A gender reveal is an exciting way to announce the results of a simple medical test. Everyone is so anxious and awaiting the news to reveal team girl or team boy! It even gets more thrilling when the couple finds out there may be one of each! In the same manner, finding out you passed the BAR and you are an OFFICIAL lawyer is monumentous!! Now those are some great test results! In both situations, so many lives are about to change!
However, what about when you get the results that you weren’t expecting…negative test results - you didn’t pass, they didn’t pick you for the job/team, you aren’t pregnant or you find out you have Covid or worse, you are told you have Cancer. These are only a few examples of the negative test results that life can give us. When they appear in our lives, are we ready? How do we react? What do we do?
In education you see many people with test phobias. They know the information perfectly, but when it’s test time they freeze and don’t do well. As a teacher, if a student fails a test or doesn’t understand the information, there are times to reteach and make sure the kiddo understands the information. But life doesn’t always give us those “re-teachable” moments. They are thrown at us full force and we are not ready for them at all! So what do we do? How do we deal with it all?
I saw a post that hit me hard this week. It simply said “NO TEST ~ NO TESTIMONY!” Wow! Let me say that again NO TEST ~ NO TESTIMONY! That hit me hard! I grew up thinking a “testimony” was only about my faith, but not always, it can be about any test we have overcome or any experience we want to share. We can help others because of what we have been through.
So let’s try to look at things this way… at some point in life there will be “test results” you don’t want. Once you have worked through them and dealt with them, in your own time you could use them - your testimony - to help others dealing with similar situations. Look for a mentor program in which to volunteer. There are many programs set up through educational sites, civic groups, churches and religious organizations and some anonymous sources as well. Don’t be afraid to reach out and ask for help if you need it. But also, don’t be afraid to help others going through situations similar to what you might have been or are going through. It can be a win - win for everyone!
Are there some “test results” that you have gotten in your life that haven’t been the best and have challenged you? How have you or how can you help someone else going through a similar test in their life? How do you feel helping others get through obstacles you’ve been through can help yourself?