1. a. The act of discouraging.
b. The condition of being discouraged.
2. Something that discourages; a deterrent.
To expound on the word a bit.....
Noun 1. discouragement - the feeling of despair in the face of obstacles .
disheartenment, dismay
despair - the feeling that everything is wrong and nothing will turn out well
intimidation - the feeling of discouragement in the face of someone's superior fame or wealth or status etc.
2. discouragement - the expression of opposition and disapproval
disapproval - the expression of disapproval
disheartenment - a communication that leaves you disheartened or daunted
dissuasion - a communication that dissuades you
determent, deterrence, intimidation - a communication that makes you afraid to try something
3. discouragement - the act of discouraging;
deterrence - the act or process of discouraging actions or preventing occurrences by instilling fear or doubt or anxiety
Quotes for you (and me)!
“Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.”
Dale Carnegie quotes (American lecturer, author, 1888-1955)
“The Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say, 'O God, forgive me,' or 'Help me.'”
Billy Graham quotes (American evangelist, b.1918)
We're all bound to deal with this word in one way or the other. It's human to feel discouraged. There are so many times that in my own life it hits me like a brick wall.
With my
1) health: I find myself asking "what else can go wrong?" When am I going to feel NORMAL again?!" Or " Oh, Lord...am >I< the only one who goes through this?" "how slow does this process of losing weight have to take?"
2) job: "Thank you Lord for the work that comes in...but can they be money jobs instead of charge accounts:?" Or "why do I always get the pieces of work that complain to me about things I have NO fault in?"
3) scrapping: "I try out for so many different things...is my art good enough?" "why doesn't anyone like me?"
4) "ministry work": (for not finding the right word to call this) Finding my Niche in Church. the 2 things I love to do are sing and teach. There are times hearing fellow members sing makes me feel like I'm not good enough or of the same caliber to try out. I let my shyness talk me out of trying out. Even though my kids ask me when I'll join alllllllllll the time. I feel like I am called to be active...but just don't know what to do!
My list can go on and on, but I don't want to sound like I'm high maintenance! There are so many things that can discourage someone...
the job market, financial worries, social conditions, fill in the blank___________________________.
How does one fight the urge to fall deep into despair?
well...this post has a powerful word to apply to a situation! Anything that is well worth it, has to be earned. If I haven't been persistant in many things, I wouldn't have gotten the satisfaction of a job well done, the right doors wouldn't have opened for me, or I wouldn't appreciate whatever it is as much if it were easy to obtain.
Also, setting goals that are more realistic. I often set myself up to feel discouragement by setting goals that are too big to fulfill all in one shot. Instead of wanting to lose 30, I should set my sight on 15. (Thanks, Babe, for pointing this out! So far I have lost 8.) Instead of wanting to join a manufacturer ( or a kit club) DT I can choose to instead play along elsewhere or maybe even take a break to feel good about it again. I could take this time to grow in other aspects of my life. Who knows?
Take a look at the BRIGHT Side! Not allowing negativity and the what if's, could've,& should've (s) set in. When you are tempted to crawl into the "woe is me" feeling, DON'T! Instead look at the happy aspects. You're alive, have a roof over your head, warm, dry, fed. Look at the little blessings.
This is a biblical verse that is both deep and comfort.
Psalm 43:5
Why am I discouraged?Why is my heart so sad?I will put my hope in God!I will praise him again—my Savior and my God!
In hindsight I didn't think this post was going to be so long...so my apologies (and kudos if you made it this far!). I hope that while I'm going through my little things that this post will help someone else who may be feeling a bit like this for a whole other set of reasons.
I'll be back tomorrow...with a fun post!