When You Fail {Guest Post}

So I went tubing . . .

I love to try new things. But when you’re willing to try new things, sometimes you slip. Or inhale lake water.

You see, we went to our friends’ lake house a few summers ago, and they offered to take us tubing. None of us had ever been tubing before, but I was willing to give it a try. I convinced my two older sisters to try it with me, so we all climbed on. The boat started up, and we were told specifically to pull up when we started going. Otherwise, we’d get pulled down into the water.

So . . . we started going. But none of us pulled up. So down we went into the lake water, and when we came back up, we were all coughing and choking.

They patiently reminded us to pull up when we took off. So we tried again. We pulled up, and off we went. I fell off a couple times, but I had a lot of fun. And if given the opportunity, I would do it again.

But . . . I nose dived. And . . . I fell off.

But . . . I tried again. And . . . I had fun!

Failure is something we’ve all experienced. I have a pretty long lists of failures, and almost every time I try something new, I fail a couple times before I get the hang of it.
But we all know that failure is not fun or pleasant, and leaves us feeling very discouraged and drug out.

Some people, after failing, give up on whatever they were trying. They don’t want to inhale more lake water. They don’t want to nose dive again. They don’t want to fall off again. Is that you?

You’re not alone. In fact, when you look back, you realize that everyone has failed. But failure, and the courage to get up and try again, gets you to perfection.

• Elvis Presley got turned down at an early audition. Not only that, but the teenager was told to stick with driving a truck since he was never going to make it as a singer.

• Micheal Jordan wasn’t considered a fantastic basketball player when he was younger. His older brother, Larry, was taller and a better player. After Micheal tried out for the varsity basketball team in tenth grade, his name didn’t appear on the team roster.

• Harrison Ford could only get minor roles and got booted from his young talent program as he was trying to get into acting. When all the doors seemed to be shut, Ford supported his family as a carpenter, even building stages and sets for TV shows and movies.

• Thomas Edison was considered dumb by his schoolteachers, got fired from his first two jobs, and made over a thousand unsuccessful attempts while trying to invent one specific thing.

Did they just give up? Did they let their failures stop them from chasing their dreams? No. Since they tried again, and since they kept going, we now have

• “Jailhouse Rock” and “Heartbreak Hotel”

• The Chicago Bulls’ six championships

• Indiana Jones

• The light bulb

What about you? What are you going to do when you fail?

Are you going to let it bury you?

OR are you going to let it motivate you?

Failure isn’t a period. It’s not the end of the sentence, paragraph, or story. Failure is the road to success, not the ticket to destroyed dreams. When failure comes your way, it’s there to tell you that God has more. That if you keep trying and don’t give up, amazing things will happen.

You may inhale lake water.

You may have over a thousand unsuccessful attempts.

You may face plant over and over and over again.

But let it motivate you to keep on going. Let it motivate you to get up, dust yourself off, and give it another try. Who knows what will happen or where you’ll go.

About the author:

Lydia is a teen girl living in northern Indiana with her family, their adorable dog, and their crazy cat. Lydia’s passion for music and singing began at a very young age, and she began to pursue her dream around the age of twelve. Besides singing, she does a lot of writing on the sidelines. She has had lots of opportunities to share her heart. She started writing uplifting devotionals (Aole Pau Devotionals) at the age of thirteen, which she sends out twice a week via email.  She has had eight articles published so far, in a couple different magazines, and now she has become a full-time columnist for a Christian magazine for teen girls. Also, she wishes to become a motivational speaker, so she can speak and reach people everywhere and make Jesus’ name known. She has a couple non-fiction books in the works, though they are still in the beginning stages, and has plenty of other ideas to encourage and empower her generation. She strives to live her life for Christ.  In everything she does, her goal is to worship Him, glorify Him, and make His name known!

If you would like to recieve Lydia’s encouraging devotionals, contact me through my contact page! 🙂 ❤