Failure is an ugly word, such a scary thing. It has paralyzed me SO MANY TIMES from doing something I’ve longed to do. As children & young adults, we’re taught to avoid failure at all cost. Do whatever you have to do so that you DO. NOT. FAIL. Because failure means you’re stupid. Failure means you’re not good enough. Failure means you won’t ever amount to anything. Failure means you are nothing. But gosh dangit, that is just so not true! Failure just means you haven’t found the right path to your destination.
Don’t get me wrong, failure isn’t fun, but everyone goes through it. If anything, take comfort in the fact that EVERYONE and I mean every single freaking person on this earth fails. No one is immune to it. No one can avoid it. So instead of looking at failure as a NEGATIVE thing, let’s change our perspective & look at failure as a learning opportunity. Failure is a chance for growth. It’s a chance for change. It’s a chance to pick ourselves up, dust that dirt off our shoulder (heyo Jay-Z) & try again.
Imagine what it feels like when you fail over and over again & then that next time you try, you freaking succeed! That accomplishment, that victory will be oh so sweet! Don’t give up, the road to success is not an easy one. Also…am I preaching to the choir or what? I am the poster child for giving up on something because it’s too hard or because I think I suck at it. I can’t tell you how many times I went back and forth about even starting this blog.
Here’s a peek into the internal turmoil that happened for MONTHS before launching my blog:
I’m going to mess it up.
I’m going to do it wrong.
What if people think I’m dumb or what I have to say is dumb?
Are people even going to take the time to read what I have to say?
Why say anything at all?
If I don’t start it, then there’s no possible way for me to fail.
Oh, shoot – what if I fail? People are going to think I’m a loser.
It’d be much easier to just sit back & not do it at all.
But what if those people who inspired me, what if they gave up after a few failed attempts? What if they just said, “Nahh…this seems like too much work, I think I’ll just give up.” Well, I tell ya what…if they had given up on their calling, I would 100% not be here writing this article.
Instead of being fearful of failure, I want to embrace it & learn from it. I will pick myself up, dust off those cute new boots I literally just purchased for sale at DSW (holla at your girl) & try again. Because fear of failure is not something I want to pass down to my kids. I want them to be FEARLESS. I want them to have crazy, big, out of this world dreams & I want them to do whatever it takes to get there. I want to help cultivate a hunger in them that is so insatiable that they will far surpass anything that Jordan and I can dream of for them. And how am I supposed to teach them that if that’s not the life I’m living? Trying & failing is better than not trying at all.
Grit & Grace Blog 