I Get Knocked Down, But God Gets Me Up Again

by Sydney Douglas Smith

Overview

In this book, I will share with you some inspirational stories of my own as well as other people’s experiences of resilience and what I call "bouncebackability", some poems, anecdotes, quotes and practical lessons to apply to your life to help you learn to brush yourself off and get back up again.

I am not proud of everything I have done, but I have done some things of which I can be proud. I ask those whom I have knocked down in life to please forgive me for the bad things I did to you. I hold no grudges, nor harbor any animosity toward people who have hurt me or "knocked me down", in fact I pray to God that he will give me the ability to forgive and love you.

This is my story and I am telling the facts as I remember them. They are real. Sometimes when I remember them I cry, sometimes I can laugh, sometimes I recall the lessons, but the thing that dwells the most is the love that I have felt.

Thank you to my wife Ruby who has stuck with me through a great deal of hurt, especially before I became a Christian and learned to love her.
I love all of my children and grand-children and I love all Ruby's children and grand-children who I consider to be my own. Though at times some of us have not been as close as I would have wanted and this certainly not by my design.

God bless and keep you all and give you the resilience you need to get up when you are down.
Sydney Douglas Smith.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940154380086
Publisher:	Sydney Douglas Smith
Publication date:	05/02/2017
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	484 KB

About the Author

I was born into a "working class" family and spent my childhood learning to "be happy with what you have" My father was the hard working head of a very poor but very loving family. I was bullied by my peers and by the education system and I came to believe the many negative things that were told me such as; "You are a stupid boy", "You can never learn", "You will never be anything in your life". In addition I was brought up in an age where Class and religious distinctions and prejudices decided what sort of a person you were destined to become and more or less how you were to live your life. Any signs of ambition were quickly stifled by a lifestyle and social system driven by the upper class. An inherited work ethic and the ability to care deeply for others (especially the under-dog) are among the life gifts that carried me through-out my early years even though I didn't have a relationship with God then. I found God later in life (about 45), and this led me to college where I learned that I wasn't stupid after all, and I could learn new skills, using my gifts and be valuable to God and other people. I became a Counsellor with Lifeline, and attained many qualifications I thought I could never get. Yes I have been knocked down in life, quite a few times. Sometimes because of wrong decisions I have made, sometimes when others have hurt me and sometimes just because of life, but through it all there has been a great God who even in the depths of my hurt, fear and sorrow has just reached down, taken my hand and gently lifted me! My theme song is a re-written version of the tub-thumping song “ I get knocked down, he lifts me up again” It helps also that I have had a good wife who has stuck by me in the hard times and helped me celebrate the good times, thank you Ruby for being there to lift and encourage me and also keeping me grounded when I get above myself. I currently have a small Life Coaching practice where I teach and mentor “Bright Endings” in a one-on-one environment or group workshops where people can and do move past the mistakes and disappointments of the past and even learning to appreciate some of the lessons learned to help create for themselves a “Bright Ending” After a lifetime of many failures and some great success stories I have learned to lean on God in the tough times and thank Him for everything. We are not able to go back and change the beginnings, undo the mistakes or redo the regrets in our story! BUT we can start now and write a brand new ending. I am living in the peace and calm that comes as we are able to find what I call the "sweet spot' in our life that is the purpose for us which I am sure we are pre-destined to be before we were born.