failure is never final

It is so important that I learn how to handle failure.

If I don't - it can limit me as to what I can achieve in life - and become a mindset that I can't break.

Norman Vincent Peale tells the following story:

"Once walking through the twisted little streets of Kowloon in Hong Kong, I came upon a tattoo studio.

In the window were displayed samples of the tattoos available. On the chest or arms you could have tattooed an anchor or flag or mermaid or whatever. But what struck me with force were three words that could be tattooed on one’s flesh, Born to lose. I entered the shop in astonishment and, pointing to those words, asked the Chinese tattoo artist, "Does anyone really have that terrible phrase, Born to lose, tattooed on his body?"

He replied, "Yes, sometimes." "But," I said, "I just can’t believe that anyone in his right mind would do that." The Chinese man simply tapped his forehead and said in broken English, "Before tattoo on body, tattoo on mind."

To put it another way, failure can reside in between our ears, in our minds.

Failure is never final unless is let it be.

Have you ever seen those slogans on t-shirts and coffee cups?

I love to read them.

Let me give you some coffee cup slogans that will help you today:

Coach Mike Ditka once said,  "You never really lose until you quit trying."

Failure is not falling down - failure is staying down.

We all fail. 

And let me say this - we all should fail - at certain times in our lives.

If I am not failing, it means that I am not growing, I am not moving forward, I am not changing, I am not living by faith.

Someone once said, "the person who succeeds is not the one who holds back, fearing failure.  Nor the one who never fails.  But rather the one who moves on in spite of failure."

You, like me, have learned far more from our failures than our successes in life.

I would suggest that there are two kinds of people in life:

Splatters - those who hit rock bottom, fall apart and stick to the bottom like glue.

Bouncers - those who hit rock bottom, pull themselves together and bounce back up.

Paul J. Meyer once said, "Ninety percent of all those who fail are not actually defeated - they simply quit."

So, today - are you going to give up or get up?

It really comes down to a choice.

I encourage you today to make the choice to get up and keep on going. 

Keep on going at your job.  Keep on going in your marriage.  Keep on going in your ministry.  Keep on going in your family relationships.  Keep on going.

Don't live in the past.  We learn from the past but we don't live in the past.

And....with the help of God...you will make it.