How sad. I can’t think of anything worse than to wake up and discover that you have failed to try. Not failed in your goal, but failed to even try, the realization that you never tried to accomplish (fill in the blank). I really believe that failing to try is our response when we aren’t confident, when we aren’t sure if what we think we believe is ‘true’ and ‘good’ and ‘right’. But we aren’t willing to put to the test (fill in the blank) to discover the truth of whether or not we are ‘right’.
Once you discover you have been unwilling to put your belief to the test, what do you do? Belatedly try? Decide you were ‘wrong’ in the first place and eliminate your goal? If you do take this last stance, do you replace your ‘wrong goal’ with a different one? Too often people seem to take this type of defeat and let it define who they are… permanently. In my world, this is a tragic loss – both for the individual as well as their world. We need to become intentional again. I think we need to invest in ourselves and believe we can… if we try. And if it proves ‘wrong’ then to find our ‘right’.
Not Believing in yourself, who you are becoming, is the greatest impediment to becoming all that you are intended to Be and Do. When we don’t believe then we sabotage our lives – wittingly or not. It’s not that you are perfect or don’t make mistakes, but to let this stop you from even beginning is to grant unknown incredible power over you. Grant… to? Fear? What is so great that even Whose you are has no power over…? Ever look at your thinking from the perspective that you are telling the Lord that He can do nothing?
Failing to try is the give up/give in mindset. You have predetermined that taking a stand or acting on a decision, etc. will result in dire consequences for you. Simultaneously you have not replaced whatever was predetermined with another stand/decision. Basically, you’ve just sat down – the adult equivalent to a child’s temper tantrum. Simply because you don’t make a lot of noise doesn’t mean that you aren’t having your version of a tantrum. Fading away is equal to being boisterous – just the opposite expression.
Be honest with yourself. Know why you are failing to try because there are a host of possibilities. But… are they relevant? Do they speak to the issue? Do they speak to who you are? If those questions are answered, ‘yes’. Then… is this what you want? What are you willing to pay to change… and what are going to pay to keep the status quo?
