The weekend is here, well almost. So who wants to talk about failure? Not on a Friday! Hell, not on any day. Nobody wants to talk about it. The problem is we don’t talk about it enough, don’t face it enough, don’t stand up to it enough, don’t learn from it enough, yet if you don’t, you can never truly succeed. Massive failure can lead to massive success. The best moments in history, the greatest inventions, the brightest ideas, some that changed the world, were gained from failure, from recovery, then from learning.
When we fail, when we have something bad happen, we have two choices: either learn from it, or leave it. Did you know 95% of people get up and leave the scene.. “didn’t see anything, didn’t do anything…it’s not my fault.” I failed, now I’ll go hide.
But what if you stay? What if you face up to it? What if you learn from it? Now, what can this teach you? If you learn from your mistakes, you never have to run from them, and if you get serious, you won’t repeat them.
Failure? Don’t run. Consider the words I heard just the other day, from a reading called, “When It Looks Like I Have Failed”.
Are you trying to tell me something? For failure does not mean I’m a failure, it does mean that I have not yet succeeded.
Failure doesn’t mean I have accomplished nothing, but it does mean that I’ve learned something.
Failure does not mean I have been a fool, but it does mean I have had enough faith to experiment.
Failure does not mean I’ve been disgraced, it does mean I dared try.
Failure does not mean I don’t have it, it does mean that I have to do something in a different way.
Failure doesn’t mean that I’m inferior, it does mean that I’m not perfect.
Failure does not mean I’ve wasted my life, it does mean that I have an excuse to start over again.
Failure does not mean that I should give up, it does mean that I should try harder.
Failure does not mean that I’ll never make it, it does mean I need more patience.
And finally failure does not mean that Lord you’ve abandoned me, it does mean that you must have a better idea for me.
A better idea. How about that? Not a failure…a better idea. How is that for perspective? It’s all in how you look at it and then learn from it.
Try failing forward this Friday, recover, learn and then have a great weekend.
Until next time, thanks for taking the time.
Mark