Join Steven & Friends TONIGHT for "Failing Into Success!" with Warriors for Life (WFL)

Join our Volunteer, Air Force Veteran, Peer Support Specialist/AdultTrainer, and Writer/Author Steven Bates TONIGHT for "Mid-Week Musings!" edition of Warriors for Life (WFL) Online, sponsored and presented by Victory for Veterans, Inc. (VFV). 

We are asking everyone to share who we are and the support that Victory for Veterans, Inc. (VFV) is providing through Warriors for Life (WFL). If you know someone who is a veteran, first responder or a family member/caregiver, please ask them to join us for at least one meeting so they can learn more about what we do and how they can share their wisdom with others who may be able to learn from them.

"Failing Into Success!"

🎤 Welcome, everyone, to tonight’s Mid-Week Musings. Tonight is June 3rd, which marks the birthday of the ultimate maestro of 'non-excellence,' Chuck Barris. Chuck was the creator of The Newlywed Game and the infamous host of The Gong Show. He took acts that were absolute failures by traditional standards, put them in the spotlight, and turned their lack of conventional talent into massive entertainment success. He showed us that you can literally fail your way into a winning strategy.

"Today marks the birthday of the greatest showman of failures to ever exist, the TV host known as Chuck Barris.  Chuck was born on June 3rd in Philadelphia in 1929 and is probably recognized as one of the most creative talents in the TV industry.  While known for creating such shows as The Newlywed Game, Chuck Barris is notoriously known, ironically, as the MC for The Gong Show.  Ironically, because Chuck never wanted to be seen on camera!.  While not a veteran, believe it or not, there are continuing rumors, mainly because Barris stated in his autobiography, that Chuck Barris was an assassin for the Central Intelligence Agency, having completed 33 kills in his service to his country.  Whether the stories are true, and of course the CIA denies them all, Chuck Barris taught America one thing: failure can lead to success!  He taught us this by having acts on his Gong Show that were, to be polite, failures in any other venue.  His winners were often showcased as the epitome of non-excellence. 

The acts, though often cited for lacking useful talent, found success in their failures. Acts like Paul Ruebens, who later evolved his act into the persona Pee Wee Herman, and Michael Winslow, the incredible sound machine who later became a star on shows such as Police Academy and Spaceballs, and even Danny Elfman, an unknown musician and composer whose group 'The Mystic Knights of the Oinga Boinga' catapulted Danny into being one of thie most prolific movie composers whose work appears on 'Men In Black', 'Batman' and too many to list here. 

Chuck searched for failing acts, brought them on the show, and catapulted them into success by highlighting how 'terrible' they were.  If anything, the lesson Chuck Barris taught us is that you can Fail into Success!  So how can we take the failures in our own lives and turn them around to success?   How can we highlight our failings and make them work for us?"

As veterans, first responders, and active-duty service members, we are conditioned to believe that failure is not an option. We are trained for perfection, mission accomplishment, and absolute control. But when you are dealing with invisible wounds—PTSD, depression, TBI, or anxiety—the old playbook stops working. Missing a social event because of panic, having an angry outburst, or needing to step away from a job can feel like an absolute mission failure.

Tonight, we are going to challenge that narrative. We are going to look at our invisible wounds not as permanent failures, but as a different kind of "Gong Show"—a place where our messy, imperfect moments can actually be processed, re-framed, and turned into our greatest strengths. We aren't going to hide our struggles tonight; we are going to highlight them and figure out how to make them work for us.

🛠️ Ways to Turn Failures into Success with Invisible Wounds

1. Shift from "Mission Failure" to "Data Collection"

2. Embrace "Post-Traumatic Growth"

3. Leverage Adaptive Strengths

4. Cultivate Radical Authenticity

🌅 As we wrap up tonight's discussion, remember that Chuck Barris’s contestants didn't succeed by getting better at traditional singing or dancing; they succeeded because they stopped pretending to be something they weren't.

Your invisible wounds change the landscape of your life. If you try to measure your current success by your pre-injury standards, or by civilian standards, you will always feel like you are getting "gonged" off the stage. But when you accept the reality of your wounds, you can start building a new strategy. Every setback, every flashback, and every tough day is just proof that you are still in the arena, fighting the match. You haven't failed; you are just rewriting the rules of how you win.

Warriors for Life (WFL) Online "Mid-Week Musings!" edition presented by Victory for Veterans, Inc. (VFV) — Wednesday (TONIGHT), June 3, 2026, @ 4:30 PM PT, 5:30 PM MT, 6:30 PM CT, & 7:30 PM ET

Join Zoom Meeting:  https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87440882846 

Thank you,

Steven Bates, Air Force Veteran, Writer/Author, Peer Support Specialist/Adult Trainer, & Volunteer Facilitator, Victory for Veterans, Inc.

“Honor & Respect Always — Warriors for Life!”