Failure Is Never Fatal

For about the past year, each week I have been reading a chapter of a book that I choose with my 14 year-old son Robbie. Lately we have been reading Failing Forward by John Maxwell. This past weekend we read about the importance of taking a risk.

In the chapter, Maxwell had this to share:

The reality is that everything in life is risky. If you want to avoid all the risk, then don't do any of the following:

* Don't ride in an automobile--they cause 20 percent of all fatal accidents.
* Don't travel by air, rail, or water--16 percent of all accidents result from these activities
* Don't walk in the street--15 percent of all accidents occur there.
* Don't stay at home--17 percent of all accidents happen there.

In life there are no safe places or risk-free activities.

This reminded me of something I heard about Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth. Michael Jordan is said to have missed more game-winning shots than anyone in NBA history. However, he has also made more than anyone. The same is true of Babe Ruth, one of baseball's greatest home-run hitters. He also has struck out more than most players.

Look back over your life. Wouldn't you agree that some of your most valuable experiences have come through mistakes or failure? In order to succeed, you must also fail along the way. In fact, the more you risk failure and fail, the greater your chances for success. So don't let fear keep you from moving forward!

"Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts."

John Wooden

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!