Good evening, my beautiful friends! I hope that you had a lovely Labor Day weekend and are settling sweetly into another week. This past weekend, my dearest and I had a full weekend, traveling to Phoenix for a couple of days for an extended-family Labor Day picnic followed up with a hike through the Lava Tubes just north of Flagstaff! It was so lovely to get out and do something active on such a beautiful weekend, especially after a whirlwind couple of days down south. Plus, it was strenuous enough to definitely count for a workout! What about you?!
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Via ModCloth
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One of my recent subjects of contemplation over the past few weeks (yes, I know... there are quite a few!) has been about what happens when the decision you've made, the effort you've invested or the changes you've begun seem to have been in vain. You can't see a result, you've hit a wall, you've failed (or at least convinced yourself that you have). For me, there is an ingrained fear within... that I'll make a mistake, end up disappointed, or feel as though I have failed. And there is a survival instinct within me that tells me to hide, to stay small, to choose only the paths that are assured and known. A little voice speaks, saying, "Don't make a mess, don't make a change. You may want more out of life, but you don't know how it will turn out. Stay where you know." Fortunately, there is also a courageous voice, one that SHOUTS to be bold, make mistakes, and choose the messiness of life in its fullness.
The truth is that bold choices sometimes leave us prostrate, face-down on the floor, as we've tripped and fallen, made a mistake or "failed." Maybe your business plan, the one you've put your blood, sweat, and tears into, halts to a stop. Maybe you've made drastic changes to your lifestyle, quit smoking, changed your diet, made daily exercise a priority, whatever it might be... and still don't see results. Maybe a relationship ends. Maybe you wake up one day and realize that the career-plan you've envisioned for yourself isn't what you're meant for. With bold living comes the risk of failure. In an attempt to live more courageously, more fully, we are bound to make mistakes. We are hurt, disappointed, discouraged.
But the greater truth is that these mistakes are the seeds of beautiful, courageous fruit (sounds delicious, doesn't it?). Our mistakes, failures, rejections - whatever it is that you want to call them - they are gold for learning and growth. We are supposed to make mistakes, it's part of the human existence. Even the fabulously wise (nerd alert!) Albus Dumbledore said, "I make mistakes like the next man. In fact, being -- forgive me -- rather cleverer than most men, my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger."
It's not easy to get up and try again. I am an intense perfectionist -- every mistake, every failure, every disappointment... it knocks me down hard (sometimes for days or weeks... honestly). I take my disappointments to heart, and it takes a huge step of internal courage to shake it off. And there is fear in that. To change my career path, my home, my lifestyle -- there is fear in that risk. What if I don't succeed? What if I struggle financially, emotionally, physically? There are days when my new commitment to wellness doesn't seem like it's doing anything. There are days when I don't know if I will reach my career goals. But, ultimately, I have the choice between living a life of fear - scared to make a mistake, scared to take a risk - or to live boldly, courageously, wholly. Each mistake, failure, rejection, wall you hit, is a building block for success. As Henry Ford says, "The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing." I know that it might seem cliche, but positive change creates positive results. Bold living means taking a risk - facing the fear of failure or disappointment - but it's this bold living that creates courageous success.
Whatever positive, bold moves you are making -- remember that you are courageous and strong, strong enough to fail big. Let go of that fear. Step into the possibilities for greater learning and growth. Make some huge mistakes and surprise yourself with your success, even when it doesn't look like you thought it would.
"Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor."
Truman Copote
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