Failed Attempts to Fly
I think we all have a history of failures. Failed relationships, failed friendships, failed dreams, failed tests. Life is filled with failures.
When I was in college about 20 years ago I started to write a book. I thought it was an interesting idea about an angel throughout history that was nearby during important failures. Failures he didn’t stop. I got so far into the book and just stopped. (After a while I started to not like it.)
Some may say that this act of non-completion was a failure. Others may say the story idea in itself was a failure. I on the other hand saw this book as just a stepping stone in a long journey.
The journey of who I was becoming.
I have other books I have started to write through the years but never finished for one reason or another. Maybe I will one day finish them, but it just didn’t feel right to keep working on a project I wasn’t passionate about.
Have you ever completed something just to say you finished it?
I have started various television shows and movies only to get bored with them in the middle, but I stuck with it because I had some hope that the ending would redeem itself. Sometimes it did…other times I’m left wondering why I didn’t stop watching it when I first had the thought.
It is good to complete something. That feeling of accomplishment. Being able to breathe a sigh of relief that your labor and hard work wasn’t in vain.
But life isn’t about breathing a sigh of relief. Life is about the journey – not the ending. The ending is just that. The end.
Who wants to live life with that mentality?
I don’t.
I want to live with the notion that anything is possible. That the sky is the limit. That God is bigger than any opposing force in my way.
I may not be a big time writer with accolades and fame, but that doesn’t impress me. I just want to live my life encouraging people to follow their dreams.
So, my latest book, Intertwined, is a book of failure. I wrote it about a decade ago and no one wanted to publish it. I couldn’t get anyone to look at it. So I put it aside. Years later I pulled the story out and reread it and I was still drawn to the characters and story.
These characters may be fictional, but their story deserved to be told.
So I started over. I let various people read it and I got the green light to continue, many kind words of praises and pats on the back.
I thought the book was a failure, but so far, so far it has brought new life to my bones. A story of redemption. A story of second chances. A story that God has a purpose…even if it took a decade. A decade isn’t that long in the grand scheme of things.
So, where are you at in this life?
Are you waiting in your nest afraid to take a leap or are you staring over the edge of your woven home? Either way, you are both still in the nest. It doesn’t matter how close to the edge you get, you’re still in the nest.
What is it going to take to jump?
We all have a story to tell. The failures and the successes. Don’t let your failures dictate your future. But use your failures to grow into your future.
You might not be flying now, but don’t give up hope.
I think it’s time to take a leap of faith.
What are you jumping toward?
Let me know, we are all on this journey together. Just like my story, Intertwined, we are all connected.
Peace
If you are interested in my latest book, click on the link below.
