“Far
better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though
checkered by failure … than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy
nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory
nor defeat.”—Theodore Roosevelt
Recently I've been working on an article about "failing successfully" for RWR (Romance Writers Report). The idea of failing successfully intrigues me on several levels: 1. The dichotomy of the words. How does one fail successfully? 2. The idea that we can succeed even in the face of failure.
Writers know a lot about failure. At least, this writer does. I have been at this crazy business for more than 30 years and have yet to make a "living wage." I'm not sure what my wage qualifies at, but it sure doesn't meet the government's standard of a living wage. Yet, I persist. Partly because I'm a stubborn old woman. Partly because nobody is going to tell me that I can't write. (And believe me, a number of editors and agents have said precisely that over the years.)
Chances are you know something about failing as well. Did the job offer you wanted fail to come through? Did the weight loss you wanted to achieve fail to happen? (Been there, done that.) The important thing is not that you failed, but that you tried and that you keep trying.
Joy for today: failing successfully.
An interesting thought about failing successfully -- one that I've never really thought of before.
ReplyDeleteThis is like what Bishop has been saying recently about growth. Growth doesn't care about win/lose, success/failure. Growth cares about learning. You won! Great! What did you learn? You lost! Great! What did you learn? I'm not that objective yet. I don't like losing or failure. But I do know that the greatest failure comes from not trying. (And I know what you're going to tell me about that subject. I appreciate your encouragement. I'm growing into it.)
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