The Power of Persistence

“Games aren’t won on paper any more than wars are.  Life doesn’t just happen on paper.  It happens when we’re in the arena, being tested, and making sure that we don’t give in and we don’t give up.” ~ Chad Hennings

You may cringe at the word but the truth is failure is simply as part of life.  The fear of failure hinders many people from achieving their true potential.  However, failure is never truly failure unless you stop trying.

So what do we do when faced with real life situations?  What do we do when we really fail?  Simple, accept it, inspect it, and then move on.  Failures are what we make of them, and if we ‘keep our head in the game’ and make it a learning experience, then were on the right track to failing FORWARD[1]. 

The hardest part, for me, is the realization that I have failed.  It can be devastating because, it’s a stark reminder that I am human.  But what can be even more devastating is, avoiding the truth and continuing in our sophistic (flawed) ways.   So we must first accept that we have failed.

Once we know that we have failed, it’s important to review why we failed and how we can improve.  This is how we grow from our failures.  This can be done by first understanding fully how and where we failed – the why should make itself apparent.  But then, by re-envisioning other possible approaches that may have led to more successful results we can truly grow from the experience.

Then we move on.  Move on?  How can we move on; we just failed?  My High School Cross Country coach had a saying, “When the going gets tough the tough get going.”  Sometimes failures in life can be quite depressing.  But there is hope; there are new opportunities new challenges so we must chose not to be stagnate but strive to fulfill our true potentials, we must be persistent, we must press on.

I you have never failed, you have never tried; if you have never tried, you can never succeed.   Success comes only at the price of persistence. 

Sincerely,

--

^“15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” ~ NIV Joshua 24:15

Jordan D. Ulmer

Cited:

1. Maxwell, John C. Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes into Stepping-stones for Success. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2000. Print.

This a wonderful book, which I would like to read in the near future. And I would highly recommend it to the reader!