They say to pick your poison; if that's the case, I prefer failure. Between stagnation or failure, I choose failure every single time! Because failure is at the very least a sign that I tried. I refuse to be stagnant; I refuse to be in the same position; at least failing makes me fall forward. Doesn't that mean you'll fall on your face? Yes, but I'd chose falling on my face after trying to walk than to continue sitting on my behind and watch opportunity pass me by.
The most common reason people don't take the necessary steps to become more is that it requires them to do more, they may fail, and others may laugh. And I asked you, what is your biggest fear? Are you scared of doing more? Are you more afraid of failing? Or are you more scared of people laughing at your failure? Or are you more scared of seeing the years pass by knowing you could have accomplished more? Not all fears are built the same, so find your biggest fear. As for me, my biggest fear is stagnation.
"Failure isn't fatal, but failure to change might be" – John Wooden.
I've been reading the
book of Jonah. One thing that has caught my attention is that God gives Jonah an assignment at the beginning of chapter one, but he runs in the opposite direction. He attempts to run as far away from that assignment as possible. His attempt was futile. And yet, at the end of chapter one, we see God assigns a giant fish to swallow Jonah, and we see how he is in the belly of the big fish. The intriguing thing is that just as Jonah can say no to his assignment, so could the whale. And yet, the whale understood that its creator has an intended outcome which is good.
We're often running away from our assignment, our God-given talents. Often, we run in the opposite direction like Jonah because we don't like the task or don't like what it entails, which is humbling. But what is the alternative? The alternative is not working in your gifting. You can either live out your gift or shut out your gift; the choice is yours.
Don't let fear of failure hold you back. In fact, find a fear that is greater than failure. Rather it is the fear of not living out your purpose or the fear of not leaving a legacy of honor for your children or the fear of stagnation. Whatever that may be and let that fuel you. You have two options with fear; it can either fuel you or freeze you. Is it true that I'm afraid of failing? Yes, but I don't allow it to paralyze me. It doesn't freeze me because, more intensely, I'm so scared of stagnation, which fuels me!
I refuse to have a poor man's mentality. I refuse to be in the same position in the next decade as I am now. I refuse to not do more and show my kids that we live in a world where things can come true, where dreams are not only valid and Never Land; you can never land and make them come true now.
What frightens you the most? Is it using your abilities and talents to reach out to those who might not like you? Is it being swallowed by a whale? To me, stagnation is a whale.
