Written By Jacey Smith, NALJA Director

Imagine this: You worked all year to get your project ready for your state fair. The placings don’t fall your way and it feels like you have failed. What do you do? Do you quit showing all together because you “failed” in a sense or do you go showing the next weekend? I would say the majority of us go showing the next weekend because we enjoy it and we have put so much time, money, and effort into our projects. So if we continue to keep showing and trying again even after a bad day that doesn’t go our way in the show ring, then why can’t the same concept apply to our daily lives?

We are human. We are going to make countless mistakes, but what we do with those mistakes is what is truly important. If you fail a math test, learn from what you did wrong and study so you can perform better on the next one. You run for a leadership position such as a board but don’t make it. It’s okay! Remember that you can run again and take the year to grow from everything you learned during your first running experience. Just don’t give up. It is okay to mess up. It is even expected. I challenge everyone to do their best and try to learn from their mistakes and I also challenge everyone not to give up when you mess up. You never know who is looking up to you.