Failure – Page 3 – Melissa Schlies

The Hardest No

“…The very things you think you need most desperately are the things that can transform you the most profoundly when you do finally decide to release them.” —Shauna Niequist Sometimes, the hardest no’s in our lives are the ones we have to tell ourselves. They’re the ones that often begin with a whisper, “I am not going to have dessert this week.” “I am only going to have one drink.” Only they’re ignored when the stress gets too much, or everyone else is having another. We don’t listen to the whisper, so we say it a little louder to ourselves. [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-11-19T12:18:46+00:00November 19th, 2018|Categories: Balance, Courage, discipline, Failure, Health, Hope, Making Decisions, perseverance, Saying No, Uncategorized|1 Comment

Learn: Three Questions to Ask After Rejection

At the beginning of seventh grade, the girls in my class started asking out the boys they liked. It became a thing they did at recess. Each day, after lunch, the boys would play basketball. While all the girls would stand in a group, just behind the basket ball net, watching the boys. And at least once a day, a girl would yell over the noise of the basket ball game to ask a boy to go out with her friend. A girl never asked out a boy directly. Usually, during this daily drama, I stood and bore witness. Mostly [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-11-05T15:10:29+00:00November 15th, 2018|Categories: Failure, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, perseverance, Rejection, Success, Uncategorized|Comments Off

The Hero’s Journey

Ever notice that many of our favorite books-turned-movies all follow the same formula? Katniss, Harry Potter, Frodo—the story is always the same. Sure their lives and situations look different, but their journeys, not so much. At their core, each of these stories is about a normal, seemingly everyday person faced with an impossible quest. But why are we so enamored by them when we aren’t faced with the arena, becoming a wizard, or the daunting task of destroying an evil ring before it destroys us? What about the hero’s journey speaks to you and me? All this month, we have [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-10-18T18:45:26+00:00October 29th, 2018|Categories: Acceptance, Calling, Character, Courage, Failure, Fear, Health, Hope, Mental Health, perseverance, Success, Uncategorized, Waiting|3 Comments

You’ll Figure This Out

Do you remember your first day of school? Having to figure out what classroom you belonged in, where to sit, and who to talk to? All of your new classmates and even your teacher seemed at least a little scary. And, if like me, you changed schools at an older age, that first day felt even more daunting. For some reason, the older we get, the greater the potential to feel self conscious. Because, no matter what our age, Beginning new things, in new places is always hard. As a kid, I thought new things were hard because I was [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-08-20T15:59:21+00:00September 10th, 2018|Categories: Change, Courage, Failure, Fear, Hope, perseverance, Uncategorized|2 Comments

When Change is Slow

Well, friends, we’ve not only made it to spring, but summer is just days away. Though the winter seemed like it would never end (at least here in the Northeast), it has. Flowers are blooming and trees are finally green. Yet, as some of you have probably also noticed, this means it’s shorts weather. Soon, it will be bathing suite weather. And if you are like me, you’re not quite ready to shed all of the layers of clothing winter required. Long sweaters and jeans can hid a multitude of sins. But here we are, in June. As excited as [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-09T21:33:18+00:00June 18th, 2018|Categories: Balance, Change, discipline, Failure, Health, perseverance, Routines, Success|Comments Off

When Leaders Fall

A cause that is excruciatingly dear to my heart, is churches ordaining women pastors. As slow as equal rights for women have moved in the workplace, in the church they have moved even slower. Toxic rhetoric around the role of women, is recited often as clearly as scripture in many church leadership circles. And when I left church ministry for related reasons, I quickly started looking for churches that empower women. In the denomination I had served in, I found few. However one of those churches was a rather large one, lead by a world renown, influential leader. I started [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-05T12:34:18+00:00May 21st, 2018|Categories: Character, Failure, Leadership, Uncategorized|4 Comments

When Your Name Isn’t On The List

At the end of eighth grade, I tried out for the high school football cheerleading squad. Wearing an oversized t-shirt and gym shorts, I lined up with my friends and the other girls trying out. For three or four afternoons after school, I learned what a Herkie was and sort of how to do one. I was taught to clap a certain way, how to belt out cheers, and to smile constantly. And at the end of the week, I performed a cheer in front of three judges to show them I had what it took to be a cheerleader. [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-18T00:43:13+00:00November 20th, 2017|Categories: Acceptance, Failure, Identity, Success|Comments Off

Courage After Failure

Two weeks before I moved into college, I was in my first car accident. That night had been like any summer evening for a teenager living in a small town. There was nothing to do. So, I decided to take my younger sisters to get ice cream. My parents let me have the car, and for a reason I don’t remember, we headed to the grocery store instead of the Friendly’s down the street. At the store we picked out a half gallon of rocky road and a few bottles of soda. We checked out, then my sisters and I [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-18T20:09:39+00:00July 31st, 2017|Categories: Courage, Failure, Fear, Success|Comments Off

Learn: How I Survived the Death of a Dream

When a dream dies, we can feel like failures. In some situations, there is a sting of rejection that is paralyzing. Add all of this to our broken hearts, and it can feel as if the world is ending. Only, it isn’t. And though everything seems to be screaming to us otherwise, our lives aren’t ending either. We must keep going in the midst of sometimes, unimaginable pain. We need to figure out a way to keep on living that involves more than binging on Netflix and eating carbs—but how? A little over five years ago, one of my dreams [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-19T15:51:58+00:00June 1st, 2017|Categories: Failure, grief, Hope, Identity, Learn, Love Learn Lead, perseverance|Comments Off

Between Me And You

I was just waking up. I had fallen a sleep as my husband drove us out of Connemara National Park, just north of Galway, Ireland. We now were on a narrow road, shadowed by leafy green trees. My husband had his music playing (I say his because I hadn’t heard of the artist before), and when he saw I was up he asked me if I was feeling better. I had felt a little car sick earlier. I groggily told him that I thought I was better, and then this song came on. It was what I now know as [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-19T15:53:30+00:00May 29th, 2017|Categories: Failure, grief, Hope, perseverance|Comments Off

The Hardest No

Learn: Three Questions to Ask After Rejection

The Hero’s Journey

You’ll Figure This Out

When Change is Slow

When Leaders Fall

When Your Name Isn’t On The List

Courage After Failure

Learn: How I Survived the Death of a Dream

Between Me And You

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