Get Up, Dust Yourself Off and Win!

By Tammi Durden

Have you fallen so hard and so far that you feel like you can't get up? Are you ready to throw in the towel and quit? Do you find yourself frustrated because you can never seem to get ahead? If so, this book was written and designed just for you. It speaks to those who have, at some age and stage in life, experienced a degree of devastation or even hit rock bottom. Whether you have gone through divorce, teenage pregnancy, bankruptcy, foreclosure, a failed business, suffer from low self-esteem, abuse, loss of a loved one or just can't seem to win in life, this book is for you. Through this reading you will discover although you may have been knocked down, it's not over. You will be inspired to get up and try again. Even when it appears that the odds are stacked against you, there is still hope. You will be empowered with practical ways to recover from life's tragedies and disappointments. It's time for you to reclaim your life. It's time to Get Up, Dust Yourself off and Win!

• Language: English
• Publisher: BK Royston Publishing
• Release date: Oct 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386839064

Book preview

Introduction

I remember it so clearly – just like it was yesterday. At this time, I was going through my second divorce. Yes that’s right….my SECOND divorce. The mortgage business that I owned for seven years I recently closed. I closed it because of the mortgage industry crash, and on top of that I was going through a divorce. To add to my trouble, both of the houses I owned were going into foreclosure, and my car had been repossessed. I vividly recall my daughter consoling me, as we watched the car being towed away, hugging me and saying, Mom it’s going to be alright. Never had I experienced a car repossession. I was devastated. I had hit rock bottom. I remember just sitting and thinking the only thing of value that I had left was my daughter. It seemed as though I was in a never ending whirlwind of events…a hurricane, tornado, earthquake and tsunami all at the same time! So what did I do? Unknowingly, I retreated to a state of depression and fell asleep. I was a walking zombie, just existing. Apparently, I was sleep walking and didn’t even know it. Yes, I appeared normal to people on the outside, but little did they know, there was a silent scream on the inside. This went on for months and the thing about it was either nobody knew or if they did they didn’t try to wake me up. Maybe they did try, but I was so withdrawn that I did not realize it.

Once the storm began to dissipate, I took some time to reflect on my life, beginning with the early years. My father is a Pastor, so I grew up as a Pastor’s Kid. Initially, we were a part of the Baptist church which was somewhat strict and rich in tradition. A lot of things were just off limits as to what was acceptable behavior. Some of my friends still tease me to this day when we talk about the past and how I did not experience typical things that everyone else did. They laugh and say, Oh that’s right, Tammi was sheltered when growing up. As I continued to reflect, I thought of how I gave birth to my one and only child, at the very early age of 16. Yes, I was a teenage mother. Of course, I had to grow up real fast and learn how to take care of another human being. Wow, this was scary. Thankfully, with the help of GOD and my wonderful parents, I was able to succeed as a mother. However, between my Baptist upbringing and having a child so early, I missed out on some of the social activities that most young ladies my age at that time participated in; such as pledging in college sororities, going to parties, girl’s trips, etc. To top it all off, for the past seven years I owned and operated a mortgage company single handedly. That business was my life. I worked at the office and I worked at home. I still had a family to take care of as well. Honestly, a lot of events in my past, I simply don’t remember. Were they insignificant or was I asleep?

As I concluded my time of reflection, I was finally honest with myself and realized that I had been sleep walking….just EXISTING and not LIVING. So, I made a decision. I decided to wake up, get up, freshen up and take back my life!

Have you fallen so hard and so far that you feel like you can’t get up? Are you ready to throw in the towel and quit? If so, this book was written and designed just for you. It speaks to those who have, at some age and stage in life, experienced a degree of devastation or even hit rock bottom. Whether you have gone through divorce, teenage pregnancy, bankruptcy, foreclosure, a failed business, suffer from low self-esteem, abuse, loss of a loved one or just can’t seem to win in life, this book is for you. Through this reading you will discover that although you may have been knocked down, it’s not over. You will be inspired to get up and try again. Even when it appears that the odds are stacked against you, there is still hope. You will be empowered with practical ways to recover from life’s tragedies and disappointments. It’s time for you to reclaim your life.

Get Up…Dust Yourself Off And Win!!!

CHAPTER 1: LIFE HAPPENS

FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE

She finally did it! Kelly decided to say yes to Brian’s marriage proposal. In Kelly’s eyes, this would be her one and only marriage that would last a lifetime. She was so excited! You see, Kelly decided to wait for the right man. She made a promise to herself to wait on God to send her Mr. Right. After all, she was a single mother with a teen aged daughter of whom she was very protective. Not just any man would do.

I guess I should tell you a little bit more about Kelly. She is a well accomplished young woman. Kelly graduated from college earning her Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting. Following that she obtained her CPA. Kelly became a single mother at 25. Her daughter, Brittany, was the most important thing to her and she vowed to never let anyone or anything come between them.

Kelly went on to make great strides in her career and started her own accounting firm, K. Long Financial Group, which was very successful. She worked tirelessly to build her business, putting in many hours and a lot of sleepless nights, but it was worth it. Kelly built her first home in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas and took excellent care of her daughter. Money was never an issue for them.

Now that her daughter was getting older and