“Remember
ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do
a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make
a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” –Isaiah 43:18-19 (KJV)
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Thanks
to all my supporters from the bottom of my heart. Your kind comments, and
shares, mean so much to me!
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Some individuals see every mistake, especially big ones, as
a permanent block. Others, like Olympic athletes, and the 16th U.S.
President, Abraham Lincoln, see each blunder as an opportunity to learn and to
begin again.
Samson
We learn this Israelite judge and strongman’s story in Judges
13-16. Delilah is the Philistine woman Samson loves. She tricks him into
telling her the only way to drain his strength is to cut his hair. When the
great judge is weakened, he is blinded and imprisoned by the Philistines.
Samson doesn’t accept defeat. When he is tied between two
pillars in the temple of the Philistine god, Dagon, he prays for a temporary
return of power. He is then able to push on the pillars and bring down the temple.
This kills about 3,000 individuals, including him.
Mindset: the new Psychology of Success, by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D.
This wonderful book explores
two different attitudes: fixed mindsets and growth mindsets. People with fixed
mindsets can't see beyond failure; it depresses them. Something either works
from the beginning, or it doesn't. There is no middle ground. There are no
second chances. Alternatively, people with growth mindsets see every failure as
a learning/growth opportunity. They realize every huge achievement is a
process; we have to be patient.
Life is all about patience. Endurance wins the prize in
every area of life.
Darkest Hour
This Academy-Award
winning 2017 war drama film stars Gary Oldham as Winston Churchill. The Prime
Minister of England during World War 2 is a great example of the growth
mindset.
The entire movie
presents a clear message of refusing to accept defeat as final. However, there
are two main takeaways from the movie:
Churchill had to fight opposition within
his own government.
Many
important officials wanted to negotiate with Hitler. They believed he would be
reasonable and allow them some freedom and self-government. (Ummm. Hello?! Look
at the track record throughout the rest of Europe!)
Churchill
discovered the everyday people of England wanted to fight for their liberty, no
matter what it cost. The English were unwilling to see the Nazi flag flying
over Buckingham Palace under any circumstances. The statesman respected the
desires of his fellow countrymen and refused to surrender.
The Prime Minister had to fight opposition
outside of the government.
A weaker
person would have surrendered to “the inevitable”. Churchill, on the other
hand, refused to accept any setback
as permanent. The Prime Minister’s most famous quotes below express the kind of
determination that motivated the statesman in these harrowing conditions:
1. U.S.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt refused to enter the war until Pearl Harbor was
bombed on December 7th, 1941.
2. London was
being bombed.
3. The entire British fleet was boxed in at
Dunkirk, France, surrounded by the Nazis. (The miracle of how that situation
was resolved is the subject of another wonderful movie: Dunkirk.)
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“Success is not final, failure is not
fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.”
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“Never give in. Never give in. Never,
never, never, never — in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give
in, except to convictions of honor and good sense." (excerpt from his well-known
speech to the 1941 graduating class of Harrow School)
My Conclusion
Athletes
aren’t the only ones who are able to regroup and revitalize themselves. You can
take time outs and start over. Maybe you’ll even be allowed to take the game
into overtime.
Related Posts
Are you ready for the next part of
the match?
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