Failure and Beginning Again

“Failure is simply an opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” Henry Ford.

Well when you put it that way, failure doesn’t seem so scary! The idea of failure is so negative because since grade school we are taught to avoid getting that big red “F” on our tests. But even if we did get that “F” all that meant is that we had to take the test over again, and hopefully we learn what we need to do differently. Failing at something doesn’t mean we have to stop. In fact, a do-over, or even several do-overs, can result in great success. It famously took Thomas Edison over 10,000 tries to invent the lightbulb. A reporter asked Edison how he managed to keep trying after thousands of failures, to which Edison replied, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that didn’t work.”