PROBLEMS: A LESSON ABOUT HANDLING THEM

Today I can say, “thank you Lord for sparing us.” One of the first lessons that I began to learn is that every problem is not for me to solve. I am not sure how or why it began, but I would hear about problems that I took on as my duty to seek solutions. What made it difficult for me to resist the problem solving mode was that I was generally successful with finding effective solutions. In preparing grant proposals for others, this skill was actually be a stumbling block. I helped people get funded that really should not have been.

A dear friend of mine, Midge Lansat helped me understand that this was over functioning. I also realized that it made me appear to be a control hound. I was only trying to help. But my helping often over burdened myself and my reluctantly obliging family.

This lesson that “every problem is not for me to solve” was coupled with “just because I could do something did not mean that I should do something.” I am sure to get more than a few “Amens” in agreement with that statement.

I used to wonder why Jesus did not simply stand at the top of the highest mountain, stretch out his hands and say, “every body in the world - be healed.” I knew that he could do this and all suffering from sickness would end at that instant. But as I learned more about the purpose of human development on earth, I realized that if Jesus took away all of the pain and suffering on earth, many of us would be robbed of the opportunity and responsibility that is developing us for our next level of existence.

Many outreach oriented people like me are doers. We want to do something about a problem that really bothers us. We are natural “wanna be” problem solvers. This mindset is further complicated by having the ability to actually do a number of tasks well.

You may ask, “what is wrong with wanting to help where you can make a difference?” What is wrong is that the constant pull of new problems can greatly interfere with fulfilling the true calling that God has ordained. When people operate in what they have been anointed to do, there is a certainty of success. With each success comes an awareness that the journey and efforts are on the correct path. There is also a sense of nearing a state of completion- not lacking anything.

On the journey to completeness, there is no space for emptiness or time for regrets. There are many doers that fill empty. I believe that this emptiness is the result of not connecting with what they were intended to accomplish. My understanding about the importance of operating in your calling began to sprout with my first serious effort to produce a government grant proposal.

When writing a government grant proposal, you will be forced to settle upon a single problem or else you will find it quite difficult to complete the documentation. You will be required to thoroughly account for every effort that you presented as necessary. This accountability is what helped me to become much more disciplined in my own stewardship of time as well as resources.

Fortunately, I ultimately realized that every problem is not mine to solve. I realized that I must account for the time and effort that I contribute towards trying to solve problems. In being accountable, it became harder for me to justify spending time with issues that could possibly return income, but little results. However the problems that I was prepared to address offered compensation as well as a track record for success.

Overcoming Rejection Letters from Your Proposal

The tension was high and tempers were agitated. The clock was typically uncooperative as it warned us that the hands of time were waving good bye. Good bye to the opportunity to get $450,000 in grant funds to run our program. We knew that if we did not assemble our proposal package and send it off in the next few minutes that all of our efforts would have been wasted.

There had been three of us scrambling to complete our $450,000 document. Our newfound friend who convinced us to apply for the grant in the first place was working feverishly with my husband and me. I was determined that this grant proposal was going to arrive on time and in tact if I had to drive to the airport and personally book it on a FedX flight. I had not heard of doing that before, but I was desperate. My mind was swirling with frantic concoctions to ensure that our proposal was submitted on time.

My husband and I were busily making some order of the 45 page grant proposal document that required five copies with one original. We were not exactly sure what that meant so we simply made all of the copies alike. We decided that it would be safest for us to make each copy as complete as an original. That way the readers will not have to search for which one was the original.

We tried to make our proposal easy to read and preferable to receive an award. I had a table of contents with nice page numbers. I even included attractive tables and shaded headings to make each category stand out. Our friend, who used to work for the Department of Health and Human Services, helped us to develop our ideas for our first government grant proposal. She had given us many specifics to consider that I would not have included without her. I was so impressed with our proposal that I was already planning how to spend the money.

Finally after months of waiting, I had gotten the notice that we had been waiting to receive. But the contents did not read as I had expected. Everything else around me went fuzzy as I began reading, “Thank you for submitting your proposal. However”…blah blah blah and so forth.

I could hardly believe what I was reading. We had done all of that work for weeks only to get a “thanks, but no thanks” letter from the government. They must not have known how much work went into putting that entire document together. They could not possibly imagine how this whole ordeal sucked up weeks of our lives from our family and friends. Whoever signed the letter had to be totally oblivious to all of the research, office supplies, travel and postage that went into our efforts to submit a quality package.

Tears of disappointment formed in my eyes as I read and re-read the rejection letter. I even checked to see if the letter and envelope were really addressed to us. It could have been delivered to us by mistake. As I re-examined the entire document, I realized that there were comments from readers that actually explained why our proposal was rejected.

I later learned that the rejection letters would add to my foundation for learning how to develop a winning grant proposal. Many people are discouraged by the rejection letters. But once the injury to pride and disappointment melts, it is time to get down to business and scrutinize the comments and reasons given. Plan to turn that “No” into a “Yes” or at least a “Close, but Not Yet”

The Lesson here is to learn how to use rejection notices to make your proposals better. Remember that when you ask “why not”, to make sure that you understand the answers. You may be surprised to find that the donors actually want to give you the funds to help make the world a better place.