Message of the Day: Victory within Defeat

Good Morning,

In my reading of the life and times of Thomas J. 'Stonewall' Jackson, I
read about the Battle of Kernstown in Virginia where Jackson's forces were
defeated, yet the effect of this battle on the enemy, the North, was more
beneficial to the South than if Jackson had actually won. The defeat in the
battle, had caused a victory in the war.

The North did not understand that Jackson had a small force which attacked a
much larger Union army. The thought that someone with such a small force
would actually engage such a large force never crossed their minds. As such,
they thought Jackson's forces were much larger than they actually were. In
response, the North diverted thousands of troops from attacking Richmond
Virginia, the Confederate Capital, to go after Jackson. This changed the
course of the war.

There are times in our lives when we fail at something, and that failure
actually becomes more of blessing than the victory would have been. I know
in my life that if I had succeeded in my Engineering studies in the
University of Buffalo back in the 1980's I would not be where I am today. I
would not have the lovely wife and family I enjoy now, nor would I have had
the life changing events in my life which led me to where I am today. That
failure, dropping out of college, turned to a success further down the road.

When we confront those times when things do not work out as planned, we need
to look at the positive side of the situation if possible. It is in the
positive that we may find a greater good. I am not talking about justifying
failure by coming up with whatever bright light we can find and exaggerate
it. I am suggesting that when something goes wrong, there is inherent good
to be found.

For example, when we fail at a task, we get the opportunity to try it again.
We get the opportunity to think through the process and have another stab at
it. And in that new attempt, we often learn things that we would never have
learned had we succeeded in the first place.

If we do look back into our failures, those events of our lives which we
hold on our wall of shame, we may begin to see the bright light in those
events and see that they actually led to something bigger and better in our
lives.

There is often victory within defeat, if we just look for it.

Enjoy!

Sanford Berenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net
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