All of us, even the most gifted and strong, experience discouragement from time to time.

Some days we run full throttle to face life with no reservations, but other times, we feel like throwing in the towel and feel sorry for ourselves.

You may be:

a single mum swamped with bills to pay, simultaneously trying to raise three your children,

a wife who’s husband has been unfaithful, yielding to your discouragement results in a broken marriage, suffering children and a broken heart,

a business owner struggling to yield revenue because of the socio-political climate in our country,

a student facing adversity at home, resulting in poor grade performance.

 

Whatever discouragements that you are facing today, you should firstly, not stop believing in God and secondly, in yourself. You should not let your discouragement defeat you, rather overcome your discouragement.

 

Yielding to discouragement has a high price to pay.

 

 

 Five Possible Causes of Discouragement:

 

1. Fate

We all experience tragedy in our lives that causes us to grieve, such as losing a loved one. This produces a wide range of emotions including shock, guilt, depression, despair and loneliness.

When tragedy crushes our spirit, personally I believe one cannot find real healing from outside, but only from one’s faith in God.

“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18)

 

 

2. Fatigue

Fatigue is extreme exhaustion. Usually resulting from mental or physical exertion or sickness.

We all experience fatigue at times; it is a part of life. Our bodies have been created to store huge amounts of energy to keep us going for a long time. Nonetheless, we need to rest in order to recharge. Too much sleep can also result in fatigue. However, the correct balance in the cycle of work and sleep is sacred.

Rest is necessary to function at our best. When this cycle is interrupted or out of balance, fatigue results.

Some of the symptoms of fatigue are:

 

chronic tiredness or sleepiness;

headache, dizziness;

aching muscles, muscle weakness;

impaired decision-making and judgement, moodiness such as irritability;

appetite loss, reduced immune system function;

blurry vision, short-term memory problems, poor concentration, hallucinations;

reduced ability to pay attention to the situation at hand; and

low motivation.

 

You cannot burn the candle at both ends. So if you’re discouraged, it may be that you don’t have to change anything.

You just need a vacation!  In our busy world, rest does not always come easily. We often have to teach ourselves to rest in body, mind, and spirit.

Learning to rest our souls keeps us healthy and keeps fatigue out of our lives.

 

 

3. Frustration

When you get upset or annoyed as a result of being unable to change or achieve something you are frustrated.

Everyone is familiar with feelings of frustration, which stems from your efforts falling short of reaching a goal or someone else’s efforts failing to meet your needs.

The secret to overcoming frustration is all about recognising the sources that ‘triggers’ the feeling, then using the proper techniques to choose a different emotional response.

Triggers are “elements in our environments we all face daily, that causes a sudden emotional reaction in us that is disproportionate to the trigger itself.”

Two useful Self-Managment tips for overcoming triggers:

Learn to breathe deeply.

Breathing will relax you; which changes the chemistry of the brain that helps you avoid impulsive actions or rash words.

 

Another important technique to overcome frustration is to be ‘aware of yourself.’

Self-awareness places you back in the front seat of your emotional life.  Next time you are tempted to shout, make a rude gesture or insult someone – stop to examine your feelings and the environment, before you over-dominate and walk all over others yourself.

Ask yourself these questions to help you figure out how to respond to the current situation:

Do I have an accurate perspective of the situation?

Will what happened now matter in a day? A week? A year?

Can I respond without being hostile?

Am I as interested in seeing the situation clearly or in being ‘right’?

Am I interested in the other person’s needs?

 

Frustration in perspective is ‘delayed success’ not ‘failure.’

By framing your mind with this view, you will change your reaction and emotions for the better.

If you see your situation as a setback that you will get over, you are more likely to know immediately you can overcome the frustration!

 

 

4. Failure

Everybody fails. Failure is an integral part of success.

So the issue is not that you failed – it’s how you respond to your failure.

Do you give into self-pity?

Do you start blaming other people?

Do you start complaining that it’s impossible? or,

Do you refocus on your goals and start moving again?

 

5. Fear

People most effected by fear are those who hang around negative people. If you’re going to control the negative thoughts in your life, you’ve got to get as far away as possible from negative people.

Sometimes it’s the fear of past failure or the fear of criticism. Fear will destroy your life if you let it. It is the single most aggressive form of failure. In spite of, you can choose to resist this form of discouragement.

Here are some Suggestions to Combat Fear:

Adopt a correct understand of your potential.

Don’t brand yourself as a failure – failure is an event, you are who you are.

Acknowledge the mistake that may have contributed to your failure and don’t repeat it.

Separate yourself from negative people.

Resist the temptation to remain stagnant.