Failure Is Written In Pencil

😰👉🏾🏆It’s been noted that many successful people upon reflection realize that their biggest failures, disappointments, and heartbreaks eventually birthed their biggest triumphs.

✏️These people of excellence had a “failure is written in pencil” mentality. Trusting that even if they experience temporary embarrassment and humiliation by continuing to relentlessly pursue greatness, they will eventually erase previous failures and replace them with permanent excellence.

🐐Who better embodies that spirit than Kobe?

🥇We will remember Kobe as one of the most prolific playoff performers in sports. One who always delivered in the clutch.

💭We won’t remember him for what he did his rookie year, which was; shoot 4 airballs in 5 minutes late in the deciding game of a playoff series loss.⠀

💍💍💍💍💍5 NBA championships and many memorable heroic playoff performances erased his rookie year playoff failure.

💪🏾After Kobe retired, he stated his rookie year failure was “an early turning point for him in being able to deal with adversity, deal with public scrutiny and self-doubt.” He explains that “at 18 years old, it was gut-check time. I look back at it now with fond memories of it. Back then, it was misery, it helped shape me.”⠀

‼️Kobe dared to fail big, fail publicly, and fail frequently. Minus that courage, he never would have taken his rightful place as one of the 🐐’s of basketball.⠀

🐍As we celebrate the legacy of Kobe by reflecting on his “MAMBA MENTALITY”, we must acknowledge that to reach our potential in life just as Kobe did in basketball we also, must be willing to fail big, publicly, and frequently.

📖Proverbs 24:16 tells us that even a righteous person fails 7 times, but like Kobe after his airballs, they will have the courage to get an 8th time!

And 1: Identify at least one time in life and one in athletics when you did not go for it all because you were afraid to fail.-Why were you afraid to go for it all?-What can you learn from those experiences, and what will you differently next time you get an opportunity to go for it all.

Drop a dime: Find a teammate that needs you to encourage them to not be afraid to fail big. Share this devotional with them and become their ride or die and be there for them through the good and the bad.

Prayer: Lord, we pray for the courage needed not to be afraid to fail. Help us know that no matter how big and how often we fail You still have big plans for us, and we know that type of courage can only come from You. During those times when we do fall, please allow us to keep in our hearts that even the righteous fall eight times! Also, we remain in continued prayer for the healing, strength, and comfort for the families of; Kobe and Gianna Bryant, John, Alyssa, and Keri Altobelli, Sarah and Payton Chester, Christina Mauser, and Ara Zobayan. -Amen