Show Transcript

0:00:01 - (Kevin Lowe): To set the stage for today's episode, I have to acknowledge a simple truth. Your past does not have to dictate your future. Rock bottom does not mean that life is over. And if you need anything, it's just a little bit of hope to keep you moving forward, my friend. This is episode 313. I look forward to seeing you inside. Yo.

0:00:28 - (B): Are you ready to flip the script on life? Cause those bad days, they're just doors to better days. And that's exactly what we do here at grit, grace, and inspiration. Your host, Kevin Lowe, he's been flipping the script on his own life, turning over 20 years of being completely blind into straight up inspiration, motivation, and encouragement just for you. So kick back, relax, and let me introduce you to your host, Kevin. Hello.

0:00:55 - (Kevin Lowe): What's up, my friend? And welcome back to the podcast. I hope you are having an amazing day. And if by any chance you're not feeling quite so enthused about the day, well, my hope is that by the end of today's episode, I leave you feeling a little bit better about life. I don't know if you caught my interview with Justin Schenck that was inside of episode 312, but today is me piggybacking off of that interview with a few takeaways that I feel can be really impactful for your life.

0:01:33 - (Kevin Lowe): If you heard Justin's story, you know that he came from a very difficult childhood. But the important thing is that his past challenges, they did not have to dictate where he went in life. That is the important thing. The other important thing I want you to realize is that at one point in time, Justin hit rock bottom. But he realized an important truth is that rock bottom, well, there's a bonus to that, and you'll find out what that is in a little bit.

0:02:08 - (Kevin Lowe): And then, of course, to round it all out, there's hope. And, well, if you've ever been struggling in life, if maybe you're struggling right now, I really encourage you to stay till the end. When I talk about hope, because maybe that's exactly the part of today's episode you need to hear. It doesn't take long talking to somebody to find out that you're not the only one who has a past that maybe you would like to forget about.

0:02:40 - (Kevin Lowe): Maybe your childhood wasn't so great after all. Some people, they come from pasts that had financial difficulties. They were the kid in school who their parents didn't have the money to buy the cool clothes. Maybe they lived at home in a family dynamic that wasn't good. Maybe their life was impacted by a divorce. Whatever the challenges could have been back in childhood, it leaves an impact on a person.

0:03:11 - (Kevin Lowe): Maybe it wasn't at home. Maybe it was in school. Maybe they were somebody who was bullied in school. Whatever it is, it is our past. Whatever it is, it does seem to stay with us. And it's so easy to feel like our past. It still weighs heavy on our life today, no matter how far we are away from that old life. But the truth, I want you to realize is that it doesn't have to. Your past was just one chapter in your story.

0:03:48 - (Kevin Lowe): If you look at your life like a story, like a book, you know that in order for the author writing that book to continue with the story, he has to turn the page. Without turning the page, well, the story will never end. So what I'm saying is that if you find yourself looking back more than you're looking forward, if you find yourself dwelling on your childhood, dwelling on the mistakes you made, dwelling over the odds that were stacked against you, that have impacted where you are in life, and if you honestly just seem like you can't let it go, because it's just like it's pulling you back, keeping you from living the life that you want to live, all you have to do is declare that you're ready to turn the page.

0:04:43 - (Kevin Lowe): Remember, you are the author. This is your story. You get to decide when the chapter is over. Maybe right now, today, if youve been holding on to the past, maybe its time for you to finally turn the page. It doesnt mean that you forget about the past. No, its still a part of you. Its a part of your story. But when a new chapter begins, the story begins to take new shape. You get to design the next chapter.

0:05:18 - (Kevin Lowe): You are writing the story. So what I'm saying is, I don't want you to be held back anymore. I don't want you to allow your past to hold you back from living the life that you were meant to have. Today is the day that you, my friend, have to declare within yourself that I am ready to move forward, that I am ready to turn the page on that chapter of my life. We have all faced moments in our life when we feel like we have hit rock bottom, when everything seems like it's just come crashing down all around us.

0:05:58 - (Kevin Lowe): Nothing has worked out. We are at the lowest of lows. And in those moments, if you've been there, you know that they're painful, you know that you hate it, and you want nothing more than for things to be good again. Well, if you heard Justin's story, you know, that he had his own rock bottom moment. But what Justin taught us is that rock bottom does have a positive. It means that, well, you're at the end, you're at rock bottom.

0:06:32 - (Kevin Lowe): The only way for you to go at this point is up. So I want you to realize that hitting rock bottom, that just means that you found your launchpad, your launchpad to propel you forward. Rock Bottom is the perfect opportunity for you to begin to rebuild your life, not what was, but something bigger, stronger, better than you had before. So if you are maybe in a rock bottom moment right now, I want you to recognize it, embrace it.

0:07:09 - (Kevin Lowe): But then I want you to figure out how you can turn that rock bottom into a launch pad. How are you going to get out of this place you're in? There is a way. I promise you, there is a way. If you're holding on to resentment, if you're holding on to grudges, if you're constantly beating yourself up, my friend, it's time to let it go. Justin, he shared with us this powerful exercise he did where he wrote a letter to his mother.

0:07:40 - (Kevin Lowe): And then after finishing that letter, he lit it on fire, saying goodbye to that part of his life, allowing him to move forward, allowing him to be propelled out of that rock bottom, using it as his launch path. That is exactly what I want for you today. Rock bottom. It only means that going up is the only place from here. So to finish this, basically, just think of rock bottom. It's your foundation.

0:08:14 - (Kevin Lowe): You get to design life from here on out. Justin taught us this. Justin showed us what is possible on the other side of rock bottom. And who, if he's any example, well, then you can be assured that you can accomplish amazing things as soon as you turn rock bottom into a launch pad. And then to round out today, well, we talked about you moving forward. Stop looking back at your past, but instead focusing on what's coming up next in life, no longer allowing the past to dictate your future.

0:08:56 - (Kevin Lowe): We've also, of course, touched on those horrible times in life when you feel like you've hit rock bottom and you feel so hopeless, like you don't stand a chance. But there is. The bonus is that you've hit rock bottom. You've just reached your foundation, and now you can begin to rebuild your future. At this moment, I want you to remember hope. No matter how dark your past, no matter how deep your rock bottom, there is always a path forward.

0:09:33 - (Kevin Lowe): There's always a path to a brighter future. You have to hold on to hope for that. If you don't have hope in something more, in something bigger, then what are you living for? I want you to understand that what you've been through in life, the good stuff and the bad stuff, it's all just shaping you. It's another little carve of the stone, creating the sculpture of who you are. Or we talked about earlier about the comparison of writing a book.

0:10:07 - (Kevin Lowe): They're all pages in your story. They all make you who you are. You, though, are not dictated by any of them. You get to decide what happens in your life. But the important thing is, is that all those little things, they do not define you. You get to make that choice for yourself. With the power of hope, you stand a chance at making tomorrow so much better than today. Because hope, it's the belief in more.

0:10:37 - (Kevin Lowe): It's a power within you that if you cultivate hope, if you have hope in more and something better, hope that your dreams will come true, I guarantee you that you'll wake up in the morning feeling a little bit different. Hope is a powerful, powerful thing that I don't think we pay enough attention to. And my last thing is that I want you to remember you're not alone on this journey. You're not the only one struggling.

0:11:09 - (Kevin Lowe): You're not the only one who has a past that you wish you could forget about. You're not the only one who's hit rock bottom. We're all in this together. We're all on the same planet doing this same thing called life. And it's not easy. So if you ever need someone to talk to, to help you, to reach out to someone for you, to be able to just openly and honestly share how you're feeling without worrying about putting the burden on your family, well, you know this.

0:11:45 - (Kevin Lowe): I am here for you any day, anytime. That's why I am a coach. So all you have to do is go down inside of today's show notes. There's a link for you to book an appointment with me, totally free. And it's just me wanting to be there for you. Because my thought is, well, if you like this podcast, maybe you could take it to the next level and we could figure out what's going on in your life. If nothing more, it would just be awesome to get to meet you and to get to hear about your own story.

0:12:21 - (Kevin Lowe): And with that, my friend, of course. I'm Kevin Lowe, and this is Grayson, inspiration. I'm hoping today I was able to shed a little bit of light on some dark areas of life. Giving you a little bit of hope that there is something more out there for you. You just have to be willing to chase it.