Our brains are amazing organs! We can have very deep, focused thinking that allows us to solve complex problems, and in the midst of that work, within seconds, you can find yourself saying, “Purple Squirrel,” as our thoughts zoom off into the wilderness of random thought! 🙂
Here are some quick stats about our brains, our thinking, and our emotions:
- Some sources tell us our brains process between 12,000 to 70,000 thoughts per day. That equates to 2,916 thoughts per hour, with high variability based on sleep or physical activity. (Gemini AI)
- A significant portion of our thoughts, as high as 95%, may be repetitive. (Gemini AI)
- The relationship isn’t just one-way; emotions can also influence our thoughts and behaviors, creating a cycle where thoughts, feelings, and actions interact and affect each other. (Gemini AI)
- “Your thoughts, if you think them over and over, and assign truth to them, become beliefs. Beliefs create a cognitive lens through which you interpret the events of your world and this lens serves as a selective filter through which you sift the environment for evidence that matches up with what you believe to be true.” (Dr. Jennice Vilhauer)
Now throw a job loss event or the feeling of being unfulfilled into the gears of our brains rapidly processing information. Phew! Lots of thoughts and emotions can be generated. And many of them are very hard to control. They show up even if we think we’ve already dealt with them. They may be much stronger than we would imagine they could be, and they trigger other thoughts and feelings that don’t serve us well when we need to take positive action forward.
Would Have, Could Have, Should Have
If you find yourself unemployed or unfulfilled, your mind may be crowded with thoughts of the “would haves, could haves and should haves”. Replaying decisions you made or others made that impacted you. You may experience guilt or shame as consequences of those decisions and actions.
You may feel the sting of rejection from a RIF, or a job application you felt you were perfectly designed for before the rejection email hit you in the face. You may be plagued with thoughts of failures you’ve experienced in your past. So much so you’ve lost confidence in your skills and abilities. These thoughts and emotions may cause you to believe you’re in a deep valley, a vast wilderness, or just flat out feeling overwhelmed!
Pastor Levi Lusko, in a devotional reading plan called, “The Last Supper on the Moon,” in the YouVersion Bible app shares this perspective:
“There are craters so big (on the moon) the Grand Canyon could fit inside. One known crater is 85 miles wide and almost 30,000 feet deep. The irony, of course is that even though the dark side is where damage has happened, it is also where the highest heights are located.
Craters, after all, are just mountains in reverse. The moon also has mountain ranges taller than the Himalayas.
Extreme situations can lead to deeper happiness and more profound joy.
What makes you weird is also what makes you wonderful.
Your quirks and curiosities are packed full of potential.
Your pain can make you powerful.
Extreme gratitude will be the result of learning to embrace – and trusting God to unleash – the hidden potential of the dark side of your moon.”
When we’re getting 95% of our thoughts being repetitive, and they’re cycling through our past, looking backward, seeing the craters pockmarked in our lives, we certainly aren’t looking forward with anticipation of what could be next.
Another view: if you’re looking in the rearview mirror, you won’t be looking through the windshield to see what’s coming!
Looking Forward
If we can shift our view away from the past (other than to learn from it) and look to the future for what’s next, then we can channel our fantastic brains to focus on what we need to do to be successful with what’s next.
Kirk Patterson, a recent guest on our Crossroads Career podcast entitled, “Encountering God in a Wilderness Season,” had this to say,
“When God says, ‘Ok, are you done doing your thing? Then watch me do My thing.” Listen HERE
Trusting God with our future and looking forward enables:
- Faith rather than fear
- Hope rather than despair
- Proactivity rather than paralysis
- Opportunity rather than regrets
- Resolve rather than resignation
Kirk also said he felt the Holy Spirit say to him, “Are you done relying on your credentials?” Stop relying on self and rely on ME!
I’ve often heard this adage, “Let go and let God.” I prefer, “Let go and grab God!” I need to stay close to Him! 🙂
The ancient Roman philosopher, Seneca, once famously said, “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” While I don’t believe in luck (I lean toward Providence), I really like the aspect of being prepared when opportunities arise.
I’d like to leave you with another takeaway from Kirk’s story: “When something comes out of left or right field, and you didn’t see it coming, then look at God!”
Kirk emphasizes a priority for us, before looking backward (to learn) or forward (for opportunity), we should be looking UPWARD!!
Things to Consider
Here’s some practical areas for you to consider for when you’re in that season of being unemployed or unfulfilled, and you’re trying to look forward rather than backwards while leaning into God.
- 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” – Journaling your thoughts and activities enables you to see when your brain is taking you backwards rather than forward.
- Zechariah 4:6 tells us, “So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ’Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.” – Praying daily for the Holy Spirit to be at work in your life, so that your thoughts and actions can be focused where He wants you to be.
- Proverbs 16:9 “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” – We have accountability not to be idle. We should be actively preparing for whatever the next steps might be. God has equipped each of us uniquely for His purposes here on earth, so to hone our skills and maximize our abilities while in a state of being unemployed or unfulfilled is obedience to what the Scriptures tell us.
- Habakkuk 2:2-3 instructs us, “The LORD answered me, ‘Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end – it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.’” – Envisioning what possibilities and opportunities may exist for you is a positive and necessary step to move forward. Allow yourself the gift of exploration to seek out, in expectant anticipation, what the Lord may have next for you.
- Colossians 1:29 encourages us, “To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.” – Work on what God has allowed to be in front of you. Whether we like it or not, each day brings work before us to be diligent in performing, for His glory and others’ good! I’m not saying we shouldn’t change directions in our work, but don’t get out too far over your skis where you lose perspective of where you are and what you are to do now.
Kirk brought up a good analogy: When you’re in the valley, and you know a hill is coming, you better be prepared to climb it!
Even when we’re seemingly trudging along, not knowing what the future holds for us (hmmm, that’s daily!), we can always take hope in the promises His Word provides!
We can do what we know to do while we look forward with faith to what we don’t know!
As I hope you can tell, I’d encourage you to listen to Kirk’s story on our podcast. Listen HERE. Also, our Crossroads Guides would love to hear your story and help you look UPWARD, glance backward, and then go forward! They’re standing by, and you can schedule a free 45 minute consultation with one of them HERE!
Blessings!
Dave Sparkman currently serves as the volunteer Crossroads Career board chair and local ministry leader. He is also the founder and managing director of Spark Your Culture, a corporate culture consulting firm. Prior to that he worked at UnitedHealth Group, a Fortune #5 public company, serving in the role of Chief Culture Officer. His unemployment experience came from the implosion of Arthur Andersen, where he served as the West Region Managing Partner, People.
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