FAILURE
Failure
It’s a word that I REALLY don’t like. Like, right up there
with the other F-word. I don’t want to experience failure, and I don’t want to
feel like a failure.
When I was a teenager I delayed going in for my driver’s
test for a long time. I was afraid that I wouldn’t pass, and afraid of the
humiliation that I thought would come with not passing. So guess what, I don’t
think I tried until I was 18. And I failed the first time! I had to go back a
second time and try again.

Have you ever looked up famous quotes about failure? There
are a TON! They come from presidents, inventors, athletes, writers, actors, so
many different people from so many different periods of history. They all can
pretty much be summed up by this statement: failure happens to everyone, but it
only really counts if you don’t learn from your failure and try again.
I think that the only one who can really be called a failure
is someone who refuses to try again, don’t you?
I probably wouldn’t have failed my first driver’s test if I
had been a little more confident and sure of myself. But it doesn’t matter,
because I tried again and passed! And the
fact that I couldn’t produce enough milk for my first child didn’t make me a
failure. I had to supplement about half her feedings until she started solids,
but I stuck with it and ended up breastfeeding her for 14 months!
Why are we so quick to label ourselves based on our
failures? A few weeks ago I finally caved in and tried making Slime with my
kids. I have avoided it during these past few slime-crazy years that it has
been so popular because I didn’t want my toddler making a mess with it in the
house. But my 8-year-old had a recipe for it in one of her science books and
really wanted to make it, so I figured we would try. It turned out terrible! It
was incredibly sticky (not a bit like Slime!) and, though I quickly searched
the internet for other recipes and we tried adding ingredients to fix it, our
experiment was a failure. Does that mean we are forever labeled failures? Nah.
It means we tried, it didn’t work, and I told the kids we would try again after
we did a little more research.
Why in the world do we label ourselves as FAILURE just
because we try something and it doesn’t work out. Don’t do that, mama! It’s no
good for you, and it doesn’t set a good example for your kids. Life is hard,
its full of all kinds of challenges, and sometimes we aren’t going to do a good job at meeting those challenges. We are human, that is life.
Don’t define yourself by your successes (or lack of successes!), define yourself by who you are.
“I know the plans I have for you,” announces
the Lord. “I want you to
enjoy success. I do not plan to harm you. I will give you hope for the years to
come.
Jeremiah
29:11
Love,
Lee
I am learning how to start plants from seeds. I have some come up, boom die, or I think don't come up. Then I have plants in with others from reusing soil. Learning to look and see how long it takes to germinate ect. One plant can take up to 120 days to come up.
ReplyDeleteI waited 160 days for one to bloom, wow! Don't give up, keep trying.
Yes! Gardening teaches you so many lessons!
Delete