No one likes to fail. But when we are honest with ourselves, we realize failure is not an option. We will fail somewhere in life. There is only so much we can do in a given day.
To be sure, there’s only so much we can do in a given day. We cannot get a full night of sleep, do our devotionals, put in a full day of work, spend quality time with our wife, exercise, check in with our friends, cultivate meaningful relationships with our kids, and pursue a hobby all to the full without failing somewhere.
Instead of trying to juggle everything, it’s best to accept failure and then choose wisely where to fail. Redoubling our efforts to avoid failure only leads to more frustration and bigger disappointments.
Sometimes we have to fail at work in order to win at home. At other times, our home life has to take the hit in order to win at work. There are times when our friendships take the hit so we can win in marriage, and our sleep suffers so we can win in parenting.
Again, we will fail somewhere. The key is making a conscious choice so that we do not fail in the same spot every time. If work always took the hit we would be out of a job. Likewise, if our marriage always took the hit we might soon be on the brink of divorce.
There are many important areas of our life that need attention. Actively choosing where to fail allows us to find greater balance in the midst of all of life’s demands. While not always pleasant, this type of failure is actually honorable. We are counting the cost and making an intentional choice on how to steward our strength and presence.
Actively choosing where to fail allows us to wholeheartedly offer our strength to whatever has our Yes.
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