Failure as part of a great life? Counterintuitive, but true! Think of your very best qualities, your most hard-won strengths and your truly amazing abilities - and remember how many of them are the result of lessons learned and character forged in the hot fire of failure.
Fear of failure is one of the foremost causes of inertia and resistance to change. But failure is nothing to fear! Indeed it should be welcomed with open arms, even sought after with intent so that we may have yet another opportunity to grow through the experience in ways that we could never manage in quiet, docile activities bounded by prescribed circumstances and predetermined outcomes. The best of the best know that although success is sweeter, failure is by far more strengthening and that the latter is, by a far greater margin, more their friend than the former. Success can lull and anesthetize, inuring us to imminent harm or dangerous illusions, whereas failure clarifies the vision greatly, sharpens the senses mightily and - for better or worse - sweeps the cobwebs of stagnation from the corners of our minds where they can trap creativity, improvement and innovation before they have a chance to manifest.
Failure is like a stone. We can bash ourselves up against it again and again, like driftwood on a restless sea, or we can use it to hone our lives, filing away the burrs and nicks that living has put into our souls and coming away with something sharper and shinier than we had before. The choice is up to us.
How are you honoring failure in your life? Have you set up systems to embrace and take advantage of the failures you experience? If not, why not? Starting today, learn to take advantage of this amazingly generous font of experiential wealth for your benefit. You'll find that it's one of the few blessings in life that never dries up or peters out when we need it most.
(c) Soni Pitts
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Soni Pitts is the Chief Visionary Butt-Kicker of SoniPitts.Com. She specializes in helping others reclaim "soul proprietorship" in their lives and to begin living the life their Creator always intended for them.
She is the author of the free e-book "50 Ways To Reach Your Goals" and over 100 self-help and inspirational articles, as well as other products and resources designed to facilitate this process of personal growth and spiritual development.