In November of last year, I had the privilege of attending a Women's Entrepreneurship workshop with 3,000+ bold and courageous women who have taken a step of faith to start their own business. It was an incredible opportunity to learn from successful entrepreneurs, and meet new friends who were going through very similar experiences in regards to starting your own business.
We talked a lot about needing to encourage one another. Starting your own business is hard, scary and many times, overwhelming. As a woman, I am a nurturer. I find encouraging others something that comes almost seamlessly. So when we were told to write a letter that we were going to exchange with someone else at the conference, that was a pretty simple task. Soft music began playing, and we were just given the opportunity to tell someone else how much we believed in them. We wrote for a few minutes, and then were told to put it away, and we would exchange the letters later in the session. I couldn't wait to give my letter to someone. As I re-read it, I thought to myself, that's a pretty dang good letter of encouragement if I do say so myself. :-)
You may have guessed it by now.....time passed, and then the speaker asked us to get out our letters. We were going to give them to a woman who desperately needed encouragement.....that woman was ME! We had written the letters, unknowingly, to ourselves. We are so good about telling other people that they have the strength to endure, but many times, we talk to ourselves so much more harshly!
Well, today, I pulled my letter out, and I'm going to share it with you. I encourage you to take some time and write yourself a letter of encouragement today as well. Write the letter as if you are talking to one of your friends who is going through a difficult time, and write exactly what you would tell to that person....but write it to yourself....and not only write it, but BELIEVE it!!!!
Here is my letter that I wrote to myself on November 3rd, and yes, I do believe it! Sometimes I just need to be reminded of it. Remember....at the time I wrote this, I thought I was writing it for someone else...
Dear (Amy),
Even though I don't know you, God does and if you are at this conference, He has called you! You have everything you need within you to make your dreams a success. You are going to impact the world in ways you can't even imagine. People are watching you and are inspired by you. You have what the world needs. Even on days where you feel like you want to, or need to, quit, God is with you and will guide you. Keep the mission and ministry in front of you and the weight of responsibility on His shoulders and not on yours. Rest in Him!
Amy
Powerful words.....that I would have struggled to speak to myself if we hadn't done that exercise. I encourage and challenge you to "speak to yourself" today! Yes, be an encourager to those around you, but equally as important, be your own cheerleader! We've got this!!!!