The Challenge of Failure

 The mask of perfection is fickle. It’s liable to slip off at the most inopportune times. When - not if - it’s challenged, when - not if - the thing is removed and I am exposed, do I accept the challenge of humility to try again - and again - to start over? Once that mask is gone, I have the freedom to fail, to learn why and how that failure happened, and to try once more. I have the freedom to then see whether whatever I’m striving for is within my reach, or is something to leave alone for now.  Either way, I am always alright. I am whole.

The mask of perfection - an over-sized, overly strong ego - keeps me hidden. It stops me from reaching my full potential. It keeps me small while appearing to be big. Fear of failure is a hobbling of potential.

No one who has succeeded at anything was successful right out of the gate. Persistence coupled with humility and willingness to keep failing is fully human and not at all unique. Even experts have “off” days, but the occasional failure doesn’t define them - it energizes them.

Thomas Edison famously said “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work. Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

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