Hello wonderful people!
Recently I have had a fascination for TED talks on YouTube, and I must say I have learnt a lot, on different topics.
Most recently, I watched a TED on entrepreneurs and the reality they hardly discuss or talk about.
Of course, the speaker is an entrepreneur talking from experience.
He talked about being lonely, depressed and most times flat broke. But when asked by friends and family how his business was going, he said,
“I will grin while gritting my teeth and say, ‘Great!’ “
The word great is usually a cuss word replacement, used mostly when we have put in our best into a project, and something upsets it so much, we might have to start all over again.
And we are already tired.
In the spirit of being positive even when we feel anything but, we throw our arms up and mutter, “Great!” — even when we are swearing on the inside.
Because, the first step into starting a business, or being an entrepreneur — as it’s called these days — that first step is motivation, hence the rise in motivational speaking and speakers.
More than 50% of most seminars are spent on motivational speaking. And what do they talk about? Power of Positive Thinking.
And the Bible says, “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.”
Of course, you also must talk positive especially when you don’t feel like!
You must think and speak and act positively, especially when things are not going well.
And in the face of disappointment, stress, and possible depression, it is hard.
At some point I ask myself… not at some point.
I have been asking myself, if I’m being positive in my words or am I lying to myself and others?
You are likely to get assistance even if it’s encouragement, when you say things as they are, not as you wish them to be.
For a Christian entrepreneur, it’s harder to be ‘honest‘ with your feeling because, it could mean you don’t have faith.
After all, faith is still evidence of things not seen.
I’m apparently going to ask my pastor the difference between lying and speaking faith. It’s been long overdue.
I don’t know about you, but when I speak faith, I feel like a bloody liar.
And just so you know, I loathe lying and deception in any shape or form.
So imagine how I feel when I say what isn’t true, even when I’m biblically justified.
One one hand, when I’m asked, “How are you?” And I reply in tired exasperation, “Not good!”, I panick that I might have sent back my Angel of blessing, who was about to hand me a reward of faith.
Then I start to ask for forgiveness on unbelief. Praying that God restores what I have lost or what I might have lost as a result of not speaking faith.
On the other hand, when I’m asked, ” So how’s business? “. And I reply, “Great“, haven’t I shot myself in the leg, by saying the opposite of reality?
You know, it’s easy to speak positively when asked about personal matters. After all, you don’t want people knowing how you really are.
But with business, it’s different because, business is not personal!
Business is about serving others goods and services for profit. Nothing personal about that, except for the profit of course, which you wouldn’t be getting, without talking to people about what you are offering.
Saying the opposite of reality, could mean the loss of prospect or a lead, investor, or any other form of assistance.
Because if you’re great, then it could be interpreted as you needing no one for anything, therefore hardly anyone will be offering to help. After all, you are great, right?
So what I sometimes do is say the truth while still speaking faith. Therefore I reply with a prayer.
Something like, ” I’m fine, in Jesus name”
However, God just hinted me now that, in order not to come off sounding like a delusional religious fanatic to people who are not in my faith, I could say something like, “Thank you for asking, I’m praying for better.”
You get the idea?
To a non-christian, prayer is the last resort when you are at the point of giving up.
To them, why pray when you have a brain to think and the ability to work?
I think people will hear what you are not saying or asking, than what you’re saying.
Not to mention, your response being uncommon and unusual.
Its like a verbal business card. It will get people thinking because of your unique choice of words, they won’t be able to forget you easily, because your words left an impression.
They might want to know you better, to hear more from you. They will talk about you to someone else. It could be an, “I met an interesting person today…..”
Even if they don’t need your services at that moment, someone they discussed you with or someone present there might actually need your services and patronise you.
One the most powerful prayers a Christian can pray is,
“O God! Give me a mouth and a wisdom, in the name of Jesus Christ. “
You will know, when you say and do the right thing when you don’t know how to respond or what to do.
Shalom🤗
Musings of a Sanguine Christian Woman 