Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Feeling Ridiculed?

I wonder whether you have ever been the object of ridicule, whether you have been at the receiving end of mockery, where people who have a little more power than you have, have scorned, or ridiculed, or mocked your work or just who you are, tried to diminish you or belittle you and throw you off your game. Sometimes these things happen in our workplaces with people who may be a little better with words, or hold a little more power, or want to control the situation. Thinking about it, I thought that it's an area that we need to be prepared for because it's there. But also because we need to know how to handle it when it does come.

 

"Ridicule," as Madeline L'Engle says, "is a terrible witherer of the flower of imagination. It binds us where we should be free." So true! It can just make us wither and lose any sense of wanting to do anything creative or imaginative. Where there should be freedom, there is a sense of binding. The meaning for ridicule is the subjection of someone, or something, to contentious and dismissive language or behavior.

 

All of us, at some point or the other, have faced this kind of contempt that leads to us being almost dismissed. I thought that it might be something to maybe open ourselves up to and see if we are in that situation. How do I walk through this? What do I need to do that will be an encouragement for me?

 

I was reading a blog by Ray Higden. He talks about a few people who were ridiculed earlier on in their career or their youth, but who made it. It was said about Richard Branson: "He was shortsighted and dyslexic but he was considered to be stupid or lazy." We know Richard Branson today, and how he has built his empire in Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Airlines.

 

He talks about George Foreman, who at 38 years old, wanted to come back and fight as a boxer to raise money for a youth center that was just outside Houston, Texas. Everybody laughed at him. In fact, his comeback fight in Sacramento drew laughter and boos for how slow he was. He hadn't boxed for 10 years. He was 38 years old, but he kept on training and losing weight. Finally, 7 years later, he became the heavyweight champion of the world.

 

Elvis Presley was kicked out of the Grand Ole Opry in 1954. They told him to stick to his day job of driving trucks.

 

The beautiful classic, 'Gone With The Wind' was rejected by 38 publishers before it finally got green-lighted.

 

All of these people, authors, boxers, corporate entrepreneurs, faced some form of ridicule. And yet, it seems from their lives, that they never allowed it to diminish or belittle the things that they wanted to do. It's worth just pressing pause in our day, today actually, and ask the question: Am I being ridiculed? Is there scorn that is directed towards me? If there is, then what do I do? How do I face it? I want to leave with you, four things that I believe will help you navigate through these choppy waters.

 

1.     Have perseverance. Be tenacious and don't give up. I may have mentioned before that, in our family, we love boxers (the dog breed). We've had 2 boxers and still have one. I remember playing with our first one, Buddy. He had a little rope toy that I would dangle above him and he would jump up and catch it and would then just lock his jaw around it. I could pull as hard as I tried, and he wouldn't let go. In fact, I could pull him off the ground. That's the kind of tenacity I think we always need to have in times of difficulty – to persevere, not give up and to just hold on and say: I'm going to get through this.

 

2.     Have a thick skin. We need to let all of these thoughts, words that come our way, to be just deflected like water off a duck's back. Don't be sensitive to people around you. Just say: If they think like that, it's their problem. I'm going to continue to stay on course.

 

3.     Keep the focus. Don't lose sight of your end dream, what you are hoping to achieve, why you are there. Know that the work you are doing is good. Keep the focus.

 

4.     Have a very clear mindset. Determine in your own mind, accept that it's not going to be easy, that there will be opposition. Accept that the work that you are doing is important, and most importantly, picture the end. Whatever it is that you are doing, picture the end in your mind's eye. When you have that captured, it's very easy to keep that as the end goal and keep moving towards it, despite some of the things that you may be feeling.

 

I was wondering what I could leave with you in terms of an encouragement. Out of our Scriptures come these words that say that we can rejoice as well. That's an interesting concept – to rejoice in it. Why do we rejoice? Scripture says, "…for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady."

 

I don't know where you are today, my friends, and maybe you are facing ridicule, whether in the office space or in the community, or maybe even in the family. My prayer for you is that you would come through it, that you wouldn't let it, in any way, diminish who you are; that you wouldn't give up on the end goals; that you won't throw in the towel and say, "I'm done!" but today, you will just stand a little taller and say, "I'm not going to give in. I'm going to persevere through this. I'm going to allow my character to be fashioned through it. It's going to help me to trust God even more." That's my prayer for you.

 

Can I pray for you? Almighty God, on each one who reads this post, I pray your blessing. Wherever they are, if they are facing ridicule today, Lord strengthen them that they may be able to go through this time without in any way, losing sight of who they are, what they are doing and where they are going. I pray Your blessing upon them, a blessing of joy and peace, all the way through this day and through this week. I pray that their eyes would be turned to You from whence their hope and faith are made strong. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

 

       Ray Higden, "What to do do when they say you won't make it." https://rayhigdon.com/what-to-do-when-they-say-youll-never-make-it/

       Quote by Madeline L'Engle. http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/don-t-give-up

       Scripture quote: Romans 5:3-4 TLB. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=rom+5%3A3-4&version=TLB

 

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