WHY FAILURE IS GOOD

Failure gets such a bad cap in our society. We see thousands of best-selling books about how to succeed in life, but none about how to fail. Now you’re probably thinking, “Why on earth would I ever want to fail, or even worse, learn how to fail? The truth is, failure is an essential part of life. We have just completely lost sight of its purpose.

Thinking of a baby learning to walk. Should we see it as “bad” or “shameful” thing every time he or she falls? Do babies beat themselves up when they lose balance after taking a few steps? Of course not. Falling and losing balance is precisely how they learn to successfully walk.

The same goes for us and whatever it is we choose to create with our lives. We can’t expect ourselves to be perfect and flawless when we are new to something (or even if we aren’t new to it, for that matter.) But taking steps regardless is the perfect way to gauge what works and what doesn’t work.

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work” -Thomas A. Edison

Not only that, failure has a way to bring out the best and the worst in ourselves so that we may clearly see what it is we truly want or need to work on. Perhaps being fired from your job can make you realize it wasn’t what you wanted in the first place and be the exact trigger you needed to reignite your previously dormant dreams and aspirations. Or maybe failure can be just what you needed to rid yourself of distractions and sharpen your aim towards success. Regardless of what your “failure” may look like, I believe there is always some form of greater perspective to be gained from it that will ultimately benefit your path.

We humans seem to learn a whole lot by experiencing contrast. I can say for myself that it is by experiencing what I don’t want in life that I have gained greater perspective on what I truly want. As a result, my choices have changed and I am now in a much better place. However, I doubt I would be where I am today if it wasn’t for the priceless lessons I learned by attracting the “wrong” relationship or growing sick on my own self-sabotaging behaviors. But enough about me!