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Words For Change Podcast
Jump into the transformative world of "Words For Change Podcast," a thought-provoking podcast hosted by Rev. Lionel Bailey. Designed for those seeking inspiration and direction, this show delves into the power of change, transformation, and progress in our lives.
With every episode, Lionel Bailey, gives his unique blend of spiritual insight and contemporary relevance, sharing stories, and interviews that motivate listeners to embrace positive changes in their personal and communal lives. Rooted in Lionel's deep spiritual foundation, the show also touches upon various religious and moral perspectives, offering listeners a chance to reflect and connect on a deeper level.
Whether you're looking to evolve personally, spiritually, or within your community, Lionel provides practical advice and steps to help guide your journey.
Tune in to "Words For Change Podcast" and begin your learning and transformation journey with Rev. Lionel Bailey. Discover not just the power of words past and present, but the actions and impact they can inspire.
Your support is appreciated:
Patreon.com/WordsforChangePodcast
Words For Change Podcast
Ep. 81 How to Transforming Hardships into Opportunities
What if your toughest moments were actually your biggest opportunities for growth? Discover how to transform life's challenges into a springboard for personal development in our celebratory 80th episode of the Words for Change podcast. We'll guide you through the art of choosing growth over despair, sharing uplifting stories of resilience from around the world. From SpaceX's groundbreaking rocket launch to the heartening recovery efforts in Florida, we find hope and strength in adversity. We also unravel the complex web of misinformation in today's political climate, urging a commitment to truth and compassion, even as tensions flare with China's military maneuvers near Taiwan.
We'll also cut through the noise surrounding personal growth myths, showing you that you don't need a guru or extraordinary measures to evolve—simple, everyday actions like praying, stretching, and reading can make all the difference. Learn how to process negative experiences in a healthy way, balancing work and play, and leaning on a supportive network to navigate life's setbacks. With personal anecdotes and practical strategies, this episode offers a roadmap to reflection and adaptability. Plus, get a sneak peek at our forthcoming free ebook packed with insights to fuel your personal growth journey. Join us as we express gratitude to our listeners and gear up for our next episode, reinforcing the importance of keeping God first and choosing growth, even when life gets tough.
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Well, good morning. Words for Change podcast. I have a quote for you. Quote says this pain and negative experiences are inevitable, but growth from those experiences is optional. Are you growing from the negative experiences you're having in your life? Well, in this episode we're gonna talk a little bit about how you can grow from negative experiences, what it means when you go through negative experiences, and maybe even suggest another strategy for getting through them in a different perspective. About negative experiences here on October the 14th man. This is a special episode because it is our 80th episode. That's right, our 80th episode. So thanks and hats off to those of you who've been with us through this entire journey.
Lionel Bailey:We've tried our best to get better at producing podcast episodes as well as our YouTube page. Make sure you go check that out. Words for Change YouTube page on YouTube, where you can see different kind of episodes. We do the message in the word there as well, but it's a little bit different how we do it to help cater to that platform. Audio. This is the fun part. I love doing audio podcasts and so to those of you, thank you for your continued support. Don't forget in the description you can also send a message just to say thank you. Yes, this resonated with me. Just click that button there and that message will go directly to me and I will respond. You can even recommend future episodes that you would like to hear from as well.
Lionel Bailey:Well, y'all know what day it is right. Well, we have a lot to cover here. On October 15th, SpaceX its engineers, have launched its 400 foot blast rocket and has returned that rocket back to its space pad, and so they're really happy about that, because this is the uh. This means that this rocket can be reused. So that is a major, major accomplishment from the spacex team. So which is moving them further toward their goals of uh, just moving them further toward their goal of commercialized space flight, which is to go for SpaceX.
Lionel Bailey:What else do we have in the news? Florida neighbors are banding together as they began the recovery efforts in the aftermath of Helena, Hurricanes Helena and Milton. So our prayers are out to that those individuals and families and perhaps you have family members who were affected by Hurricane Helena and Hurricane Milton down in Tampa, Florida, where many, many floods ruined many homes, many dreams, and so let's keep those who are affected and our family members who've been affected Hopefully there has been no loss of life from someone that you know, people that you are close to doing this time, and unfortunately, in St Petersburg, Florida, from the pulpit some would say, is on the Associated Press that Harris calls out Trump for hurricane misinformation. There has been information stated in the news used by presidential candidates that I think they said some people are saying the Democrats were responsible for inciting the hurricane. What a crazy thing. But also I just hate the fact that we use these kind of natural disasters as political fodder, if you will. So a Cornelia Christian church down in Florida. The president said the church. There are some who are not acting in the spirit of community, and I'm not speaking of these who have been literally telling the truth, but about those lying, about people who are working hard to help folks in need, spreading disinformation when the truth and facts are required. Harris said so. She's referring to President Donald Trump and listen. You all know that we are in a full swing and there have those of you who listen to this podcast are on both sides of the aisle, but I want to encourage you that Jesus said that if my kingdom was of this world, then would not my angels come and fight on my behalf? But my kingdom is not of this world. So, as you move towards the voting season, remember that you represent God's kingdom first and foremost, and keep that in the forefront of your mind.
Lionel Bailey:China deploys a record 125 warplanes and large-scale military drill and warning to taiwan. This has continuously gone on for a while now. On october 14th, associated press says that 125 aircraft and aircraft carriers and ships a large scale exercise surrounding Taiwan. Why would you have a large scale exercise surrounding Taiwan? Well, if you don't follow the news, you'll know, and I know, that China once tied the Taiwanese people back underneath their legislative and judicial powers, and so that goes against Americans' interests, if you don't know. So let's keep praying, because we know this, that war is never the answer. War only brings more misery, and war is a demonstration of our inherent selfishness in the world. And so these are some very, very challenging times that we're going through, and I just wanted to encourage you as a listener, as a voter, as a person who is engaged. That's what Worship Change Podcast is about. It's about being engaged from a biblical context as well.
Lionel Bailey:Okay, Lions, the Detroit Lions pass. Rusher Adrian Hitchison needs surgery after injury to his tibia versus the Cowboys. I think the Cowboys lost, I think. So I'm not a huge fan, but hey, it is what it is. But let's pray for Hutchinson. He's in Dallas area getting surgery. The Lions coach, David Campbell, said that over there win against the Cowboys. Hutchinson Lake appears to have snapped above his ankle when he collided with a teammate during the game and so, man, that's a hard, hard injury there. So we'll keep praying for him.
Lionel Bailey:In the AP polls, Oregon, Penn State, moved behind number one Texas, Army and Navy. Both are ranked for the first time in 60 years. Army and Navy go Navy, go, Navy, go blue. So you guys know I'm in the Navy, so, hey, I'm a huge college football fan. Texas is hanging in there. They're ranked number one. So Texas is really climbing up the polls there. In the college football rankings, Oregon is number two, Penn State number three, Ohio State number four, Georgia number five and Miami Miami number six. So Alabama seven for the Tigers, LSU number eight, Iowa State's number nine, Clemson is number ten.
Lionel Bailey:And so here's my question for you Are you growing from the bad and negative experiences in your life? Are you unhappy with your life? Are you learning from the bad experiences you're having in your life? That is the question of today. Scripture in the Bible says this. Jesus said this in the Gospels except the seed falls into the ground and dies, it can not produce fruit. James 1, 2 through 4 says consider all joy when you face various trials and many kinds of temptations, because, knowing that this testing of your faith produces perseverance, Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature, complete and lacking nothing. There are three things I want to share with you, and I want you to think about this as we consider are we learning from the bad experiences in our life?
Lionel Bailey:First thing that we got to remember, y'all, is that when we are optimistic, when we're optimistic, we put ourselves in the best possible position to manage bad experiences Okay. When we are optimistic, we put ourselves in the best possible position to manage unfortunate or negative in or negative experiences, okay. So the first one is how are you, what's your posture, what's your stance toward negative experiences in your life? What's your frame of mind about the negative experience? What's your attitude, what are your assumptions and what are your expectations about the negative experiences you have in your life, Be it money, your goals, your health, your future? Are you optimistic or are you pessimistic? If you're a pessimistic person. Everything is gloom and doom, right.
Lionel Bailey:So the first point we got to remember is, if we're going to take negative experiences and we're going to use these things to transform our lives, then we have to have a positive frame of mind, Not just with our goals and where we want to go, but thinking about what Jesus said in the scripture right, Except to see, falls into the ground, consider it all joy. That means that the frame of mind about money, health, goals, future, your job, work you have to have a positive mindset. Why? Because a positive mindset sets you up for the best possible position to give it over those negative experiences and use them in order to help you. A perfect example would be how do you feel about going to work this morning? Do you like your job or do you not? And if you don't, how can you turn that switch and use that situation, or use these feelings about where you are and turn it around in a positive way and use it for your benefit.
Lionel Bailey:Number two you have to let the negative experiences that you're going through today prompt creativity. A lot of negative experiences to prompt creativity. John Maxwell, which is what most of this is coming from. John Maxwell, 15 Inviable Laws of Growth. We're going to go through this for the next few months. I'm sorry I should have mentioned it at the beginning, but this is very important. So, number two you have to turn pain into gain, turn pain into gain. So, one you feel the negative experiences whether that be rejection, the consequences of bad choices you've made and change that around for good, right.
Lionel Bailey:So a personal example for me is when I had a team that I put together and I realized that this was the church plant and I realized that we all had the right mindset, but we didn't all have the right cultural expectations what kind of culture we were building. So, yes, you can have people who are gifted. You have the gifted musicians. You can have gifted people in finance. You can have gifted people in teaching classes. You have gifted people in assimilation, which is bringing in new people in the church, and teaching classes. You have gifted people in assimilation, which is bringing in new people in the church. But if you don't have the same cultural mindset of how we're building these things and how we are putting these pieces into place and everybody's doing their own thing, you're not building the culture that you need to build.
Lionel Bailey:Okay, so I had to turn that around that negative experience and be more creative. Being more creative meaning that I had to turn that around that negative experience and be more creative. Being more creative meaning that I had to look at unconventional ways in order to deal with this problem, and so one of the things that I did was I started hiring people who were in Bible college and at the local community college to come and help me do those things. But I got those people to come in after interviewing them and finding out what kind of culture did they come from, or when I gave them the vision for my culture that I was trying to build. Okay then, if they fit that culture or they fit that mindset, yes, but if they didn't guess what, I didn't bring them on. So there is nothing unbiblical about going through bad experiences. It's about what you do with the experiences that you have. Number three you have to embrace the value of negative experiences. Where there is no struggle, there is no progress. Difficulties must become opportunities.
Lionel Bailey:Pain helps us to do one thing what Causes us to change? If you're unhealthy and you have a heart attack or you're struggling with physical diseases because you're not working out, what does that do? It prompts you to make changes? Okay, it prompts you to make changes. So, once again, three things we got to keep in mind. Number one positive stance or positive posture. What is your attitude, expectations and assumptions about what you're going through, Be it money, goal, health, your future finances? About what you're going through, be it money, goal, health, your future finances and or relationships? Two let negative experiences turn them around with creativity. Okay, Turning pain into gain. Number three embrace the value of negative experiences. And why is that important? Because when we embrace the value, what does it do? It helps us to make changes. Now here's some more practical steps. Okay, Some more practical steps.
Lionel Bailey:The scripture says that the purpose of a person's heart this is in Proverbs 25, the purposes of a person's heart are like deep waters, but the one who has insight draws it out right. Problems often force us to explore the depths of our own heart and grow in wisdom and understanding. Did y'all just hear that? That was a? I apologize about that. That's so funny, Anyway. And so what does that mean? Here's what that means in a real sense.
Lionel Bailey:One of the practical steps that you can take to help turn negative experiences is this value of self-reflection. It involves examining your thought patterns regarding the experiences you're going through. Self-reflecting includes asking questions and opinion asking people closest to you. It includes journaling. It includes sitting in silence and see what bubbles to the surface. I tell people all the time okay, consider the questions when you're in meditation or sitting in silence. Do you like the face you see in the mirror? All right, Are you creating the life you want? Where are your thoughts about the point of view point of view of life? These are practical steps that you can take, right, that can help you further grow and take negative experiences and use them in positive ways.
Lionel Bailey:Now here's some of the myths about personal growth. Right, when we start talking about personal growth, there's a few myths you need, you and I need to debunk, right. No, personal growth is not perfect. Right, but there are some common myths. One of them is that personal growth requires too much effort. I would argue that it doesn't. That's a misconception. Right, there's many things that you're doing, that you've done for many, many years that leads toward personal growth. Right, when you get up in the morning, what do you do? You pray. That's a feed of personal growth. That's a feature of personal growth. When you get up in the morning. What do you do? Do you stretch? That's a feature of personal growth, Okay, Do you? When you get up in the morning or as you go throughout your day, do you read? That's a feature of personal growth. Do you read or build, inspire yourself through your own reading and processing? That's a part of personal growth.
Lionel Bailey:Another misconception is you need a guru. No, you don't. I'm not a guru, I'm just helping guide us along the path. Right, but when you participate in these different kinds of things, you are, in essence, participating in personal growth, okay, so what I would suggest you to do in this case is pay attention to your daily activities and things that hinder you from your daily activities that contribute to you taking these negative experiences and using them in a positive light. Ok, and so, again, these are some things that can help you. Another practical I like to call them prac apps strategies you can use, as one you got to adopt after you adopt that positive mindset.
Lionel Bailey:Right, you need to understand if you're processing negative experiences in a healthy or unhealthy way. In a healthy or unhealthy way, how can you differentiate between the two? Okay, and the first thing I would do is say check your habits. Unhealthy ways of coping includes overindulging in things that make you happy, Okay. Are you drinking too much? Are you playing excessively instead of excessively, instead of balancing play and work? Are you ignoring people who love you? Are you disengaged from others? Are you isolating yourself? Are you not practicing daily disciplines or meditation or prayer? Are you not reading scripture daily? Okay, these are some of the signs that you're not processing negative experiences in a positive light.
Lionel Bailey:On the other hand, if you're processing them positively, it involves being able to sit with the challenges and ask yourself questions, to admit when you've done wrong, To admit things are not the way you want them to go. If you're struggling with meditation yet you still practice it you are handling it well. Do you choose more challenging things instead of taking the easy way out? This is another sign, another strategy, right that you can use to say, hey, I'm processing this well. Other strategy, right that you can use to say, hey, I'm processing this well. Right, Are you asking clarifying questions of yourself and distinctions? Are you willing to listen? Sitting in silence or in meditation is a wonderful way I might add, a wonderful way of helping you to deal with negative experiences.
Lionel Bailey:And, lastly, having a healthy support system is essential right. Having people around you can help you see the blind spots that you don't see. They can motivate you when you're not motivating yourself. They can help give you honest feedback about the decisions you make and they can help point you honest feedback about the decisions you make and they can help point you in the right direction to get and gain additional help like a counselor or therapist. Okay, and I'm going to be writing an ebook on this and I'm working on that right now and I'm going to share with all of my listeners for free. So when, when I finish writing it hopefully by the end of November then I will get it out to you guys and you'll be able to just download it, simply, okay, and it'll be there for you.
Lionel Bailey:So, once again, a couple of things we talked about here right, Handling negative experiences will help us. Why? Number one have a positive stance. Number two you have to what? Let negativities prompt creativity. Number one have a positive stance. Number two you have to what? Let negativities prompt creativity. Number three embrace the value, because the value is that it makes changes, helps you to make changes, and then the strategies can be growth. You can grow by what Sitting in silence, meditating, recognizing whether or not you're using a meditation or you I'm sorry you recognize whether or not you are using negative experiences in a positive light. Reflecting upon using reflection as a strategy, right, Debunking the myths. Right, Pay attention to your daily activities. These are ways that you can figure out if you are using negative experiences in a positive light and knowing the signs of a healthy versus unhealthy way of dealing with negative experiences. These are all tools that can help you right, and I just want to share this with you.
Lionel Bailey:Just to kind of go back to my personal experience, because it does matter, when I eventually decided that I wasn't building the culture that I wanted to build at that church, right, that I wasn't building the society that I wanted to build at that church, right, that I wasn't building the society that I wanted to build at that church, it caused me to ask some very, very deep and clarifying questions, and I learned that from that negative experience when I walked away from it, because eventually guess what, y'all? I had to end up closing that church, and that was sort of like the death of dreams almost. But God provided a way and we were able to do some other things that were very similar to what we were doing but build a community in another way, and God blessed that whole situation. But here's what I learned from that negative experience. I learned that I needed to get better at discerning character. I remember, man, the day before we had our first launch of our first service, people called didn't even call me, they text me and said they couldn't be there, that they changed their mind. This is on launch day and I was freaking out, right, Because these people played an essential part. People that I had ate dinner with and hung out with and did a lot of family and community building and relationship building, changed their mind at the last minute.
Lionel Bailey:And that taught me something. Number one I needed to have a better judge of character. Number two I need to ask people clarifying questions. Number three I need to challenge my own leadership abilities and I needed to grow at them. Number three I had the right perspective, but how I executed that needed to be shored up more, needed to be more foolproof. Now, you can't predict everything. Everything you try, everything we attempt, sometimes things just won't work out, and that's okay. It's all about what you learn. I learned a lot and it took me years to bounce back from that experience right. I learned a lot and it took me years to bounce back from that experience Right, but when I bounce back, it taught me a lot and I still use the what I learned from that experience today to help me build now and into the future.
Lionel Bailey:Ok, and so listen, guys. I am so grateful that you have been with us again the Words for Change podcast. Please don't forget to share this with someone that you have been with us again for the Words for Change podcast. Please don't forget to share this with someone that you know it can benefit. It will help them. And listen, we are continuing to pressure on. Thank you, guys, for being here with us for our 80th episode and we look forward to our next podcast episode that will be released Guess what? The day before Halloween, on the 29th. So God bless you. You guys, Keep God first and remember to keep growing right, Because growth difficulties are inevitable, but growth is optional. All right, See you on October, the 29th, Peace. Well, that's it for our news segment today. Thank you.
