‘Failing’ is the Most Courageous Thing You Can Do!

Where would you be without your ‘failures’? Where would you be if you had never ‘failed’ at anything?

The only way to avoid ‘failing’ and your fear of ‘failing’ and your fear of the fear is to not try at all.

Wayne Gretzky said, ”You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” How true!

However, the way many of us look at it, and approach living, is, ”By not taking any shot I am guaranteed not to miss.”

Here is a list of things you never would have experienced without ‘failing’:

1. Growing
2. Walking
3. Talking
4. Riding a bicycle
5. Running
6. Feeding yourself
7. Dressing yourself
8. Tying your shoes
9. Brushing your teeth
10. Reading
11. Writing (anything – a letter, a poem, an essay, a story, a book, the alphabet, etc.)
12. Playing a musical instrument
13. Singing
14. Dancing
15. Being a loving friend
16. Being a loving parent
17. Being a loving son/daughter/sister/brother/family member
18. Loving intimacy
19. Vulnerability
20. Getting a job
21. Being an asset as an employee or employer
22. Being a business owner
23. Playing any sport
24. Swimming
25. Skiing (water, snow)
26. Skating (roller, ice or in-line)
27. Martial arts
28. Fishing
29. Driving a car, motorcycle, or boat
30. Being an attentive partner
31. Being an attentive lover
32. Effective public speaking
33. Public speaking – period!
34. Cooking
35. Doing laundry
36. Building a house
37. Building anything!
38. Being an effective salesperson
39. Finishing school (grade school, high school, college, graduate school, completing your doctorate)
40. Being an effective leader
41. Being an effective follower
42. Knitting
43. Sewing
44. Ironing clothes
45. Fulfillment
46. Love
47. Making love (not sure what ‘failing’ looks like or feels like with this one – but we all have felt like we’ve been there!)
48. Arriving at a destination on foot, by car, or by any other means (‘failing’ is getting lost)
49. Cooking
50. Making smoothies
51. Losing weight
52. Keeping the weight off
53. Getting in shape
54. Staying in shape
55. Self-expression
56. Telling a joke
57. Winning at any game (individual or team)
58. Managing money well
59. Achieving/Fulfilling any dream
60. Courage (how can you experience courage without ‘failing’ or without fear?? ‘failing’ and fear are precursors to courage!)

Do you see what I’m getting at? To do ANYTHING in life, TO BE ABLE TO DO ANYTHING IN LIFE, you must first experience your inability to do it. Then, with experience and persistence, YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!

Now, notice the first 2 items – ‘Growing’ and ‘Walking’. How can you fail at ‘Growing’ and ‘Walking’??

Let me ask the question this way –

When a child is learning how to walk, do we say the child has ‘failed’ or is ‘failing’ when she stumbles and falls in her early attempts? No way!

As we grow in life, and within ANY context of life and living, and we stumble in our early efforts at growth (otherwise known as ‘achievement’) – why do we call it ‘failing’??? Even worse, why do we call ourselves ‘failures’?????

Because reality arises from language (our word), we must be mindful of what we are saying and what our words mean. Let’s pay careful attention to our words because they create the reality we see.

Now, back to the original purpose of this post – do not fear ‘failing’. ‘Failing’ is the way to success.

‘Failing’ is the most courageous thing you can do!