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Dalton
Roberts |
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People make
mistakes. They are supposed to. It's as human as burping. To
not act because you fear making a mistake makes no more sense than to
not eat because you fear burping. Go ahead and eat. If you burp, say
"pardon me" and go on as if nothing has happened because
nothing of substance has happened. Go ahead and act, too, when you feel
the urge and if you fail, just say "how about that" to
yourself and go on with your life. To not act
because you fear failure eliminates any chance at all of your success.
Not one single thing would have ever been accomplished since the dawn of
humanity if fear of failure had ruled everyone. None of us would have
ever been born if fear of failure (rejection) had ruled Adam and Eve or
whoever was the first humanoid. Somebody had to say, "How about a
little kiss, Baby." Big things (like survival of the human species)
start in little ways (like a kiss). When someone
makes a mistake I try to be quick to support them in some way. Even
moral lapses. One of the saddest pictures I have ever seen in my life
was the picture of Rev. Jimmy Swaggert when he confessed to a liaison
with a prostitute. His face was contorted in pain. Tears were streaming
down his face. I do not care for his theology or his preaching but I
paused and said, "God bless him and help him to live again." I
embraced him in my heart and said, "Don't give up, brother." A friend of mine
does great work. He gives much time to the Gideons. He was humiliated in
a prostitute thing similar to Swaggert. The media kept thumping him
about his sin because of his religiosity. It grieved me to think of the
courage he would have to find to return to his good works. I knew it
would be hard. We don't just
need spiritual support from God or people when we decide to change our
life, call it born again or converted or whatever. We need spiritual
support every day of our life. And we need just as much to give it. It
is in giving our loving heart and hand to our brothers and sisters that
we learn to receive the exact help from them. Maybe people
wouldn't fear failure so much if we accepted them as fallible humans and
realized that we, too, are capable of doing some abysmally stupid
things. Just one good friend, one person who refuses to condemn you, one
person who says "I understand," can get us over some crushing
pains. When you get
weary of making mistakes, just think of how boring it would be to be
perfect. Even people who think they are perfect are boring! It's not such a
rough gig to be a human when you realize humans are the ones who make
mistakes. It's a species thing. Check out Dalton's
website at www.daltonroberts.com
and his gathered writings at www.ipsfeatures.com.
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