There are no failures—just experiences and your reactions to them. ~Tom Krause
When failures occur, often people become flustered, embarrassed, angry–all sorts of emotions surface because of the experience of failure. But, what if there was no such thing as failure? What if every challenge, every mistake, every failure was really only a learning opportunity in disguise? What if you spent more time focused on what you learned from the experience instead of focusing on what went wrong and all those emotions and disempowering thoughts that become attached to it?
I think we can be our own worst critic. And, when we fail at something, instead of picking ourselves up by the bootstraps we can stay mired in the failure instead of looking for the positives. It’s important to see what went wrong and why it didn’t succeed, but the judgments that come with it often don’t help us pick ourselves up again. So it didn’t work out. Maybe your pride is hurt. Maybe your wallet too. Or you feel frustrated about the time and effort that went into it. And so it is. Emotions are not facts–they are just telling you how you feel–embarrassed, angry, frustrated. Your thoughts often feel factual, but if they’re wrapped up in judgment they probably aren’t helping you move forward. You can choose to focus on the negative aspects of failure, or you can choose to focus on the positive. It’s your choice.
Every single failure is an opportunity for growth.
Have you experienced failure? Was it hard to move on? What helped you? Would you say it made you a better person because of it?
Lovely reminder. I try to tell myself this whenever I feel as though I’ve failed. It’s hard sometimes but so true. I am who I am today because of both my successes and my failures. They are both so important.
Visiting from SITS!
Thank you Tricia and thanks for stopping by–love the SITSGirls! I like your statement: “I am who I am today because of both my successes and my failures.” Failures are only feedback about what’s going on in our lives.
I want to thank you for visiting my blog. Stop by whenever you have time for some of my other “short” stories. I know it gets pretty time-consuming out here trying to keep up with so many blogs; and with my stories being a little longer than a typical blog, one has to be ready to relax and curl up with a nice cup of tea to really enjoy. As for your post here, my first thought after reading it was, “Wow! such wise advice for someone so young; then I looked up and saw that you are a Life/Divorce Coach and Counselor and realized why the advice was so sound. 🙂
Thank you for the kind words. I love the SITSGirls because it provides the opportunity to meet so many awesomely amazing women–like you!