Failing
Yesterday morning while I was out walking, I listened to an audio version of one of Pema Chodron’s books, called “Fail, Fail Again, Fail Better”. I find her writing to be full of guidance, information and encouragement on leading what I call a good life. I go through stages with Pema Chodron — I read or listen to her a lot, binging on her advice — and then I put her away for a period of time. I hadn’t been in touch with her thoughts for a while so I was particularly attentive to what she was saying. She talked about the way successes in life are stressed and noted that failures are not nearly as often addressed except in an adverse way. And I wondered………….in our society, are we led to believe that success is measured solely by greater economic gain? By having jobs or homes that appear prestigious, by socializing with people who add to our own particular image of prosperity? And what happens when things don’t go as we had hoped or planned? Financial crises happen, businesses fail, people are unfaithful, marriages end. Friends get sick and they die. It would be to our benefit to learn how to deal with failure in as healthful and an enlightened a manner as possible. This book offers an interesting insight: Success can be defined merely as having things turn out the way you wanted them to.
What an excellent post Mary! Failure is simply at its root another teachable moment if we allow it. Most Americans are not aware of how many times and how often President Abraham Lincoln failed in his life pursuits. Here is a link to the list: http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/education/failures.htm
It really humbled me to read it. Lincoln was such a brilliant man, in the right place, at the right time for our country and he waded through so many personal and professional failures to get there. No one said the journey would be easy. We are fortuante to have freinds, loved ones and helpers along the way.
Thank you for this very uplifting post!
Bright Blessings!
Jaq xxx
Oh my goodness, thank you so much, Jaq!