Tashi is my 11 month old baby boy. I maybe his mom, but Tashi has been teaching and reminding me things I need to know in this life.
1. NEVER GIVE UP.
I just recently watched the movie "Meet the Robinsons" (another animation that made me cry) and there was this orphaned boy named Lewis who invented a lot of cool stuff. His motto in life was to "keep moving forward". He kept on inventing different things, and if it doesn’t work, he didn’t stop till he gets it right. The saying "try and try until you succeed" has been the line of our parents to encourage us to do the best in everything we do... these are quotations that reminds us to never stop trying. It's so easy to say it, but when you feel like you're in a dead end, you can't help but be disheartened and feel like a loser.
Observing Tashi trying to stand up on his own then falls in a few seconds just amaze me. He continues to have this smile on his face, not feeling bad even when he falls. He will try to stand up again. He will look at me with a smile, proud with this incredible feat, as if to say "hey mom, I can stand up". I'll clap and he claps as well, then he loses his balance and falls on his butt :) even so, he still continues to giggle and tries to stand up ...again and again and again even when it hurts. I guess there's no toddler that after falling would decide "I'm not going to try to stand up. I will fall anyway”, and ends up crawling till he gets old.
As I observe Tashi, I was reminded by what John Orterberg said in his book (If you want to walk on water, get out of the boat). He said that
FAILURE is not an event.
It is a response to the event. I guess what he is saying is that in this life we will sometimes lose or not be able to achieve our goal at that time we want, but it doesn't mean you are a failure.
You become a failure when you quit and stop trying. You become a failure when you let that fear of losing paralyze you to do greater things. You become a failure when you lose hope. But if you learn from your mistakes, and if you press on and try to stand up again, then you're not a failure... but a champion under training... a gold and silver being refined under the fire. You are God's workmanship from glory to glory. I think the reason that Tashi can still smile even when he falls after trying to stand up, is that he knows I'm there watching him. He knows that I'll be there to help him if ever he falls and bump his head on the floor. He is secure that he is not alone, and I guess it's the same thing if we have a relationship with God as our Father. We know that in this life we are not alone, and that whatever it is that we are facing, God is with us as we climb the mountain or go through a storm.
Our parents may not be there for us, but our God is a perfect Father and he will never leave us. We just have to let him direct our paths and guide our ways and not be stubborn to do whatever we want….because he knows what is best for us. He made us; hence, he definitely knows the purpose why we are alive to this day.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me- Philippians 4:13 We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. - Romans 5:4-5 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.- Philippians 3:13 
