How To Respond To Failure: Part 1

Part I: Face Your Challenges

I swear I have the spiritual gift of avoidance!

My wife has a honey-do list that looks more like a short story hanging on our fridge. Every time I walk by it I act like I don’t see it. Every time she asks me about it I talk about the weather. The things on the list aren’t hard to do. I promise you, I can change a mean light bulb. But I just don’t want to get started on it. So it gets longer. And longer. And longer. 

We seem to want to pretend like the challenges we have before us will eventually magically disappear. 

Nope. Not going to happen. In fact, when we procrastinate, the challenges seem even more overwhelming. 

It’s a failure reflex. 

“I studied last time and made a D. Why study this time?”

“I tried following God for a little while and I didn’t feel Him. Why try again?”

We don’t want to face our challenges because of past failures. 

The most destructive way to respond to failure is when you do NOTHING!

Unattended fear results in belief.

The greatest thing you can do when faced with a challenge is lean into it. Face it! Stare it down.

Start working on it. Because it won’t leave.

Take small steps. Take it one step at a time. One check mark at a time. You will be encouraged when you start seeing the progress.

Someone once said, “Get in motion for motion’s sake.” At least if you go the wrong way or make the wrong decision you will know and then you can turn around, come back, and go a different direction. But if you never try, you won’t know.

“But I’m in so much debt!” Go get a job. Start making an extra $100 a month.

“But what if it’s not the perfect job” So what? You need money. 

Be strong and courageous, have ambition, be confident, be motivated.

Start somewhere instead of nowhere.

It’s not going to hurt us if we fail. It’s going to hurt us if we are passive and lack ambition and don’t know how to make decisions.

Make the phone call, fill out the application, start studying, make that payment on the credit card. 

What is one thing you need to face this week?