Thankful For Failures
“The righteous may fall seven times but still get up, but the wicked will stumble into trouble.”
Proverbs 24:16
Right before the baseball season, several players decided to retire.
Reliever AJ Ramos was one of them.
“Everyday you get to play/live truly is a blessing,” Ramos wrote as part of his statement. “The ability to enjoy the process is a big part of being successful because you soon realize that every setback or failure is just an opportunity to learn and get better. So I am thankful for my failures just as much as my success, beyond grateful for my time playing baseball.” (MLB.com)
What caught my eye is his statement that he is “thankful for his failures.”
Weird. I tend to be very thankful for success, small and large. Failures? Not so much.
But, if we change our attitude, and look at our failures as an opportunity to learn, and not make the same mistakes, it becomes a positive thing.
Dale Carnegie said:
“Learn from your mistakes. Develop success from failures..”
So, if we are thankful, as Paul said “In all things.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) then we can analyze our mistakes, and develop a plan for success.
Winston Churchill said:
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts,” and, “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”
Like most people, I tend to stew over my failures and get depressed. But, if I could look at them through the lense of thankfulness, learning from them, I can move towards a brighter day. I can get back up again when I fall.
I found this prayer on a blog called “A Small Work” attributed to an author named Ryan:
“Thank you, God, for my failures. I do not like to fail, but I trust you use my failures for good in me.
In my failure, I realize how much I need help. So often I fail because I barrel into a task or project on my own. Thank you for reminding me of my limitations and for providing every droplet of assistance I need.
In my failure, I see my vulnerability and sin. I
recognize my selfish choices, my blind spots, and the categories I didn’t even know existed. Thank you for pointing out my mistakes and for forgiving me as your child.”
Amen!
