Failure can be a good thing

Remember the good ol’ days when our parents let us fail? If we failed a test, our parents didn’t rush in insisting that the grade be changed or we be given a second chance. If we misbehaved in school, our parents didn’t call the principal and insist it was the teacher’s fault, and ask that our punishment be lifted (or argue that it was too harsh). We always kept score in sports, and if we didn’t win, our parents didn’t try to placate us by buying ice cream afterwards. Nor did they yell “good job” when we swung at, but missed the ball by a country mile. No, they had the audacity to suggest that perhaps we needed to practice more!

We have gotten to the point where we never let our kids fail – and this is a bad thing, for a number of reasons. Failure can be a really great teacher, especially with its negative consequences.

Failure also does a great job of discouraging kids from developing a sense of entitlement, because they know they won’t always get their way, especially if they don’t work hard to achieve their goals.

Finally, it’s better to learn how to deal with failure as a child when the consequences are not typically as dire as they can be when you fail as an adult.

Losing and winning are a part of life. If you don’t allow your kids to lose or fail (and experience that completely), you are doing them a disservice. It’s better to let them fail honestly, and then teach them how to get back up, dust themselves off, and try again. Self-esteem and self-confidence come from real achievement, not from a phony “good job!”

Since When

Since when is it bad to be rich? Isn't every good, whether it's your home, food and clothing, a church building, food for "starving children in (fill in the blank with the current Third World nation needing our help)," a result of money you have earned and spent? Is it not true that more good can be accomplished with money than without?

Since when did wealth start to symbolize greed, rather than achievement, hard work and ambition?

Since when did we stop believing that we had a responsibility to take care of ourselves and our families?


Since when did we decide that the government can do a better job taking care of us than we can?

Since when did we begin thinking that simply wanting something entitled us to it? And further, why do we think the government should be the one to give it to us?

Since when did we start believing that separation of church and state meant we gave up our right to free speech with regard to our religious beliefs?

Since when did we decide it was acceptable and even required under the First Amendment to allow people to spout off about hatred, violence and sexual crimes, but not about God, fearing we might offend someone by talking about the latter, but not the former?

Since when did we stop believing that we are a sovereign nation, and instead begin believing that we are a global "citizen," required to answer to those of other nations?

Since when did we stop thinking that it was important to have one language to unite our country, and instead begin believing it was acceptable to let everyone speak their own language, no matter how much chaos that created?

Since when did we stop thinking it was important for those who wanted to live in our country and take advantages of all the rights that come along with citizenship to actually become U.S. citizens, with all of the responsibilities that that entails?

Since when did we begin thinking it was acceptable to allow individuals to break our immigration laws, and then - to help them do it by providing sanctuary cities, refusing to allow our police to arrest them for breaking immigration laws, and then to provide them with free education, healthcare and welfare benefits?

Since when did we begin believing that simply being born in this country is enough to confer citizenship upon someone?

Since when is it the fault of the United States when attempts to enforce our immigration laws result in separating families? Didn't those parents know the risks that this could happen, and didn't they choose to take that risk?

Since when did we begin believing that it's possible to spend our way out of debt?

Since when did we decide it was acceptable to saddle our children and grandchildren with a huge debt obligation?

Since when did we give up our obligation to be informed about the issues affecting us?

Since when did we stop holding our elected officials accountable for their actions? And when did we decide that "accountable" simply meant voting against them when we didn't like what they were doing? When did we stop communicating our discontent (and anger) at the time they occur, rather than in the voting booth?

Since when did we begin believing that government should regulate everything from our light bulbs to our toilets, from whether business owners can allow smoking in their establishment to how many miles per gallon our cars have to get?

Since when did "social justice" stop being a means to an end (of worshiping and serving God), and instead become an end in and of itself?

Since when did we decide it's a good idea to teach our children that just showing up is good enough to get a trophy?

Since when did we lose faith in our own abilities?

Since when?