Friday Fears: Facing Failure

Happy Friday!

Plaid Shirt c/o ASOS.com

Blue Skinny Jeans - Gap

Gold Necklace - Thrifted

Gold Necklace - 'Gift' from my momma ;)

Red Pumps - Gift from my sis-in-law

In the spirit of all things spooky this month, I wanted to go deeper into the 4 fears we discussed last  Friday (Remember this?). More specifically on the fear of failure. 

Failure itself is subjective. Some people think of crappy situations as great opportunities, while others see them as confirmation that they are just not good enough. It's really all in perspective of what it is to you. We've all likely experienced some sort of 'failure.'

"For though a righteous man falls seven times, he will rise again..."
-Proverbs 24:16

Sometimes there have been things in our past (or present) that are pushing us towards this fear. 

It could be someone we know that is critical or not supportive and rather puts us down about our plans - this could make us start to believe those words and allows the devil to fight us with those thoughts on a constant basis.  I watched The Biggest Loser once, where this woman's sister told her she would never amount to anything and that she would gain all of the weight back. How hurtful! This is something that could definitely be a cause to why you are having fearful thoughts about not meeting goals and failing. 

Another example is a past experience. Maybe it was fumbling in a presentation, or being rejected from a school or program that we really wanted. Or not crossing everything off your to-do list! These things can definitely add a bruise to our ego and begin the self-sabotage thought process. When we start to self sabotage - procrastination, anxiety, not following through with personal goals, and even speaking negative ideas to ourselves (ex: 'I'm not as good as he/she') - we begin the road to self destruction. In this case that would mean you stop doing things to reach or achieve your goals because you are terrified with what the outcome could possibly be. Sometimes we convince ourselves that we cannot do something instead of giving ourselves the benefit of the doubt or opportunity to gain an experience, if nothing else.

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."

We all will experience some form of disappointment in our lives, but its important that we don't replace the word "disappointment" with "failure". And its also important that we do not dwell on our disappointment. Some let downs are necessary. Jesus may close a door because you were NOT supposed to go in it, there may be something greater at a further distance ahead of you. Going through the process of "losing" something that we want, is a great learning experience in itself and helps to teach us to trust in God through everything.  

Keeping a positive attitude, helps to boost self-confidence and decrease self-sabotage. Goal setting and visualizing your future are great ways to take steps to helping us defining where we want to head. Understanding, that everything that will happen in our future will help us no matter what it looks like if we put Christ first.

"More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope..."

-Romans 5:3-5

What have you learned from falling? 

What advice do you have for those who need to be strengthened?

I would love to hear your thoughts either below or with #YourAttitudeMatters on Twitter. 

Have a great weekend!

- J

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