Better to fail.........than never try at all.

Isaiah was home for Easter, and, even though he is doing really well at Job Corps, he is a bit like the tortoise and the hare.  He so wants to run ahead, even if it means that he trips and loses something on the way.  No matter how much re-assurance he is given, he still seems to see that the cup is half empty, not half full.  Perhaps I can explain it better when I tell you that six months ago his education was at about grade three level.  Now it is a solid sixth grade.  In his eyes, he should be further ahead, because he keeps comparing himself with others who have had more opportunity for education than he has.

But, his view is gradually changing, with the help of his past and present teachers, and of course his family.  When he went there, the prize was the "Trade".  It was a job he could get, move out on his own, be independent and, it would suffice.  The "GED" in his eyes, was not the prize at all, just a good tag along if he could get it, and in his mind that was a huge ask.  Learning is hard when your brain has not been trained to do that.  Mostly it is his comprehension of the English language, and understanding even what his test paper questions really said, has been extremely hard.  When explained, he knows the answer, but comprehending a story, or a question worded slightly different is for Isaiah, a huge mountain to climb.  And, sometimes, he does not want to climb it, it is just too hard.

Then, about a week or so ago, one of his math teachers began to explain the cost of living to his class.  It was like a big boulder fell on his head, and shook his brain awake.  He was shocked, he told me on the way home, to find that his "Trade" might pay him about $30,000.00 a year, but his cost of living might be more than his bring home pay.  A "GED" was starting to look more appealing.  Without it, he cannot go on to higher education, and would be stuck in a lower income bracket maybe forever.  Then on the same trip home, his brother Devin, played a motivational tape about "learning when you are young", perhaps to the point of sacrificing the revered "cell phone", or even worse, the TV, or the X-Box.  The light was finally beginning to come on, and by the time he had thought about all the events, he was motivated.

Why do we see small successes as not enough?  Why do we have to win the race before we run it?  Why do we not stop to enjoy our journey, take the highs with the lows, and reach our full potential.  I know that somewhere in all of this it dawned on me that I do similar things.  Recently, I got an amazing email from the X-Factor.  For those of you who don't know, that is a singing competition run in the fall on TV.  I have this thing that I am never going to give up, so I audition, on line mostly, each year.  A couple of years ago I actually was scammed by a letter of acceptance and was extremely disappointed.  I vowed I would never tell anyone again of even a small success, for fear of, yes, "failure".

Well because of all that I have told Isaiah over the last couple of days, I am going to swallow my own medicine.  Yes, I made it through the first round of on-line auditions, and yes, I may not make it onto the show, but I am proud of my small success, and I am not going to be afraid of failure ever again, or of being embarrassed to say "I didn't make it".  I am going to eat my own words and be proud that I tried.  My advice to me.
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