Tag Archives: Failure

Straight Lines

10 Feb

Our lives don’t usually travel in straight lines. As we move forward, perhaps we take one road and hit a detour, and then turn our course toward another direction. Sometimes we change direction several times until we find our way. We learn as we go, and as we’re learning we modify where we’re headed. At first we might think we know the way, but after several complications make an adjustment. Most things we accomplish are done through trial and error. The errors aren’t permanent road blocks, but merely indications that some correction is needed. Generally the only time we move forward in a straight line is when we’re traveling a road we’ve already conquered. When we’ve been there before, we know the way and it’s easy to get from the beginning to the end. But when we want to go somewhere new, it’s all up for grabs. Maybe this way will work, may that. It doesn’t matter how many times it takes us to find the direction that works. What matters is that we don’t quit when the first road doesn’t take us there.

If we want to do something and the first time out doesn’t work, we don’t have to continue. We can quit. If we didn’t find our way the first time we may decide that trying again isn’t worth the effort. Our lives belong to us and we can manage them any way we like. But if we really want to get somewhere, and it’s important to us, we can try again. The great thing about life is we get unlimited chances to figure things out. We are where we are at any given moment. We know what we’ve learned so far and when we’re reaching for something new there will be situations we haven’t yet faced. We won’t know the perfect way to get there, and sometimes don’t know how much effort it will take. But we do know where we want to go, and knowing that will give us the temerity and courage to find our way.

Failure doesn’t happen when we don’t find our way the first time. Failure only happens when we give up and quit trying. We can get lost again and again and again, but if we reset our direction and try one more time, we haven’t failed. We’ve learned more than we knew when we started out, we’ve discovered what doesn’t work, and we can keep refining things until we get to the destination. There are lots of different roads to every destination. If we keep going, turning here when needed, redirecting there when we reach a detour, we will find our way. We are creative and strong enough to keep going. If the goal is important, it really doesn’t matter how many times it takes us to reach it. What’s important is that we keep going until we succeed. And when we’ve achieved a difficult goal, when we’ve finally mastered everything we need to be successful we will feel great accomplishment, and our confidence will soar. There really isn’t anything we can’t do if we want to badly enough. We can climb mountains, build cities, master new skills, and become the person we most want to be. Everything is available to us. All we have to do is keep going. There is no road too long to travel, no journey too hard to conquer, and no goal too lofty to reach. We can do anything.

Today if you’ve been trying to accomplish something and haven’t found the right road yet, keep trying. It’s there and you will see it. Every road you’ve taken so far has brought you closer to where you want to be. There isn’t anything you can’t do. Try again. The goal is just around the next bend. It’s waiting for you and you will reach it. Don’t stop. You have everything you need to succeed.

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Not Even

14 Oct

There are a lot of things to learn in this life, and more things to try.  It would be great if we succeeded at everything we attempted, but that will not be our experience.  Nobody can do everything well.  It’s impossible, but despite that, we all hope for success in everything we attempt.  If we didn’t think we could achieve the objective we wouldn’t try.  But success may be elusive in some arenas, and although we hate to face it, sometimes we will fail.  We’ll flame out, crash and burn, and fall flat.  And when that happens we may lose our confidence.  We failed.  We did our best and it wasn’t enough.  It hurts, but failure is just one event.  It isn’t a life choice, it isn’t our destiny, and it isn’t permanent.  When it happens, if we can remember that, we can move forward with more certainty.  Even though things didn’t go as planned this time, what we try next may be a resounding success.

Daring to try new things takes temerity and courage.  It’s easy to be safe and secure doing the same things every day.  It’s easy to take a back seat to life and let others drive.  We can skate through our days and not try anything new, or see how far we can go.  But a life like that is not as rewarding as one where we dare to try and see what we could do.  There is no way to know if we stay in our comfort zones and refuse to venture forward.  We are capable of far more than we generally realize.  We can climb Everest, we can sail around the world, we can go skydiving, we can become fluent in five languages, or we could become President of our local club.  We can do a lot.  We just have to try.

If we fail at something we really want, it’s heartbreaking.  There is no such thing as fate and we can live our lives any way we want to.  But some things we want to achieve will be out of reach.  When that happens it will hurt, and we will be disappointed.  We may become depressed but we can’t forget that failure is not a destination.  It’s just a passage.  And today’s failure may open doors to a success we haven’t yet dreamed of.   Everything we experience in this life, even failure, brings new opportunities.  Being open to them, seeing them, and deciding to walk through new doors is exciting.  There is so much we can do, and today is the best time to start again.  If we can forget the loss of the past, and let it go, we can look ahead and move forward.  Life is all about forward momentum.  We can’t let failure slow us down.  There is a lot yet to do.

Today if you’ve been stung by failure, remember it’s just a passage to something new.  Try again.  Be brave and open all the doors.  You have so much promise and there are exciting and fulfilling opportunities all around you.  See them and embrace them.  Failure is just a way of fine tuning your path.  You know more now.  Go forward with that knowledge and conquer your dreams.  You can do anything.  You are invincible.

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