Have you ever tried something and felt you failed? We all have. The more important question is “How did your response to that valiant attempt and perceived failure help you become wiser and stronger?”
When baby chicks are hatching from their eggs, they almost never break the shell on their first tap. They must peck over and over again to get the first crack and then continue until the shell falls away. If chicks never tried or gave up after the first “failed” attempt, their species would have become extinct ages ago.
Chicks’ repeated “failed” attempts at freedom allow them to develop the necessary strength and persistence to sustain life outside the egg. Like the butterfly who doesn’t benefit from being cut out of its cocoon, if chicks receive “help” in breaking free, they will die shortly after hatching because they won’t have the opportunity to build the strength they need to survive.
In your attempts—large and small—it’s essential that you give yourself wholeheartedly to the task at hand, knowing that you may not reach your goal on the first (or even fiftieth) time.
In your perceived failures, you’ve already gained more glory, strength and character than if you had stayed in your comfort zone, wishing, wanting and waiting for another safer day.
There is no success without experimentation. And, by its very nature, experimentation includes the unknown and unpredictable, so it means being willing to try things that may not turn out the way you hoped, expected or planned. Just have the courage and faith to take the next baby step in whatever direction seems best.
The sooner you eliminate all of the paths that don’t lead to success, the sooner you’ll find your authentically glorious path to greatness. Courage isn’t a lack of fear or complete assurance that all will go well. Courage means being willing to dare and fail greatly, knowing that every experience, however painful, is an opportunity to increase wisdom and compassion for your self and others.
Failure is an illusion. There are no such things as mistakes or failures. Only things I tried that didn’t deliver the result I expected in the way and time I hoped. But some of my greatest learning experiences have come from what looked like my greatest fiascos. Sometimes, years after the event, I can see how things not going the way I planned proved a better path for revealing and advancing the highest good for all, in all, through all.
And so it is.
