Winners never quit, and quitters never win!”
Many times, after falling, we lie there waiting on someone to help us to our feet. But the truth is that most times, we can get up without assistance. Only the aged and the malnourished break bones when they experience a simple fall. So why lie there and wait for sympathy, when you have the freedom and the ability to get up?
Perhaps your pride is more hurt than your body. Perhaps the wind is knocked out of you, and it takes a while to recuperate. You see, when you set your mind to do something, you become disappointed if you do not do it, so the wind is knocked out of you. Maybe you were expecting a “yes,” but got a “no.” If you are not careful, this can knock the wind out of you too.
If you fail temporarily, do not cease striving! When you stop to think about it, that really is true. We never really fail, we simply quit trying. So if you want to be successful at becoming a better disciplined person, just keep at it! I am sure it will help you to remember the proverbial saying, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!”
Just because you do not succeed the first time you attempt something does not mean it is not meant for you. When we fall or fail, it simply suggests that we were not prepared well enough. Failure, no matter how you look at it, results from insufficient preparation. If you fail a test in school, that does not mean you are dumb. It means you did not prepare yourself well enough to pass. A lack of preparation will always cause you to do poorly.
So if you do not succeed at first, prepare more thoroughly for the next attempt. Catch your breath. Pick up yourself, and learn to move on to victory! When you are fighting a war, you are going to lose some of the battles. But a lost battle is no indication of the outcome of the war! Every time you lose a battle, stop to regroup. Wait, so you can clear your head and get a new perspective. Map out new strategies. Evaluate your past mistakes, so you can correct them or at least avoid repeating them. Use your fall for good. There is always something to be learned from it.
If you have fallen or failed in any area of your life, do not despair. You were not the first to fall, and you will not be the last. If you have fallen, all you need is a fresh start. That is what repentance does for us. It gives us a fresh start with God. I liken it to the fact that the sun goes down every day. All the failures and bad experiences can be left in that day. Then in the morning, we have a fresh start! It is a new day, a day to be better and to do better.
