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Setbacks; a vital tool for success

goa

New member
Several years ago, I finished high school and was eager to go to the University, but tragedy struck, and I lost my dad.

It was a massive blow as we could barely afford two square meals at the time. But I was determined, I took on menial jobs but still kept on reading and trying to improve myself. Today, I am living my dream of attending a University, and in less than a year, I will be graduating as a Statistician.

That setback made me a better person, and it served as motivating factor. Today, I am a Website Developer, Writer (Freelancer), and working on a community project to help little kids achieve their dreams.


Please feel free to drop your own story in the comment section, let's help inspire one another.
 

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JJ1203

New member
What an inspiration you are! Thank you for sharing this! I, too, found my motivation to fulfill a dream through a tragic loss. I had always wanted to go to college but it never seemed possible. I knew I wanted to be a Christian Counselor but thought I should wait until my daughter graduated before I pursued my dream.

Sadly, a dear family friend of ours took his own life about four years ago. This was the turning point for me. In my grief I was shown that waiting was not the answer. So, after 20 years from graduating high school I enrolled in a bachelor's degree program. I am two semesters from graduating and will be going on for a master's degree.

I will never be okay with how we lost this friend. But I am grateful for the motivation to pursue my dream of being able to help people in crisis and give hope to the hopeless.
 
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DanRoz

New member
@goa and @JJ1203 congratulations to you both; your perseverance is genuinely inspiring! I consider myself lucky to have avoided such tragic loss in my life thus far, but I think your approaches to personal setbacks speak to a greater truth we can all learn from:

One's character isn't determined by failure or loss, but rather how one responds to life's setbacks.
 
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Decantrix

New member
Wow. I did not expect these posts when I clicked on the forum. I want to thank you both so much for your honesty in sharing your stories. Loss in that magnitude can be so difficult to traverse, and the fact that you both credit your losses with allowing you to achieve success, is definitely inspiring.

I've found in my own life, that I've experienced cycles following loss or deep let-down. There's a period of time that follows that's been very hard to find footing. In other words, I've not been able to gain positive, forward moving traction for a bit. In those moments, there's very little gold found in the mud, as it were. Did you experience similar at times, or did you always hold vision of something greater to reach for?
 

happygolucky

New member
It's true - loss really can lead to some amazing cycles of growth. When I've felt comfortable I never would have thought that anything needed to change, but when my status quo was disrupted, I had to decisions that led to uncomfortable growth. As a result, I learned many new skills and developed some important resilience. Setbacks really did force me to re-evaluate the way I did things; as a result, i found new successes.
 

DanialIbrahim

New member
Several years ago, I finished high school and was eager to go to the University, but tragedy struck, and I lost my dad.
I'm incredibly sorry for your loss. I'm sure he's smiling down at you looking at how amazing and wonderful you've become. Keep making him proud!

I've always believed that when we fall, we get back up with even more resilience and determination the next time We learn from our setbacks and rest assured, we grow.

"It's not about how hard you fall, it's about how fast you can get back up!"
 

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