It took all of five minutes to suck me in.

You have to understand, I don’t watch much television, and when I do, it’s usually Dateline or 48 Hours, recorded on my DVR. Occasionally I’ll watch a movie or something on Discovery or the History Channel, but as far as frivolous TV watching, I’d rather spend my time writing or preparing one of my speaking/training messages.

All of this changed last week. After being sick for several days, I turned to Netflix, on the hunt for something to distract me from my hacking cough and aching head. Within minutes, The Crown caught my eye. For the first time in my life, I binge-watched a show — and I loved it. The question is…why?

My mind began reeling as the story line unfolded. Getting a glimpse at the personal side of royalty made me think about how they might have felt during some very difficult events. For instance, The Crown caused me to consider how Queen Elizabeth must have felt when she suddenly lost her father to lung cancer, and was immediately thrust out of the role of wife, mother, sister, and daughter, into the head of Britain’s monarchy.

Yet, in actuality, she’s just a person like you and me. She simply has a different position from everyone else on the rest of the planet.

And also like you and me, she was created on purpose, with purpose, in order to fulfill a purpose. On the outside, all of this looks glamorous, but behind-the-scenes, she had to sacrifice family, personal time, energy, and the ability to enjoy the little things in life that many of us take for granted. Plus, she must have quaked in her stockings over some of the decisions she had to make.

This is true for any great endeavor. Yes, there are rewards and blessings, but conversely, there are sacrifices and consequences. Plus, every person who ever pursues a big dream, a great purpose, or a lofty goal, must sooner or later face down deep inner fears. And fear is the biggest barrier to any success.

So what is your purpose? I know you aren’t called to be the queen, but there is something you are especially created to do — a position to fill or a project to complete. You exist for a reason. Let this be the year you determine to unearth what it is, and then face your fears. You were made to make a difference!

What’s the first step you can take toward fulfilling your purpose — finding your crown?

Anita Fresh Faith

Anita Brooks, CPT, CLTF, CCS, motivates others to dynamic break-throughs. Blending mind, heart, body, and spirit, as an Inspirational Business/Life Coach, International Speaker, and Common Trauma Expert. She shares hope and encouragement on the stage and from the page — reminding 21st century audiences, “It’s never too late for a fresh start with fresh faith.”

Anita is also a multi-published, award-winning author. Her most recent titles include Readers’ Favorite International and Florida Authors and Publisher’s Association Award Winner: Getting Through What You Can’t Get Over, Barbour Publishing, and Death Defied-Life Defined: A Miracle Man’s Memoir, Clovercroft Publishing. All of her titles are available at major and independent bookstores as well as from online retailers.

Anita is quoted as saying, “Reading is my obsession while writing is my compulsion.” Her life’s passion is inspiring others to transform life’s battles into lasting victories.

For pure pleasure, Anita’s favorite pastime is watching sunsets with her husband of thirty-three years, while they laugh and dip their toes in a Missouri river or lake. She adores her grandchildren, but she also wants to hear about those you love.

Listen to Anita’s podcast, Fresh Faith Inspirations, to get your weekly dose of hope and encouragement. You can connect with Anita on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Periscope, and Twitter. Email anita@anitabrooks.com to request information on having Anita inspirationally speak or train at your next event.

“One of the members of our board heard you speak at a recent conference on how personalities affect team dynamics and productivity. They were very impressed and want you to do some trainings with our employees and at the leadership level here, but there’s just one problem,” my business contact said.

“Problem?” I said.

“Someone looked at your website and they are concerned about how openly you talk about your faith in God.”

“Oh that. Sadly, this isn’t the first time someone has wanted me to speak in a business setting, but brought up my faith as a negative. You can assure them I don’t preach, try to convert people, or in any other way attempt to shove God down someone’s throat. He doesn’t force Himself on us, that’s why He gave us free will to choose, so I certainly am not going to pressure people either. But neither do I hide the fact that He is the greatest guiding power in my life.”

Everything worked out fine in this case. I got the training job, and they liked the results so much, they are planning on having me back multiple times. But it reminded me of an ongoing question I have.

Why are we so afraid of faith in the workplace? Especially when prayer and trusting in Someone greater than yourself has proven highly beneficial in helping us succeed to a higher degree at work? In various studies, these are just a few of the areas identified as improved through faith in action on the job:

• Navigating stressful situations or periods
• Interacting with other people positively
• Producing better results more efficiently and effectively
• Focusing on the task at hand
• Exercising integrity and honesty
• Feeling happier and more fulfilled 
• Looking for a greater purpose in even mundane tasks
• Supporting and celebrating the efforts of others
• Willing to grow and do more

These are definite benefits, and oddly, the very same people who often question my openness about faith, are the same ones who tell me the qualitites above are what they most desire in their staff. Fear often prevents them from getting the very results they want. When employees feel suppressed or stifled in any area of their lives, especially spiritually, boredom and burnout often follow.

Having the freedom to show your faith in the workplace is crucial to a healthy work environment. Not shoving it at other people, but simply not feeling the pressure to hide who you really are and what you truly believe. Our faith especially comes in handy when crisis strikes.

• When the company faces financial struggles, especially to the point of impending closure.
• When someone on the team is blindsided by a hard life event.
• When the workload is bigger than the workforce.
• When a disgruntled employee does the unthinkable.

These are times when faith in the workplace really comes in handy — and can even save jobs and lives.

My faith in God is part of who I am, but I don’t expect everyone to agree with what I believe, so I won’t try to force it on someone else. However, I also know He’s the true secret to my success, and won’t fail to share my secret if I’m asked. If it costs me jobs, it makes me sad, but at the end of it all, my peace and joy are at stake if I allow shame or fear to have the upper hand. If I succumb, then I have lost everything. Life is too short to sacrifice who I am in an effort to appease someone else — life is beautiful when I stand bravely for what I believe. The benefits aren’t bad either.

Anita Fresh Faith

What do you think about the freedom of being open with your faith in the workplace?

Anita Brooks, CPT, CLTF, CCS, motivates others to dynamic break-throughs. Blending mind, heart, body, and spirit, as an Inspirational Business/Life Coach, International Speaker, and Common Trauma Expert. She shares hope and encouragement on the stage and from the page — reminding audiences, “It’s never too late for a fresh start with fresh faith.”

Anita is also a multi-published, award-winning author. Her titles include Amazon Best Seller and Readers’ Favorite International Book Award winner: Getting Through What You Can’t Get Over, Barbour Publishing, First Hired, Last Fired — How to Become Irreplaceable in Any Job Market, Leafwood Publishing, Death Defied-Life Defined: A Miracle Man’s Memoir, releasing Spring, 2016, and is a contributor to the global book phenomenon, The Change: Insights Into Self Empowerment Book #4. Her titles are available at major and independent bookstores as well as from online retailers.

Anita’s favorite pastime is watching sunsets with her husband of thirty-three years, while they laugh and dip their toes in the water. She adores her grandchildren, but she also wants to hear about those you love. Her favorite passion is inspiring others to transform life’s battles into lasting victories.

You can connect with Anita on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Periscope, and Twitter. Check out her live inspirational broadcasts as Anita Fresh Faith on Periscope. Keep up with her latest happenings at anitabrooks.com. Email anita@anitabrooks.com to request information on having Anita inspirationally speak or train at your next event.

If you live enough life, it will happen — you will hurt other people, and other people will hurt you. Sometimes we are intentional, but I believe most often, we do not mean to cause anyone else pain. Whether we are on the giving or receiving end, hurts happen.

But there’s one segment of people who are especially prone to viscious attack. They are the walking wounded. Those who harbor old betrayals, real or imagined, like a child clutching a favorite toy that an adult wants to throw away.

When we allow roots of bitterness and hate to sprout into tendrils that wrap around our minds and hearts, an ugliness begins to smother the beauty of who we are meant to be.

• Others don’t hear us when we speak, they only hear the harshness of our words.
• The fragrance of our spirits isn’t sweet, but soured.
• Our touch makes loved ones shudder, instead of open for an embrace.
• The flavors of our food and drink are masked by the saltiness of our emotions.
• We begin to avoid the mirror, turned off by the reflection we see.

Or worse, we become so engrossed in lashing out so others can feel our pain, that we lose sight of what we really want. Peace.

But what do you do when you desire and are willing to do almost anything to have peace with someone, but they are so wounded they refuse to cooperate in the healing process? This is where I’m reminded of something I use to teach my grandson patience with other people. I often say, “You can’t change them — you can only change him. So work on your part, even if you have to do it from a distance until they can work through their emotions.”

But what do you do to bring about your own transformation while you wait in hopes that the other party will come around? These are the things I practice.

• I ask myself, what might be ticking behind the wall of this person’s hardened heart that is making them react this way? What do they fear? How have they been wounded in the past? What might I feel if I had been through some of the things they’ve experienced? This helps compassion supercede my anger.
• I become intentional at remembering some of my own flaws and past mishaps where I caused another pain. Then I recall how much I desired mercy and God’s intervention to help me clean up the mess I made. This helps me realize I am no better than the person who is hurting me, and I am able to care for them in a whole new way.
• I pray for them. Even if they have made themselves my unwilling enemy, God tells us to pray for our enemies, for those who would spitefully use us. I specifically pray that God would repair the wounds that are causing this person so much pain. I pray He would have mercy and understanding for the why behind what they are doing.
• I analyze myself intently. Have I played a part in creating the chaos? Is there an action I should take? What is God telling me? Should I do something? Or should I sit still and know that He is God and He is fighting on my behalf? I strive not to get in God’s way by trying to force something that may not align with His will. (We humans are terrible at sticking our noses into God’s business.)
• I praise God in advance for working out a situation that appears unworkable. I thank Him for orchestrating things unseen so that His ultimate plan would come about.

Every situation is unique. An answer for one relationship crisis will not necessarily work for another, so I need to carefully listen for God’s voice and weigh various outcomes before I act. The pattern above helps me do that.

I certainly don’t have all of the answers. But I do know the One who does. And I have love. Even when others behave in unloving ways, I can love them, and they can’t stop me. Circumstances may require I do so from a distance, but I can still have care and compassion for them, and I can pray that God would heal their hurting heart that causes them to hurt others.

All of us are prone to hurt someone else. When we see hate and bitterness, it makes us want to run the other way. Do I want others to run when they see me coming? If I learn no greater lesson than to pay closer attention to how I treat other people, then the pain was worth it all.

What do you do when hurting people hurt you?

Anita Fresh Faith

Anita Brooks, CPT, CLTF, CCS, motivates others to dynamic break-throughs. Blending mind, heart, body, and spirit, as an Inspirational Business/Life Coach, International Speaker, and Common Trauma Expert. She shares hope and encouragement on the stage and from the page — reminding audiences, “It’s never too late for a fresh start with fresh faith.”

Anita is also a multi-published, award-winning author. Her titles include Amazon Best Seller and Readers’ Favorite International Book Award winner: Getting Through What You Can’t Get Over, Barbour Publishing, First Hired, Last Fired — How to Become Irreplaceable in Any Job Market, Leafwood Publishing, Death Defied-Life Defined: A Miracle Man’s Memoir, Clovercroft Publishing, and is a contributor to the global book phenomenon, The Change: Insights Into Self Empowerment Book #4. Her titles are available at major and independent bookstores as well as from online retailers.

Anita’s favorite pastime is watching sunsets with her husband of thirty-three years, while they laugh and dip their toes in the water. She adores her grandchildren, but she also wants to hear about those you love. Her favorite passion is inspiring others to transform life’s battles into lasting victories.

You can connect with Anita on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Periscope, and Twitter. Check out her live inspirational broadcasts as Anita Fresh Faith on Periscope. Keep up with her latest happenings at anitabrooks.com. Email anita@anitabrooks.com to request information on having Anita inspirationally speak or train at your next event.