Failure and Self-Worth

A girl in my class is struggling a bit with the class. She is actually not doing bad, but like many students, she gets frustrated when it takes a while to get something. She wrote one the class blog that she tries, but still doesn't get some things in class. Wrote her back that there is a very negative connotation with failing. Especially in schools. I can't tell you the number of times I have failed a math test, did bad on a homework assignment, or even bombed a lesson (yes I know when my teaching is bad, because I reflect daily on it). Yes, I am frustrated when this happens, but if I gave up, I certainly would not be where I am. The point is not how many times you fall of the horse; the point is how many times you get back on.
I also told her that how you do in school does not tell you your self-worth. Yes, school is important, and yes math is an important skill to have, because they will help you find something you like to do for a living. However, how you treat people, and your service to them, and to Him, shape the person you are. That is more important than any grade.

Keep on beginning and failing. Each time you fail, start all over again, and you will grow stronger until you have accomplished a purpose - not the one you began with perhaps, but one you'll be glad to remember.
Anne Sullivan

This got me thinking about my own perception of self-worth. I too focus on what defines me as a person on things that don't really matter. My salary, my clothes, my car, my other possessions, even my devotion to work do not give me my self worth. Sure, I take pride in my job, because I do feel like it's more than a job, but I can take too much pride in the amount of work I put into it. I am not special because I am a teacher. I am blessed to be a teacher. It is truly a privilege to do what I do, and I thank God everyday for it. But I still focus too much on trivial things. All of the seemingly "important" things in my life are meaningless. They are all vanities. I am reminded of Ecclesiastes that states all of this. The truly important things in my life are the ones I did not work for. I have loving parents, loving friends, and a loving God. It is all so simple and I make it so complicated. God's beautiful world is too big for us. We were made for eternity, so the things of this world cannot satisfy us. Thank you, Father, for sending questions for me to ponder that ultimately bring me closer to you.

Ecclesiastes 3:11
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.