Dealing with failure is hard. Whether this be failure in relationships, schoolwork, career, faith/spirituality, in the pursuit of personal interests... the list goes on. Too often I find myself lamenting my choices and wishing desperately for the opportunity to turn back time to prevent myself from making decisions that have ultimately caused myself or others pain.
A big reason I’ve found failure to be so challenging, is because I usually don’t know what’s on the other side of it. Too often I find myself panicking about what comes next because failure wasn’t something I accounted for; I think less of myself because I couldn’t “get it right” the first time. Did I ruin a friendship? Did I create permanent strain in my familial relationships? Will I ever work a meaningful job? Do people think less of me? Am I taking my life for granted? While I’m pondering these things and beating myself up over the culmination of decisions and random happenings that result in shortcomings, life continues to go on and I have to decide how to proceed.
I’m hoping that through this podcast I’m able to remind myself and anyone who chooses to listen that as desperate as I am or you may be for a do over—even regarding self-imposed failure—that the feelings of hopelessness and regret don’t have to be forever. We can and will continue on knowing that there is a full life on the other side of failure as opposed to continually looking over our shoulders wondering how much better our lives would’ve been if we had an undo button.
