My Dear Failure,
Not too long ago I noticed that you’ve been… how should I put this… positive. For example, when you struggle with something, rather than succumb to it as you know you should, you attempt to push past it. Have you forgotten everything that I’ve taught you?
When faced with a temptation, you must remember that you don’t have the strength to fight it. Feel free to try to resist it, I suppose, but ultimately you must know that you will fail. Let’s take purity for example. There are so many wonderful opportunities! I have given you a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, and some isolation – this is a beautiful time to indulge yourself. I have given you easy access to pornography, so enjoy it! If not pornography, then why not settle for something a little softer? Perhaps not quite as bad (in your mind) as pornography, but something that will still pervert your thinking. Look at Instagram or Snapchat. Easy access to something that you know will set you up for… well, failure. But that’s who you are, isn’t it?
It seems that you’ve taken some sort of interest in a woman, “made in God’s image.” That is another reason you must indulge in that which is unholy. The more you focus on that which you ought, the more you will see her as a body – not a made thing. You must remember, Failure, that when you begin to see this “daughter” as simply a body, you will treat her with disdain, you will treat her as less than yourself, and you will look at her through a lens of lust and pride. Beautiful, if I may be so bold.
On another note, I want you to think more about how you are going to provide for yourself. You must have realized that you are making less money now than you did when you were in your hometown, and on top of that, your expenses are higher. How are you going to provide for yourself? Why isn’t your bank account growing as much as it used to? These are questions that you must answer, my son. Meditate on this. You and I both know that your net worth is exactly what it says. How much are you worth, child?
I would just like to point out one last thing (I touched on this initially): your attitude. When you are not performing the way you’re expected to, perhaps in the workplace, try harder! If everyone else is succeeding and you are not, then please, try harder. It is up to you to succeed and if you don’t succeed then you deserve to be fired. You know this. And if you get fired, how will you pay for food? How will you afford a home? How will you take care of the aforementioned woman? Let this consume you, let it seep into everything that you do. I’m sick of your attempts to trust in something “greater” than what I’ve given to you. If you walk away with anything, child, then walk away with this: it is all on your shoulders. Once you can truly believe this, the areas of your life that I mentioned before will come naturally!
That is all that I should say to you for now, but I will write again soon if I do not see some sort of improvement in the areas that I have prescribed.
Yours in sincerity,
This post was written by Jon Louvis. Jon serves as the Enrollment Coordinator at the New York Bible Institute.

My Dear Failure: A Letter of Self
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