Turning It Around

By Bernadette A. Moyer

So many victims so much heart and heartache, loss and pain, sooner or later it touches us all. Lately I find I am on overdrive with the amount of people that seem stuck in their grief. I could just as easily be one of them.

I have decided to take every negative and turn it around and find something positive it in. An old worn down building is a true gem to the contractor that appreciates its strong bones and deep history. Someone else may see that same structure as a building that should be demolished but another may see it as a pet project worthy of reconstruction.

One man’s garbage truly can be another man’s treasure. What takes years to build takes but moments to destroy. For years I had grief over my first true death experience, it was my first husband. It took years for me to move past feeling like a black widow, and then I wrote about death. First an article titled, A Parent Dies and later a book titled Angel Stacey. Neither is a great literary piece but rather the true sharing of a real life story about death. Now 14 years later I still have people write to me about their grief and loss and how they found hope and comfort in my writing. My article and my book helped them with their grief. I could take my hurt and do something positive with it and I did.

In the past two days I received private messages about two different articles on completely different subjects. One stated, “It sent chills up my spine. I love your work, keep writing. Thanks” And another reader wrote to me and stated “Just read your P.E.A.C.E article. I have my own sad story. Thank you for sharing your story I was so down and sick last night and came across your story which might have saved me. Thanks”

I learned many years ago, I can wallow and get stuck in my grief and victimization or I could turn it around and become victorious. You only remain a victim, if you choose to remain a victim. Sometimes it is harder and can take longer than other times but God doesn’t want us stuck there. He wants us to take our loss, our pain and our heartache and learn something from it, do something good and turn it around. Do something good or even great with it. So much great art is born of pain.

The people that choose to remain a victim; have to be getting something out of it or they wouldn’t make the choice to remain there. I don’t know of anything good or great that comes from staying in victim mode.

Today I was just so tired about everyone’s, mine included “story” their “victim” mentality and I thought we need more avenues for sharing stories of overcoming challenges. We need to celebrate those that move from “victim” to “victor” and the “losers” to “winners.”

Find our page on Facebook titled, Turning It Around and share your story of overcoming challenges. Lift someone else up and let them see that they can also lift up, move up and past their situation and move forward and ahead in life.   

We need to celebrate the human spirit and our ability to take any negative situation and turn it into a positive one!