My dear friend, I wanted to share a story with you about an astronaut named José Hernandez. When he encountered hardship and trials, he worked harder and continued. José Hernandez wanted to be an astronaut and applied TWELVE times to become one. He was rejected ELEVEN times!! He never gave up. In 2009, Mexican-American engineer José Hernández fulfilled a lifelong dream: to travel to space as a NASA astronaut. Getting there was harder than for most. Born into a family of migrant farmworkers, José lived his childhood on what he calls the ‘California circuit’. He’d spend the winter holidays with his family in Mexico’s south, then follow the seasonal harvest across the US state, changing schools every few months. His ambition saw him become the first person in his family to go to university, as well as learn to pilot, dive and even speak Russian. As he tells us in this interview, the hardships of his early life are what gave him the resilience needed to succeed. "My dream was conceived when, as a 10-year-old, I watched as the very last man stepped foot on the moon, live on my family’s black-and-white TV. I heard astronaut Gene Cernan talk to Mission Control Houston, and reporter Walter Cronkite — I still remember his name — narrate that moonwalk. I knew I was a farmworker, but I didn’t know I had such a disadvantage. Despite having a third-grade education, my father empowered me to believe I could do it. He gave me five ingredients for success, a recipe I still use: define your goal; recognise how far you are from it; draw a roadmap to get there; prepare yourself according to the challenge; and develop a work ethic second to none. I added a sixth: perseverance. I was rejected by NASA 11 times, but I kept trying and finally succeeded in 2004, on my 12th attempt." José shares about disapointed gave myself one or two days to mourn, but then I’d look at the glass half full. What’s the worst that could happen if I never got selected? Wanting to be an astronaut motivated me to go to college, to graduate school, work at a premier research facility, learn how to be a pilot, a scuba diver, study a third language. The consolation prize was not a bad one compared to working as a kid, picking cucumbers for 50 cents a bucket. It’s why I always tell people they have to enjoy the journey. Sometimes life takes side roads and detours, and sometimes you don’t get there at all. If you’re not enjoying the journey, chances are you’ve got the wrong destination picked for yourself." And he describes what it was like to look at the earth from space, "The first time I looked down, I saw North America — Canada, the US, Mexico. The beautiful thing is that you can’t tell where countries end and begin."
My friend shared what she heard from a speaker at church. The speaker said, “Failure is an event, not a person.” She shared it with me because the message behind that statement is really important.
I am a person who has always had high expectations for myself in every aspect of life. When I was a student in high school and college, I always wanted to the best student with the highest grades possible. I put a lot of pressure on myself to achieve this, and sometimes I failed, honestly. What I know now is that failing to achieve something isn’t the end of the world. It is an event in my life, but it doesn’t define me.
I want to encourage you to remember this for when you feel as though you have failed at something. YOU are not a failure. Keep your head up and remember that the failure is just an event. Learn from it and grow from it. We all will fail at some point in our life. Failing is a learning experience so that we can do better next time. God is always near and if you fall, He will pick you up and dust you off.
Keep on pursuing righteousness and use God’s strength. We must have faith in the Lord at all times, even during times of failure. But remember if we do fail, He has a good reason for allowing it to happen. We might not understand it at that moment, but God will prove faithful in the end.
As I type this to you, my words are resonating within me. This is a message that even I need to remember- I am so much more than my failures. No matter what I have failed at, I am good enough. God loves me just the way I am- failures and all.
- Deuteronomy 31:8- “The Lord is the one who is going ahead of you. He will be with you. He won’t abandon you or leave you. So don’t be afraid or terrified.”
- Philippians 4:13- “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
- Jeremiah 29:11- "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give youhope and a future."
Much love to you always
Happy Writing!
