Unfortunately, my life took an unexpected turn down a one way, dead-end street. My father passed away, I dropped out of high school and became pregnant. My aspirations were put on the back burner,but my parents words still rang in the distance."It's O.K. to fail." I didn't understand what they meant. How was it O.K. to fail at something you worked your whole life to achieve? How could I live my dream if I failed?
What I didn't realize was the true meaning of my parents words. Its not they encouraged or wanted me to fail in whatever I chose to do with my life. They wanted me to know failure is a part of success. In order for me to succeed I first had to fail. I had to make mistakes. I had to go down dead-end streets.
It's O.K. to fail...when I made mistakes and took wrong turns toward my goal I learned valuable lessons. I learned I may not always succeed at my intended goal, but that's alright because I learned to never give up on the most important things.
Success cannot come without failure. Failure is the price I paid in order to become who I am. It is what makes me stronger in my convictions.
This is an essay I wrote. Please take the time to vote for me. Thank you.
14 comments:
A universal lesson-we have all failed at one point or another. The winners are the ones who learn from failure and start anew, as many times as it takes to succeed. Even Mozart died in financial debt. And when Bach died his star had already faded.
Great essay, Debra. I voted for you.
I voted! Thanks for reminder. Sometimes we need to take risks in order to move forward in life, and risk opens the possibility of failure.
I voted! This is great. It is about being gentle with ourselves and know that the story is not over. You feel like you fail, but there is time, failure means the end and it is not the end.
Wow. Great post. So true!
Great post. You did an excellent job. I voted for it. Your SheWrites Blogger friend.
Wonderful post Deb, definitely worthy of many votes!
I admire your parents, Honestly. What a great lesson. The way we were raised was: if you fail once, you will fail always and be a failure all your life.
I finished college at age 45 after making many, many mistakes along the way. I think I valued the education more because it was so long in coming. I also discovered that from the mistakes I made, I had gained a level of wisdom I could share with my stepchildren. Our paths are mysterious and magnificent from the distance of time and perspective! Good luck to you.
(A She Writes Blooming Late Buddy)
Nikky,
Thank you for stopping by and your heartfelt comment. My parent's were great but not perfect. They did however instill many values in me that I still take with me today. I am so sorry you didn't have that with your parent's. My husband's parent's were the same way and it's affected him to this day. Don't give up on your dreams or aspirations. You can succeed!
Great story. We tend to learn more from our failures, I think. As long as we get up and keep trying!
Such a wise lesson! :)
Yes, it is okay to fail. I dropped out of high school so when I wanted to go to college after I completed my GED my father refused to pay for it. It took me 12 years to get my degree in Computer Science, but I did it. Failure leads to success. There is no doubt there.
I am just catching this, and hope I am not too late (been moving for the past two weeks and haven't had the time to be on the Internet). I love this post, Debra. This is the one lesson that has been the hardest, allowing myself to make mistakes. And this week in particular I needed your advice.
I also voted for you. Wonderful post!
Post a Comment