children.

This is how microloans through Kiva work:

1) Lenders browse profiles of entrepreneurs in need, and choose someone to lend to. When they lend, using PayPal or their credit cards, Kiva collects the funds and then passes them along to one of our microfinance partners worldwide.

2) Kiva’s microfinance partners distribute the loan funds to the selected entrepreneur. Often, our partners also provide training and other assistance to maximize the entrepreneur’s chances of success.

3) Over time, the entrepreneur repays their loan. Repayment and other updates are posted on Kiva and emailed to lenders who wish to receive them.

4) When lenders get their money back, they can re-lend to someone else in need, donate their funds to Kiva (to cover operational expenses), or withdraw their funds.

I signed up for a Kiva account and browsed the profiles of entrepreneurs. I found Dilovar and noticed that he was close to his goal of $800 in loans. I loaned $25 through my Paypal account. When Dilovar repays the money, I will get credit in my Kiva account which I will re-lend to someone else. Each month, I’ll look for another entrepreneur and loan another $25 through Kiva. Because I’ll eventually be getting my money back from most of these entrepreneurs (the default rate for Kiva loans is very low), I’ll eventually be able to loan way more than $25 a month through re-lending.

What a great opportunity to help people help themselves!

How about you? How can you help fight poverty?

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Aug 27

How to Stop Worrying by Changing Your Perspective

Emotional, Mental Jason Mitchener No Comments »

Worrying
(Photo by Naty Rive)

Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be. - Abraham Lincoln

My friend Tony once said that if he ever ended up in a wheelchair then he would kill himself. In the eighties, he crashed his single-engine plane and broke his back. He was paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair. So, did he kill himself? Thankfully, no. Over twenty years later, he’s still alive and not even close to considering suicide. He is happy because he chooses to be happy.

I have been disabled all of my life. I was born with a rare neuromuscular disease that now confines me to an electric wheelchair and requires me to use a ventilator to breathe. Many people in a similar situation to mine have given up on life. I can relate because when I started using a ventilator at age twenty-one I wanted to give up also. For six months, all I did was stay in bed and watch television. Have my circumstances changed since then? No. I changed my perspective. Each day, I choose how I am going to relate to my circumstances. For the most part I choose to be happy and productive.

What situations cause you to worry? Can you change your perspective and make a positive choice to be happy despite your circumstances? Happiness is a choice. Will you make that choice today?

Forward Habit’s series on worrying:

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Aug 26

How to Stop Worrying by Appreciating What You Have

Emotional, Mental Jason Mitchener 3 Comments »

Worrying
(Photo by Geekgirly)

Several years ago, a guy came up to me before a church service and said, “This morning I was really feeling sorry for myself. Then I came into church and saw you sitting here in a wheelchair. You actually are worse off than me, but you had a big smile on your face. So I figured what do I have to complain about?”

This man learned a valuable lesson in how to stop worrying. He began to appreciate what he had.

Too often we worry about what we don’t have and don’t appreciate what we do have. We worry that we have bills to pay, but we don’t appreciate that we have a job to pay those bills. We worry about the high cost of our monthly mortgage payment, but we don’t appreciate that we have a roof over our heads. We worry about the cost of gasoline, but we don’t appreciate that we have a car. We worry about a toothache, but we don’t appreciate that, in general, we have good health.

Sometimes it takes seeing someone worse off than ourselves before we appreciate what we have. This is even true for me. By many people’s standards, I’m severely disabled. I use an electric wheelchair because I’m basically paralyzed from the shoulders down. I use a ventilator because I can’t breathe on my own. Yet even with these difficulties, I’m not as bad off as other people. My roommate has ALS (or Lou Gehrig’s disease). In many ways, he is worse off than I am. Most days, he doesn’t even get out of bed. Although he might also say he’s better off than me in the fact that he has children and grandchildren. So, in whatever situation we are in, we can always find someone worse off than we are.

Learn how to stop worrying by appreciating what you have.

How do you stop worrying? Please share your tips in the comments.

Forward Habit’s series on worrying: