Failure

"Every failure brings with it the seed of an equivalent success."
Napoleon Hill

We dread failure. If we fail it is the end of the world. We have been humiliated; shown to have poor intelligence, judgment or problem solving skills, and/or bad behavior. We have been measured and found to be wanting. We can practically hear everyone else laughing at us. And most of all we no longer have, or know that we can not get in the future, the thing that we had hoped to have, or keep.

But failure really isn't all that bad. A failure only becomes bad when we dwell on it while failing to learn its lessons for the future; when we lose our self-esteem and self-confidence, and waste our time regretting the past. If we had known what to do in order to be successful and had the right resources at the time, we would never have failed. A failure is simply a lesson on what not to do next time, on what doesn't work. We tend to forget that there will be a next time but there always is. "When God closes a door, he always opens a window somewhere"

Every failure brings with it the seed of an equivalent success. It is important to ask what is the lesson this failure is trying to teach you. Perhaps you don't do your due diligence enough. Perhaps you don't listen carefully enough. Perhaps you are too impatient. These are all things that can be worked on and improved now that you are aware of them.

The other important thing is to ask what is the gift in this failure. Perhaps it has taught you the necessity of being patient. Perhaps it has taught you something you didn't know about other people's behavior. Perhaps it has clarified for you what you really want. These are all things that can help you grow for the future now that you are aware of them. A failure is most of all a learning experience. Forgive yourself, learn what you need to learn and move on. An equivalent success is waiting for you.