Failure to Fail

I debated about entering the 168 Write of Passage screenplay competition recently. It was a difficult choice since I felt like my reputation would be at risk. Over the past year I’ve been a screenwriting columnist, sharing proven techniques for filmmakers and writers to improve their craft, resulting in me being perceived as an expert of sorts.

While there was a good basis for this perception, I felt like some put me on a pedestal. In some people’s minds I could do no wrong in the area of story and was therefore set up for a fall – especially since story is subjective. Needles to say, I swallowed hard and entered the competition.

It didn’t take long before I received my rejection notice. I hadn’t even made it off of the ground. While I’m not sure how many levels of competition there was, it was clear that I didn’t make it out of the gate. The one point of solace for me was that I received excellence in the categories of my story premise or high concept, and scriptural integrity. All the rest of the categories received a marking of fair.

During my morning devotional, I read about Cain and Abel bringing their gifts to the Lord. Cain presented a fair gift, while Abel gave the best he had. Abel had raised excellent livestock and chose from the fold his very best as a gift offering to God.

Given my circumstances, the one thing I couldn’t help but notice was that both men made an attempt by giving a gift. I wondered what would have happened if one of them chose not to do anything. I further speculated on what would have happened to all around them if one decided to live with apathy at the core of their Christian life.

While I was not able to pull off something spectacular or award winning during the seven-day competition, I at least took the risk of failing. This resulted in me meeting new friends, improving my techniques and diving into more research for additional improvements – an ongoing process in filmmaking.

However, I took pause to consider what would have happened if I chose not to enter.

I currently have a story being considered for the silver screen, as a direct result from having entered the competition. And, I can tell you that I’d rather sign a contract for a screenplay than win a trophy. Apathy would have gotten me nowhere, but it would have protected my pride and my position. Thank God I was willing to take the risk of failing.

Now, it is possible that I won’t get a contract, and I’m sure the competition is fierce, but had I not done anything…

When I was raising my kids, I told them to each find some activity they could be involved in that they were really bad at. I wanted them to find a skill that they could fail at miserably. While their faces were perplexed, they soon learned that it wasn’t so bad to fail. In fact, they found it freeing. They also found that when the pressure of success was taken off, they could actually improve and get better. Although, they found that the better they got, the more pressure would be put on them by others. It didn’t take long to realize that not taking the risk was the only kind of failure they couldn’t live with.

I once heard Dr. Henry Cloud tell single men that the only reason they haven’t found the right woman was because they hadn’t failed enough. He recommended that the moment his talk ended, they should go out a meet a minimum of five women and see how many rejections they could obtain.

Michael Jordan understood the logic behind failure. His career points scored were amazing, but more amazing was how many attempts he made, or should I say how many times he failed to make the shot. What’s interesting is that no one remembers the misses, as they’re too busy talking about the successes.

When you think of Walt Disney, you can’t help but think of the incredible creativity and global success he had. Few people reflect on his seven near bankruptcies. Thomas Edison learned that there were 999 ways not to invent the light bulb before he invented it. The makers of 409 cleaner learned that there were 408 formulas that didn’t get the job done.

I’m convinced that the only failure comes from the choice to do nothing. So if you bump into me this week, you’ll probably find me working at failing. And when those success stories come, I will rejoice all the more in how God used my small steps of faith to do marvelous things for His kingdom. The reward of pleasing God and helping others far outweighs the risk of failure.