A Hymn to Failure

I'm not a superhero; I frequently fall short.

I'm a novice at leading, and I'm not sure when to call it quits on something I've started that doesn't make much sense.

That's why it's all the more vital for me to tell MYSELF this:

You can't put that "failure" into your past. You can't hide it, make excuses for it, or say you've learned enough.

Not if you want to succeed.

Embrace that failure as your buddy. Your friend.

You can't beat yourself up for not saving the world. You're not perfect; you will make mistakes. But don't let the fear of making the wrong decisions stop you from taking risks or speeding ahead without looking back.

Every single failure is what makes your success possible. That is the beauty of it; You're not failing -- you're moving forward.

It is simply a means for you to learn more about who you are.

Being a failure is not about doing nothing - it's about taking risks.

If you're going to fail, that means you took a chance at something worth failing over -- that will make you at your next try more likely to succeed.

A failure isn't about bad luck or poor timing at all.

That's an excuse that lets you avoid the much harder work of finding out where your assumptions failed.

Don't let yourself down by looking at failure as a mistake. It's not something that happened to you. It's something that you made happen.

Keep failing, if that's what it takes to build a new habit of failure -- one that makes "perfection" impossible, but lets you hit your mark at least some of the time.

If that seems like too much work for too little payout, it's because you're not very good at failing yet.

Failure isn't something that happens to you -- it's something you made happen -- and the more you learn from it, the less likely you'll fail again.

It's not too late for you, and it's never too soon to start failing now.

Next time you find yourself worrying about making mistakes instead of taking chances you might fail at, take a deep breath and ask yourself what would happen if you weren't afraid.

If you're looking at failure as a mistake to be avoided, that's going to slow your learning down - failure is inevitable in any worthwhile endeavor, and the only way we learn anything is by applying those lessons from our failures to our future attempts.

It doesn't matter how you get started failing at something -- anyone can fail, and it's never too late to start learning from your mistakes by getting out there and trying new things.

Even if you're not sure what "thing" would be worthwhile pursuing that you may eventually fail at, just do something, anything, or everything that feels right.

Don't let yourself down by looking at failure as a mistake -- it's not something that happened to you;

It's something you made happen.

. . .

Thank you. You may read my other Vocal stories here.