The Gift of Failure- a Giant Belly Flop That Changed My Life

Failures offer incredible parting gifts, when we get past the sting of a giant belly flop.

Even though our intention is to make a swan dive into the sparkling blue pool, sometimes we hit the water belly first, and it really stings!

Belly flops offer us these great gifts:

• the chance to make changes,

• better perspective for what not to do the next time,

• and opportunities to help others avoid the same mistakes.

My big belly flop was in assuming I had a valuable ticket in my back pocket.

But that’s not how it played out.

For what seemed to be an endless season of challenges in my life, divorce set me on a new path.

This stay at home mom needed to go to work.

Now was the time to reach for the valuable ticket in my back pocket.

I used it to apply for teaching positions throughout the county, but soon discovered there was a hiring freeze.

My college degree and teaching credential, were not the golden tickets I had counted on always being there for me.

Then I started to panic.

Having no clue where I’d find a good paying job outside of teaching, my belly flop started stinging even worse!

I couldn’t exactly work a retail job, that required mostly weekend and evening hours, because I couldn’t afford to pay a babysitter for 6 kids.

Next, I applied at two temp agencies, and found I was either over qualified, or had no experience for the jobs they needed to fill.

Over the next few months, I applied for over 200 online job postings, that yielded 3 interviews. Seriously, that’s how bad it was!

And then crickets.

An economic recession was to blame for the hiring freeze everywhere.

I felt like the biggest failure in the world.

Instead of springing off the diving board, with every intention of finding a teaching job, I landed a horrible belly flop!

It especially stings when you know you can dive, you’ve practiced diving for years, and you actually dive really well.

I prayed hard to find a good job.

Just as I thought I couldn’t take the stinging anymore… my attention was diverted.

One day out of the blue, a former neighbor (who happened to own a family business) was driving through our neighborhood, and stopped to chat.

After catching up for a few minutes, I shared my need for a job.

I was hired on the spot to temporarily answer the phones at their office, and for that, I’ll always be very thankful.

Working in a field that was totally new to me, brought a giant learning curve, but it also brought a giant gift as well.

My belly flop turned into a blessing that I wouldn’t have missed for the world.

That office is where I met my future husband!

I know that God opens and closes doors for our good, and this was such an obvious example of that.

Not only did my future change, but I learned enough about a new industry, that eventually, my husband and I were able to start our own small company in that field.

So even though the valuable ticket in my back pocket turned out to be a giant belly flop, it led me to a giant gift.

I learned that every belly flop doesn’t need to be a failure, because each stinging experience offers perspective, opportunity, and gifts.