Later that year, Rachel represented the USA in the 2007 Miss Universe pageant in Mexico City. It was a difficult week leading up to the pageant. The Mexican crowd would boo at Rachel repeatedly at the mere mention of the USA.
The night of the pageant, she gracefully walked out for the evening gown competition wearing a gorgeous dress and stunning high heels.
Suddenly, her feet slipped right out from under her on the highly polished stage floor, and she dropped straight down on her backside—right in front of a live audience and millions of television viewers around the world.
Rachel got back up, smiling brightly through her embarrassment, and finished her walk.
During the final phase of the competition, she had to choose a judge to ask her a question and the crowd started booing again. The judge asked, “If you could relive any moment in your life, what moment would you relive?”
Now, if you had just slipped and embarrassed yourself in front of millions of people on global television, what would be going through your mind?
Many of us would have been so focused on that humiliating moment, wishing there was a way to go back and do it over, that we couldn’t even think about any other events in our lives. But not Rachel.
Somehow she put it out of her mind so she could continue moving forward in the competition.
With a huge smile and all the confidence and dignity in the world, Rachel told the heckling crowd that the moment she would relive was when she was working with orphans in South Africa.
What a great choice! Instead of allowing herself to be overcome by the moment when she was at her lowest, Rachel chose to rise above it and focus on the moment she was at her highest.
The crowd continued to boo as she kept graciously smiling. “Buenas noches, Mexico!” she said. And then she winked at the booing audience and gracefully walked back to her place in line.
Rachel didn’t win the competition that night, but she won a victory that she will take with her for the rest of her life. She overcame the negative, booing voices and walked away with an impressive title of fourth runner-up.
The competition was over, but the story of Rachel’s fall was all over the news and the Internet where it had over two million replays on YouTube.
We’ve all fallen. We’ve all heard voices trying to tear us down. But just like Rachel, we have to choose not to replay the falls.
Fortunately, most of us will never fail on worldwide television. Most of us will never see our most embarrassing moment on YouTube. But sadly, many of us will allow the fear of failure and the embarrassment of our past mistakes to rob us of our confidence and our God-given destinies.
Don’t make the mistake of replaying the negatives on the YouTube of your mind. Like Rachel, focus on your victories. Replay your accomplishments. Replay the good things God has done in your life. Get right back up and keep moving forward.
People “boo” for so many reasons. There may be critics at your job or in your family. People may be jealous or insecure, or they may simply misunderstand you.
Maybe they aren’t even booing you; maybe they are booing something you represent. Don’t let the opinions of other people steal your confidence or cause you to shrink back. Relive your victories and move forward in confidence toward the blessing God has in store for your future!
Via Victoria Osteen Blog
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