“The team that makes the most mistakes is usually the one that wins…”

A thought by Ray Johnston (2014-05-13) from his book, The Hope Quotient:  Measure It. Raise It. You'll Never Be the Same. (p.136). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

That is just the beginning of the thought.  The whole thought by Ray is, “The team that makes the most mistakes is usually the one that wins, because their mistakes mean they’re trying something.”

He goes on, “John Wooden, the famous UCLA college basketball coach with the most men’s championship banners in history, never let failure keep him from reaching toward success. ‘If you’re not making mistakes,” he said, “then you’re not doing anything. I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes.’”

Here is another good quote, “Johnny Cash, the famous singer who battled serious drug and alcohol abuse, said, ‘You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.’”

Ray then says, “I love what Mike Yaconelli used to say: ‘Quit worrying about your failures. They are simply speed bumps on the road to better days.’”

That is so good but that is also hard to do, isn’t it?

Ray goes on, “Every hope-filled, thriving, successful person has two things in common: 1. They have a lot of past failures. 2. They never let those past failures stop them.”

He continues, “’Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,’ the apostle Paul wrote, ‘I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us’ (Philippians 3: 13– 14 NLT). Keep in mind that this is the same guy who called himself the ‘worst of sinners’ (1 Timothy 1: 16) and who said he did ‘not even deserve to be called an apostle’ (1 Corinthians 15: 9) because of his violent past. Paul remembered his past, but he didn’t let it chain him to guilt. He let it go.”

Think of this.  What if the disciples on Saturday would have felt like failures and not even checked on the Tomb on Sunday?

And what if you don’t give up but keep at it?