“You’re never a loser until you quit trying.” ~ Mike Ditka
None of us want to be considered a loser. I would say that all of us want to be considered winners in some way, shape, or form. Being successful is possible. It takes work, desire, and determination.
While we all want to be considered winners, there comes a point in our lives — maybe even on a somewhat regular basis — where we feel that we cannot continue and we begin to think that, perhaps, we should just give up. How many times in our lives have we come to that point?
It is never easy to consider giving up. Sadly, some people come to the conclusion that giving up is the only option available to them. Ditka reminds us that the only way to be considered a loser is to give up, to quit trying.
I think it is safe to assume that we have all experienced failure in our lives. We can all tell stories of what that failure did to us. For some, the failure caused us to take a step back, to evaluate why we failed, to make a new plan, and to try again. For others, the failure may have caused us to give up.
How many of us have kicked ourselves later for giving up on something or someone in the past. Come on. Don’t be afraid to raise your hands. You know that we have all done that at one point or another in our lives. When we quit trying and gave up, we felt like miserable losers.
But, do you remember the thrill when later — maybe weeks or months or years later — you decided to pick up and try again? Do you remember what it felt like when you finally succeeded?
None of us have to be losers. All of us can try: again and again and again. The quality of a person’s character can be evaluated not on how that person has failed but on how that person attempted yet again to succeed.
There are times that we label ourselves losers even in our faith lives. We try to do something to deepen our prayer life. Perhaps it sounded good but it just didn’t work for us. In despair, we gave up trying anything else. There are numerous ways to pray. If one doesn’t work for you, try another.
Some people have given up on service. They volunteered somewhere but it didn’t work out so they gave up on the idea of service. Again, there are numerous ways to serve others. Find something that works for you.
FAITH ACTION: No matter how tired you may be or how many times you may have failed, do not quit trying. Ask God for the grace necessary to try yet again.