FAILING, DOESN'T MAKE YOU A FAILURE
"When you fall down, don't stay down. Pick something up and keep moving forward.
The first university assignment I ever did, I literally failed. It was only worth 10%, so I managed not to flunk the entire unit – thank God. The point is, I remember feeling like an absolute loser, completely inadequate and ill-equipped. As a mature-aged student and a mother of 1 and 3-year-olds at the time, trying to pursue a double degree in Psychology and Counseling felt well out of reach.
Thankfully, I didn't throw in the towel right there and then. Actually, I don't think God would have let me. Even though I felt like staying down, He dragged me back up, helped me push past the shame and fear of failing, and propelled me to keep going. And I'm so glad He did because I went on to complete that degree, then another one after that, and now I'm a provisional psychologist in my final year of a Master's program. Failure can relate to missing the mark morally, making a mistake in your workplace, rupturing a relationship, or shutting down a business you so hoped would succeed. We all fail. We're human beings, not robots, but your actions don't determine your value or identity; God does. So, receive His grace, repent, rethink, learn, grow, get some grit, and get up and keep going!
Because failing does not make you a failure. And failure is not final unless you quit.
Be inspired by the following stories of men and women who changed the world.
"As a young man, Abraham Lincoln went to war as a captain and returned as a private. Afterwards, he was a failure as a businessman. As a lawyer in Springfield, he was too impractical and temperamental to be a success. He turned to politics and was defeated in his first try for the legislature, again defeated in his first attempt to be nominated for Congress, defeated in his application to be commissioner of the General Land Office, defeated in the senatorial election of 1854, defeated in his efforts for the vice-presidency in 1856, and defeated in the senatorial election of 1858. At about that time, he wrote in a letter to a friend, 'I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth.'
Winston Churchill failed the sixth grade. He was subsequently defeated in every election for public office until he became Prime Minister at the age of 62. He later wrote, 'Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never, Never, Never, Never give up.' (His capitals, mind you.)
Sigmund Freud was booed from the podium when he first presented his ideas to the scientific community of Europe. He returned to his office and kept on writing.
Robert Sternberg received a C in his first college introductory psychology class. His teacher commented that 'there was a famous Sternberg in psychology, and it was obvious there would not be another.' Three years later, Sternberg graduated with honors from Stanford University with exceptional distinction in psychology, summa cum laude, and Phi Beta Kappa. In 2002, he became President of the American Psychological Association.
Thomas Edison's teachers said he was 'too stupid to learn anything.' He was fired from his first two jobs for being 'non-productive.' As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked, 'How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?' Edison replied, 'I didn't fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.'