I could make today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday really short and sweet.  If you don’t ask, you won’t receive.  I mean, that’s not the way it works 100% of the time, but it’s a pretty solid statement.  I would say that the vast majority of the time, if you don’t ask, you won’t get what you seek.  Let me share an example that drastically impacted my life.

This story begins in the fall of 2012.  During that time of my life I was very discontent with my job at the bookstore and focused on building a career in new media.  Things were progressing, but not quickly enough for my satisfaction.  I was really struggling.  I it was either late October or early November.  I had no desire to go through another Christmas season in retail, but at that point there was no way to avoid it.  There was one morning in particular that I was getting ready for work and it was the last place I wanted to be.  My heart wasn’t there.  My passion for  that career had gone.  

The truth is, nearly every morning had been that way for a while, and as the Christmas season grew nearer, my discontent grew stronger.  Each morning before going to work I would spend time in prayer.  I would ask God to help me deal with the situation.  That he would give me patience and wisdom.  I wanted to ask him to give me an opportunity to follow my passion of new media, but I just couldn’t.  

I couldn’t ask God for another opportunity because I felt like doing so would be selfish.  The truth is, my job was great.  It was a steady paycheck and a comfortable salary with a company that had values and a mission that I believed in.  Yes, there were a few people there that I thought were bad apples, but the majority of the people there were great.  The people in my department were awesome.  Most people would want the type of job that I had.  To ask for something else would be out of line. Read More...