Hey Style of Lifers!! I know you are probably saying, “Don’t ‘hey’ us, where you been?” Lol. For most of you and for myself 2020 was a tough year! And honestly I just had to reflect, process, and relinquish whatever plans I thought I had. One of the biggest things that I’ve had to overcome in the past and then revisit currently is failure. Often times failure feels like a door that has been slammed in your face, never to be opened again. But failure, just like doors, may require you to knock again, use a different key, or to find another door. Failure isn’t where your journey ends, it’s where true opportunity begins.
KNOCK AGAIN! Sometimes failure happens to test your resilience. I know it’s really cliche but, if at first you don’t succeed try try again. If behind that door was the path to your greatness, would it be worth a second knock? I encourage you to muster up enough courage to knock again. When the door opens after knocking again, you will appreciate that door and the opportunities it will provide for your future. Your lesson won’t be about the open door, but unlocking the power of your resilience by way of knocking again.
USE A NEW KEY! Often times we have our success down to a formula. We know exactly how much, time, effort, and planning is required for us to yield the results we desire in our personal, professional and spiritual lives. But what happens when what you have always used to succeed just doesn’t work? Failure might show us that it’s time to take a different approach entirely. And if we experienced failure while going to the next level, we have to stop and recognize that we are walking into another set of doors. Doors that can’t be opened using old keys. New keys can be new perspective, new strategies, new networks, and a new approach to the areas of your life where you have experienced failure. New keys provide new access, new responsibilities, and new opportunities.
FIND ANOTHER DOOR! Ok soooo….I’ve knocked again, I’ve changed my key and the DOOR STILL WON’T OPEN. Continuing to experience setbacks can be frustrating and discouraging. It is possible that these signs are telling you, “This is not the door for you.” So now what? This is the time when you reset and explore other opportunities that allow you to live out your purpose. Once you find those alternative doors in your life you can expand your perspective, focus on what is ahead, and master the lessons that previous failures have taught you.
I share all this to say, failure is nothing more than a door of opportunity. Whether you have to knock again, get a new set of keys, or find another door all together, you will be better as a result of experiencing failure. It may not feel like it instantly, but time will reveal that failure, just like success, is necessary for greatness. Your homework this time around is to write down the experiences in your life that felt like failure, and how did you turn them into success? If you did it before, you can do it again!
We all have to live our life, why not do it with boldness and balance? That my friends is the STYLE OF LIFE!
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
Matthew 7:7
The Style of Life 