Again!?

          “All the answers on your math homework are wrong. You’ll need to do them over again,” my fourth-grade teacher admonished.

          "Again!?" I slumped in my chair. Having to stay after school to work on math became a daily occurrence. To say I disliked math was an understatement.

          Eventually, my stay-after-school days came to an end, but one thing didn’t. I still got problems wrong--life problems. You know how that can go?  (A). Struggle to keep up with everything; (B) Do your best to avoid making mistakes; (C) Find out what you thought was right is wrong, and (D) Go back and do everything over.  
   
          The dilemma! However, there is another way to look at this. We may balk at the number of do-overs it takes to make something right, but imagine Thomas Edison’s frustration after thousands of attempts to create the light bulb. Where would we be if he had given up? Instead, he persevered. His "again and again" attempts paid off. 

          Now, for a little twist on the word "again." If we turn it into two words, it becomes “a gain." Aha! If we don't give up—even if we have to try again and again—we can learn from our failures, which equals a "gain" and not a loss. (I wish I’d realized this as a fourth-grade math student).

          Years later I had to face my fear of math again when I applied to nursing school. “You must pass a math entry exam," the nursing advisor said. I feared failing, but put weeks of effort into studying. I happily passed the exam, entered nursing school, and earned my R.N. degree.  

          Life poses different struggles for each of us. What is an “again” struggle you have faced—or are facing—and what “gain” did you achieve—or will you achieve because of it? 
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          My prayer for you is that you may tackle your “again” moments and discover the “gain” therein!
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“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” – Galatians 6:9. 

Photo courtesy of Vecteezy.com

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