From "If Only" to "What If" -- Changing the Dream

Ten people sat around the table in the church’s Fellowship Hall. Together the members of the church council represented about 25% of the church’s total active membership and about 50-75% of its average weekly worship attendance. Their pastor had just moved on, and they had invited me there to talk about options for pastoral leadership.

I knew that what I was really there to talk about was change.

Failure? Or Detour?

I'm trying to become a fan of failure.

For the last 19 months, I've been on a journey toward improved health and fitness.  I've lost about 160 pounds with more to go, gained actual hard biceps and some ab muscles I can begin to feel at least a little bit.  I can walk for several miles, ride a bike for 20-30 miles, walk up and down stairs with ease, and do all kinds of things I couldn't do before.  Using many measures, I've had a lot of success.

I also had a tough winter.  Stress, grief, and anxiety in many forms took their toll, as did what felt like too many months of cold and snow.  I gained back about fifteen pounds, maybe a little more.  A couple of days ago, I read a blog over on SparkPeople from someone who had done the same thing.  She talked about it as her "failure."  She made a vow not to fail again.  I recoiled from this, and I began to wonder why.