“If at first you don’t succeed, don’t be surprised or take it personally. First of all, it’s arrogant to expect to be good at something without having worked very hard for it. Failure is simply a minor stumbling block on the road to success. Take pride in your failures, because you can’t possibly succeed unless you have the courage to fail.” – Joey Green.
Do you remember the last time you failed miserably? Maybe it was a job you applied for, that you thought was perfect for you. Then you waited for a phone call for days after the interview. One day passes, two days pass. After three days, you begin to get the picture that they didn’t think you were as perfect for the position as you did.
Or maybe you took a chance asking the new hot chick out on a date. You made sure you were styling that day, and you put on the exact right amount of cologne. You walk up all slick, and show her two tickets to see “Nacho Libre” on Friday night, and ask her is she’s free. She smiles and says, “Why yes I am. Thanks”. Then she grabs both tickets and goes off with her best friend to see the movie.
These may be minor failures in the grand scope of things, but any size failure brings a certain amount of pain with it. How do you react when life slaps you in the face? The natural thing is to fall down in a heap on the ground, have a good cry and never, ever try again. Most of us are not instinctively resilient. In fact if we were completely truthful, we would probably admit that we shy away from challenges, or opportunities that could leave us with egg on the face.
But answer these questions for yourself. What are the things you have in your life that you truly value.
- Family?
- Faith?
- Athletic skills?
- Education?
- Ability to play an instrument?
Have any of these things come without a large amount of struggle, pain, and endurance. More than likely you have spent hours agonizing over how to improve, what to do, as you improved in these areas. And more than likely you made some wrong decisions along the way have set you back.
But don’t be afraid to set you sights high, and then begin to work towards reaching those goals. Failure is never a reason to stop moving forward. Failure is actually a wonderful thing that helps us truly succeed.
It’s a teacher.
It brings perspective.
It brings value to the end result.
It keeps us away from larger mistakes.
Anything worth anything will cost us.
Failure is often the price of admission for success.
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