Spence M. Finlayson

According to Wikipedia a Phoenix is a mythical bird that is a fire spirit with a colorful plumage and a tail of gold and scarlet( or purple, blue and green according to some legends). It has a 500 to 1000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young Phoenix rises, reborn anew to live again.

Yes, the mythical Phoenix bird has given all of us the blueprint for bouncing back from adversity. Napoleon Hill said“ Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit. I encourage you to continue to believe that you have the God-given ability to transform your life from one of disappointments, disenfranchisement and constant failure to one of

much success, happiness and personal fulfillment. It begins with you, not your mother, father, brother, sister or children, but you. Remember,“ if it’ s to be, it’ s up to me.“

William James, the noted American Philosopher said“ acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcome the consequences of any misfortune.” Remember that everyone is faced with a Job experience at some point in their in their lives. It is not how many times you get knocked down that counts but how many times you get back up.

Pick yourself up and learn from why you failed, and move on in a highly positive direction. One of my favorite televangelist is Bishop T. D. Jakes of Dallas, Texas. He said“ a setback is just a setup to a comeback.” Rise from the ashes like the Phoenix‘!

I am a firm believer in the power of prayer and I don’ t make any apologies for this. When I pray, I ask God to

remove my apparent difficulties realizing that I cant handle it by myself and I say“ thy will be done, not mine”. The power of prayer should not be underestimated. James 5: 16-18 declares“ The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed and the heavens gave rain and the earth produced crops.” I strongly recommend praying to the God of your understanding always, especially when your life has gone deep into the doldrums for an extended period of time. God’ s help through the power of prayer is available for various kinds of requests and challenges. We are reminded in the book of Phillipians, chapter 4 verses 6-7“ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

We all need to become more resilient, bouncing back from life’ s tragedies and difficulties. Some persons are more able to“ come back” over and over again during their lifetime. Resilient people don’ t try to avoid failure and life’ s crushing blows; they pick themselves up, bounce back, survive and thrive. President Theodore Roosevelt said“ It isn’ t he critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better, the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error

or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he falls, at least he falls while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with theses cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

At various times in our lives, many of us have experienced a kind of life that makes us want to crawl into a hole; resiliency is what helps us dust ourselves off and climb back into the saddle instead. I believe that resiliency is the uncanny ability to face failures, disappointments, setbacks, crises and betrayal with confidence and courage. Rising like the Phoenix is the ability to quickly bounce back from our personal trials, tribulations and tragedies. Without this ability we will forever dwell on our setbacks instead of making progress in our lives. Remember, don’ t continue to stare at the spot where you lost your footing, forge ahead with confidence and determination because you can make it if you just keep on keeping on.

Hollywood actor John Travolta, in my opinion, is the epitome of a comeback king, rising form the ashes like the proverbial Phoenix. Director Quentin Tarantino gave Travolta’ s career a life-saving boost when he cast him in his movie Pulp Fiction, with a great cast of actors like Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Harvey Keitel and Uma Thurman. It was Pulp Fiction that really brought John Travolta back into the spotlight years after his days as sharp dancing Tony Manero of the highly popular Saturday Night fever movie.

Yes, you too, can rise from the ashes like the Phoenix.