Have you ever had the opportunity to play a video game? If you grew up in the United States anytime after the 1970's I'm almost positive you have.
Have you noticed how addictive they are? I'm sure during the school break for the holidays many a parent heard their child asking for just one more minute so he or she could complete a level.
If you have played a game you know that a minute's frustration leads to a moment of joy as you finally defeat the enemy on the 32nd attempt.
When you finally find yourself on the 5th level you remember back to when level 1 was so hard. And you never thought you would make it past level 3.
Do you ever wonder how you did it? How is it that you can go back now and play the game breezing through steps that you once thought too difficult to master?
No matter how prodigious a gamer you may be, you can never get through the game without failing at least once. Even if you bought one of those guides telling you how to play and win the game, you had to have failed at least once.
And even if you searched the internet and found a "walkthrough" written by someone who has already completed the game, you had to have fallen to the enemy more than once. How did you do it?
I think I have the answer. I think you did it by not giving up the first time you failed. Look at a child beginning to take her first steps. Yes she falls but she gets up and tries again. Why? Because she desperately wants to achieve her goal.
In life I believe we all want to succeed. We set goals we want to achieve. We buy the guides to walk us through the steps necessary to attain those goals. But all of the goal setting, all of the manuals, all of the preparations we make will not keep us from falling occasionally. It is how we respond when we fall that truly makes those goals obtainable.
This year, when you find yourself stumbling, don't GIVE up. GET up. Dust yourself off and don't tell yourself you will never get there.
Find yourself a guidebook, a mentor, a role model (for me it is my Bible, my pastor and my father), and convince yourself to not give up because you've failed 31 times.
If you've set a resolution for the year, remember, the year isn't over just because you slipped. The journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step, but so does a journey of 999 miles.
