In the fall of 2015, I had been let go from a high paying IT job. It was the 3rd time I had been laid off in 4 years and it was difficult to find work. I was trying to stay positive but that was really tough for me. Over and over, I kept hearing that I was overqualified for most of the jobs in which I was applying. After six months, creditors were constantly calling, vehicles were being repossessed, unemployment was running out, and we were about to lose our home. On top of that, my marriage was still rocky as we were trying to recover from the year before (that is a different story that I cover in a different blog post). But I was determined to get us out of this and put my life back together, I just didn’t know how to do it. I was praying every day for a good paying job so I could get back to the life I was accustomed to. But God wanted so much more for my life than a good paying job, and he revealed that through the Power of Positive Summit of 2016.

Since I could not find work, I qualified for funding to help me get back to college. I had started a degree in Sports and Health Sciences thinking I might get back into coaching. I had coached football and basketball part-time several years earlier and I had really missed it. I was taking a class and was doing a report about energy levels. Searching through the school’s online library, I came across Jon Gordon’s book, The Energy Bus. I had not heard of it and did not really know what it was about. I started reading it and although it didn’t really pertain to my paper, it quickly drew me in. The main character seemed a lot like me! I soon forgot about my paper and I stayed up all night reading this book. In The Energy Bus, Jon talks about fueling your life, work, and team with positive energy. I searched online about Jon Gordon, and I saw that he and Daniel Decker were about to start a Power of Positive Summit online. The best part was, it was free, which happened to be exactly all that I could afford. I signed up, not really sure what to expect. This positive thing was new to me even though I took a course from the Positive Coaching Alliance years earlier when I coached. But honestly, I never really bought into it.

So early April, the summit started. It had some awesome speakers: Yogi Roth, Joshua Medcalf, Andy Andrews. All giving me great messages and showing me what the power of positive mindset was. But one video really hit really stood out for me. Eric Metaxas talked about what being positive was for him. He told the story of the children of Israel crossing over the red sea. After they crossed safely on dry ground, and God delivered them from the Egyptian army, they thanked God and sang a song. Eric pointed out that they should have been thanking God and singing before they crossed! Right Song, wrong side! God had done so much for them already. I still have the quote I sent out on Twitter that night: This really hit home! “Be thankful in ALL circumstances. Trust. Believe.” – @ericmetaxas.

This is where everything really changed for me! I remember watching that video over and over and crying more each time I watched it. I opened my Bible and dived into Exodus and that story. It hit me like a ton of bricks, I saw how blessed I was and even though I was in a tough situation, I should be thankful for ALL that God has done for me. Even the trials! That is the night when I truly gave everything up to God. I let go, I surrendered everything to Him. I soon discovered that God needed to take away all those possessions because they had become a prison for me. He had better plans for me and I couldn’t get there with all that weighing me down.

I believe that Power of Positive Summit back in 2016 was done just for me. I truly believe that. I so needed that message right at that point in my life! This year, I am this summit’s biggest fan. My family and friends think I am a little crazy as much as I talk about it and promote it on social media. But I think there could be that one video that is life changing for them as well. So I will continue to promote it, like and share quotes, and sing its praises as much as I can. I don’t know if Jon Gordon will ever read this, but I want to thank him for putting this summit on. I have read most of his books and I now live my life with a positive mindset. I am getting so much from the videos this year and can’t wait every day to see what is next. If you are reading this and you have not signed up for this year’s summit, you still got time. The videos are usually just 5 to 10 minutes and they have such great content. If you want to learn about this positive movement, please check it out at http://PowerOfPositiveSummit.com, it could change your life like it changed mine!