By William Van Zyl.
Table of Contents
Listen to the podcast while reading OR just listen:
https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-3yws6-1011174
‘Artesian Well Theory.’
The pressure in your aquifer could destroy you, or it could catapult you into a path of growth and development. If you process the situation right, you will ultimately experience victory. It will require resilience and a paradigm shift which will result in an artesian well.
A True Story: Abandoned Baby Graduates from College Where She Was Found.
The title summarises the story… Baby Jane Doe (Jillian) was abandoned and left in a cardboard box.
Here is a staccato version of the story:
A rustling noise drew Patrick’s attention to a cardboard box in the laundry room. And curiosity quickly turned to horrified surprise as a peek into the box revealed an infant!
Baby Jane Doe was born on October 11, 1983, suffering from spina bifida, hydrocephaly, and microcephaly.
Adopted, cared and loved by her new parents, Jillian struggled with learning difficulties.
Against the odds, she returned to the same University and graduated. The San Francisco State University, US.
After graduating in her early thirties – returning to the same University, she was abandoned again – Jillian faced rejection from her birth mother for the second time.
Jillian was focused on graduating and decided to hold off on responding to her birth mother.
The turn in the story: Jillian found out that some Facebook messages can actually be hidden from view. She started digging around under her own profile to see if there were any messages she’d missed. And that’s when she uncovered a message from her biological mother. It had been hidden in this Facebook “no man’s land,” unseen for nearly two years.
“I have something to tell you. I’m very proud of you. And thank you for being you.”
A wonderful ending to the story followed.
Read the full version of inspiring true story here: https://www.godupdates.com/abandoned-baby-box-graduates/
More on the case of Baby Jane Doe (Health and the Law): https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.74.7.727
Adversity an opportunity for growth.
People who see adversity as an opportunity for change, a chance to make changes and adjustments, or an opportunity to be honest, to be frank, and to be transparent will acknowledge their weaknesses and limitations. They are the ones who will be able to overcome Life’s pressures and develop a growth mindset. On the other hand, many people who experience adversity – who frames it negatively and see it as uncontrollable – allows the pressures to stack up against them; they simply give up. They just collapse under the pressure. Some never bounce back. They fail. They get stuck in a no go, and no grow zone.
However, to grow and thrive, we have to positively frame adverse situations, no matter how painful they may be.
Have you been through such a situation?
It could have been a relationship that was destroyed or ended abruptly without any reason; a business that failed; the loss of a job or position; an incurable disease knocked unexpectedly on your door; you have lost your home; you lost a limb; you lost your eyesight; lost your hearing; you were diagnosed with an incurable disease or anything else which altered your Life forever. It could all have been due to you making a poor decision like a lapse of concentration; a fatal mistake under pressure; a financial error; you fell victim to a scam; you were rejected by the people you love or any other shocking event in your Life. Don’t despair. The way you process the situation, or the event, will determine your comeback or success! Be encouraged; choose to be positive! Have faith.
Have you experienced ‘personal pressure’? I am referring to the pressure of your’ aquifer.’ I will be using the analogy of an artesian well to explain the framing process and how it will make you or break you.
What is an Artesian Well?
But, what is a flowing artesian well, you may ask? And, what are the symbolism for the well and the aquifer below the well? What is the aquifer’s pressure, and what do you mean by the way you are framing the adversity?
Flowing artesian wells are water wells where the aquifer’s pressure (water-bearing geologic formation) forces groundwater above the ground surface so that the well will flow without a pump. See the diagram by the author on different wells.
Proverbs 18:4 – The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; the wellspring of wisdom is a flowing brook.
Wisdom is a flowing brook.
My focus is on the second part of this saying, ‘…the wellspring of wisdom is a flowing brook.’
When applying wisdom – using the fresh Words of God every day and in every situation – God’s words are like a running brook, clear and transparent as they flow from the everlasting aquifer – His Word. It is enlightening to all who hears it. The Book of Proverbs itself is a part of that brook, giving a better understanding of human and divine ways. It gives philosophers, psychologists, sociologists, or economists more insight, more depth into their discoveries. As God’s people continually discover – when adversity knocks on your door, and it will – His Word is ever new, revealing fresh understanding with each reading, like a brook with new water that flows past us every second. The Word is the sleeve (wisdom) that conduits the pressured water to the surface and make it useful. Very useful!
‘Drilling’ is an action and a choice.
We have to drill deep into our aquifer (pressured situation) and produce the words deposited in our thoughts and hearts from scriptures to release the living water (positive thoughts of faith). The ‘flowing artesian well,’ allowing pressured water from the aquifer below the well to spring up and produce water for wealth and prosperity, is the key to growth. It is the pressures of life and the words we use to frame and describe it – in simple terms, our faith – that will determine our success or failure. Technicians drill a hole for a well and install a sleeve-like tube – concrete or metal – for a typical artesian or water table well.
Suffering is worse when you can’t reframe it as serving a higher purpose. For example, The business owner that fails and go bankrupt ignores their pain, in part because it is the expected cost of taking risks. And by the way, it takes some failure to succeed in business, the resilient business person could add.
When one believes in a higher cause, it is easier to reframe adversity. If one considers that misfortune is a test from God or that one is not well prepared enough, it becomes a challenge to overcome instead of incurring despair. How you frame your situation is pivotal. If you are in distress about a dire situation, a useful technique is to reframe your adversity. How can I reframe my problem? Good question? Sometimes talking to a counsellor, a pastor, a close friend, or an experienced person (e.g. experienced business person) could help you reframe your situation. The way you see your problem will ultimately determine your success or failure.
FACT: Experienced business people groom their children for the business world – they allow them to fail in business when they are young. They know the money lost is invaluable. Their children will learn just so much through the experience. Have you read about business people that failed several times before becoming successful? By just reading this fact will let a person who has just gone bankrupt reframe their business paradigm. I can hear the person thinking: ‘If they could fail several times, I can too. I will get up and try again!’ Sounds like an instant reframing of the problem indeed. To be very smart is to say: ‘I will gather knowledge from several business persons before I start my next business. Why reinvent the wheel?’
Don’t use these words.
On the contrary, you could complain and get stuck in your situation. For example, using a phrase like: ‘I just can’t do this’; ‘I guess I am the unluckiest person in the world’: ‘I just have to accept it and live with it’; ‘Unfortunately, I can’t change any of the events that happened to me, I just have to accept it.’
Use these words.
I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me. Philippians 4:13
And remember.
‘My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations (trials and temptations);’
James 1:2 – KJV
Comfort will ruin your life.
See the inspiring video of ‘Why comfort will ruin your life’ by Bill Eckstrom –
See how Bill uses the true story of Claudette Colvin to illustrate HIS GROWTH RING CONCEPT.
Staccato Version:
In the 1950s, as an African American, Claudette Colvin – (about 15 years of age) – was arrested on a bus because she refused to give up her seat to a white person. Racial conflict – adversity – resilience – followed by success. The rest is history.
Read the interesting article on Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks here (The Guardian): https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/feb/25/claudette-colvin-the-woman-who-refused-to-give-up-her-bus-seat-nine-months-before-rosa-parks
The Growth Rings are a conceptual way to think about the role comfort, challenge, and stretching to our potential plays in our everyday lives. Whether you are a business leader, manager, team member, colleague, teacher, student, coach, spouse, or parent, it is essential to understand where you, as well as your peers and team members, are currently located within the four Growth Rings environments. These environments include Stagnation, Order, Complexity, and Chaos and they impact how much, or how little, we ultimately grow.
Credit: Bill Eckstrom.
Copyright © 2021 by William Van Zyl
LIFE’S UNEXPECTED PRESSURES: When an aquifer’s pressure in your life becomes unbearable – excruciatingly painful – the way you process the pressure in the aquifer is vital. Framing it positively will produce an Artesian Well that will spring up and create wealth and abundance!
All rights reserved. This article/eBook or any portion
thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner
whatsoever without the express written permission of the
publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Published by Five House Publishing (New Zealand)
First Publishing, 2021
About the Author:
The author had an exciting and unique childhood. Not as you would expect – not travelling abroad – but venturing through the fields, bushes, tools sheds, and mysterious underground tunnels around his neighbourhood. His happy place was – and still is – tinkering with ideas, science, and new possibilities. While cycling, he will often get new ideas; he brings the unexpected, the unique, and creative flurry on a page or a sketch. To this day, he dreams of vicious wars and sophisticated weaponry in an innocent child’s scout cave. He loves diagrams, timelines, cross-sections, sketches, and details of sinister and hidden concepts and ideas, always looking for a new mystery to decode and encode. He investigates and explores extravagant thoughts that he includes in children’s books and stories; he loves to portray philosophers’ perspectives, articles, intriguing stories, and poetry. Academic and research work are his forte. He always offers a practical but straightforward explanation within an engaging context. Not your ordinary thinker! A lifelong scholar and teacher.
More articles, eBooks, lessons and resources available to teachers and students at Five House Publishing.
Download PDF (Menu – products): https://fivehousepublishing.com/
More about the author: http://williamvanzyl.com/