Did you ever lose a document that you worked hard on for the last week? Maybe your computer crashed with what seemed like your entire life on board? Worse yet, maybe you lost your house and everything you owned in a fire? The moment it happened a wave of fear washed over you. After a few calm attempts to recover the loss, panic moved in. Soon reality sank in and you realized you may never see those lost files. What on earth will you do? That report was due tomorrow. All your photos, contacts, documents were on the computer and you hadn’t backed up in months. The loss is devastating and the idea of re-building insurmountable. It feels like too much to handle.
I had just such an experience today. For the first time in a week, I had an entire day set aside for work. I had enjoyed the holidays but in the end they had exponentially grown my ‘to do list”. I needed today to be a seamless effort of production and progress. I set my heart and my hopes on it.
As the clock moved into mid morning, I decided to go ahead and add a new feature, known as a plugin, to the site. I wouldn’t need it for a few weeks yet but I had made the discovery and simply thought I would go ahead, complete the task and avoid adding another task to the list. In case you are wondering, plugins are tools designed to ease the workload, improve the functionality of the site and manage related activities. This one, rated 5 star, the highest rank allowed, seemed to be the answer I was seeking for a new product launch. Low risk was assured.
The install was seamless so I logged out and moved on in direct response to my list. A few hours passed before I returned to the site for a quick task. FATAL ERROR! I attempted to log in through the dashboard, the equivalent of my online office. FATAL ERROR! I rebooted the computer, logged into my site manager, ran a scan…nothing! It was as if the site had vanished. Now I went to the host, seeking tech support. After an hour of failed efforts the message was delivered. “It is all gone. You will need to re-build the site.”
When I began this journey I had no idea how to build this tool. I knew what my message was, what my service would be and what products I would create but I was clueless about how to build, manage and promote a strictly web based business. I have in the past 3 months studied every available resource, learned and applied my new skills to develop something that I had become proud of and that others found value in. It was now gone and I had no idea where or how to begin again. I felt numb as I began my workout.
Strategy. I needed a strategy to get through this. As I completed my chest presses and back flies, my thoughts were racing down the halls of my mind trying to develop a reasonable means of re-construction. Between sets, I pursued any plausible idea that came up. Three hours passed and it was about time to settle in for what promised to be a long and stressful night of recovery just to be able to operate on a basic level in the morning. Then one last hope presented. I followed through by contacting online tech support once again. In 30 minutes time, my site was fully restored. The tech who had come to my rescue had offered confidence in recovering most of the site but warned that some recent data would likely be lost. I accepted the possibilities. He soon asked me to log in. I did and found the site 100% intact. Nothing but the problematic plugin was missing.
Why the story? As I typed the words “fully restored” in reply to my heroes inquiry, I realized something far greater than the restoration of my website. Restoration, an element to our wellbeing was possible for all aspects of our lives.
Have you lost your figure? Lost your savings? Lost your job? Your dreams? Your hope, your faith, your confidence and strength? Have you lost courage and power? What have you lost that you doubt can ever be restored? Let me tell you something. Restoration is possible. In fact,
I believe it is your divine destiny to experience restoration.
Restoration, as I experienced today, at times comes swift and obvious. Sometimes it comes in layers, like an onion. Other times we can’t even recognize it until it has been completed and someone else points it out. However it is delivered, I believe that restoration is always available. What I realized in the journey today, however, is that there are some tools that we need to apply to unleash restoration power in our lives; choices that we must make in the process in order to secure our restoration destiny.
- Breathe -Take a deep breath and allow peace and calm to wash away panic and fear.
- Step Back -Allow yourself some space between the emotions and the problem. Go for a walk or as I did workout.
- Focus on Strategy -Do not allow panic to dictate your maneuvers. Be thoughtful and intentional with every step you take.
- Follow every opportunity before you. -Pursue every logical and reasonable opportunity to restore the loss. Again, be strategic, purposeful and intent but leave no possibility behind.
- Pray. -Submit the trial to the One who holds the key to all the trials of our lives. Surrender your control and allow yourself to be guided in the journey. Ask for wisdom and insight. Ask for contacts, connections and resources.
- Seek and receive the aid of professionals. -Accept your limitations and allow someone with the strengths you need to enter the picture and affect the outcome.
- Believe and Expect. -Hold on to faith, not letting go of the possibility of recovery. Accept that it may not come as you expect but that it occurs someway, somehow and that you will have the peace and strength for the journey.
I look back on my life and I see instances like today when I experience swift restoration of all that has been lost. I see other experiences like our recent robbery and recognize that it took time, more than I wanted but still restoration was made. I look a little deeper and further and see that restoration is still occurring from long past losses like childhood abuse and financial calamities. But most of all I see the infinite possibility and divine intention for restoration in all areas of my life. I see that restoration is before me, no matter the loss I feel or have incurred. In the end, I have the faith that what was taken away will be returned and likely multiplied. I believe the same is true for your life.
All we need to do is unleash the power and allow it flow freely through our veins.
