I was so excited about being hired at United Way in 2007 that I started a month earlier on my own dime, consuming as much content as I could about the organization’s history, programs and people. Gary Dollar hired me as vice president of major gifts, a position that had been open for a number of years. When I asked Gary why the position had been open so long, he said, “I was waiting for the right person.” In that moment I felt honored. My role was to manage and build affinity groups consisting of our top donors.

I was eager to prove myself for lots of reasons, one of which being that a very prominent St. Louis leader predicted I would fail in the role. That’s a narrative that I have heard many times throughout my life, and in a real sense, I had scar tissue. What do you do when your confidence is shaky and others lob what seem like incessant attacks about your ability to achieve? You change the narrative that you tell yourself, you press into what God says about you and you revoke the license of those in your life who cannot or will not speak words of life and encouragement.

Happy Labor Day. Your best days are in front of you.