Failure

I had a strange weekend. I was in a bit of a funk and I can't really explain it. I guess I was feeling somewhat inadequate. Maybe I felt some fear. Whatever was going on, I was not feeling very successful. I don't really have a reason for this other than my income is not where I would like it to be.

You see, being a former athlete and sales person, I have this "outcome-based" definition of success...you know--measuring number of points or total sales dollars or whatever else can be measured. I know that God is trying to work on this in my life and get me to simply do my best and leave the outcome to Him. He wants me to consider that a success. I thought I was doing better at this, but yet, this feeling persisted.

I read something by John Maxwell this morning that I found interesting:

Prior to dazzling the world with his athletic skill, Michael Jordan was cut from his sophomore basketball team. Even though he captured six championships, during his professional career, Jordan missed over 12,000 shots, lost nearly 400 games, and failed to make more than 25 would-be game-winning baskets.

I imagine Jordan felt a bit discouraged when he missed a potential game-winning shot or lost a game. However, he continually came back from these disappointments to become arguably the greatest basketball player ever. John Wooden has said, "Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts."

I guess the good thing about being in a funk is that it is only temporary. Time to get some courage!