“A man can fail many times, but he isn’t a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.”  John Burroughs

What is your first response when something negative happens?

The LORD God called to Adam, “Where are you?”  He replied, “I heard you, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”  “Who told you that you were naked?” the LORD God asked. “Have you eaten the fruit I commanded you not to eat?”  “Yes,” Adam admitted, “but it was the woman you gave me who brought me the fruit, and I ate it.”  Then the LORD God asked the woman, “How could you do such a thing?”"The serpent tricked me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”  (Gen. 3:9-13; NLT)

In Jeff Olson’s book, The Slight Edge, which I referred to earlier this week, he makes the rather obvious observation that your life is either curving upward toward success or curving downward toward disappointment.  He states, “If you’re not increasing, you’re decreasing.”  I’ve often heard the same notion expressed, if you’re not growing, you’re dying.

The whole point of Olson’s book is that the formula for moving upward toward success is “a few simple disciplines, repeated every day.”  Similarly, the formula for failure is “a few simple errors in judgment, repeated every day.”  You see, it all boils down to time.  Time will either promote you if you are doing the right things or expose and demote you if you are doing the wrong things.  It’s really not very hard to make time your friend rather than your enemy.

It is instructive to note that the general attitude of those riding the curve downward is blame.  Focused on the past, to them it’s always someone else’s fault, or just some bad circumstances, or fate, or chance.  It’s the classic case of victim mentality.  Whereas those riding the curve upward have a future focus and an attitude of responsibility.  They are willing to take total responsibility for everything that happens to them and are always looking for the good that can come from it.  Yes, I understand that sometimes negative things do happen to us, and sometimes they are completely outside of our control, but we can always control how we react to them.  And therein lies the key to success…how we react to life’s negative events.

John Maxwell has written a delightful little book whose title says it all–Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success.  Just keep doing the little things.  Be grateful for the lessons you’re learning along the way.  Make the choice to make time and discipline your friend.

Prayer Power
Lord, show us our attitude when we fall into the playing the “blame game.”  Grant us the grace to be able to manage our attitude and develop a reputation as the eternal “good finder” who picks up the pieces and perseveres on toward the mark.

Link of the Day
Let the Blame Begin

Blessings on you as you look for the good in some difficult situation you face this coming week.