What is the hardest experience you’ve ever overcome in your life? I would LOVE to read your experience in the comments below.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately,… the INCREDIBLE resilience and resourcefulness of human beings. The UNBELIEVABLE experiences we overcome. The unexpected treasures on the other side of our hardest experiences.
Especially when circumstances look challenging today, it’s so helpful to remember where we’ve been and what we’ve successfully survived before now.
I posted on my Facebook profile page and asked, “What is the hardest life experience you’ve ever overcome?” I’ve been awed and humbled by the stories shared. I thought I had been through hard stuff… really blew my mind.
I have my own worst experience story that I don’t often share. It’s NOT the one I tell when I teach my Money Monster material. This is far more dramatic. It was a portal.
I love that title “The Gift of the Worst”. That’s definitely what’s happened to me.
I worked as a sales representative for 42 years. During the last 20 years, I had a voice disorder. You would think that having a voice disorder would have been fatal to a career in sales. I think that being able to keep working in sales AFTER developing a voice disorder is the biggest accomplishment in my life.
I never was a smooth-talking, joke-telling type of sales person anyway. I always tried to be the helpful, knowledgeable type.
I had to learn to get that out there quickly. “I’m trying to help you.” And people picked up on that. I was able to convey that message that I’m trying to help. They are happy to see me. They ask me questions because they believe that I will know the answer or I will know who to ask to get the answer. They may have to ask me to repeat what I said, but they know that I’ll stay cool and calm even if I’m having to say something more than once. And they move closer to me so they can hear me better.
This extends to other areas as well. When I’m at my alma mater, the head football coach, the head men’s basketball coach, and the head women’s basketball coach walk over to me and get close so they can hear what I’m saying. Because they know that I will ask a good question or make a good comment. They are making millions of dollars a year. Yet, they want to know what I’m saying and they get close to me because they know that my voice doesn’t carry very far.
It’s the same way with the university president and the athletic director. They are glad to see me and walk up to me so they can hear what I have to say.
It’s the same with assistant coaches, players, parents of players, staff that work at the venues, alumni, and fans.
I don’t look at it as a negative that people have to get close to me to understand what I’m saying and have to ask me to repeat what I’m saying. I feel encouraged that they WANT to find out what I’m saying even though it’s hard to understand me.
People are actually listening to me more now than they did when I had a decent voice.
We’re using email more now than ever before in sales. I had to learn to put more personality in my emails and convey that message that I’m trying to help. I learned from females emailing me. Females are better at putting emotion and sincere efforts to help in emails.
Do I wish that I still had a decent voice? Yes, that would be easier. But I’ve learned so much more about communicating with people in person and in emails because it’s a struggle for me to talk. I wish I knew what I know now back when I had a decent voice.
So, I’ve written an eBook on what I’ve learned. I need to get that eBook out there because there are so many people that are going to have to reinvent themselves when this pandemic is over. There are jobs that won’t be coming back. There are businesses that won’t be coming back. People that still have jobs have had to change the way they work.
I wish that I would have been able to learn all of this without developing a voice disorder. But I think that developing a voice disorder is the best thing that’s happened in my life. And learning to live with it and do better at communicating is my biggest accomplishment.
Interesting question to consider. I’m imagining most of us can relate! For me it was a sudden illness that struck 30 yrs ago when I was in my 20s – from which I never really recovered!
Spent my adult life coping with daily symptoms while searching for an accurate /proper diagnosis. I dreamed of less pain and to regain some of my former health.
Turns out it was Lyme Disease! With diagnosis confirmed in 2014 and treatment since 2017 , I am slowly regaining my health now -at age 52! Whoot 👍
I wouldn’t wish this illness on anyone – devastating on every level imaginable -yet oddly this experience also taught me the greatest lessons about Life, Love and myself !!! It was the epitome of the zen koan that says “the obstacle becomes the path…”
Thank you for the invite -to share our journey Morgana! xoxo Lisa
What I can think of right now is treating and healing from hyperthyrodism with homeopathy several times in my life, the last one during confinement and curfew in this global lockdown, This way I have avoided radioactive iodine.
Copyright 2020 Morgana Rae… OBVIOUSLY. Wanna reprint it for your blog or e-zine? Cool! Just post a “written by Morgana Rae” credit, and tell your readers to get my FREE Money Magnet Video Gift at www.morganarae.com. Thanks!
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The loss of my father
I love that title “The Gift of the Worst”. That’s definitely what’s happened to me.
I worked as a sales representative for 42 years. During the last 20 years, I had a voice disorder. You would think that having a voice disorder would have been fatal to a career in sales. I think that being able to keep working in sales AFTER developing a voice disorder is the biggest accomplishment in my life.
I never was a smooth-talking, joke-telling type of sales person anyway. I always tried to be the helpful, knowledgeable type.
I had to learn to get that out there quickly. “I’m trying to help you.” And people picked up on that. I was able to convey that message that I’m trying to help. They are happy to see me. They ask me questions because they believe that I will know the answer or I will know who to ask to get the answer. They may have to ask me to repeat what I said, but they know that I’ll stay cool and calm even if I’m having to say something more than once. And they move closer to me so they can hear me better.
This extends to other areas as well. When I’m at my alma mater, the head football coach, the head men’s basketball coach, and the head women’s basketball coach walk over to me and get close so they can hear what I’m saying. Because they know that I will ask a good question or make a good comment. They are making millions of dollars a year. Yet, they want to know what I’m saying and they get close to me because they know that my voice doesn’t carry very far.
It’s the same way with the university president and the athletic director. They are glad to see me and walk up to me so they can hear what I have to say.
It’s the same with assistant coaches, players, parents of players, staff that work at the venues, alumni, and fans.
I don’t look at it as a negative that people have to get close to me to understand what I’m saying and have to ask me to repeat what I’m saying. I feel encouraged that they WANT to find out what I’m saying even though it’s hard to understand me.
People are actually listening to me more now than they did when I had a decent voice.
We’re using email more now than ever before in sales. I had to learn to put more personality in my emails and convey that message that I’m trying to help. I learned from females emailing me. Females are better at putting emotion and sincere efforts to help in emails.
Do I wish that I still had a decent voice? Yes, that would be easier. But I’ve learned so much more about communicating with people in person and in emails because it’s a struggle for me to talk. I wish I knew what I know now back when I had a decent voice.
So, I’ve written an eBook on what I’ve learned. I need to get that eBook out there because there are so many people that are going to have to reinvent themselves when this pandemic is over. There are jobs that won’t be coming back. There are businesses that won’t be coming back. People that still have jobs have had to change the way they work.
I wish that I would have been able to learn all of this without developing a voice disorder. But I think that developing a voice disorder is the best thing that’s happened in my life. And learning to live with it and do better at communicating is my biggest accomplishment.
Interesting question to consider. I’m imagining most of us can relate! For me it was a sudden illness that struck 30 yrs ago when I was in my 20s – from which I never really recovered!
Spent my adult life coping with daily symptoms while searching for an accurate /proper diagnosis. I dreamed of less pain and to regain some of my former health.
Turns out it was Lyme Disease! With diagnosis confirmed in 2014 and treatment since 2017 , I am slowly regaining my health now -at age 52! Whoot 👍
I wouldn’t wish this illness on anyone – devastating on every level imaginable -yet oddly this experience also taught me the greatest lessons about Life, Love and myself !!! It was the epitome of the zen koan that says “the obstacle becomes the path…”
Thank you for the invite -to share our journey Morgana! xoxo Lisa
What I can think of right now is treating and healing from hyperthyrodism with homeopathy several times in my life, the last one during confinement and curfew in this global lockdown, This way I have avoided radioactive iodine.