“Don’t allow the What IF’s to rule your life!”
Me

Life is too short to allow the “WHAT IF” I fail moments to rule us. I have a note on the inside of my calendar that says, “Remove the negative WHAT IF’S from my vocabulary”. In this post, we are going to talk about failure and how to make it work for us.

“We learn from failures, not from success.”
Bram Stoker

Now I can’t say that I totally agree with this statement; however, I still like it. I believe that we can learn from every event that we pass through in life. Notice I said, “Pass through”? I believe that graduating from one event to another in life, offers us lessons on what to do and what not to do; but, if we allow them to stop us or turn us back, then nothing has been learned. For many, failure becomes a stopping point, where for others, it just becomes a lesson in how not to do something.

“Failure is an event and not a person.”
Zig Ziglar

One sure thing about life, is that it comes with a fair share of opportunities, both good and bad. One of the greatest failures that can happen to those that have the honor to stand in front of individuals, whether in large or small settings and impart wisdom, is that they sometimes fail to prepare themselves in how to embrace the good, the bad and the glorious. Notice I said, “Impart wisdom”? Many are just repeating knowledge they took from someone else’s writings or teachings, but nothing more. Knowledge without wisdom is just information and we need more than information to succeed in life. Pastors, mentors, life coaches, etc. have the opportunity to help others embrace life and all that comes with it and learn from it, but we have those that shade it as doom. Others may shade it as clouds and rainbows, but life is like a bipolar friend. One minute it’s up and the other it’s down, and one minute we are laughing and the next we are crying. If we can get the right perspective on life, then we can take every moment and enter into “Life University”. We can then graduate from it with a degree on how to truly live a Kingdom Life. There is nothing more humbling than failure and sometimes no better teacher. The fear of failure has stopped so many from finding their place in life, and for others, it has helped them find their voice.

I want to offer a few suggestions on what you can do to bring change into your life:

1. Inventory your life on paper. Be real and not emotional.
2. Look for areas you can change NOW!
3. Add some type of exercise.
4. Change your eating habits.
5. Change your daily routine.
6. I find that starting and ending my day talking and listening to God, is the perfect way to bring balance to a wobbly world.

Now this list is by no means a complete list, but instead, it’s a starting point for change and no race was ever won without a start.

So the best way I can think of to bring this post to a close, is by telling you this: Failure is not forever and no matter what you are going through right now, it is temporary. You might feel like your whole life has been built for failure, BUT the only person that can change this is YOU! So bring forth the change!

I hope this has in some way spoken to you and will either help you or better you to help others.

“Your greatest battle is in your mind; not your circumstance.”
Author Unknown

Have you ever been driving along minding your own business when BAM, out of nowhere, you are blind-sided by something you did not see coming? Most of the time, we find traffic signs that let us know what lies ahead; but unfortunately, life doesn’t offer these warning signs. So what do we do when we encounter these speed bumps? Hopefully, that question will be answered in this blog post.

Let me tell you a little story. Recently, my wife and I joined the “empty nesters club” and we decided to find some things that we could do together that are out of the box for us. We joined a local running club and if you know me, you would know that running has NEVER been my strong point. IN fact, to run a lap around the track one time without stopping, was a miracle! So, we join this club and show up for the first day and meet our fearless leader, Jim “Papa Turtle” Hardin who is 67 years young and seems to be able to run FOREVER! Did I mention FOREVER?? Anyways, I find that our morning run will be a little over 3 miles and mind you it’s 5:00 am! Did I mention its 5:00 am and January?! So we are off and Jim motivates us the entire run with encouraging words and stories that make the run go by faster. Moving forward to now, we are running 2 – 3 times a week minimum and 3.5 miles each time. Now fast forward to present, specifically to last Thursday, when we were running and right at the 1.76 mile mark, I get a horrible cramp in my left knee which is followed by a POP and then me sitting on a curb unable to walk. How many would say this is bad? It’s cold, I’m sweaty, it’s dark and I’m in pain. There were no warning signs for this event that just happened! I have found that asking “WHY” is not a motivator, but what I do or think next is what’s important.

You see, life has its way of offering what I call speed bumps as we journey forward and most of the time, there is no warning. Side thought here, I have also noticed that when we stand still and do nothing or go backwards in life, there are no speed bumps OR rewards. What happens when we get to those speed bumps, makes all the difference in life. We have got to learn to find the opportunities in the circumstances or speed bumps. We must learn that we are only down for as long as we allow the circumstance to rule the moment. I myself already have plans for three upcoming 5k runs and I told this body of mine that if I have to do them on crutches, I will. So SUCK IT UP and let’s keep moving!

I was reading in my Bible and noticed that when Jesus healed people, most of the time I found the word “immediately” within the same scripture. If you look up the definition of immediately, you will find, “at once, instantly, without any intervening time or space.” As a Christian who walks by faith and not by sight, that was what I grabbed ahold of. I’m not saying this is what you should do if you find yourself in the same place! What I do want you to take away from this, is that when you hit those speed bumps that your very next decision, thought and/or action, sets the stage for what the road ahead will be like.

If a dream fails, it’s not the end; but instead, the beginning to a new one IF you can see it that way.

If you lose or get fired from your present job, it’s not the end of the world; but instead, a promotion to something new IF you can see it that way.

If you get a negative medical report or injury, don’t let it end life; but instead, let it ignite you to pursue what you CAN do with greater passion than ever before.

We have all heard the statement, “When life gives you lemons make lemonade”, but I add to that by saying, find a way to grow bigger, think larger and live without walls during those seasons.

Life is too short to let the speed bumps hold you back. Whatever you are going through this day, find opportunity in that circumstance and make it a stepping-stone to greater things.

Today, right now, this very second, is the beginning of something new or just another second of the same old same old. You decide!