This right here is life.
We are all running towards something and we each have our own coveted price.
As we run we are bound to trip and fail to reach that price.
I don’t know about you but the people who have talked to my heart are not the ones who have never failed.
The people who speak the most to my heart are the ones who have ran this life race and experienced the bitter taste of failure.
The ones who have been burned down by the flames of failure and managed to salvage what is left.
Those are my people.
Because failure is where I have had to live at different facets of my life.
There are things I have failed to qualify for.
There are things I have failed to achieve. There are deadlines I have failed to meet.
There are jobs I have failed to apply for.
I have entered competitions which I did not win.
I haven’t always lived up to expectations.
I have failed myself and failed others.
I am not a professor I would have loved to be by now.
Neither have I written 10 books I had wanted to write.
I haven’t always used time wisely.
Sometimes there are constant reminders pointing out to me the glorious opportunities that could have been mine which I failed to grab.
So I pay attention to words from the people who have lived where I have lived, who have missed the mark like I have missed the mark, who have had opportunities slip off their finger same way I have let opportunities pass by but still they keep running.
So when those people speak I listen.
So when Nijel Amos the young man whose speedy legs have been kissed by God, who is counted among the world’s finest in the 800 m race and yet failed to get through even to the semi-finals in the just ended Rio Olympics I paid attention to the words he said afterwards.
And here is what Nijel Amos said;
His timing is the best. What belong to us will be ours at the end. It took us as a nation over 20 years to get an Olympic medal,which we got in London 2012.We landed in Rio with a hope that we will get more medals but unfortunately it wasn’t our time,what I can promise you is that this team is the most talented team we have ever had so it won’t take us again over 20 years to get another Olympic medal not just a medal but the most valuable one. Am proud to call yall teammates. We are all proud Olympians and we not going home empty handed but with something money can’t buy,,#experience. Lastly thanks to everyone who supported us throughout the games.#Godfirst. #teambw.#Nike.
These words come from a big place.
They come from a resilient mind.
While the loss of our country pains me it is the words like these that I take away with me.
We cant give in to the deceit that our superheroes don’t get injured because they do.
They will sometimes crush in our faces too.
And they will be humiliated deeply.
But it is when they rise up and say such words that we should pay attention because they are telling us something noteworthy.
And these are the things I learnt from what Amos said.
1. Even after failure choose to stay strong in the inside and defend your inspiration
Don’t allow your failure and the noise of negativity to burn down your inspiration.
Always defend your inspiration sometimes it is the only thing you have left.
Inspiration will clothe you with dignity after you have been stripped of everything that seems to matter.
2.Life happens outside our well executed plans. Make peace with it.
Life will happen outside our well executed plans, our schedules will become messed up.
Make peace with that but this isn’t where your story should end.
Even after failure has broken you in every way imaginable and your plans have failed, pick yourself up and rise above failure.
3.In the end the applause that matters the most is the one you give yourself
Am proud to call yall teammates.we are all proud Olympians. Nijel Amos
People will glorify you when you win and crush you when you lose.
In the face of failure it can be hard to keep it together.
It is easier to think of yourself as less after you fail especially with all the noise that the world might be making for you.
Ditch people’s applause.
I know sometimes we crave for applause and that pat on the back from others is a big deal.
But remember the thing about applause from people is that it can be given and taken away.
Stand strong and say I am proud of myself.
In the end the applause that matters the most is the one you give yourself.
3.Focus on the little victories, there is always something to celebrate.
We not going home empty handed but with something money can’t buy,,#experience. Nijel Amos
For you to be able to applaud yourself you must focus on the seemingly little wins.
There is always a win.
In the words of John Maxwell “Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn”.
Learning is a win too.
Experience just like Amos says is win too.
Yes it is a competition.
It is a competitive world but if you looked at how far you have come it will lift your spirit.
Your wins are yours and be proud of them no matter how insignificant they may appear to be to the next person.
4.Our victories do not always come from the tangible.
We not going home empty handed but with something money can’t buy,,#experience. Nijel Amos
Life moments are not spectacular because we scored big and attained medals but because we got away with experience.
Until we know how to overcome the pain that comes from failing, until we know how to live and thrive in that space of failure we haven’t truly lived.
Those who truly live are those whose hearts are itching and sometimes they have to scratch in public places but yet they rise above the itching.
They fall short but they rise above humiliation.
5.Approach failure as a way to succeed
A true champion should have an undefeatable attitude even in the midst of failure.
It is not over yet.
Amos is not a beaten man, the words he says are not those of a man who is giving up, neither is he a man who has lost hope.
In fact he reminds of what Michael Jordan said.
“…..26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. – Michael Jordan
If we approached our loss as the way to succeed we would not be deterred from our dreams.
6. During your lowest moments you can still inspire others.
At the point where we are losing we often discourage others, we often pull ourselves down and pull others down in the process.
Can you just learn to stand during your moments of failure and inspire others?
Perhaps we can all learn to do what Amos has done, to say to others we still have a chance.
7.Don’t let your loss hold you stagnant.
So you have lost, so you have failed.
Should it matter forever, should your feet be glued to your loss such that you can no longer proceed on the journey of your dreams.
Yes your heart carries holes that may take forever to fill in .
Can you choose to hold your head up high against the pain of defeat .
Can you friend choose to look deep inside and draw energy from pain?