Failure Is Not Final

May I sing you a song?
“Do you remember those famous men
Who had to fall to rise again
They pick themselves up,
Dust themselves off
And start all over again.”*

I’ve missed a few fly balls in my lifetime while playing little league baseball, but I was still considered an above average player.

I’ve sung a few flat notes in my lifetime, but I can still sing and people listen and say nice things.

I’ve lost a few ping pong games in my life, but I still play a great game of ping pong.

I’ve missed closing a few sales in my lifetime, but I can still make a good living at selling.

When Paul Meyer was alive, I heard him say one day that he had started over 130 companies and 65% of them failed, yet he kept trying and died a multi-millionaire. Paul is credited as being one of the first people to launch the whole personal development industry. He never let his failures define his life.

Paul picked himself up, dusted himself off, and started all over again.

Here is the point I want to make. Don’t let your mistakes define who you are.

Erma Bombeck, noted newspaper columnists, once commented, “I’ve been to book signings where only two people showed up. One wanted directions to the men’s room and the other person wanted to buy the desk at which I was sitting. What you have to tell yourself is, ‘I’m not a failure. I failed at doing something.’”

I still play drums a few times a year, and occasionally my sticks get tangled up on the rims, or occasionally I may drop a stick or two, but I still drum. I’m not a failure as a drummer.

I love this story about Arnold Palmer (from Dare to Dream by John Maxwell):
“It occurred at the 1961 Los Angeles Open at the peak of Palmer’s career. On the par-five ninth hole, his last of the day, Palmer hit a good drive and wanted to try to put the ball on the green with his second shot. That would put him in good position to attempt a birdie, putting him one stroke closer to the leaders.

“With his three-wood, Palmer hit what he believed was a good shot. But as the ball sailed, it faded to the right, hit a pole, and bounded out of bounds onto the driving range. Palmer dropped a ball, took a penalty stroke, and tried again.

This time his ball hooked to the left and flew off the course into a road. Again he dropped a ball and took a penalty stroke. He repeated this process, hitting the ball out of bounds several times. Finally, he put the ball on the green. By then, he had accumulated ten strokes.

It took him two more strokes to sink the putt. He finished with a twelve and because of that, he went from a few strokes behind the leaders to being out of the tournament.

Today, if you go to the ninth hole at the Rancho Park Golf Course in Los Angeles, you will find a bronze plaque that states: “On Friday, January 6, 1961, the first day of the 35th Los Angeles Open, Arnold Palmer, voted Golfer of the Year and Pro Athlete of the Year took a 12 on this hole.”

John Maxwell says in Attitude 101, “When achievers fail, they see it as a momentary event, not a lifelong epidemic.”

Just because we have failed at something doesn’t mean we are a failure.

What about you? Do you have some things you’d rather forget? Remember, just because you have failed doesn’t mean you are a failure! I want to shout that in your ear, softly, so that it sinks down deeply into your inner being, your spizzerinctum. (I think that’s somewhere below the belt.

Need more convincing? Consider this. This man really experienced a losing streak.
He failed in business in ’31.
He was defeated for state legislator in ’32.
He tried another business in ’33. It failed.
His fiancé died in ’35.
He had a nervous breakdown in’36.
In ’43 he ran for Congress and was defeated.
He tried again in ’48 and was defeated again.
He tried running for the Senate in ’55. He lost.
The next year he ran for Vice President and lost.
In’59 he ran for the Senate again and was defeated.
In 1860, the man who signed his name A. Lincoln was elected the 16th President of the United States.

Each time, after each setback, I think I can hear Abe singing …
“I picked myself up, dusted myself off
And started all over again.”

Always remember: Failure Is Not Final.

You have uniqueness written all over you.
You have resilience.
You are as capable today as yesterday, or last week or last year.

Remember these tips:
-Assess your mistakes
-Seek advice, coaching and counsel from a mentor or more experienced person
-Learn more, read more, dream more
-Practice perfect practice
-Use mental movies of yourself performing perfectly every time
-Go back up to bat, swing and knock the ball out of the park next time!

Pick yourself up.
Dust yourself off.
And start all over again.

Go get ‘em!

And remember …

Failure is not final!

*Lyrics to Pick yourself Up are written by Dorothy Fields, 1936

What Do I Know For Sure?

A few weeks ago I invited you, my readers to submit some thoughts on the subject of “What Do I Know for Sure.” Here are some of the thoughts that came in. Hope you find meaning in my friend’s submissions.

(From a friend since childhood)
My dad used to preface remarks often with the phrase,
"I know one thing." I find myself thinking the same words when I am feeling the need to make real a concept of faith.

Knowing is as much a human need as breathing. We want to know that tomorrow holds promise: of being loved by our family and friends, of financial security, of the safety and welfare of our children and of what comes after this life is ended.

It has been my experience that most concerns involving the present and future can be relieved not by knowing, but by believing. God has given us the gift of relaxing our hearts and minds by trusting Him. Trust comes from knowing, and knowing is achieved by experiencing God's love through his Son, Jesus.

Trust does not happen overnight. It is built moment by moment as we attempt to believe that God will take care of us. Days of trusting are finally rewarded when we look back and see that God did take care of our concerns. This gives us confidence that He will continue to do so. The longer we trust, the more "knowing dividends" are accrued.

Neil Diamond expressed this need of knowing in a line,
"Wish I could tell you everything is all right, wish everything was all right."

Through faith in God, one can know that every-thing is all right and everything will continue to be all right. Neil Diamond was correct- humans can only wish, but God can make things all right. You know?
Michael Graham

(From a long-time friend)
One thing that has stayed with me since I graduated from high school was something that my Aunt Ruth wrote in the Bible she gave me for my graduation. She wrote, "When troubles knock you to your knees, you are in a good position to pray!" That has stayed with me and I have found need to remember and use it often.
Rick Hartwig

(From a former Neighbor)
Our priest closes every service during Lent with the following blessing, which I find to be incredibly powerful: "Life is short and we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel with us. So be quick to love and make haste to be kind." Words to live by all year!
Jan Duello

(From a wise long-time friend and mentor)
The older I get fewer are the rock-solid things I hold to be unshakable...those realities I am most sure of. Having lost a dear friend this week my mind turned to a favorite hymn: He Giveth More Grace.

He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

(Chorus)
His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power has no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

The boundless grace of an infinite Heavenly Father gives me unwavering confidence for the present, future, and eternity. God does not fail any time anywhere. Of this I am sure.
Wilbur Brannon

May you find nuggets of truth, wisdom and encouragement in these words from my friends.



Blessings and Peace!

Just Because It Fits Doesn't Mean It Fits

As a child I had an abundant curiosity about things and how they worked. I wasn’t exactly mechanically gifted; for instance, I couldn’t take a radio apart and put it back together and make it work, but I was curious nevertheless.

When I was four, on a Saturday afternoon, my Mom and Dad were getting all of us ready to go to some event. We were dressed in our Sunday best.

Mom helped me get dressed and then left me and continued with her other chores before we were to leave. I stayed in her room and was messing around with stuff on her dressing table. I found a box of plastic snap-together pearls that I thought were the most fascinating things in the world.

For some unexplained reason, I wanted to see how many of these pearls I could stick up my nose. Seems I was able to get three pearls up my nose before I decided it was best that I remove them before I got caught for doing something I probably wasn’t supposed to be doing in the first place.

I was able to successfully remove two of the pearls, but in my youthful exuberance to put them there, I jammed them in too hard and this last pearl was lodged way too far up my nostril and there was nothing I could do to make it come out. I knew I was I in big trouble, but there was no way I was going to confess what I had done.

And then came the moment of reckoning!

My Mom came back into her bedroom to give me one last going-over before we left for our event.

One of my Mom’s techniques to assure that we were fully ready was to clean our ears and nose with a bobby pin. Mom began to work on me; first the ears, and then she moved to the nose.

She put the bobby pin up my right side and heard a click. She pushed a bit more and mused to herself, “What in the world?” She tilted my head back and saw this shiny orb starring back at her.

She called out to my Dad, “Jay, come here!”

Dad called back, “What’s the matter Mother?”

“There’s something wrong with Mike.”

Dad came, shined a flash light up my nose and saw the shinny pearl. He asked what I had done and I had to tell.

He immediately dropped what he was doing and took me down to the corner doctor’s office (can’t remember his name). The doctor laid me out on his examination table, shined a light up my nose and began pressing and probing around on my nose.

All of a sudden he pulled on my arm and jerked me up off that table and put his hand under my mouth and out popped the pearl, no pain, no problem, no fuss.

Well, that was a happier ending than what might have happened, wouldn’t you agree?

Here’s the point. Just because it fits, doesn’t mean it fits. Those pearls fitted perfectly in my nose, but they didn’t belong in my nose.

How many times have we tried to make things fit just because “it would be nice”, or “it looks so great on me”, or even “but I like her, she’s pretty”.

Sometimes we make things fit, like jobs, because it is such a great company with which to work, or it is in a great city and we have always wanted to live there.

I’ve had relationships that didn’t fit. Have you? We were two perfectly well adjusted individuals, we liked each other, there was an attraction to each other, but for several unexplainable reasons we just didn’t “fit” together. The chemistry, the Karma, the charisma was all wrong.

Just because we were male and female didn’t mean we would automatically fit.

My friend KJ went to work recently with two different color shoes on. They both fit his feet, but they didn’t “fit” from a fashion standpoint.

I recently re-read the book Your Natural Gifts by Margaret Broadly. This book tells the story of the Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation, whose sole purpose is to test individuals and help discover their natural gifts and what they are most gifted to do. Mrs. Broadly relates numerous examples of people finding their bliss after chasing dead-end dreams for years.

In one instance she tells of a man who followed in his father’s surgeon footsteps and was a miserable failure because he lacked the critical skill of finger dexterity. That is a huge example of trying to “make it fit just because it fits.”

When it’s a natural fit, you’ll know it. You’ll feel a calmness, an inner assurance of “this is so right.”

I hope you find people, experiences, books and thoughts that fit perfectly into your life.

In closing, I want to leave you with this thought, but it doesn’t fit.

“I will stick no pearl up my nose before its time.” (with apologies to Orson Wells and Paul Masson Wines)

So I’ll just say this …

Just Because It Fits Doesn’t Mean It Fits!

It's Friday but Sunday's Coming!

Today is Friday. It is raining on the outside. It’s windy and unusually cold for April in the northwest. But Sunday’s coming.

Today we have stuff to do. Carolyn has her internship. I have my Friday morning in the library writing.

Tonight we attend a Good Friday service. But Sunday’s coming.

Saturday I have to work. I have quotas to meet, sales to make, people to see. But Sunday’s coming.

As I lay my head on my pillow Saturday night my last thought will be Sunday’s Coming.  It will be a day to celebrate, to anticipate, and to hold on to hope.

I’ll do my tasks for today on Friday.
I’ll make it through Saturday.

But Sunday? Oh yeah! Sunday’s coming.

I’m anticipating Sunday. I’ll sing a hymn or two, read some Bible passages, pray some prayers, and I’ll celebrate. I’ll think and meditate on love and redemption, grace and forgiveness, the limits of my mortality and the abundance and majesty of an eternal God.

He had a plan all along. It included you and me, a Redeemer, a cross, a grave and a heavy stone cast aside. His plan is all about Hope. Love. Forgiveness. Redemption. .

Can you see the empty grave?
     Hope cries out.

Can you see through the burial cloth that covered the face of our Redeemer?
     “Look to me” it seems to cry out. “I see you. I want to offer you something that is life changing.”

Can you see the gravestone cast aside?
     It’s an open door to hope, love, forgiveness, redemption. It is ours for the taking.
    
Will you walk through the door with me?

It’s Friday.
But Sunday’s coming!!!

The Power of the Right Word Spoken at the Right Time

Never Underestimate the Power of the Right Word Spoken at the Right Time


Has anyone ever come along side of you and whispered just the right words at the precise moment in time when you needed to hear those words? I have, and in that moment those words made all the difference in my life.

Sometimes these healing words can be spoken audibly or can be read in print on in an email

I remember clearly the night I discovered the phrase “I approve of myself.” I’m currently working on a blog in which I tell that story about those four powerful words.

Once, when I was in a bad dating relationship, my friend Harold Ivan Smith asked me “Michael, what are you pretending not to know?”

In the early 90’s, I was facing a job transition with the company I worked for, and was a bit uncertain about my future. I had been in touch with a friend of mine by the name of Michael Wells. He wrote and thanked me for something I had sent him and he included these most encouraging words.

“I received the music you sent. Thanks. Oh, by the way, you are being prayed for.”

And then he quoted a Bible verse that has since come to mean a great deal to me.

“Be not afraid nor dismayed, for I the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Holy Bible, Joshua 1:9

Those were definitely the right words spoken at the right time. They were healing and restorative words.

I remember another instance when I was deciding between living in Albuquerque or staying in Orlando. My father said these words to me.

“Son, I think that the move to Albuquerque is the right move for you. But if you get out there and you find out that it is just not a good thing, then I believe there is enough money in the Lewisburg bank to get you back home.”

I recently renewed a friendship with a “kid” who was in my youth group when I lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His name is Larry, Dr. Larry Lacher. He is the pastor of a large Church of the Nazarene in Ohio.

In one of our emails back and forth Larry offered these most heartwarming words to me.
“Of all the good influences I have had in my life, you are the #1.”

Wow! What a boost that was to receive those words. I felt I could go after Moby Dick with the tartar sauce on my sword after receiving that inspiring note.

Words are a huge source of power in our everyday lives. They have a life of their own in their ability to burrow deeply into someone’s heart and mind, for good.

Winston Churchill deserves much credit for victoriously dragging the British Empire through World War II with the power of the spoken word. He spoke the right words at the right time.

Someone near you needs to hear the right word spoken to them, today. Will you speak these words to someone this week?

You’re going to make it.
We’re going to be all right.
You Can.
You will.
You are …
I believe in you.
You have been a major influence on my life.
You are almost to the finish line.
You inspired me today.
You helped me when I needed it the most.

A Properly Placed Word
A properly placed word can give hope
A properly placed word can restore peace
A properly placed word can offer encouragement

A properly placed word can inspire
A properly placed word can comfort
A properly placed word can bring joy

A properly placed word can offer healing
A properly placed word can give assurance
A properly placed word can restore one’s faith

A properly placed word can strengthen a grip
A properly placed word can give life meaning
A properly placed word can restore confidence

A properly placed word can lift one’s spirit
A properly placed word can give a new perspective
A properly placed word can turn a life in the right direction

A properly placed word can end strife
A properly placed word can prolong a life
A properly placed word can heal a marriage

A properly placed word can inspire a team
A properly placed word can inspire a nation
A properly placed word can change a direction

Will you go and speak words of esteem, power, encouragement and healing to someone today?

NEVER UNDERSTIMATE THE POWER

OF THE RIGHT WORD

SPOKEN AT THE RIGHT TIME!

What Do You Know For Sure

Our lives can be compared to a rolling stone. As we roll along we touch hundreds and thousands of other stones, particles, obstacles, we take a dip in a few watering holes, and keep on rolling. Everything we touch, everything we hear, everything we read and every person we meet affects us in some way. Some experiences affect us in more profound ways that others.

Would you share with me a few nuggets of wisdom you’ve gleaned as your life has rolled along? Maybe you’ve read a significant book and you want to share something from it. If you’ve adopted a significant phrase, Bible verse, or saying that is significant I would like to hear it. With your permission, I want to compile some of the most interesting and meaningful insights sent to me and then share them with my followers on this blog.

Let’s keep the rules to a minimum during this experience together.
1. Write from your heart.
2. Try to keep it under 300 words.
3. Short is good.
4. I’ll list you as anonymous if you request it.
5. Send me an email (address listed below) with your submissions.
I’ll post my blog based on these submissions on Friday, April 16, 2010.

OK, here are some of the best things I know.

One of my life verses from the Bible:
"Be not afraid nor dismayed, for I the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
(Joshua 1:9)

When I look at my life and the twists and turns it has taken I am amazed at times that I’m still standing. I’ve experienced God’s peace, steadfastness and grace and I’m still climbing, I’m still working, and I’m still dreaming. Dream with me!

I know these facts based on the book Aspire, Kevin Hall.
“You must learn to see beyond the clouds.
Sapere Vedere is knowing how to see.
Believing is seeing.
People with Sapere Vedere say ‘I’ll see that bridge before I cross it.’

Sight is a function of the eyes; vision is a function of the heart.

Vision sets you free from the limitations of what the eyes can see and allows you to enter into the liberty of what the heart can feel. Never let your eyes determine what you heart believes.

“The two most important days of our lives are the day we were born and the day we discover what we were born to do.”
(Aspire, Kevin Hall)

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.”
(Henry David Thoreau)

Maya Angelou says,
"I’ve learned that …
People will forget what you said,
People will forget what you did,
But people will never forget how you made them feel.”

So, “from this day on I resolve to leave every person I meet better for having met me.”
(Aspire, Kevin Hall)

Can you tell that I love this new book, Aspire, by Kevin Hall? I bought it in January 2010 and have read it twice already this year and am making a constant study of it and the principles Kevin teaches. It is good reading.

These are some of the things that I know. And now it is your turn. (By the way, I did that in 292 words.)

I’ll look forward to hearing from you soon.

My email address is pm.biggs@comcast.net or michael@up-words.net

I’ll publish the selected thoughts on Friday, April 16, 2010.

With hope and anticipation of what you’ll send.

Michael

HOPE

When I was a small boy growing up in Tennessee I had tons of hope. At Christmastime I had high hopes for what might be under and around our Christmas tree. “Would I get that new bicycle? Would there be a football this year?”

As I moved into college I hoped for a passing grade in philosophy. I hoped to master music theory and be able to properly write four-part harmony. Hope filled my life.

As I started my career I hoped for that first job to come through when all of my friends around me were getting their calls and deciding their destinies. Finally, my call came and I moved to Orlando.

When I met Carolyn, I hoped she liked me. I hoped there would be a second date, and a third.

It seems that my life has been a journey of moving from one hope to another. Does this ring true with you? I wish we could sit across from each other and talk about our hopes and dreams.

Napoleon Bonaparte had this to say; “Leaders are dealers in hope.”

Hope is one of the most powerful and encouraging words in the English language. It is also listed as one of the three abiding spiritual attributes in the scriptures. “And now abides faith, hope, and love.”
(I Corinthians 13:13)

John Maxwell had some great insights to offer on the subject of hope in the December 2009 issue of Success Magazine.

”Hope shines brightest when the hour is darkest.
Hope motivates when discouragement comes.
Hope energizes when the body is tired.
Hope sweetens when the bitterness bites.

"Hope sings when all melodies are gone.
Hope believes when the evidence is eliminated.
Hope listens for answers when no one is talking.
Hope climbs over obstacles when no one is helping.

"Hope endures hardship when no one is caring.
Hope smiles confidently when no one is laughing.
Hope reaches for answers when no one is asking.
Hope presses towards victory when no one is encouraging.

"Hope dares to give when no one is sharing.
Hope brings the victory when no one is winning.”
(*From Think On These Things, by John Maxwell, Beacon Hill Press)

You can’t do without hope. It is like a breath of air or nourishment to the soul.

Bob Eaton, former Chairman/CEO of the Chrysler Corporation says, “A leader is someone who can take a group of people to a place they don’t think they can go.”

How can we offer hope to people? Read what John Maxwell says.
1. “Help people change their way of thinking. Hope can only become a reality if you can help change how they think if they think negatively.

2. Help them win some small victories. Positive thinking must be followed by positive doing. Nothing succeeds like success.”
“When people sense victory they sacrifice to succeed.
     When people sense defeat they give as little as possible.
When people sense victory they look for ways to win.
     When people sense defeat they look for excuses.
When people sense victory they become energized.
     When people sense defeat they become tired.
When people sense victory they follow the game plan.
     When people sense defeat they forsake the game plan.
When people sense victory they help other team members.
     When people sense defeat they hurt others.

3. Express sincerely your belief in them and in their future.”
(Taken from Think on These Things, Beacon Hill Press written by John Maxwell.

“Hope is people who have the courage to remake the world, not as it is, but as it should be.”
President Barack Obama

“Once you choose hope, anything is possible.”
Christopher Reeve

“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”
Dale Carnegie

All the great spiritual leaders in history were people of hope; Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Mary, Jesus, and Gandhi all lived with a promise in their hearts that guided them toward the future without the need to know exactly what it would look like. Let’s live with hope.”
(Henri J. M. Nouwen)

Our founding fathers had hopes for a new kind of freedom. They wanted to worship and to abide in a land without undue taxation and without restrictions from a former life.

Ann Sullivan helped Helen Keller hold on to the hope that one day she would hear, see and speak, even in the midst of her handicaps, and Ms. Keller overcame mountainous obstacles to accomplish her dreams.

Abe Lincoln had a hope to end slavery.

President John Kennedy had a hope that someday Americans would land on the moon.

Henry Ford had a hope that someday his vehicles would encircle the globe.

Lance Armstrong had a hope that he would win the Tour de France bicycle race in spite of his diagnosis of cancer.

What are your hopes? What can you see in your mind’s eye right now that is still invisible to the natural eye? A ship’s captain cannot see his port-of-call for 99% of his voyage, yet he has a vision and hope that he will successfully navigate the waters of our world and reach his destination.

One of my favorite biblical passages ends with this thought. “… "To give you a future with hope.”
(Jeremiah 29:11)

Here’s the good news … I have a future full of hope, and so do you!