Well, here I am again flat on my face. Woo hoo!
The Sting of Failure
We all make mistakes. We all get things wrong. We all hold onto incorrect assumptions. It’s a painful part of being human. We do things wrong and life smacks us for doing it wrong.
It’s a difficult and unpleasant process.
Success By Failure
It may be painful, but it can be joyful. Life is like a road that branches off in all directions. We may have to simply pick one and see where it goes. If we find out it’s a bad direction, we can turn around and try another.
It may take a few times, but eventually we’ll get to our destination. It can be painful and slow, but we learn a lot along the way making every subsequent journey easier and more rewarding.
As Thomas Edison was working to make a marketable light bulb, he failed time and time again. When asked about all the failures, he simply said: ”I have not failed. I’ve just found 10000 ways that won’t work.”
In fact, the only real failure is giving up. As long as we’re moving, we’re becoming better and better. It’s only when we stop trying that we lose the ability grow.
Make a Happy Mistake
Bob Ross was famous for painting his “happy trees”. He dedicated time on his show “The Joy of Painting” to demonstrate how to turn a mistake into any number of things: a bird, a rock, a tree, etc. Through trial, experience, and a positive attitude, he became a household name.
I’ve struggled with different business ideas until I created my video production company serving Saratoga Springs and Ballston Spa. Sometimes you have to keep trying to find the things that move you forward.
So go out today. Make a happy mistake. Try something. Be creative and have fun! Do something as if the results didn’t matter. And if you succeed, hurray! And if you fail, woo hoo! You are now wiser, more experienced, and better able to try again.
Go on! Make a happy mistake!