Facing Up with Failure

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT! You are not smart enough! You are not skinny enough? You can't change why even try!" 

Everyday we are surrounded by people, friends and enemies, that shout these lies. It may be a person but it can often comes in the form of television personalities, Facebook friends that seem to be "living the dream" or flashy advertisements that undermine our self-esteem. When we feel like we don't measure up to a certain standard it is almost like our foreheads are stamped as loser, stupid, fat, ugly or failure. Many times these messages are subconsciously perceived and we don't recognize the commotion caused by the constant stream of insults that are coming our way. At times that person is ourselves when we actually believe what they are saying and feel the weight of the impossible slowly squeeze the breath from our hope and dreams. 

Last week I was meandering through YouTube taking a break from a stressful and discouraging day and I was struck by a video that quickly changed my perspective. It is an impossible story of a man, Arthur, that was told by doctors that he would never walk unassisted again. He was morbidly obese and had been for some time. He was down and out and it seemed like he had nothing to live for. He sought help and one trainer finally believed in him. He began to do Yoga and he fell over and over again, but he didn't give up. He kept trying, he refused to give up. Slowly you see this man change, his confidence returns and he become a new person. Take a minute to watch it. 

Maybe it is the fact that I have watched way too many inspirational sports movies in my life but this really struck a chord in my mind that no matter who we are, no matter what our circumstances may be they don't need to define us. Clinton Duffy an american prison warden in the 1950s who specialized in rehabilitating men in prison was once questioned by a critic “You should know that leopards don’t change their spots!” Replied Warden Duffy, “You should know I don’t work with leopards. I work with men, and men change every day." We need not be discouraged by the negativity that is constantly around us. We can change. We are not our past. The future really is as bright as our faith. 

We need not fear failure or be discouraged by its prospect. Theodore Roosevelt said: 

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

We are going to fail and when we fail we can choose to keep fighting or we can absorb the negativity around us. It is easy to listen to other people and be enabled by what they say. That is what inspires me the most about Arthur. His story shows the power that is within us when we refuse to accept when others say you can't and start believing, I CAN!