{"id":1112,"date":"2021-10-21T10:02:23","date_gmt":"2021-10-21T14:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=1112"},"modified":"2021-10-21T10:02:23","modified_gmt":"2021-10-21T14:02:23","slug":"the-path-you-would-never-have-taken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2021\/10\/21\/the-path-you-would-never-have-taken\/","title":{"rendered":"The Path You Would Never Have Taken"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“You’re fired.”<\/em>

Those are two of the hardest words one can ever hear.

There\u2019s a former reality show star who happened to be elected to high public office who seems to speak them with unusual enthusiasm.  But if you\u2019ve ever been on the receiving end of that sharp-edged message, you probably didn’t feel entertained. 

Linda Kaplan Thaler acknowledges that while a firing is \u201ca terrible, stressful experience that no one chooses,\u201d it can also be exactly what we need.

Sometimes the need of the hour is an unexpected push to send us in the right direction.  She herself had just such an experience in graduate school.

\u201cI studied composition with a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer named Mario Davidovsky, a pioneer in electronic music.  I was awful.  He wanted me to compose atonal, contemporary music, but everything I wrote sounded like a Broadway ditty. 

\u201cSo one day, he looked me straight in the eye and in his thick Argentinian accent said, \u2018Leenda, you cannot do this.  But you will be bery, bery good at writing jingle.\u2019

\u201cI was crushed.  At the time I said, \u2018What an audacious thing to say.  What a rude remark.\u2019

\u201cAnd then, upon further reflection, I realized, \u2018What a great career move.\u2019  He was 100 percent right, and soon after I began my career in advertising.\u201d

Linda went on to launch the Kaplan Thaler Group in Manhattan \u2013 a crew that has won 13 Clio awards and invented the AFLAC Duck and \u201cKodak Moments\u201d ad campaigns.

Thaler herself is the composer of one of America\u2019s most enduring commercial jingles:  \u201cI don\u2019t want to grow up, I\u2019m a Toys \u2018R\u2019 Us kid.\u201d  If you have trouble getting that tune out of your head for the next three hours, please direct your protests to Mario Davidovsky.

We dread hearing words of rejection: 

Your services are no longer required. <\/em>
You’re not what we’re looking for.  <\/em>
I\u2019m moving out.<\/em>
I always thought I would love you forever, but I\u2019ve found a better happiness provider.<\/em>
It\u2019s over. <\/em>

But it\u2019s not over.  Even when it feels as if our entire security system has imploded.

Isaiah 41:10 makes it clear that the CEO of the Cosmos isn\u2019t finished with you yet:  \u201cSo do not fear, for I am with you.  Do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.\u201d

You may hear a No from someone in your life.

But that may turn out to be the chance of a lifetime to hear God’s greater Yes.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“You’re fired.” Those are two of the hardest words one can ever hear. There\u2019s a former reality show star who happened to be elected to high public office who seems to speak them with unusual enthusiasm.  But if you\u2019ve ever been on the receiving end of that sharp-edged message, you probably didn’t feel entertained.  Linda Kaplan Thaler acknowledges that while… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1113,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[41],"class_list":["post-1112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-guidance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1112"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1114,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1112\/revisions\/1114"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}