Don’t Let Failures Fool You

I have a friend who filled out one hundred applications before she landed a job. That is ninety-nine failures before she found her yes.

I am not a sports fan, but even I have heard of Micheal Jordan. Many believe him to be one of the greatest basketball players of all time. However, he faced rejection when he was cut from his high school varsity team. He faced failure, but he persevered. He tried again and again. To quote the legend, “I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

“Charles Schultz’s drawings were rejected by his high school yearbook. Schultz went on to create Peanuts with Snoopy and Charlie Brown. The cartoon and licensing/product revenue from Peanuts generated over $1 billion a year. The high school eventually put a statue of Snoopy in the main office” (Aronson, Brad “Famous Failures 23 Stories to Inspire You to Succeed” retrieved May 30, 2019 bradaronson.com)

Colonel Harland Sanders was rejected over 1,000 times before he found a partner to build the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise. There are now over 15,000 KYC restaurants. (Singh, Madalsa “The Story of Colonel Sanders” retrieved May 30, 2019 from yourstory.com)

Jack Canfield who wrote Chicken Soup for the Soul was rejected 144 times before he found a publisher for his book. Jack had the vision to sell 1.5 million books in the first 18 months. His publisher laughed at his dream and told him he’d be lucky to sell 20,000. Jack’s first book sold more than 8 million copies in America alone and another 10 million copies around the world. (Aronson, Brad “Famous Failures 23 Stories to Inspire You to Succeed” retrieved May 30, 2019 from bradaronson.com)

Friends, if you are facing a failure today, can I say, you are not alone?! Failure finds every one of us. The difference between failure and success is trying one more time. Don’t be afraid of failures. Failures will eventually lead to victory. The famous inventor Thomas Edison was once asked about his many failures. He responded with “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Do not let your failures fool you. You are not failing. You are discovering what works.

Continue to press on. Keep trying. Keep moving forward. Today is a new beginning and may even be full of fresh victories.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9 (NIV)