Defeat Isn’t Bitter, If You Don’t Swallow it

Yay! You did it!!!

It is gloomy outside today and it makes me really have to fight to keep a good attitude. I really love the sunshine. It makes me feel better even though the circumstances might be gloomy.

I  checked the outside temperature, debating if it was too cold to plant flowers outside. I noticed how dirty the windows are. Wow! How in the world do windows get so incredibly dirty when no one is touching them? I don’t have small children anymore, smearing sticky fingers across the window panes. The windows are sheltered by a wrap around porch with a roof on it. Then I noticed all the dead leaves that have fallen off of my houseplants during the winter months. They were  scattered across the bay window shelf. The more I viewed my kitchen, the worse I felt. I began to feel like a world class failure. Yes, I admit I hate to clean. I would rather be outside digging in the dirt, planting lovely flowers, or pulling weeds! It’s great therapy!

I began to think about failure and how destructive those thoughts can be. I had to point my thoughts in a different direction or I knew the outcome would not be pleasant!

I could only feel like a failure if I allowed myself to accept those feelings. No one else is here making me feel bad. I’m choosing to do it all by myself. Defeat isn’t bitter,  if you don’t swallow it.

There are so many (possibly even all) successful people that have experienced much failure before they succeeded in their quest. I read a quote by Bob Gilbert that really encouraged me. He said, ” The most successful authors, inventors, actors, etc…have developed the ability to deal with massive amounts of rejection. High achievers rarely think of failure as an end in itself. Instead, they believe in delayed success. A loser says, I can’t do it, while a winner says, I can’t do it yet. ”

I love that! Delayed success!  Yes there is hope for me! I just need to stop playing mind games with the devil and realize I have everything I need to succeed at whatever I attempt to do. Will I fail? Of course! I just have to remember it’s simply delayed success!

Although we might fail to reach our own expectations we are also successful in other areas of our lives. I think it’s so important to place value and recognize our good traits to give us courage to press through our failures to reach success.

Abraham Lincoln failed at so many things before he became president of the United States. I read somewhere that as his mother lay dying, she grabbed his hand and said “be somebody Abe”. He possessed something inside that could absorb all the failure and turn it into something positive. The legacy he left behind has encouraged millions to overcome obstacles to reach success. I believe his faith and trust in a living God were the keys to his endeavors. He sought the Lord for direction, and he was rewarded through his diligent prayers.

We will fail and make mistakes and bad choices and really bad decisions. However, these are simply stepping stones to our delayed success! Be like a duck,  calm and unruffled on the surface, but paddle like the devil underneath!