#35 Days of Dares #24 Dare to Fail Miserably
Sometimes we fail. We fail miserably. When that happens the easiest thing to do is retreat and to promise ourselves that we will never, ever allow ourselves to feel that sense of failure again.
So, we avoid the pain of failure by not challenging ourselves.
The best thing we can do, after licking our wounds, is to try again.
As a writer, that is my challenge just about every day. As I send my work to critique partners or mentors, I often get criticism that indicates my writing isn’t good enough.
I get rejections from publishers.
I’ve been rejected by agents.
Did I want to give up? Sure! Lots of times.
But, I’ve persevered. I’ve learnt from my mistakes. I’ve worked hard to improve. I’ve kept sending my work off.
I have a measure of success and I’m hoping for more. Failure is an opportunity to try again. To prove our character. To strengthen our resolve. If we use failure as a motivator, we can grow.
Here are seven of my favourite quotes to motivate us all to treat failure as a gift.
1. Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly. John F. Kennedy
2. If you don’t take risks, you’ll have a wasted soul. Drew Barrymore
3. If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time. B.J. Marshall
4. By trying, you may fail others. By not, you fail yourself. Unknown
5. The most difficult thing in the world is to reveal yourself, to express what you have to. As an artist, I feel that we must try many things – but above all we must dare to fail. You must be willing to risk everything to really express it all. John Cassavetes
6. Take a chance! All life is a chance. The man who goes farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. Dale Carnegie
7. At some point, you are bound to stumble. You will at some point fall, and when you do, I want you to remember this—There is no such thing as failure; failure is just life trying to move us in another direction. Oprah
