Failure

Last week I sat in a team meeting for our department. I work in the Kinesiology, Health, and Physical Education Department at Biola University. This is new as of mid August. This meeting rocked me a little--for the good. Coach Matt Orr shared the opening devo. I had heard that his devos were pretty intense...and I've learned that everything about this man is intense. AND I LOVE IT. He has a heart of gold. And he loves students. And he loves Jesus.

His slogan is: "Purpose, Passion, and Commitment." LOVE IT! This man is so encouraging to me each day. He is getting older, but I tell him he still has so much to offer. He is impacting the men of Biola University for Christ. He is teaching them things that not all men know. He understands men. And that is what I love about him. He is a solid coach---and has quite the history. A winning history. He has been at Biola for 40+ years. Wowzers!

A few weeks ago Matt left a red rose on my desk...on a day that I really needed a little boost. I know it was God. Speaking to me. Through this man. He put a little card by the red rose. It said, "She who refreshes others will herself be refreshed. Thanks for being KHPE's front line ROSE to our students." I had no words. From that day, every once in awhile I'll get to work at 8am and there will be a little note on my desk or a devotion encouraging me. From Coach Orr. This man rocks. Seriously.

Anyways, I saw a movie last weekend that I loved...I'll write more about that this weekend when I have more time, but I wanted to share Matt's devo---because it's awesome.

He goes through it with all of his teams. And his classes. Funny that he has such a winning record as a coach----his whole devo was about failure. It was so refreshing. It is the Christian life.


FAILURE

How a person deals with personal failure determines, to a large degree, how successful that person will be.

F---->Forget about your failures. Don't dwell on past mistakes.
A---->Anticipate failure. Realize that we all make mistakes.
I---->Have intensity in everything you do. Never be a failure for lack of effort.
L---->Learn from your mistakes. Don't repeat previous errors.
U---->Understand why you have failed. Diagnose your mistakes, reacting magnifies them.
R---->Respond. Don't react to errors. Responding corrects mistakes, reacting magnifies them.
E---->Elevate your self-concept. It is ok to fail, everyone does. Now, how are you going to deal with failure?



--------->Sometimes it is more important to discover what one cannot do, than what one can do.

--------->We need people who influence their peers and who cannot be detoured from their convictions by peers who do not have the courage to have any convictions.

--------->The difference between the possible and the impossible lies in the man's determination.

--------->The most important thing is to love your sport. Never do it to please someone else. It has to be yours. That is all that will justify the hard work needed to achieve success. Compete against yourself, not others, for that is truly your best competition.


He coaches a sport. Soccer mainly. And teaches the men's weight lifting class. But, I think this can also totally be applied to LIFE---the sport we all play.