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This month in April I reach the half-way mark–20 weeks! Some patients at work have said I’m not even showing, but that’s because the scrubs I wear hide everything! What do you think now!!?

Travis and I are blessed and grateful to continue to work. Travis’ job is grinding to a halt with lack of incoming jobs. Since I work in the medical field, I consider it “job security!” I think that if anyone still has a job, they should be thankful, and keep it or don’t complain. I picked out some cute fabric & my mom made me some really fashionable masks!

And now that it’s getting warm outside, Travis and I crave carbonation! But we don’t want to drink a bunch of sugary soda’s or artificial sweeteners. We love Zevia pops (stevia sweetened). You can find them at most grocery stores. My favorite flavors are Cola (tastes like diet pepsi!), and black cherry. But there are many other flavors. One delight I have discovered is STUR! I first bought it on Amazon.com $25 for #5, but I see they are now $20 for 5. It was actually a husband who created this product for his pregnant wife (with twins), so she would stay hydrated naturally! Well it’s true—since I started adding this to my water, I drink SO MUCH MORE without even realizing it, just because it tastes so good. There isn’t any weird stevia aftertaste either & it’s flavored with real fruit. My favorites are strawberry-watermelon, peach (tastes like the peach circle gummies!), and pomegranate-cranberry.

Lately I’ve been watching “Nailed It,” a hilarious yet inspiring Netflix show where ordinary bakers compete and try to nail the masterpieces set before them. One of my old co-worker’s husband was on the show! The bakers do such bad work, but the show is uplifting, funny, focuses on the positive, laughs at the bad, and gives regular people the chance to get out there and try something new. People leave the show appreciative for the experience, even if they didn’t win.

Failure isn’t something we talk about much. We always talk about success. What it is and what it should be for us. Struggling students’ self-esteem shrivels when their tests come back with Cs, D’s & F’s, and the overachieving, perfectionist, 4.0 students are really deathly afraid of failure. How are students prepared for the real world when life WILL give them rejection & failure? What happens if we don’t nail a job interview, or a relationship ends, or we fall off the wagon, screw up a presentation? We should talk about failure so that we can grow to be strong in our self-worth, no matter how the outside world measures us. Because we don’t talk about handling failure, we fear it & we self-sabotage (I have!). We end up missing out on living, opportunities, and growing and learning from failures. Looking back on my self-sabotage, I consider it worse than failing, because I didn’t give myself the chance to see what I was really made of. I regret not trying more than I regret not being chosen when I did. No wonder it’s said, “it’s better to have loved & lost than to have never loved at all.”

FAILURE IS JUST AN EVENT. IT IS NOT A CHARACTERISTIC.

It’s part of being human, but it shouldn’t be attached to your identity. Your worth is not defined by your failures/rejection. Failure is opportunity. You LEARN about what’s really important to you & what success is to YOU (not others). You GROW in character & perseverance when you do not fear failure because you’re stronger when you get back up again.

It’s an occasion for SELF-ACCEPTANCE.

Actors, writers, & artists may know rejection & failure the most intimately, as it is the many countless outcomes in their careers. It takes guts to be vulnerable & humble enough to accept yourself as you are, so to brave the world of rejection for something that matters to you.

  Dare to fail.

Until next month, Megan.