Rejection to Success

In the Lord's year of 2010, I left a full time ministry position working for a predominantly white non-denominational church, I happened to be their first black pastor. I believed this place was my life's work and calling. I remember watching others who were in full time ministry positions similar to mine moving on to other churches and finding success and community in their new positions. I on the other hand experienced years of what I believed was rejection from God and my church community. Between you and I, I don't think I have fully recovered. That's for a different story. I eventually was hired by another predominantly white non-denominational church and after finding great success there was ceremonially released from said position two years later. Did I say I was also their first black pastor??

I again felt this deep sense of rejection by people whom I believed was my family and community. As always I shook the dirt from my boots, grabbed those straps and pulled myself back up. I was then invited to be a pastor for another church which, third time being a charm, I left after experiencing a mental breakdown that shook my identity to my core.

I recently have taken time to look at my life through the lens of hindsight only to see that those rejections were in fact redirections to a greater calling and place in life. I would never have believed that after my mental and family break down I would find myself completing my degree from Arizona State, moving to Austin, TX, having a fantastic career in community engagement and communications, and finding such a wonderful community in the business sector of Central Texas.

I write this story to invite you to shift from a "rejected" perspective to a "redirected" view point. I would have stayed in the broken, unappreciated, and undervalued position that I was in my past if I didn't give myself the option to pull back those fears and self- loathing into purpose and freedom.

Three Ways To Shift!!!

1. Invite someone that you trust and who believes in you to give you their perspective of your life. Having an accountability partner, life coach, or success partner was instrumental in breaking my own walls.
2. Create new habits not new goals. My decision to complete my Bachelors was eye-opening for me because I was able to obtain new habits. I believed this was about obtaining the degree which in reality opened opportunities for me that were available but hindered because of my old habits. My old habits, like most of us, were rooted in my past experiences. I started weight training and cardio habits that freed up my mental capacities along with new energy. I started traveling which showed me how different people lived which in turn gave me the vision that I too could live differently.
3. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!! You may not know how to start a business but YOU CAN LEARN! You may not know how to go back to college but YOU CAN LEARN! You may not know how to leave that stagnate career but YOU CAN LEARN! The ability to shift from REJECTION TO SUCCESS is within YOU. It is simply in your ability to LEARN AND APPLY!!

Today, not tomorrow, is the moment to shift from REJECTION TO SUCCESS. Trust me when I say, YOU CAN LEARN! Connect with me to learn more.

Larry Williams

Williams Community Solutions

[email protected]

www.wearewcs.com