Jeff Young's Inspirational Message

“A man should conceive of a legitimate purpose in his heart, and set out to accomplish it... Even if he fails again and again to accomplish his purpose (as he necessarily must until weakness is overcome), the strength of character gained will be the measure of his true success, and this will form a new starting point for future power and triumph.”

- James Allen, As A Man Thinketh

When you get sky-high and charge into a new endeavor, what do you do when your objective starts to push back? Most people fold up their tent and quit at the first sign of resistance. Do you not know that you must suffer temporary defeat in order to learn the requisite lessons and build the necessary character to conquer your goal? I don’t know what your goal is, but the bigger it is, the more wisdom and character will be required. Translation- the grander the objective, the more temporary defeat necessary.   

In the late 1980s, John Elway and the Denver Broncos suffered three crushing Super Bowl losses and were the butt of endless Super Bowl loser jokes. I will never forget Mr. Elway’s response when asked if maybe it would be better to lose the week before the Super Bowl rather than to keep suffering the personal ignominy of these cruel barbs. He insisted he would rather go back again and again and keep swinging until he finally won one.  He didn’t win one, he won two.  It took until the final two seasons of his sixteen year career, however, for that to happen.

Victory is usually accorded the last person standing.  This is usually the person that gets up after being knocked to the floor one more time than his competition. It is a lot easier to accept temporary defeat and keep getting up when you realize that it is absolutely coming but only need be temporary. Be like John Elway; get up again and again until you are the last person standing.