Tip of My Iceberg

Colorado is a state where outdoors is another living space, People spend hours hiking, biking, skiing, skating, snowboarding, walking–anything that allows nature and humanity to intersect.

Our daughter and her family have accomplished many of these activities together, and their commitment to take every opportunity that comes along is being pursued with gusto.

She sent me this picture of their first excursion into ice skating with Beck. Her caption: “I promise you, he’s alive.”

Lucky for five-year-old Beck that he face-planted from a brief height. Had he been a lot taller, the resulting pain could have been tremendous. His short stature was preventative.

What I love about our Colorado family is that nothing is beyond trying if it fits their value of being outdoors and active. Beck is learning many new activities that are not only developing a well-rounded character but are also developing resilience and perseverance in this young man.

Too often we give up because something or someone has disappointed us or hasn’t proven to be as good as we anticipated. We choose to cancel people who don’t agree with us, ignore those who won’t act or believe like we do, or dismiss those too different than us. Persevering through difficulties and challenges isn’t valued as highly as it once was. Quitting is easier; giving up seems to save face more than trying and experiencing failure.

Why are we so afraid to fail? In a world quick to point out our faults, frustration can overwhelm us. Because appearance means so much to so many, to look like we don’t know what we’re doing is shaming and embarrassing.

We’ve not been taught to fail well.

Thomas Edison, an American inventor and businessman, was committed to developing an incandescent lightbulb and eventually an entire lighting system. His failures were numerous. His resilience kept him going. When questioned about his many failures, his response was, “I have not failed 10,000 times–I’ve found 10,000 ways that will not work.”

The Bible speaks often of people who have persevered through difficult challenges and have found success despite circumstances. Jesus told His followers a story that would help them understand about the effectiveness of perseverance.

“‘There was a judge in a certain city,’ He said, ‘who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’” Luke 18:2-5

Jesus encouraged His followers to pray with perseverance because God, who is just and kind, is the Giver of good gifts. Staying the course, not giving up, produces results.

Beck eventually got up and kept trying to ice skate, and he will improve. Fear isn’t in his vocabulary at this point.

We each need to consider what it will take for us to persevere no matter the consequences. Are we going to allow failure or the fear of failure to dictate to us or will we work to accomplish what we feel is important?

What keeps you from trying?