Could use some encouragement

joshuaguyer

Hi, I'm josh. A bit hesitant making this post because I'm generally a very positive person and don't want to be perceived as complaining. To be honest, I'm not sure I would respond to a post like this so am not really expecting much. Having said that, I've been feeling a little discouraged and lonely lately and would really appreciate any encouraging words and support! Thanks for the love

Leticia92376

Hi, what ever you do be happy with who you are and admire your self daily even if others dont. I personally learned that if I keep my personality outgoing and be happy I can show that I'm happy with who I'm becoming. People see me and they tell me wow you are happy all the time. After I walk away I know they are questioning why but I know inside me is because I'm happy with who I am. I'm just pushing my self a bit more to be physically good and healthy for me not for anyone.

joshuaguyer

Thank you for those kind words of encouragement, Leticia! In general I tend to have a very high opinion of myself and recognize that I have a lot of very positive attributes that others find appealing. While like you I try to maintain a positive outlook that suggests to others that I am happy, unfortunately the reality is that I'm actually not happy. I've become quite good at repressing my loneliness by thoroughly immersing myself in work.

Kindrex30

Everyone has their ups and downs. My school director recently gave me a task because I was in a similar spot. She said it is so easy to tell yourself negative things. Which is true. We can all list numerous things about ourselves we'd like to change. Inside and out. So her task was to stand in front of the mirror every day and say 3 positive things about yourself. Which was WAY more difficult than it seemed. But it helps.

joshuaguyer

Thank you, Kindrex. I'm going to take your suggestion and do that right now!

StartEveryDayNew

You got this!! I am very positive most days but I have my bad days as well. You can do it!! Find things other than work that make you happy!!! I have a few close friends that do nothing but bring me up when I'm down.

joshuaguyer

You're right - thanks, Heather! I could use more diversity in activities to achieve a more balanced life.

lisahebert186

HI there, it can be discouraging at times, but there are a lot of people that are going through the exact same thing and would like nothing more than to be there for you. Don't be hesitant to post. That is what they are here for, to give you encouragement and help you with your journey!

Trailtramper74

I don't know what your goals are, but I hope you feel more encouraged soon. Posting can help. There are a lot of supportive people here.

indiacaitlin

Hey, it does get a bit like that sometimes sorry you're feeling that way.

Try and reflect on all the things you have achieved so far (in relation to fitness and not in relation to fitness) and be proud of yourself for that. Set some realistic goals and work towards them! Positive affirmations always help too. You got this!

joshuaguyer

Indiacaitlin, thank you so much for the kind words of encouragement!!!

joshuaguyer

Mhessacp, thank you for being so supportive!

joshuaguyer

Lisahebert186, you're so right - thank you for the reminder and for your support!!

allieparkia

Feel free to add me, always great to have new friends!

PBWaffleCakes

We all getbthat way from time to time BUT you are strong, amazing, and enough! Keep being amazing!

joshuaguyer

Thanks for the invitation, Allieparkia!!

joshuaguyer

Tatajana, that's so encouraging to hear - thank you very much for your kind words of support

reggieuppal

We all have our good days and bad, at times most days tend to get overwhelming and discourage us from what we're set out to do. Focus more on the good and less on the bad. Use your positivity to motivate you and keep you going. You got this and I'm sure you'll be successful in your goals. Keep going and dont give up. We're all here to motivate and support one another !

BiggDaddy58

joshuaguyer

Thanks so much for your kind words of encouragement, reggieuppal!!

joshuaguyer

Great picture, biggdaddy58 - made me laugh Thanks!

ianbmatthew

Brave and humble of you to seek encouragement!

jofaithisfit

I found this picture quote to be helpful when I've encountered seasons of discouragement or unhappiness. Remember it's just chapter of your story and you can always turn the page and move forward. Don't dwell there!

DreBatman

Philippians 4:6-7 ESV / 498 helpful votes

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 5:7 ESV / 355 helpful votes

Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Matthew 6:25-34 ESV / 329 helpful votes

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ...

John 14:27 ESV / 266 helpful votes

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Matthew 6:34 ESV / 236 helpful votes

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV / 227 helpful votes

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Philippians 4:6 ESV / 178 helpful votes

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Philippians 4:19 ESV / 169 helpful votes

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:31 ESV / 144 helpful votes

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Matthew 11:28-30 ESV / 143 helpful votes

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

1 Peter 5:6-7 ESV / 128 helpful votes

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Romans 15:13 ESV / 114 helpful votes

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Isaiah 41:10 ESV / 114 helpful votes

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

1 John 4:18 ESV / 102 helpful votes

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

Matthew 6:33 ESV / 87 helpful votes

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 28:20 ESV / 86 helpful votes

Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Romans 8:28 ESV / 75 helpful votes

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Hebrews 11:1 ESV / 71 helpful votes

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Psalm 37:1-4 ESV / 56 helpful votes

Of David. Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Romans 8:1-39 ESV / 52 helpful votes

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ...

Malachi 4:2 ESV / 52 helpful votes

But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.

Luke 12:22-40 ESV / 51 helpful votes

And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? ...

Psalm 23:1-6 ESV / 51 helpful votes

A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ...

Isaiah 41:13 ESV / 49 helpful votes

For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”

Romans 12:1-2 ESV / 45 helpful votes

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

John 3:16 ESV / 41 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Habakkuk 3:17-19 ESV / 39 helpful votes

Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.

Isaiah 55:1-3 ESV / 37 helpful votes

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.

Psalm 46:10 ESV / 37 helpful votes

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

Psalm 9:9-10 ESV / 37 helpful votes

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

John 14:1 ESV / 34 helpful votes

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.

Job 30:27 ESV / 34 helpful votes

My inward parts are in turmoil and never still; days of affliction come to meet me.

Romans 8:28-29 ESV / 31 helpful votes

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

John 11:40 ESV / 31 helpful votes

Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”

Jeremiah 12:1 ESV / 29 helpful votes

Righteous are you, O Lord, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?

Luke 10:41-42 ESV / 27 helpful votes

But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Matthew 12:20 ESV / 25 helpful votes

A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory;

Psalm 127:1-2 ESV / 25 helpful votes

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

Psalm 27:1 ESV / 25 helpful votes

Of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

1 John 3:1 ESV / 23 helpful votes

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Matthew 5:1-10 ESV / 23 helpful votes

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. ...

Proverbs 3:5 ESV / 23 helpful votes

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

Psalm 103:1-5 ESV / 23 helpful votes

Of David. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Acts 16:22-40 ESV / 20 helpful votes

The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. ...

Psalm 32:10 ESV / 19 helpful votes

Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.

John 3:1-36 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ...

Jude 1:1-25 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. ...

Romans 8:26-31 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. ...

Psalm 23:1 ESV / 11 helpful votes

A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Jude 1:6 ESV / 10 helpful votes

And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—

John 16:33 ESV / 9 helpful votes

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Hebrews 13:6 ESV / 8 helpful votes

So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

Daniel 4:1-24 ESV / 8 helpful votes

King Nebuchadnezzar to all peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you! It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me. How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation. I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace. I saw a dream that made me afraid. As I lay in bed the fancies and the visions of my head alarmed me. ...

1 John 4:9-10 ESV / 6 helpful votes

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Psalm 55:22 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

James 1:2-4 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Psalm 37:25 ESV / 5 helpful votes

I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.

joshuaguyer

Wow, that's a tremendous number of biblical quotes! I'm going to assume you had all of that previously written down and did not spontaneously decide to conduct an extensive search of biblical quotes related to encouragement solely for my benefit. In any case, thank you very much for your support, DreBatman. Perhaps for the future, reduce that list by maybe 75% because in it's current form it is so overwhelmingly long as to almost discourage its reading.

Unknown

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Safetysuitgirl

Hi there Josh! We've all been there trust me. Yes it's not a fun or easy feeling. It's something I struggle with as well. And I'm starting to learn that I'm the problem and part of the solution. I've gotten myself up, tried new activities, am trying to be more positive, take care of myself , & take the negative people out of my life! Please add me or friend request me so we can chat more. I would love to get to know you. We can help keep each other motivated and stay on track!:)

joshuaguyer

Thank you so much for your kind words of encouragement, safetysuitgirl

CajunTess

Hope you've found your way out of your funk by now. It's hard to feel positive and motivated ALL the time. We have good and bad days. My advice is to find some active, and supportive friends to do this with. It has been the single most important thing in my journey and I have some wonderful fitness pals. Feel free to send me a request if you need support from an active user.