When I was about 8 years old, I met an uncle who lived out of state. I only saw him twice because he provided continuous and loving care for his gravely ailing wife. On one of those occasions, he gave me a gift that has lived with me all my life. He forced me to sit down and memorize this short but powerful statement–one, he said, that would help me throughout my life.
The gift he gave me was the message: “Make stepping stones out of downfalls, ring victory from defeat.”
Marriage Success Means Overcoming Obstacles Together
In pursuing your goals, you are likely to experience setbacks. In our experience of marriage counseling, we’ve learned EVERY couple experiences setbacks. Setbacks are nothing more than “course corrections.” Just like airplanes use computers to make course corrections to help them reach their destination, we must also change course to reach our goals. We know when we are “off course” when we are not accomplishing the goals we’ve set out to achieve.
Everyone has challenges of some sort. It may be a business, career, health, emotional, spiritual, relationship difficulty and/or any combination of these. Some people use their challenges to become bitter; others use them to become better. So what’s the difference between those who overcome difficulties and those who are defeated?
Marriage Success Requires Resilience
Those who successfully overcome their setbacks learn from them and make course corrections toward achieving their goals. All setbacks are opportunities to learn–to figure out what has gone wrong and make the necessary adjustments. Setbacks do not have to be permanent. They are temporary if we approach them from the right perspective. Those who are defeated by setbacks tend to dwell on them, make negative judgments about themselves and others, become discouraged, and lose motivation, faith, and wallow in self pity and regret. On the other hand, those who “make stepping stones out of downfalls pick themselves up, dust themselves off, learn from it, and move on toward their success. At times, it may not be simple or easy, but it can be done.
If you are resilient together, your success together is inevitable.
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About Jesse Johnson
