The Big Question

What would you do if you could not fail? As I was reading along at www.happynews.com, my latest fave way of checking out what happening in the world, this was a question posed in one of the headlines. Certainly that caught my eye.

I had two responses to this. The first was to think, what's wrong with failure. Failure teaches us important lessons and we grow and gain knowledge, skills, and understanding from failure. Failure is a natural part of being human, of nature actually. How would our world be different if we didn't encounter failure? All of our amazing inventions and technologies came as a result of experimentation and previous failures. So, failure is good.

Then, almost simultaneously, as thoughts sort of do, I began to think about how powerful this question is in helping people to deterimine the true desires of life and for some how failure equals fear. Failure can really be a show stopper for some folks who have beliefs that failure really means something about who they are as a person. By considering this question, the failure aspect becomes suspended, and a person's true path in life can become illuminated.

I don't think failure is a bad thing. However, I know there are a lot of you out there who can become paralyzed by the possibility of failure and that stops you from even trying something new.

So, consider the question - what would you do if you could not fail? Start a business, sing in a band, learn a new sport, lose weight, run a marathon, really communicate your feelings? Make a list and consider what your life would be like if you actually did these things. Begin to bring them to life.

Failure is a human concept that lives in our brains. When a lion stalks a prey and then fails to capture it, that failure certainly doesn't stop that lion from hunting again. The lion simply learns and adapts from that situation. And the lion certainly doesn't feel shame as a result - perhaps hungry, but not shame.

I challenge you. Make your list and enrich your life by becoming who you are truly meant to be. And, if you need help, give me a call. I don't believe in failure.

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