What Doesn't Kill You Only Makes You Stronger

Have you ever encouraged your child to play ball against his older, more skilled brother to help make him a better player? Or maybe you remember as a kid playing pick-up games at the neighborhood playground with some players whose skills were more developed than yours. You knew the purpose was to make yourself better by giving you tougher competition. Yet many of us have failed to translate that into our adult lives.

If you get a new coworker who outperforms you, do you get frustrated and discouraged? Or maybe your company's competitor comes out with a new product or service that you feel puts your company to shame. Do you feel defeated? In these tough economic times, perhaps your spouse was laid off and you were forced to cut your budget and watch your spending... maybe even get rid of some luxury items.

You could easily view any of these as setbacks, or you can welcome them as challenges that only serve to make you better. If that coworker outperforms you, step up your game. Evaluate your current standards, and then work hard to improve them. When your company's competition trumps what you offer, put on your thinking cap and come up with something new and unique to entice your customers. When money troubles arise, learn to appreciate the finer things in life and to do more with less.

Throughout the Bible, God tells us to not be discouraged. Deuteronomy 31:8 proclaims, "The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” In Joshua 1:9 we are told, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

For further reading, check out:
Deuteronomy 1:20-22
Deuteronomy 31:7-9
Joshua 1:8-10
Joshua 10:24-26
1 Chronicles 22:12-14
1 Chronicles 28:19-21
2 Chronicles 20:14-18

Enthusiastically Failing

In baseball history, there has not been a man strike out any more than Babe Ruth. Ninety-nine percent of all major league baseball players struck out fewer times than Hank Aaron. Thomas Edison failed over 14,000 times at perfecting the incandescent light... and that's on top of his teacher calling him a dunce. Albert Einstein flunked math. By age 40, Henry Ford was broke. At age 43, Vince Lombardi was a line coach at Fordham University. He went on to become one of the most respected football coaches in history. Abraham Lincoln lost his job, failed in business, and was defeated in eight different elections and nominations before being elected President of the United States.

Everybody, even the most successful people in history, have failed at some point. Some have failed more than others. The difference lies in how you handle those failures. If you let it knock you down and you do not get back up, nobody will pull you to your feet. But if you remain enthusiastic, learn from your mistakes and let it motivate you to try harder next time, you have no choice but to succeed.