It Gets Better
“The best thing you can learn from the worst times of your life is that it always gets better. It may take a month, a year, a decade, but it will get better if you leave yourself open to it.” ~ Janis Ian
These words sound exhilarating; however, if I am going to be honest, I would say that I have a tough time living by them. Anyone who knows me knows that I can slip into a defeatist attitude. If something goes wrong, I have a hard time getting out from under it, especially if I put a lot of myself into it. If it was a big program and it flopped, you would be hard pressed to talk to me about attempting it again anytime in the near future.
I think we all operate that way at times in our lives. Failure has a way of wearing on us. We often take it personally. We do all that we can not to fail again even if it means avoiding attempting that which failed. But in doing so, we are in danger of never moving forward. Failure, while extremely unpleasant and undesirable, can be the building blocks to later success.
When we fail, we need, more than ever, to rely upon trust. We have to trust that other people will “have our back”. We have to trust that God is there with us, leading us and guiding us through the failure. We have to trust that we can turn our failure around into success. Some people would say that is naivety. I think, on the other hand, it is what builds our character and makes us stronger.
We will fail. It is that simple. We would probably be better off if we wrote that down and placed it in several areas in our homes. We will fail. Knowing that will soften the blow when failure happens. However, it will also give us the strength that we need to get up and try again because the opposite is also true: we will succeed. As a matter of fact, we will succeed much more than we will fail.
Be humble. Sometimes failure is an opportunity for others to step in and help. It takes a lot of humility for some of us to accept help from others. Maybe failure is the best thing that can happen to us at times because it can build up a support network among family and friends.
Failure can build character. It can also help us develop patience. We need to have patience so that, when we fail, we can wait for the moment when that failure can be turned around and built into success. Do all that you can to make sure that failure does not mar your days, weeks, months, or years. There is something good that can come from failure. Be patient and wait. Ask the Lord to help you turn things around.
FAITH ACTION: Try not to dwell upon the negative things of the day. Rejoice, instead, in the positive.