One of the most discouraging things in life is failure. Failure in expectations you set for yourself, failure in your work, failure in your relationships, etc. To be frank - failure sucks.
Over my 17 or so years of playing soccer, I've faced lots of failure. One example you may have read about in the last blog: Capable. While I have recently decided to "retire" from the competitive game, it taught me a lot about failure over the years. The most prominent lesson being that failure is most always on you. Yep. The failure is most always on you. Hang with me, that's just the bad news. It gets better.
Any time I have faced failure, it's either been directly my fault or I've been able to trace it back and find a spot where I could have done more to prevent the failure. Even if it was a bad pass and we lost the ball - I could have just taken a better touch and the failure could have been avoided. The good news - The failure is most always on you. It's the good news also because a failure that's on you is always followed by a choice that's on you. How awful would it be if it wasn't yours and you couldn't fix it?! Bad pass, bad touch, my fault, CHOICE. Do I go get the ball or do I mope? Get the ball. Every time.
The place where failure makes or breaks is, I think, at the choice. Failure is inevitable, but you always have a choice in response, and the choice is on you. A great analogy for this is like following a GPS to your destination. If you miss a turn, no matter the reason, you always have (at least) two choices. Park the car and be pissed off that you missed the turn, or turn the car around and get back on track. I would bet highly that you always turn the car around and you always arrive at your desired destination, no matter how many turns you miss. The one time you don't turn the car around and get back in route, I would guess you don't get to where you were headed.
The truth is that you're going to mess up, but you can always get back on track, and the sooner you do, the sooner you'll reach your destination. The choice is on you.
PREACH! I cant imagine missing a turn or "trusting the blue line" on my map 🤣, but I can relate to failure leading to a choice that ultimately gives you the option to fix the failure or let it remain a failure. Great thoughts Tanner!
So true! There is always going to be circumstance. What matters is how we choose to handle it. Wise Tanner Kelly! ❤️