Failure

I'm reading the book Failing Forward --Turning Mistakes Into Stepping Stones for Success by John C. Maxwell.

I love to read this mans books. He is very insightful and has a way of getting to the point of things. This is definitely not one of those feel good books, it is the sort of book that one really has to ponder and think about.

On one page he quotes Thomas Edison saying, "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." This got me to thinking about myself and how I handle my mistakes or failures in life. What do I do when things don't go exactly as I hoped?  I tend to be a perfectionist. I don't want to fail at things, and so there have been times when I haven't tried because I thought I might not do well. Honestly, I've probably missed out on some good things because of that. Everyone makes mistakes. It truly is what we do with those mistakes that matters. If I choose to be kind to myself and realize that I might fail on occasion but that doesn't make me a failure, then I've learned something. It truly is about keeping the right perspective.

On page 18 Mr. Maxwell reminds us, "that we each have a choice to make. Are we going to sleep life away, avoiding failures at all cost? Or are we going to have to wake up and realize this:failure is simply a price we pay to achieve success. If we learn to embrace that new definition of failure, then we are free to start moving ahead and failing forward."